Apparently I have nothing to worry about

If I believe Robert Kuttner in the Boston Globe, I have nothing to be upset much less concerned about in this Senate deal. Problem is, I'm not sure what universe Kuttner is writing in. This "analysis" of things so mis-states and misunderstands the conservative position that it's like reading a 5th-graders attempts at explaining Economic theory; he just isn't getting it.

Too harsh you say? Well, start with the headline: "Bush and Frist got what they wanted." Huh?! The explanation of the thesis becomes a conspiratorial exercise in deceit and underhanded politics:

By threatening what amounted to a parliamentary coup d'etat, Frist got nearly everything he wanted. A rules change requires a two-thirds vote. Frist's ''nuclear option" would have had the leadership rule from the chair that the filibuster can be scrapped for judicial nominees; then a simple majority of 51 senators would have upheld the parliamentary ruling. End of filibuster.

Faced with bad publicity for this show of crude force, several Republicans looked for a face-saver that would still preserve the substantive result -- confirmation of extremist nominees. They and Frist won. This was no mutiny against the Senate leader; it was merely a change of tactic.

I find this hard to swallow. For all the shouting about extreme extremists and their extremism (and this is a point made by others smarter than me or my dogs), the very fact that Dem leadership would allow any scenario where they win confirmation is telling, to say the least. It wasn't about the extremism, it was, among other things about establishing the precedent prior to the next SC nomination.

From here, Kuttner moves to a clarification of the compromise and what's coming next: What does the vaunted compromise actually do? First, it guarantees an up-or-down floor vote on three of the most reactionary judges ever to come before the Senate: Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor, and Priscilla Owen. It was Democratic resistance to these appellate nominees that caused Frist to go nuclear in the first place. He and George W. Bush won. The three judges are now likely to be confirmed, and other extremist nominees will keep coming.

Second, the deal commits the GOP to relent on the plan to scrap the filibuster, but only for now. Frist is free to revive the nuclear option any time he likes, say, when the first Bush nominee to the Supreme Court comes before the Senate. Frist can hold this threat over the heads of Democrats, who are committed to minimize the use of filibusters.

I could almost believe that, but for the fact that we pretty much know for certain that at least 2 filibustered nominees are laying under the bus and one or more may be lying down a bit further up the road. Additionally, while Frist is not locked into anything through his own signature, this agreement explicitly ties the hands of at least 5 Republicans when it comes to any future rule change. The clarifications of Graham and DeWine not withstanding, I truly do not know how Kuttner misses this point.

As in any good piece of writing, the author saves his best for last: In the end, seven of the 55 Senate Republicans decided to pursue this ''compromise," leaving him two votes short. But if these Republicans were genuinely moderates, they would not just be providing this parliamentary fig leaf; they would be voting against confirmation of these extremist nominees when they come up for a floor vote.

If you want to look for profiles in courage, see whether ''moderate" Republicans like Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, John McCain of Arizona, and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island actually oppose any of these nominees. For the most part, these people posture moderate and then do Bush's bidding.

You almost have to re-read that last line. "For the most part, these people posture moderate and then do Bush's bidding." Precisely. McCain was secretly acting as a Bush proxy when he co-sponsored the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance reform legislation. Chafee was all about the Bush-agenda in his criticism's of- and votes on the war in Iraq. No doubt!

For the most part, these people posture moderate and then do Bush's bidding. I wish!