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Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger'

By Jeralyn, Section Other Politics
Posted on Tue May 10, 2005 at 05:12:03 AM EST
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Sen. Bill Frist may have developed a classic case of trigger-finger on the nuclear option. Despite pleas from the radical right evangelical fringe, he hasn't launched the plan. Despite pleas from fellow Senators and Congressmen, he hasn't called it off. What's causing him to stay in status quo mode, despite earlier promises to launch the nuke? Some possibilities:

  • He doesn't have the votes necessary to win
  • The public opinion polls are against the nuclear option
  • His job as Senate leader is to compromise. The nuclear option is anything but, and will throw the Senate into disarray. His leadership ability will be called into question if he takes this risky route.

This is Frist's moment.

Frist's daunting challenge is to somehow keep both factions happy, soothe the nerves of moderate voters - and thereby keep his own presidential hopes alive.

Frist needs to call off the nuclear option. It's his only chance at survival. If he pulls the trigger, he's history.

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    Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' | 24 comments (24 topical)
    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#1)
    by Dick Durata on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    Bolton comes up in committee on Thursday, as planned. That might be a litmus test of the Senate's direction for Frist.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    The nuclear option is dead, people. Since when have the Republicans ever played coy when they had the numbers to impose their will? Frist doesn't have the votes, much as that old windbag Lugar wanted a vote- until he realized that he'd lose it, so he put it off for three weeks of Republican arm-twisting. There isn't much arm-twisting that Blaghdaddy's heard on this one, so that can't be it...the only other reason is that Frist doesn't have the votes... So everyone keep talking and wondering, Blaghdaddy knows this crowd pretty well, and the writing's on the wall...the nuclear option is going to wither away...

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    He had better stick that frozen trigger finger into the political air and feel which direction the political winds are blowing. "Listen, diagnose and fix." - Billy Bob Frist What he really means is: ''Listen, diagnose and trick.'' I voted for Republicans long, long ago. Those days are gone... forever. They have become pariahs and will, in the future, be completely ignored. Washington, District of Criminals will become the the Pale.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#4)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    Blagh writes - "Blaghdaddy knows this crowd pretty well, and the writing's on the wall..." Didn't know you were in the political analysis business. Shall we guess that Bolton will be approved and the Demos take the 100 hour per nominee debate offer? dronchee - In the meantime they have a six vote majority (counting the VP). How many Senators do you think will vote against the party? Welcome to reality.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    Yeah, you're absolutely right, PPJ. It's 'pie in the sky', no doubt about it. "Long-haired preachers come out every night, Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right; But when asked how 'bout something to eat They will answer with voices so sweet: You will eat, bye and bye, In that glorious land above the sky; Work and pray, live on hay, You'll get pie in the sky when you die." -Joe Hill, International Workers of the World (IWW), 1911

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    Blaghdaddy can't believe you guys still respond to PPJ...your lives... Blaghdaddy called this issue dead many moons ago. If he's wrong, he'll admit it...right now, he's looking really, really right... Of course, those with nothing constructive to say will attempt to derail the discussion with idiotic comments like, "Didn't know you were in the political analysis business.." Yes, only people who make money talking about politics are to be listened to now... As for Frist, Blaghdaddy called him a wuss weeks ago (the Dems aren't Terri Schiavo, they can actually talk back), and we'll see if he's right...

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    PPJ, the Communists have been active in American politics for a long time now, PPJ. Mother Bloor, the titular head of the American Communist Party, ran for the governorship of Pennsylvania in 1938. Farmers in my home state weren't fond of IWW workers back in the old days. The IWW was derisively referred to as 'I Won't Work'. I'm no communist, I don't like communism. Just for your information. Republicans sound like communists these days more than anything. They never cease with their requests for more money to spend on every kind of government interference everywhere. Sorry to say.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    drronchee: You just reminded Blaghaddy of "No Child Left Behind." Slightly off-topic, but did anyone else see "Daily Show" last night with their piece on the Texan ban on Dirty dancing cheerleaders? The piece was called "No Child's Sweet Behind." Blaghdaddy laughed so hard Mrs. Blaghaddy came running to see if he was in pain... But yeah, Bush sure likes blowing other people's money...he must have gotten tired of blowing his own on dry oil wells...

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    According to Roll Call, looks like there's a deal under consideration. 6 Dem and 6 Repub senators each sign a statement. The Repubs agree to forsake the nuclear option in return for a vote on 4 of the 7 nominees. Any guesses on the three being left out? See what happens when people abandon "my way or the highway" approaches? A nice thing called compromise.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    After reading the post below, I bet I know who two of the judges left out of the deal Roll Call discussed are.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    You'd probably be right, Adept-One... But why are some judges suddenly acceptable to Democrats now? And how is Bush going to take this? Not sitting down, Blaghdaddy bets... There will be no compromise while Republicans hold the Senate and Bush is in power and Cheney is V.P....but public opinion is soooo scaring moderate Reps... An immovable object (public opinion) and an irresistable force (Bush's ego)...you know what, Blaghdaddy's not so sure this is over... If Bush wants to go over the cliff on this like he did with Schiavo, the fire-works might only be starting. What will they say when they go nuclear and Senate business completely grinds to a halt because the Dems say, "You want to play by the rules? O.K., no more unanimous consent..." That'll be worth buying tickets to...

