Consensus Builder

By Zamboni

We cats have been so busy today that we've only had the chance to read a few headlines. So we suspect that lots of our fellow bloggers have already said everything necessary and appropriate about Senator Byrd. But to any Republicans who are criticizing the late Senator for serving through old age and illnesses — and making fun of his long-ago membership in the KKK — we reply with two words: "Strom Thurmond."

Anyway, peace be upon him. We well remember Senator Byrd visiting Carter-Mondale headquarters in Pittsburgh and playing his fiddle for volunteers and staff.

Meanwhile, it's been very amusing to watch the GOP scratching its collective head about how to attack future Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. We're sure that the teabaggers over at Free Republic are having babies when Republican Senators like Scott Brown praise her, which is fun to think about. But at the same time, we'd like to caution our friends and colleagues on the liberal side about two things:

1) Before we complain about Dean Kagan, we should remember what kind of person would be sitting in front of the Judiciary Committee if President McCain (or President Palin) had made the nomination. We don't think it would be somebody who admires Thurgood Marshall.

2) We need to remind ourselves that Dean Kagan's job on the court will not be to make completely perfect liberal decisions, but to convince "Mr. Swing Vote" Anthony Kennedy to join her, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer to overrule the four Nazi guys. We hear she's mighty persuasive that way.