united we grandstand

By Todd Stadler · Saturday, March 8, 2003 1:18pm

It's well known that President Bush is a uniter, not a divider. Which makes the failure to vote on, much less confirm, judicial nominee Miguel Estrada all the more strange.

Or maybe it's just the wording used by our uniter-in-chief's administration as both sides play politics as usual.

Fifty-five senators voted to end the Democrats' filibuster, with forty-four voting to continue "debate". Sixty votes were needed to proceed to vote on cloture.

Of those united fifty-five, fifty-one were Republicans, and four were Democrats.

But, according to Ari Fleischer, "There's a bipartisan majority [in Congress] to confirm him," but "there is an obstructionist minority made up of liberals who oppose [Estrada]."

Just so we're clear on that, the "bipartisan majority" is composed of all fifty-one Republicans, and four Democrats. And the "obstructionist minority" is composed of forty-four Democrats, or 92% of their number in Congress.

It's a funny kind of bipartisanship, I guess. Heck, it's a funny kind of unity.

E pluribus duo.