This was fast.  Harry Reid has already refused to give consent for the continuation of Senate business, which means the Senate is virtually shut down.  No committees can meet, which means the Senate is pretty much deadlocked until the Democrats finally stop their temper tantrum.

There is more to this than Democratic obstruction.  When the minority party is able to stop progress in the Senate based on one issue, there is a need for Senate reform.  The Senate rules allow too much power to be placed into the hands of a few, and considering the minority party consists of a group that will do anything they possibly can in order to seize power, the rules are totally being abused.  When the intentions of the Senate sessions in the past are being exploited, it's time to change the rules; not just the judicial filibuster, but a number of them as well.

There are simply too many ways to block legislation, block nominees, and circumvent committees.  If you don't like legislation, you can place a hold on it.  If you don't like a nominee that comes from your state, you can place a blue card on them.  Why should a senator be able to hold up Senate business in any manner? 

When the Republicans shut down the government in the 90's, politicial analysts stated they would pay at the ballot box, and they did.  Will the Democrats pay for shutting down the Senate?  It's possible.

This is going to be an interesting day, as George Galloway, the British parliamentarian that is accused of taking kickbacks from Saddam Hussein in the Oil For Food Scandal, is testifying in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs Committee headed by Norm Coleman.  Galloway has a long and confrontational opening statement.  I'm sure Coleman will respond in kind.

CNN is broadcasting the hearing live, but if you can't get to it, then go here for an internet webcast. (hat tip: Powerline)

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UPDATE:  Those sneaky S.O.B.'s at CNN only broadcasted Galloway's opening statement, yet turned away once Coleman started his questioning.  That is a crying shame to only give people Galloway's side of events as well as his rant, but not to provide a contrary opinion.

UPDATE 2:  After watching this event, once you got past the smoke and mirrors provided by Galloway's opening statement there was nothing of substance that he brought to refute the charges made.  He admitted he took payments from a oil trader in Iraq for his campaign, and both Sens. Coleman and Carl Levin showed proof that he had taken money, as Galloway demanded in his opening statement.

Levin even asked Galloway would he have taken the money if he knew prior to doing so that the trader was exploiting the Oil For Food program, and Galloway couldn't even answer that question.  When Levin stated that it is a normal custom of American legislators to give back money donated by questionable contributors, Galloway never responded that he would do so.

Galloway thought he could come overseas and grandstand in front of the committee.  CNN helped him out a bit, but at the end he looked more guilty than he did before he flew into Washington.  Style over substance won't help Galloway gain more favor with our senators, and I hope Parliament will deal with him as soon as he decides to go home.

Senate Republicans and Democrats broke talks of a compromise on the judicial filibuster conflict yesterday.  That's a good thing, since there's no doubt that any deal Harry Reid proposed would block a number of the current filibustered judges.  The last offer the Democrats proposed to the Republicans would have sent five judges to the floor - Richard Griffin, David McKeague, Susan Nielsen, William Pryor, and Janice Rogers Brown - while the remaining three - Henry Saad, William Myers, and Priscilla Owen - would continue to be blocked.

There are simply some things you can't compromise on.  This is one of them.  If you allow the Democrats, a clear minority in the Senate, to dictate who is nominated and who isn't, then what's the point of the Republicans holding the majority?  As I said last week, thank goodness it's Bill Frist leading the way and not Trent Lott, because the Republicans would have been seen as weak in the face of the American people.  We need senators who are willing to do the right thing rather than just being satisfied with doing something.

As Ed Morrissey notes, it's interesting how the Democrats now consider Pryor and Brown fit to sit on the federal bench all of a sudden.  The mere fact that the Democrats are starting to slowly cede ground is a sign that they know their backs are against the wall, and more than likely judicial filibusters will be killed if it ever comes to a vote.  Not to mention that a number of Democrats in red-leaning states are on the chopping block if they decide to stick with the party line.  That's why Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) is working so hard to make a deal, because this could decide if he is reelected in a very strong-leaning Bush state next year.  A battle on the floor of the Senate could cost him his seat.

The battle can start as soon as tomorrow, as Frist has already announced that he will send Brown and Owen's nominations to the floor of the Senate.  Nelson is working with the spotlight-grabbing John McCain and others to undermine the Republicans' attempts at ending the filibuster, but they might not have enough time to do it. 

