The Nuclear Option and .533 ball

Tonight the Senate averted a constitutional crisis by putting together a middle group of senators who said they will consider the nominees carefully and only filibuster in "extraordinary circumstances." Unfortunately, the group includes such luminaries as "Sheets" Byrd. The NYT described this group as "moderates, mavericks and senior statesmen." Presumably, that group is a good thing. Sheets commented "We have kept the republic." The minority leader suggested ""abuse of power will not be tolerated, and attempts to trample the Constitution and grab absolute control are over." Neither of these comments offers me much optimism about the reality of this solution. Allegedly a couple of the nominees will get their vote on the floor. That will increase the president's appelant confirmation percentages - to something slightly higher than the current average of the Rivercats (.533 - with a win tonight over Iowa - moving us to 3 games over 500 - 24-21). But there is no guarantee that the same old tactics will not resurface when the inevitable nominee for the Supreme Court is presented. Our junior senator, always a wethervane of the looney left, called this a "big victory." (Not the Rivercats win, mind you) There were some very good people on the side of this compromise but with McCain and Sheets in the mix, and with people like John Warner in the center - one wonders whether this was the right thing to do.

The Cats are third in the league in team batting and about in the middle for pitching (which is not bad considering their number of injuries). Our best batter has actually already moved to the bigs (Matt Watson - a good guy) and our second (Dan Johnson - also a good guy) is likely to also move up. But it is June. We can wait and see how the team continues to develop - there are some exciting new personalities in the mix - who knows things could continue to improve. Or was I talking about averting a constitutional crisis in the Senate?

If you really care to read the text of the agreement you can at Senate Agreement Text
- thanks to Taxprof. If you want to read last nights box score check out Rivercats Homepage