TAKE THE GUN, LEAVE THE CANNOLI

So they want a fight, do they?

Following through on a promise he has made repeatedly since his victory in November, President Bush yesterday renominated 12 candidates for federal appeals court seats whose confirmations were blocked by Senate Democrats during his first term.

The renomination of the judicial candidates promises to once again ignite an intense partisan battle with Senate Democrats. They have vowed to thwart Bush's nominees, whom they consider too conservative.

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Word of the nominations, which the White House had signaled in a December statement, was met with dismay from Senate Democrats and the activist groups that support them. Democrats vowed to continue opposing the candidates they had previously blocked.

We're not backing down on this, so we should expect some fireworks.

And from the Department of Irony, this:

Today, Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) spoke on the Senate Floor about a meeting with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Saleh, a Kurd. He said,

"And even though the results of the election were not complete at the time we were there, we knew they would be in a minority, and we asked, `don't you fear that the Shiites inevitably being in the majority, that you will be overturned?'
He says, oh, no we have a secret weapon. Mr. President, this is a Kurdish Leader in the middle of Iraq in the 21st Century who said he had a secret weapon.

And when we asked what it was, he said one word: `Filibuster'."

Isakson went on to praise Iraq for basing their government on American democracy and using the filibuster as "the way they would ensure that the majority never overran the minority."

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