Democrats Distract Us with Nuclear OptionNovember 21, 2013
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RUSH: Folks, I'm not gonna fall for it, and I don't want you to fall for it, either. This is one of the biggest attempted distractions. Don't get worked up over this today, it's not worth it. Dingy Harry's out there threatening to go do the nuclear option to end the filibuster as we know it. Don't be fooled for a minute about this. Nothing more than a desperate attempt by the Democrats to distract everybody away from Obamacare and the disaster. That's all it is. There's nothing even on the Senate docket, if you will, that will even relate to this right now. They're just trying to get the Republicans all bent out of shape and distracted about this.
I will allow myself to be distracted by this filibuster ploy for just one second, 'cause I just want to remind you that eight years ago, back in 2005 when the Democrats were in the minority in the Senate, Dingy Harry vehemently opposed changing the filibuster rules one iota. Now, all of a sudden, it's time to do this, and the Drive-Bys are falling for it. They've been all over this like it's the biggest news story of the day, and it isn't.
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RUSH: It's outrageous. There's no question. They did it. Dingy Harry went ahead and they just voted the nuclear option in the Senate. They just changed 250 years' worth of rules on advise and consent, and now Obama's gonna get every judge he wants. He's gonna get them. If they want to add seats to a court -- if they want to add five new liberal seats to the DC circuit, for example -- they can do it. There's no stopping 'em because the Republicans don't have the votes.
"US Senate Stops Filibusters on Nominations." That's the Reuters headline. They have managed to pass a rule ending the filibuster for judges. This is known as the "nuclear option," and basically what it means is they have erased the need for there ever to be 60 votes before going to a final vote on a judge. It's now 51 votes. "The Democratic-led US Senate, in a historic rule change, stripped Republicans on Thursday of their ability to block President Barack Obama's judicial and executive branch nominees.
"On a nearly party-line vote of 52-48, Democrats abruptly changed the Senate's balance of power by reducing from 60 to 51 the number of votes needed to end procedural roadblocks known as filibusters against presidential nominees..." Folks, this is part and parcel of why the Democrats are so hell-bent on winning the House in 2014. Winning the House would give them total, authoritarian, non-challengeable control over the US government.
Quite literally, there would be no way to stop them. None whatsoever. All of those years that the Republicans held the Senate, all we heard from a whining and crying Harry Reid and Dianne Feinstein was about protecting the rights of the minority. It's all we heard. The Republicans were a cruel majority that had no intention whatsoever of ever listening to the minority, which represented quite a large swath of the American people.
Now, of course, that's out the window. When the minority is Republicans, they don't even exist, and they're not due any respect, constitutional or otherwise, constitutional or human. So basically what this means with a president like Obama is there's no stopping him. He can nominate anybody for anything in the judiciary and for a presidential cabinet member, whatever. There's no way he can be stopped, because all it takes is 51 votes now and the Democrats have more than that. There's no way.
That's 250 years of Senate rules out the window, 'cause the Democrats have made it plain they're not interested in democracy. That really is what this means. They're not interested in democracy at all. They want total statist authoritarianism -- and, frankly, I'm being kind with that terminology. But I'm a little... Well, I'm not conflicted. What's the word? Mitch McConnell was just on TV acting surprised and outraged. Our guys always act surprised, and that's what I don't get.
Why do they not know who they're up against, after all of this time, why do they not come to grips with what they're up against and lay some groundwork for fighting it and opposing it in the public arena? They don't have the votes to win it in the Senate. Why not take the news to the American people and let them know what's going on? No, after the fact. They always act shocked and outraged, surprised that Harry Reid would conduct such a power grab.
Why are they surprised?
This is what I don't get.
The dichotomy, the dilemma for me is... This really is shortsighted, I'll admit. But there's a part of me that says, "You know, they deserve this happening to them, because they refuse to understand who it is they're up against. They refuse to understand the scope and the threat posed by their political enemies," and so they act surprised when this happened. I don't know how else to put it, 'cause I don't understand. I mean, I've heard all the explanations. "Well, Rush they're all together. It's all the establishment.
"The Republicans are afraid of opposing the Democrats 'cause they think the country loves the Democrats, blah, blah." Well, what about the Constitution, then? What about defending 250 years of Senate rules for the sake of that? What about defending it because the Constitution? What about trying to preserve the country? What, maybe you think people don't like you. I'm telling you, folks, it's bullies and PTSD all over again.
