'ZERO COMPROMISE'

The reactionary, regressive, right-wing monolith exhibits a Taliban-like resolve in pushing through judicial nominees representative of its ilk. This could mean eliminating the filibuster, a time-honored Senate tradition that protects minority rights and even immortalized in the heart-warming Jimmy Stewart film, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

Yet when the rules — or election laws, in some instances — aren't to the liking of the oligarchy, the result is an effort to change those rules.

The Los Angeles Times includes this tidbit:

"We feel like there should be zero compromise, no deal," said Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Assn., a Mississippi-based conservative group whose members were among those flooding Lott's home-state offices with phone calls and e-mails in protest.

The episode illustrates the powerful political forces that have helped make the Senate controversy over federal judges so intractable.

Ah, Democracy. Nothing expresses the love of freedom so much as a hard-line crackdown on debate and changing the rules in mid-game.

Though tempted to say Democrats will never learn, I can't ever believe that absolute power and its subsequent abuse is healthy for a nation.