Compromise...Sort of

Today 14 senators agreed to postpone the "nuclear option" (Trent Lott's term) and allow votes on three right-wing judges with questionable credentials. Indeed, Alberto Gonzales called Priscilla Owens an "activist judge" while they were both on the Texas Supreme Court. This agreement does not really accomplish much. It allows the Administration to claim credit for their corporate donors who supported the judges that will be voted upon, while allowing future elimination of the fillibuster if any Republican senator believes that the fillibuster was used in a case in which that was not an "extraordinary circumstance". This agreement is a failure for the possibility of true protections of minority party rights in the Senate.