Our guys are Jonathan Martin and the Democrats are Richie Incognito, and the media is the commissioner. He doesn't care anything about it. Well, it's not he doesn't care. He's just gonna always side with the power structure. I don't know. See, there's a part of me that says, "Well, this is what you get when you behave in certain ways, when you're not gonna oppose 'em on anything, when you're not gonna push back, when you're not gonna fight back, when you're gonna join 'em in criticizing your own party like the Tea Party.
"When you're gonna join 'em and criticize conservatives, when you're gonna join them --and for what? To make them like you? Make the Democrats like you? Are you doing this so they won't be mean to you, so they'll be fair with you?" I just don't understand it, but it's done. (interruption)
Now, Snerdley says that there's a provision in there -- and I haven't had a chance to look at this.
Is there really a provision in this that if the Republicans ever win the Senate that this is not the rule? (interruption) It was said on the floor by who? Who said this on the floor? (interruption) Some senator? You're kidding me. They said that the nuclear option, the 51 votes is only applicable if Democrats are the majority? So if there's a change after the election, this goes away? I haven't seen that. Well, I wouldn't be surprised.
I just haven't seen that. (interruption) It's a temporary solution. Oh, okay. Temporary. So it's only for now, for the Democrats to get their judges in office. It's just a temporary thing to deal with the roadblock. Is that what it is, just...? (interruption) Yeah, judges and cabinet secretaries and so forth. But the point is, folks, if a majority of the Senate can change the rules at any time, there aren't any rules. When you get down to brass tacks, that's what this means.
If they can change the rules any time they want, then there aren't any rules. It's just how aggressive the majority wants to be in getting their way, and the Republicans are content to lose -- thinking that there's valor in it, I'm convinced. They really think that there's honor in losing if they look good to the American people doing it. If they look fair, and if they look reasonable, they like it. It's how it appears to me from a distance. That's how it appears to me from afar.
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RUSH: East Alton, Illinois, outside St. Louis. Tony, hi. Great to have you on the program. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Great to talk with you. I hope the American people will see the collapse of the advise and consent rule for what it is, a revolution. The whole spirit of the Constitution is to limit government power and the abuse of power. What this does is virtually make the judiciary a subcommittee of the Congress, and it opens the judiciary to all sorts of strange, perverted people, communists, you name it, who will now be able to gain access, who formerly would not gain the general approval of the Congress.
RUSH: Well, folks, that might sound a bit farfetched to you, but there's no stopping 'em. If they want to nominate avowed communists to be judges, there's no stopping 'em now. He's right. I mean, it's just whoever Obama wants to nominate.
CALLER: Thank you, Rush, very much.
RUSH: I mean, it's true, folks. There's no advise and consent. There is just consent. That's all it is now. Fifty-one votes, Democrats have it. So if Obama wants to nominate, oh, I don't know, Bashar Assad to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, there's no stopping him. I'm just trying to give you an illustration. I mean, the only thing stopping him maybe is some Democrats who didn't like that, but that's it. Whoever Obama wants. Anybody can be a judge now. Anybody can be in the Regime. Even if there isn't a need or a seat for them. They're trying to expand the DC district court. They're doing everything they can to get more judges on some of these courts so to always have a majority. If they want to make Bill Ayers a judge or Jeremiah Wright, there's no stopping it now.
Now, some of you might be saying, "Well, what was stopping 'em before?" Well, you needed 60 votes, and that meant that the Republicans could stop. The Democrats don't have 60. They needed minimum five, six Republican votes for any Obama nominee. Now they don't need any. They don't even need all the Democrats. Just need 51 of 'em. And 250 years of Senate rule has just been nuked. That's why they call it the nuclear option.
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RUSH: Okay. So there's Obama. He's up all happy now, folks, because Dingy Harry employed the nuclear option. Obama was whining and moaning about all of his nominees that have been filibustered. They're wonderful people. Why, they keep your air and your water clean and they work in national defense. They're great public servants.
There's a reason his nominees were filibustered. They're all extreme leftists who are unqualified. They would not be good for the country, and that's why they were filibustered. That's the built-in protection that the rule was for, and this bunch of statist authoritarians didn't like it, so, as far as Obama's concerned, this is Venezuela.
Whatever he wants is what he's gonna get, and whatever he wants whenever he wants it is what he's gonna get. Rules don't matter, and that's exactly what's happening. The Republicans have tried to stop a lot of his nominees. They have succeeded. That's why he's engaged in all these recess appointments that really haven't been recess appointments. He's even fudged those rules.
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RUSH: I have a brief question for Senator McCain, Senator Susan Collins, and the rest. How is that "working across the aisle" thing working out for you now with this nuclear option thing? You stuck your hand out across the aisle to shake hands with 'em, and now you gotta somehow reach around and take a knife outta your back.
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