With three factions fighting for power in the Senate, CSpan might have the best drama on television.  CSI and Law and Order might have to take a backseat for the next few weeks.

Previous Posts:

1. Frist to throw down gauntlet next week.
2. John McCain and the Mavericks
3. It's time to show Trent Lott the door
4. Democrats looking to compromise on nuclear option

I'm not going to go into too many details about Newsweek's admission on Sunday that they inaccurately reported that Qurans were being desecrated and flushed down the toilet at Quantanamo Bay.  After all, plenty. of. people. have. talked. this. subject. to. death.  They are accurate in their criticisms towards Newsweek in that they used shoddy journalism on a very sensitive story.

But contrary to what a number of bloggers are saying today, Newsweek doesn't have blood on their hands.  The rioters do.  As Jay Tea states over at Wizbang (which I'm becoming a fan of more and more every day):

I willingly grant the "predictable" element, but I draw the line at "reasonable." The use of that is to justify the unjustifiable. The riots were a completely irrational and wrong response, and Newsweek should not be held responsible for what a bunch of religious, West-hating whackos do. Those lunatics are simply atrocities waiting to happen, and anything -- anything -- can be the trigger. One might as well find the woman who rejected Ted Bundy and blame her for all the women he subsequently murdered.

The fact is, these were feeble-minded people (and yes, I do believe people who riot due to a book being flushed down the toilet on the other side of the globe are feeble-minded) who rioted and created the violence.  They're the only ones who have blood on their hands, not Newsweek.  Newsweek shouldn't be blamed for the actions of these idiots.

Why are we constantly making excuses for barbarian behavior in the Middle East?  If we won't condone this sort of behavior from a child, why are we making excuses for the actions of grown people that have the mental capacity to distinguish from right and wrong?  This is not the type of actions that civilized societies should support or rationalize.  Only when others start taking a stand against this behavior will nations in the Middle East become productive assets of the civilized world and will be known more for what's above ground rather than what's underground.

(Photo: Yahoo's The Contender Page)

Due to travelling this weekend, I didn't get home in time to watch The Contender last night.  Therefore, I will only sum up what went down prior to the fight and my analysis of the fight itself, which an extended version of is online at their Yahoo website.

Last week, we saw a great fight end in a surprising ref stoppage.  Anthony Bosante was winning the fight handily, but two big uppercuts from Jesse Brinkley floored him.  He made it to his feet, but it was obvious that he never recovered and couldn't defend himself.

There were only four fighters left:  Jesse, Alfonso, Sergio, and Peter.  After having a cookout on a California beach with their families, the boxers were informed by Stallone that the semifinal fights would be seven rounds instead of five, and the boxers would decide for themselves who was fighting who, and when.  After talking it over, Peter vs. Alfonso would be first, and the next round would be Sergio vs. Jesse.

If you don't remember, Peter and Alfonso faced off in the first Contender fight, with Alfonso pulling it out in the last rounds for a victory.  However, Peter returned after Jeff Fraza was disqualified due to having chicken pox.  Peter defeated Miguel Espino and Joey Gilbert to get to the semifinals, so he had recovered from his only loss to get back to this spot.  Now the bout has been extended, which should work for Peter's favor, since he is more experienced and probably the better athlete of the two.  It will be interesting to see how all four fighters change their styles in order to keep pace.

The first round started out at a pretty fast pace.  As Stallone noted, they didn't seem to change their plans at all and worked at a five round pace.  That six extra minutes can be a difference maker.  Both guys threw good punches, but Peter got some of the better shots and was able to get some good counters.  Alfonso kept busy and hit Peter with a couple of shots.  I give it a 10-10 round, with the edge going to Peter.

For some reason, Jeremy, trainer extrodinaire that his is, told Alfonso to get busier.  Well we know what his advice did last week.  In this round, it was Alfonso landing the cleaner shots, but neither had been hurt yet.  The ref ruled Peter taking a knee a slip, but I couldn't tell from the camera angle if it really was.  The fathers of both guys, who were former boxers as well, are barking more orders than the trainers are.  Alfonso's mother is getting into it as well.  Alfonso barely wins this round.

