In his Washington Post column today (2/25/10), George Will writes in defense of the filibuster, arguing that Democrats’ talk of using budget reconciliation rules to pass ahealthcare bill demonstrates their contempt for the Constitution.
He has been perfectly consistent on the question of minority rule–it depends on who the minority is.Back when Republicans filibustered a Clinton economic stimulus bill in 1993, hecheered them on in a column headlined “The Framers’ Intent” (Washington Post, 4/25/93). Will defended “the right of a minority to use extended debate to obstruct Senate action” and praised “the generation that wrote and ratified the Constitution” for properly establishing “the Senate’s permissive tradition regarding extended debates.”
When the Democratic minority attempted to block a Bush judicial nominee, he was suddenly, without explanation, against the principle that the minority party should have such powers–in a piece headlined “Coup Against the Constitution” (Washington Post, 2/28/03). As Steve Rendall wrote in Extra! (9-10/03):
Concerned that “41 Senate Democrats” might succeed in stopping the confirmation of Miguel Estrada, nominated by George W. Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Will wrote: “If Senate rules, exploited by an anti-constitutional minority, are allowed to trump the Constitution’s text and two centuries of practice, the Senate’s power to consent to judicial nominations will have become a Senate right to require a supermajority vote for confirmation.”
Well, today, in a column headlined “For Liberals, the Filibuster Is Now the Enemy,” Will sees it differently. Now when he thinks back on Republicans attempts to junk the filibuster toconfirm Bush’s judicial nominees, he recalls that that was a bad idea:
In 2005, many Republicans, frustrated by Democrats blocking confirmation votes, wanted to ban filibusters of judicial nominees. They said such filibusters unconstitutionally prevent the president from doing his constitutional duty of staffing the judiciary. But this is not just the president’s duty; the Senate has the constitutional role of consenting–or not–to nominations.
So the George Will Constitutional Theory goes something like this: Filibusters are good when Republicans do them, and bad when Democrats do them. And he has the chutzpah to mock both parties as “situational ethicists regarding filibusters.”
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Someone finally itemized the sins of George F. Will, at least on this one subject. You have done society a great service.
But then, George Will bravely sounded the call against another threat to the Republic: blue jeans. Quote the Will, “Denim is the infantile uniform of [America].” Wodda jerk.
The filibuster is matter of long held senate rules and traditions. You can argue for or against it on many grounds, but it is not a constitutional issue. The word filibuster does not appear in the constitution. Anyone who suggests otherwise is making a partisan and not a constitutional argument. George Will is a partisan blow hard, a poor pundit whose academic pretensions merely make him uninteresting whether he is speaking about politics or, god forbid, baseball.
This partisan hypocrisy is rampant on both sides. GOP lawmakers railing against deficit spending now, while they spent up the debt for the first 6 years of the Bush administration. DEMs railing against the wars and illegal wiretapping but are now lock step behind those policies. Of course, they both line up right behind Wall Street, Big Pharma, and the Military-Congressional-Industrial-Complex.
We have a one party system, evident by the fact that the GOP did nothing to curb abortion when in power, and the DEMS have done and will do nothing about gun control. They don’t want to lose their “differences” which keep the masses divided.
Having voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 and Bob Barr in 2008, I’m a firm believer we need 3rd (and 4th, and 5th) parties.
Of course, another thing both parties agree on is their desire to keep a choke hold on the 2 party system.
Having completely lost my faith that our lawmakers are up to tackling the challenges America faces, I’ve turned to hoarding food, weapons, and other commodities. I simply see no other prudent course of action.
George Will’s life of thought seems to fulfill his family name. Will, not truth, Will, not wisdom, Will not objectivity, Will, not cooperation, Will, not humility, By George, Will!!!!! That’s the truth about George Will.
The only thing George Wallace ever said that made sense to me was: “You can put the Democratic candidate and the Republican candidate in a bag, shake it up, and you’ll pull out Tweedledum or Tweedledee.”
If the Vietnam war were still going on, George Will would still be a student somewhere! George Will is one of the biggest phonies on the planet. Chicken hawk squawk! George is consitently inconsistent!
GIA: George Is an ASS!
This is the kind of reporting I so often vainly looked for in the mainstream media – – an honest, accurate listing of the previous stances of pundits and politicians on important issues and comparing them to their current pronouncements. This is not to say that their opinions/positions on issues couldn’t shift over time IF there were significant, real reasons (which would also be noted by an honest reporter), but it would also quickly expose petty politicos who start out with the goal of blindly supporting their political party and then concoct justifications (psuedo-intellectual ones, in the cases of the late WmF Buckley and his toady Will). Instead, as FAIR so accurately notes, the MSM virtually always presents these statements/positions WITHOUT any historical context, and it too often ends up giving the hacks as much credibility as the heroes, and destroys a lot of any sense of continuity by just focusing on the present.
I wish someone would get up aletter to Mr. Will so that we could all sign a letter to him letting him know we know what a hypocrit he is.
Hypocrisy Rules, and we must all keep calling every politician and pundit on it, every time. Sadly our underslept, overstressed, Fox-watching countrymen and women need to hear other voices than little Newt, little George Will, and little Rush, et al, to balance their voting equilibrium. Keep speaking out, for America, for our children and theirs.
Here’s the kind of reporting that holds pundits accountable! George Will is one slanted son of a gun. The pretense of his being called upon as a “fair” or “balanced” news analyst is revealed for what it is-a pretense. FAIR shows us what true analysis is-an examination of facts to help with ones decisions. Thank you FAIR for slaking my thirst for honesty.
George Will is not supposed to behave like just another Repub party hack. He’s the most widely read columnist in America — one who admits to being conservative but who PRETENDS to be honest. Georgie has proven himself yet again to be nothing more than a 2- bit liar, hypocrite, and propagandist. Will knows this is certainly NOT a Constitutional issue, yet he he viciously attacks Dems on that basis. Meanwhile, the group of thugs in the GOP he he propagandizes for regularly dump on that “g-d piece of paper” just for sport.
We’re to believe reconciliation is WONDERFUL -if and only if- used by the Repugs when they want to funnel more money to the richest fat cats – like George Will.
Just out of curiosity, can anyone name a single Repub politician, pundit or writer alive today who isn’t a hypocritical liar?
Is there a tenure system for columnist? George Will is constantly wrong yet continues to recieve compensation. Is this the new American Dream?
George Will shills for the most conservative group in America, which includes titans of big business, and leaders of the biggest military in the world, even if very few of them could get through one of his leaden tomes. It must be the association that floats his boat. George Will is really one of those nostalgic, old-timey, Victorian-looking whores with pantaloons, striped socks, and stodgy shoes, disguised as a very conservative schoolboy that hangs onto his mom’s dress.
Daniel Leaf says:
“George Will is a partisan blow hard, a poor pundit whose academic pretensions merely make him uninteresting whether he is speaking about politics or, god forbid, baseball.”
You forgot to mention that he’s extremely wealthy.
i think that gun control should always be implemented at all times to reduce gun related violence.-.