NOW WAIT A MINUTE

Senators are letting themselves be lectured by the President (via HA) about their "constitutional responsibilities"? How's that for separation of powers and Federalist-Papers-esque "jealousy" about the powers of the respective branches. Fantastic.

Dems need to go on the offensive here, as in, "where is the phrase 'up or down vote' found in the Constitution? You want an 'up or down vote,' then get a constitutional amendment. Until then, we'll go with the original understanding as we see it: the Senate sets its own rules and procedures, as allowed by Article I."

Watch the video, at any rate. The printed text should be amended as follows:

Under the leadership of John Cornyn and Democrat Mark Pryor, these senators sent a letter to the Senate leadership last week. And this is what it said: None of us were parties to any of the reported past offenses, whether real or perceived [President smirks and lets out a short chortle]. None of us believe that the ill will of the past should dictate the terms and direction of the future. Each of us firmly believes the United States Senate needs a fresh start.

Forgive me for being a bit testy, but is he implying that there were no abuses under Clinton? If he thinks that only "strict constructionists" should be on the bench, then I guess he might not think that blocking Clinton's appointees was that bad.

And now Cornyn's hearings make a little more sense: whatever his other motives, he's also attempting to curry favor with Bush by going on the attack in the Senate. Looks like he's gearing up for a long tenure.