i gotta admit i'm disappointed with the filibuster deal. the dems don't really get much out of this, and three of bush's nominees (including janice rogers brown, the worst one IMHO) will probably get on the bench for life.
of course, others might say that the dems got something--it preserves the filibuster for later. but it really doesn't. under the deal the dems have agreed not to filibuster nominees except in "extraordinary circumstances" and, in return, republicans won't eliminate the filibuster. but, at least on the NPR story i heard this morning, republicans also say that they reserve the rights to use the filibuster if democrats break the deal. so if democrats ever filibuster anyone, republicans can just say that it's not "extraordinary circumstances" and claim the dems have broken the deal. the long and short of all of this is that three of bush's nominees will go through and the republicans can always destroy the filibuster later.
as i mentioned before, the "nuclear option" got it's name because of the democrats' ability to retaliate and stop a lot of other stuff republicans want. under the compromise, republicans get three judicial appointments without fear of retaliation. senate democrats are so weak-willed, i had some doubt whether they would have the guts to go nuclear if the filibuster was eliminated. this compromise shows that my doubts about them were well placed.
UPDATE: richard cranium has posted the full text of the compromise agreement as well as a survey of reactions for the left and right blogisphere. watching the right howl can be fun. but just because people i disagree with don't like the deal doesn't make it good.
