Childish:

We found this morning's editorial in the Washington Post about Bush resubmitting 20 judicial nominees to be on point. Here are excerpts: (emp add)

IT WOULDN'T HAVE been hard for President Bush to set a new tone in judicial nominations. A little magnanimity and some understanding of the wrongs the president's own side has committed ... could have gone a long way.

Since taking office, though, Mr. Bush has behaved in a way that makes it harder for Democratic senators to act responsibly. He has largely failed to acknowledge their legitimate grievances about how a Republican-controlled Senate treated President Bill Clinton's nominees for six years. Instead, he bullheadedly sought to fill appeals court judgeships left vacant because of the recalcitrance of his own party, and he did so with scant consultation. What's more, he sometimes rubbed salt in the wound by nominating people to those seats who have staked out highly controversial and provocative ground, thereby apparently rewarding the misbehavior of his own party.

He might have troubled himself to offer a single conciliatory word. Instead, the White House simply announced that he would renominate 20 judicial candidates who did not receive votes: "The Senate has a constitutional obligation to vote up or down on a president's judicial nominees, and the president looks forward to working with the new Senate to ensure a well-functioning and independent judiciary."

The childish message to Senate Democrats could hardly be clearer: I dare you to try filibustering them again.

Mr. Bush's insistence on total victory -- a victory that simply isn't possible in a functioning two-party system -- will only ensure that the war goes on.

Changing the tone? Not with this guy. Oh, and who needs a functioning two-party system? Not Bush.

posted by Quiddity at 1/03/2005 07:24:00 AM