We finally saw a clear cut round in the third.  Peter hit Alfonso with some jarring shots, and Alfonso didn't do a good job of covering up as his hands were too far apart and was leaving him open to uppercuts.  Although he never had Alfonso in trouble, Peter landed some mean punches that rocked Alfonso's dome.  Peter won that round for sure.

Alfonso wasn't done yet.  In the fourth, they made some decent exchanges, and Alfonso hits him with this uppercut that Peter never really saw coming.  He was hurt a bit, as Alfonso threw in some good shots and loaded up on the combinations to finish the round.  Round goes to Alfonso.

Alfonso carried that energy into Round 5, and it paid dividends.  Peter looked a bit off in this round, as he was missing some good shots to the body, yet Alfonso was on contact.  He was working those same combinations that were giving Peter fits in the first fight.  Alfonso pretty much won Round 5 in the same fashion he did in the first fight.  I don't know what it is with Peter.  Alfonso won this round.

There's just one little problem:  this fight goes seven rounds instead of five.  And after a decent exchange that Alfonso saw the better of, Peter hit him with a beautiful uppercut that looked like Alfonso's head would twist like Polterguiest.  Peter unloaded on him, throwing some good combinations and forcing Alfonso to cover up at the end.  This is probably the first time that we've seen Alfonso truly hurt in this competition.  Peter by a mile.

The final round was simply a toe-to-toe exchange with Peter consistently getting the better of it.  Alfonso was on his last legs, his face had swollen up, and he looked really tired.  Alfonso worked hard though, and never stopped throwing punches.  However, he got tagged at will by that reaching jab of Peter's which connected right in the middle of the face.  What happened in the first fight didn't happen for Peter in the second one.

Peter won, which is the right decision.  All I can say is that Peter should be thanking his lucky stars that it was a seven round fight instead of the original five round fight we've been seeing.  Alfonso had enough gas for five rounds.  On that sixth round, he became unglued by some wicked hands and the pace they were going.

Next week it's Jesse vs. Sergio, with the winner to face Peter at Caesar's Palace for the million dollars.  See ya next week. 

Enough with the waiting.  Enough with the threatening.  Enough with the talking.

It's time to put up or shut up.

Bill Frist has served notice that he will bring the judicial nominees to the floor of the Senate for debate on Wednesday and plans to have the showdown vote anytime between Friday and the following Wednesday, May 25th.

To give a bit of a background, judiciary nomineee Henry Saad has been blocked from a Senate vote by Michigan senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow.  As National Review's Bryan York explains, they opposed Saad not because of ideological differences, but for revenge against the Republicans for not confirming a handful of judicial nominees from Michigan during Clinton's second term.  One of those was the spouse of Carl Levin's cousin, Helen White.

Harry Reid brought Saad up while speaking on the Senate floor last night:

"Henry Saad would have been filibustered anyway," Mr. Reid said on the floor yesterday, about the Michigan Appeals Court judge who is nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.

"All you need to do is have a member go upstairs and look at his confidential report from the FBI, and I think we would all agree that there is a problem there," Mr. Reid continued.

It was a dirty trick, no doubt.  First, Reid knows every judicial nominee has an FBI file on them; that's one of the requirements.  Second, that FBI file is confidential; the public can't gain access to it and see if there is something in his file that would be troubling.  Hence, even if Reid was telling the truth, it's doubtful that anyone could confirm it.

But as Captain's Quarters points out, only a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee or the two Michigan senators have access to those files.  Harry Reid is neither of those, so he has no business looking in that file.  If he did, he broke a very important Senate rule, and should be brought up on charges.  But once again, that's hard to prove, because then you'd have to find evidence that Reid knows something that is in that file.  So once the outrage dies down, Reid will more than likely get away with this stunt.

Thus, Reid continues his sickening character assassinations of his political opponents, and more than likely doing the dirty work of Levin and Stabenow.  Democrats may rue the day they made this guy their Senate leader.

Last night the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed Bolton's nomination from committee with a 10-8 party line vote.

Democrats initially said they were going to influence the lukewarmers to vote the nomination down, but hey...when's the last time Democrats ever relied on democracy to get something done?  That's funny.

