Events bloggers should be aware of
1. Is Hillary Clinton making a sharp, right u-turn towards espousing a pro-life position?
2. Filibuster dead? That's what Bill Frist implied several weeks ago. He seems poised to abolish the rule. We may be seeing not only the death of liberal ideology, but also the crux of their foundation, the buttress of their waning power, Rule 22.
3. China is adding to its arsenal destructive ballistic and long-range missiles. White House and Pentagon officials are looking into sundry sources regarding the veracity of their ambitions.
4. Some influential black leaders in the Democratic National Committee are sticking to their guns and supporting Howard Dean for the leadership of the DNC. They jettisoned their party's notion that they have to move more to the middle in terms of choosing a leader.
5. Rice is the first female African-American in our nation's history to be nominated to a such a position. She has the support of prominent black Democrats. Many of them are shocked and somewhat incensed by the strong opposition of fellow Senators. Does race play a role? Hey, you never know.
6. Alberto Gonzales, nominated by President Bush to become the first Hispanic U.S. Attorney General in our nation's history, was approved on a party-line vote of 10-8 and sent to the Full Senate for confirmation. Gonzales "is a man of decency, integrity, and honor who answered the questions before the committee as well as he could," Senator Orrin Hatch said. It comes down to the big question: Will the Democrats continue their filibusters against Bush's nominees? I mean damn, Gonzales was even endorsed by the largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, The National Council of La Raza. It would be a self-defeating move to filibuster Gonsalez. If the Democrats go along with the filibuster, 55 Republicans and five Democrats can put a stop to it.
7. Conservatives up in Congress, particularly social conservatives, are becoming extremely incensed with Arlen Specter's (R.-Pa.) hiring of partisan Democrats to serve as counsels on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Arlen Specter is the new Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Albeit a Republican, he has shocked many conservatives with his too centrist policy positions. He is sluggishly taking action on renominating Bush's appellate court nominees, whom Senate Democrats had filibustered and, he is hiring controversial Bush-haters to work in his staff.
8. We will see a new Vice Chairman of the House Rules Committee: U.S. Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican from Miami. Liberals are suspicious about it because he will have considerable power to kill votes and decide what bill gets to the floor. Some critics are saying that he will worsen the Lilliputian relationship we have with Cuba and tighten the current embargo.