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    Blaghdaddy- you mean 'no child left un-brainwashed'.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#13)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Did he use 6 filibusters or only five? Now in all this confusion I kind of lost track myself. But since this is the nuclear option, and can blow your career clean out of the water, you have to ask yourself one question, Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, PUNK?

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:55 PM EST
    The Loonies Doth Protest Too Much, Methinks... Frist's greatest legacy will be that he actually said in an interview, when being questioned on wheter he believed AIDS could be spread by kissing, answered something like, "I'm just a doctor, why you asking me? And yes, I do..." or something like that. This is the "doctor" who, after viewing a few minutes of Schiavo on videotape, condradicted every credible neurologist in declaring, "She's not in a vegetative state." Well, Blaghdaddy knows one thing- Frist's career will be in one after this whole thing, and he has only himself to blame for racheting up the rhetoric when he thought it would be a cakewalk... Next flawed Rep leader, please....

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#15)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:56 PM EST
    "Shall we guess that Bolton will be approved and the Demos take the 100 hour per nominee debate offer?"
    Not gonna happen, Jim. As soon as the Dems accept a 100 hour limit on debate, they'll find themselves talking to an empty Senate chamber. The GOP will just stay home until the "debate" is over, then come in and rubberstamp the nominees. If there is to be any incentive to compromise, the filibuster will have to remain as it is.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#16)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:56 PM EST
    dronchee - What do communists have to do with my comment that the Repubs have a 6 vote majority? Che - That's funny. On the Demo side, how about my favorite: "Stupid is as stupid does." Blagh - I know Frist is stupid. That's why he is a MD, a board qualified Surgeon, a US Senator and Senate Majority Leader. Yep. No doubt about it. You wouldn't to compare resumes with Frist would you? Quaker - Why would the Repubs stay home and give the Demos 100 hours of uncontested air time to say what they want? Sounds like the Demos don't want a debate to me, and to the American peiople. BTW - It was for judical nominees only. Filibuster away on everything else. That's always been the deal.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#17)
    by BigTex on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:56 PM EST
    I dion't know Blahg, Adept's compromise would work, if for no other reason than it ensures that the nuclear option can't be exercised; though with a caveat - you have to have someone who isn't from NE or McCain as one of the six repubs to sign the compromise. Keep in mind Bush doesn't have to run again, the Senators do, so this is going to be the first highly visible "lame duck" moment for the President if such a compromise is reached. Let the jockying for 2008 begin. -BigTex

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#18)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:56 PM EST
    "Why would the Repubs stay home and give the Demos 100 hours of uncontested air time to say what they want?"
    Because the "air time" will be on CSPAN2, watched by practically no one. With the outcome of the vote certain, big media will shuffle off to cover the next missing person or trial of the century. In short, the 100-hour limit guarantees no real debate at all.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#19)
    by glanton on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:56 PM EST
    "Why would the Repubs stay home and give the Demos 100 hours of uncontested air time to say what they want?" Because what with the daily deluge of tabloid crap that everybody gobbles up from the media these days, nobody would watch. Duh. GOP has nothing whatever to be nervous about because they know how the votes are going to go in advance. At least until 2006, that is: good candidacies are in the air, and the GOP's abysmal overreaching will communicate itself quite nicely in the Democratic ads. Let some more Swift Liars emerge, it won't matter--thank you lemonade standers! But at this point, in 2005, it's all predetermined: stop pretending there's something in doubt here, Jim, you're not fooling anyone--the very predetermination of the votes is why such clinging to the filibuster in the first place.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:56 PM EST
    PPJ - nothing. Sorry to stray off topic. I'll remain in bounds next time around.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#21)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:57 PM EST
    dronchee - Hey, no problem, just curious. glanton - The difference between the Left and this social liberal (me!) is that I believe in the ultimate wisdom of the american people. Give them the facts, and 100 hours of debate would do that, and I think they are capable of understanding and supporting the best decisions. The Left and the Demos don't believe. That's why they want prevent this debate.

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#23)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:57 PM EST
    glanton - Come on, the MSM would be all over this. It'd get more coverage than Reagan's funeral. Battle of the titans, etc. Demos unite to save country from minority judges. Money? Naw, what little I managed to keep I made through personal investments and a HUGE SC payment. ;-)

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#24)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:57 PM EST
    "The difference between the Left and this social liberal (me!) is that I believe in the ultimate wisdom of the american people."
    Really? Then riddle me this: What procedural oddity have the American (that's with a capital "A", mister!) people lived with happily for more than 200 years, but now suddenly can't see it for what it really is without the honest and concerned help of some smart guys in Congress?

    Re: Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' (none / 0) (#25)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:58 PM EST
    QIB - Thank you for your secretarial help. Do you also do coffee? And your point is? All Frist is saying, I promise you 100 hours per nominee, so there will be plenty of debate. If the Demos don't want to debate, fine. Let them filibuster.

    Frist's 'Frozen Trigger Finger' | 24 comments (24 topical)