So what was the next logical step?  Block Bolton's nomination:

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer "put a hold on the nomination" of Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations, her spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz said without indicating how the process could be delayed.

The move is intended to either force further negotiations or ultimately to prevent his nomination from reaching the Senate floor.

I slacked off of the playoffs for a while simply because I was tired of discussing blowouts.  For a while there, it looked like Round 2 was going to be full of sweeps.

Well, now only one sweep is certain.  The Washington Wizards tonight faced a Miami Heat team that was without Shaq at the MCI Center down 2-0.  Instead up stepping up and making this a real series, they alllowed Dwayne "Mighty Mouse" Wade to go buckwild.  And I'm tired of Alonzo Mourning flexing his bicep every time he makes a play.  We know he's got muscles.  We know he thinks he's a beast.  But the whole schtick gets tired the first 100 times you do it.

Tomorrow the Wizards should go to the local bait and tackle store, because they're about to go fishin.  I suggest some nightcrawlers, a few boxes of crickets, and maybe some rubber fish.

In the other game of the night, it seems as if San Antonio took a game off.  That's alright.  Every good team is allowed one of those.  It simply means they'll close out the series in San Antonio, rather than at Seattle.

However, the AP's Tim Korte and the Sonics's Antonio Daniels must have been smoking something tonight:

Allen had an impact despite shooting 0-for-6 in the final period and Vitaly Potapenko forced Tim Duncan into a missed 4-footer at the horn, lifting the Sonics to a 92-91 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.

``In the playoffs, a lot of times it comes down to one stop,'' said Antonio Daniels, who had 18 points and eight rebounds. ``Vitaly did a great job of defending with his body. He forced him into a tough shot.''

Cmon.  Duncan got the ball just inside the perimeter where he DROVE to the basket for the four foot baby hook.  There wasn't anything complicated about that shot; Duncan has hit that bucket so many times he could hit it in his sleep.  If Potapenko was playing great defense Duncan would have never gotten that close to the basket.  Duncan simply missed the shot, that's all.

Seattle should be happy about that win, because there was no way they could win the series if they fell 3-0.  But guys, you're still down by a game to what is probably the second best team in the league.  Jerome James should have taken a hint when Antoine Walker pulled that stunt after Game 6 of the Pacers/Celtics series, just to get blown out by 40 in Game 7.  I'm sure the Wizards wish they weren't so cocky after they talked smack to the Heat after beating the Bulls, too.

As for the other two series, Indiana/Detroit and Phoenix/Dallas, they're both tied at 1 a piece and are shaping up to be pretty decent. 

Right now I've ignored the consensus that Indiana simply doesn't have enough gas to beat the Pistons, as they are now gearing up for two games at home.  But if they can get another game out of Jeff Foster like he had on Wednesday night, Detroit will be in trouble.

What makes Foster's big game impressive was that he scored 10 offensive boards against the guy that is probably the best center in the league, Ben Wallace.  Wallace is a beast, and is the defensive anchor for the defending World Champions.  But Foster has said he's been working on his game in the paint, and only time will tell if that was simply a mere fluke.

Regardless, Indiana is a dangerous team, with a dangerous player that's looking at every game as survival.  This is Reggie's last stand, and he plans to leave everything on the court.  Detroit will have to sweat a little, but I still think they'll pull it out.

Dallas/Phoenix is a virtual tossup, but I'm starting to lean towards the Suns. Amare Stoudamire is the difference maker, and he'll consistently get you 30 a game.  Finley had a great Game 2, but I don't think he can do that consistently the whole series.  Nor does he have enough gas to hold Shawn Marion the whole series either.  They're going to need Jason Terry and Josh Howard to step up in the later games.

Tomorrow night will tell whether Round 2 will be interesting, or whether we should simply look ahead to the conference finals.

FNC's Neil Cavuto has been known a time or two to give people a piece of his mind, and he did that yesterday on "Your World".

He rightfully railed against Washington legislators who complained about security and police forces only giving them a few moments notice before they had to leave Capitol Hill.  They were trying to PROTECT YOU FOOLS.  It's just a prime example of the gap between Washington aristocracy and the rest of society.