This little game of dirty pool had its beginnings last year when Jim Jeffords defected. It turns out that as part of his deal in the defection, he had to be assured by the incoming Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) that he (Jeffords) would keep his Senate Committee chairmanship. With that part of the deal done, Jeffords was free to go through with his intention of becoming an independent.

Now that the Senate is in Democrat hands (again!), they have made it perfectly clear they plan to resume the practice of “Borking”. For those unfamiliar with this term, it had its beginnings in 1987 when Ronald Reagan was President. A member of the Court of Appeals, Reagan had nominated Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, and that had Liberals in a major stink. Enter Norman Lear of Hollywood fame (All In The Family) and his group, ironically called “People for the American Way.” They mounted a very slick, expensive advertising campaign, rallied everyone and anyone who would listen and Bork’s nomination went down to defeat on the Senate floor – hence the term “Borking” became part of the Capitol Hill lexicon.

Supreme Court Justice Antonon Scalia

What makes all this so odd is that Antonin Scalia, who had been nominated to the High Court a year earlier to replace William Rehnquist when he became Chief Justice is that Scalia (right) is even more conservative than Bork, and Scalia sailed through both the Committee and the full Senate on unanimous votes.

The practice of “Borking” continued on judicial nominees after Bork because Democrats knew they could get away with it. In Lee Roderick’s unauthorized bio on Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Leading the Charge, Roderick describes the confirmation battle for Rehnquist as the “Rehnquisition” and also goes into considerable detail over the attempted “Borking” of nominee Clarence Thomas.

Judge Charles Pickering

It seems that the latest target of potential obstructionist tactics/“Borking” is Charles Pickering (left), a federal judge who Bush is seeking to appoint to the Court of Appeals. Democrats, still unhappy with the results of the 2000 presidential election (in other words, they’re peeved that their boy lost his own home state of Tennessee) are seeking to settle the score with Bush by blocking as many of his appointments as possible.

This seems to be in direct contrast to the way that Republicans do business, and this may in many ways, be the undoing of Republicans. When Republicans seized control of both the House and Senate following the seismic midterm elections of 1994, Hatch became Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, other Republicans came forward and suggested that now would be a good time for payback. Hatch made what I consider a serious, if not potentially fatal mistake by saying that they would not be that way and that they would allow all but the most seriously flawed nominees to sail through.

Unlike most who have come to the White House, Bush came to office having an established record of effective bipartisanship. The gridlock that is being directed against him by a spiteful Senate is such that the Republicans in the Senate need to acquire some stones and take a page out of the Virginia playbook. By that, I mean what happened when the House of Delegates realigned the boundary lines last year in such a manner so as to make the legislative boundaries so pervasively Republican that just about all the major Democratic leaders in Virginia politics either retired or otherwise stepped down.

As one reader in a discussion list best put it, “Just as Maryland is hopelessly Democratic, so Virginia has become hopelessly Republican. Take no prisoners. Either kill or be killed.” This is something the Republicans currently in power need to keep in mind unless they plan on retaining a minority status in the Senate (and possibly the House if they aren’t careful) for the remainder of my lifetime and that of my children.

Former President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)

Don’t think it will happen? Well, when Jimmy Carter (right) took office in 1977, he enjoyed a veto-proof House (292-143) and a filibuster-proof Senate (62-38), and the fact is, even they didn’t want to play ball with him. When Carter left office four years later, the GOP had seized control of the Senate 54-46, a net gain of 16 seats and made sizable gains in the House, laying the groundwork for the midterm shocker of 1994, where both the House and Senate went into GOP hands, with a net gain of 54 GOP House seats in that one night alone.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)

The actions of House and Senate Democrats in my opinion are not representative of mainstream American Democrats and are in effect, a suicidal gesture on the part of these elected officials who are more interested in advancing their careers than in pursuing America’s best interests. Look no further than Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY, left) to see what I mean. It is actions by opportunists such as these that will hopefully wake up the American people in such a manner that they will turn out at the polls in increasing numbers at the polls in November. Given sufficient numbers, it could affect the outcome of Senate control inasmuch as 34 Senate seats are up for grabs, to include the unexpired portion of the late Mel Carnahan’s (D-MO) term.

The days of dirty pool on the part of the Democrats need to come to an end if for no other reason but to ensure that the American people do not seal the fate (or doom) of the Democratic Party to the history books, which as much as I disagree with some Democrats in the arena of public politics, would be a tragedy. There are many Democrats who have served their country well and honorably. Some of my favorite Democrats have been and are former Senator Sam Nunn (GA), the late Henry Jackson (WA), Tom Carper (DE) and Daniel Inouye (HI) among others. Each of these fine men have made valuable contributions to the American political landscape, and while I do not agree with any elected official 100%, I have come to respect these men among others for the fine work they have done in making their contribution to making America a better and safer place in which to live.

The time for dirty pool on the part of either Democrats or Republicans is (or at least should be) over. If you kick any dog long enough, it will eventually do tricks for you. Just don’t be surprised if that dog eventually bites you on the butt, like the voters did to the Democrats in 1994. It happened once – it can (and will) happen again.

All I can say is that the Democrats had better watch their back.