To Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid: fillibuster Alberto Gonzales

2004-11-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

Right now, the Democrats are like a mafia Don on his deathbed in a bad movie. He is tired and bleeding on the floor. His enemies from the other Family surround him. But, they're out of bullets and won't get any for a while. He has a pistol in one hand, hidden under his shirt. His enemies are looking at him lying there, weak and vulnerable. They start demanding terms, demanding that he give up his territory, and pay them a cut. The terms are bad, but not as bad as they could be. What should he do?

Conventional wisdom would suggest that he should agree to the present bad terms, to take away his territory, and to get a cut of his action, and pray that he doesn't get asked an even worse demand. That wisdom is wrong. After getting these minor demands fuilfilled, the other Family will ask our Don for even more. It's a lose now, lose even more later situation.

At what point should the Don start shooting his hidden pistol? When the opposing Family demands that he prostitute his daughter and give up her "honor"? What's the line? I would argue that the Don should shoot one of other gangsters right away. Why? Well, the Don is on his deathbed, what does he have to lose? What's the worst that could happen? They could kill him. But they're out of bullets, and won't get any for a while. What else could happen? They don't know how many bullets he's got. The other Family would have to realize that they're dealing with someone who won't be a pushover. They'd kill him if they could, but they're out of bullets. They could wait for the bullets to arrive, but that'll be several hours, and they also know that the Don's sons and nephews will try to prevent the bullets from getting to them. They also don't know how many other members of their family will continue to be shot by our Don.

Since he's got the loaded gun right now, the other Family would have to cut a deal. The Don is not stupid. He realizes that he has to give some stuff up. After all, he is surrounded. Keep the territory, but give up a bookie operation. It'll hurt the pocketbook, but it's not too bad. By shooting first, he can come out better than he would have if he agreed to the not-so-bad demands that set up the even worse demand. In this situation, the other Family would certainly not demand his precious daughter's "honor."

By filibustering Alberto Gonzales, a moderate (compared to Ashcroft) who approved of Abu Gharib (or that's the impression the ad campaign [complete with pictures of Lyndie England] aired in DC, NY, and LA for the benefit of the cable TV talking heads who set the tone of political discourse should convey), the Democrats can demonstrate that they cannot be messed with. What's the worst thing that can happen? Mid-terms are two years away. In the meantime, Dubya will have to pick an alternate attorney general who did not call the Geneva Convention that protects our brave GI's from mistreatment a quaint anachronism that can be ignored. He will have to pick someone more reasonable.

Some would say that the filibuster should be "saved" for the Supreme Court nominations. Why? Is there a limit to the number of filibusters? No. In fact, by filibustering NOW, the Democrats would be sending a message to Dubya that he would be better off nominating someone reasonable for the SC, not a Scalia wannabe. Will this get us Laurence Tribe or Anthony Romero? Of course not. But maybe a Rudy Giuliani or a Bill Weld....

In addition, by starting a fight now, the Democrats can force Dubya to spend the capital he was bragging about. By the time a Supreme Court appointment comes around, much of his capital will have been spent.

We're wounded and on the floor. We're surrounded by our enemies, but they don't have bullets for another two years.....and by then our sons and nephews may stop them. Our enemies are making minor demands now, but who knows when they'll demand our daughter's "honor." We have a loaded gun. What should we do?

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To Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid: fillibuster Alberto Gonzales