DEMOCRATS FILIBUSTER PICKERING.Republicans failed by six votes Oct. 30 to stop a Democratic filibuster filibuster, term used to designate obstructionist tactics in legislative assemblies. It has particular reference to the U.S. Senate, where the tradition of unlimited debate is very strong. It was not until 1917 that the Senate provided for cloture (i.e. of the nomination of U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering to the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals. The 54 to 43 vote was immediately seized upon by Republicans in Pickering's home state of Mississippi to energize en·er·gize v. en·er·gized, en·er·giz·ing, en·er·giz·es v.tr. 1. To give energy to; activate or invigorate: "His childhood voters to elect Republican Haley Barbour Nov. 4 as governor. Barbour is in a race too close to call with the state's current Democratic governor, Ronnie Musgrove. Two Democratic senators voted for cloture The procedure by which debate is formally ended in a meeting or legislature so that a vote may be taken. Cloture is a means of terminating a filibuster, which is a prolonged speech on the floor of the Senate designed to forestall legislative action. : Zell Miller (GA) and John Breaux (LA), as did Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT). Three Democratic senators were absent: John Edwards (NC), John Kerry (MA) and Ben Nelson (NE). Bush nominated U.S. District Judge Charles W. Pickering Charles Willis Pickering, Sr. (born May 29, 1937) is a retired American judge. He received a B.A. from the University of Mississippi in 1959, and a LL.B. also from the University of Mississippi in 1961. Sr., whose son and namesake is a Republican congressman from Mississippi, nearly 21/2 years ago when Democrats were in the majority in the Senate. Shortly after the Senate vote, President Bush was in Mississippi using it to campaign for Barbour, praise the state's two Republican senators, Thad Cochran and Trent Lott, and make a plea about judges. "I want to thank Sen. Cochran and Sen. Lott and, of course, Haley, for standing strong with a nominee I named from Mississippi, Charles Pickering," he said. "I stand strong with Judge Pickering, and it's time for some members of the United States Senate to stop playing politics with American justice." Republicans see the issue as motivating voters, even though Musgrove and all the state's Democratic leaders support Pickering's nomination, too. Republicans hope the filibuster reminds voters of the liberal stance of the national Democratic Party and persuade them them to punish Mississippi Democrats. Musgrove, who was campaigning yesterday at the homecoming game at predominantly black Jackson State University Jackson State University, often abridged as Jackson State or by its initials JSU is a historically black university located in Jackson, Mississippi founded in 1877. , said the governor's race isn't about the president's visit. "I've said from the very beginning-this race is not about who can put the most ads on television, or who's got the most political friends," he said. "This race is about leadership, setting priorities, and putting Mississippi first." Musgrove has criticized Barbour as leaving Mississippi to lobby on the national stage. He also is counting on help from a large turnout among black voters, in part because Barbara Blackmon, who is African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. is running for secretary of state against Republican Amy Tuck. There was a racial charge to Senate debate on the Pickering nomination. The liberal lobbying group People for the American Way People For the American Way (PFAW) is a progressive advocacy organization in the United States. Under U.S. tax code, PFAW is organized as a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) non-profit organization. The current president of PFAW is Ralph Neas. has called him "hostile to civil rights" and NAACP NAACP in full National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Oldest and largest U.S. civil rights organization. It was founded in 1909 to secure political, educational, social, and economic equality for African Americans; W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Chairman Julian Bond has said Pickering "uses a racial lens to look at America." Much of the criticism centered on a case in which Pickering put pressure on federal prosecutors to reduce the sentence of a man who had burned a cross outside an interracial in·ter·ra·cial adj. Relating to, involving, or representing different races: interracial fellowship; an interracial neighborhood. couple's house. Supporters characterized the opposition as coming from special-interest groups with ideological agendas, such as the NAACP and the National Abortion Rights Action League. They said Pickering's commitment to racial justice goes back to when he testified against Ku Klux Klan Ku Klux Klan (k  ' klŭks klăn), designation mainly given to two distinct secret societies that played a part in American history, although other less important groups have also used leader Sam Bowers as a county
prosecutor when Bowers was on trial in the murder of civil rights
activist Vernon Dahmer. And they presented letters attesting to
widespread support from African Americans in his state, as well as
present and former Democratic leaders.
The cited an investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution concluding "the judge apparently acted out of a concern for fairness" because other defendants, including the ringleader ring·lead·er n. A person who leads others, especially in illicit or informal activities. ringleader Noun a person who leads others in illegal or mischievous actions Noun 1. , had received far lighter sentences. In the context, the votes of moderate Democrats Breaux and Miller against cloture were significant. Miller said Pickering "has been victimized by inaccurate race-baiting and political trash talk by the news media, members of Congress and Washington's liberal elite," Miller said. Gov. Musgrove was among other state Democratic leaders who wrote to support the nomination, for example, and former Democratic Gov. William F. Winter wrote to testify to Pickering's "long-standing commitment to the cause of racial equality and racial reconciliation." |
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