Dr. StrangeRove: Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Nuclear Option

The Supreme Court nomination of John Roberts seems to have taken the predicted turn; Democrats have asked for all documents related to Robert's work for the government, and the White House has released almost all of it, while holding onto paperwork from Roberts' time as deputy solicitor general during George H.W. Bush's administration.

The current Bush administration currently says that documents relating to Roberts' work as deputy solicitor general will not be given to senators, citing attorney-client privilege, as stated by seven former solicitor generals in a 2002 letter.

"Any attempt to intrude into the Office's highly privileged deliberations would come at the cost of the Solicitor General's ability to defend vigorously the United States' litigation interests -- a cost that also would be borne by Congress itself," the former officials said in a copy of the letter obtained by CNN.

The letter cited was written by Seth Waxman, one of three solicitors general under the Clinton administration. The letter was sent on behalf of Waxman, Walter Dellinger, and Drew Days of the Clinton administration; Kenneth Starr from the George H.W. Bush administration; Charles Fried and Robert Bork who served under Reagan; and Archibald Cox, who worked for President John F. Kennedy.

The job of the solicitor general is to argue cases for the government in the Supreme Court. The seven former solicitor generals feel that breaching the confidence of this office would be detrimental to the performance of the solicitor general; which seems to be an entirely reasonable position… well, reasonable except to those who might want to obstruct the confirmation of a judicial nominee.

A presumably still bitter John "Magic Hat" Kerry, who is not a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was the first to call for the release of Roberts' written record, "in its entirety." This of course, is coming from a man who ran for the highest office in the land while refusing to release his own record.

Some newspapers are already quick to jump on the bandwagon of creating a Miguel Estrada-like battle between Democrats and the administration, where Estrada was filibustered for refusing to release his privileged solicitor general's office-related documents.

Estrada eventually withdrew his nomination due to Democratic stalling tactics, but it remains to be seen if Democrats will try the same tactic against Supreme Court nominee Roberts. In this instance, the media's prodding for an epic struggle between Democrats and Republicans is not in the best interests of their normal allies in the Democratic Party.

Reporters want copy and airtime, and Democrats ache to regain political power. If media liberals can successfully push political liberals into trying this same stalling tactic on Roberts that they did on Estrada, they will set the stage for their own disaster.

And. Then. Came. Rove.

There is every reason to believe that "Bush's Brain," conservative political strategist Karl Rove is once again deftly using the strengths and tendencies of the mainstream media and liberal politicians to practice jujitsu on the Democratic Party.

Unable to depose Rove via Nadagate, frustrated liberals might try to go after John Roberts in revenge. I'd wager the White House is counting on it. This would be a huge mistake, on par with thinking that a portly documentary filmmaker could really affect the outcome of an election.

Rove threw a head fake to the media from the word "go," floating a rumor that Edith Brown Clement, and later Edith Bunker might be the new Supreme Court nominee before he, err, Bush officially nominated the ultimate outsider that night: a white middle-aged male.

Roberts was anonymous when he was introduced, and by the time the political left was ready to begin an attack against him the next day, he was already known as the father of the adorable (and not gay) "dancing Jack." The moment that video segment came out, the Roberts family connected with every parent who'd ever had a four-year old act up in public. When Democrats were unable to mount an immediate and credible attack on John Roberts political views within the first 24 hours after the nomination, and Ann Coulter mounted an attack that painted him as not conservative enough, the ball game was effectively over.

Roberts has cute kids. He isn't the right wing extremist that liberals had shrieked that Bush would nominate. The American people said, "we'll take him."

Rove's brilliant strategy of getting Jack to take dance lessons and asking Fräulein Coulter to write her attack piece won the nomination before it began. What remains is just Another Rovian Plot™ to see just how far he can unhinge the Democrat Party.

Leahy gobbled up the bait first, quickly followed by Kerry. Others are sure to follow. If the trend continues and a complicit media keep pouring blood in the proverbial water, Liberal Democrats might work themselves up into a filibuster before they realize that it is their own hemoglobin that has them in a frenzy.

Completely oblivious to the outside world by In the Beltway madness, Democrats will not see the Nuclear Option coming down until it comes to a vote, and this time, the American people, sick to death of Democratic scheming, will be behind it 100%. The filibuster will die because of Rove's brilliance and a $39.95 dance class for a four year-old, and within a week of Roberts' confirmation, Rehnquist will step down.

Coulter's nomination to the Supreme Court will be immediate, and without the filibuster, unstoppable. The Scalia Court will be Rove's legacy to the world.

I must say that I've learned to be at peace with that.