Wildmon: Lott's Reported Filibuster Deal Hands Victory to Democrats
by Chad Groening
May 11, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Mississippi-based pro-family leader says he believes Senator Trent Lott has "sold out" to Democrats with a reported deal regarding judicial filibustering.On Tuesday (May 10), Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family went public on American Family Radio and other national programs stating that several reliable sources had told him Mississippi Senator Trent Lott has brokered a deal with liberal Democrats to preserve their right to filibuster the president's judicial nominees, in exchange for allowing some of those nominees to get an up-or-down vote. In Dobson's eyes, that simply meant "business as usual." (See earlier story)
Dr. Don Wildmon, founder and chairman of the American Family Association, was one of the first to hear -- and broadcast nationwide -- Dobson's claim. He agrees with Dobson that the reported deal does nothing to remedy the political stalemate.
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Dr. Don Wildmon |
"Really, nothing has changed," Wildmon says. "I feel like Senator Lott has sold out. I feel like those who voted for President Bush have had their rights stolen. The privilege of judicial appointments, which comes to the winner [President Bush] and those who put him into office, has been denied."Wildmon finds irony in that fact that Lott appears to have teamed with Senate Democrats. "[They] were the ones responsible for his losing his position as Senate majority leader," the pro-family leader says in reference to the events of December 2002. "He would rather help those who drove him from his position than those who put him in office."
The AFA founder stated on Tuesday his contention that the vote to end the filibuster could be perhaps the most important vote taken this year in the Senate -- and Lott's proposal, if indeed agreed to, would mean those calling for a return to the constitutional role of the Senate in the nomination process would lose.
"I don't think you can say liberals won this battle," Wildmon remarks. "I really think Senator Lott gave it to them."
In a prepared statement, Lott's office has denied that he has agreed to any deal, and says he has not changed his contention that all judicial nominees should have an up-or-down vote before the full Senate. The senator is scheduled to be interviewed live today (Wednesday afternoon) on the "Sean Hannity Radio Show" about the Senate's consideration of judicial nominations.
