Inhale, relax...This article, about the conventional wisdom that because of last month's deal, any filibuster against a Supreme Court nominee based on ideological grounds is now verboten, seems to have given a number of my bloggish cohabitants a bad case of the vapors. Rather than becoming emotionally overwrought about the alleged spinelessness of Ben Nelson, et al., let's remember the critical language in the deal, that all 14 signatories agreed that the Senate's role in giving "advice and consent" actually meant precisely that. To quote the agreement:

We believe that, under Article II, Section 2, of the United States Constitution, the word "Advice" speaks to consultation between the Senate and the President with regard to the use of the President's power to make nominations. We encourage the Executive branch of government to consult with members of the Senate, both Democratic and Republican, prior to submitting a judicial nomination to the Senate for consideration.

Now, does anyone think Bush is going to seek the "advice and consent" of any Democratic Senator before he nominates someone? Of course not. And that's going to be the hook that will be used to justify any filibuster, because let's face it, if we appear to be doing nothing more than the bidding of liberal interest groups, we're going to get slaughtered in the court of public opinion, just as we did during the Clarence Thomas nomination. The Bushies will stress the personal story of whomever the nominee is, about how he grew up the son of a sharecropper who had to walk ten miles to school every day, and paid his way through law school performing menial jobs, and we're supposed to respond by shouting, "he doesn't support Roe v. Wade," or "he'll end affirmative action," and get our asses kicked like we always do.

The "advice and consent" rationale, on the other hand, is about fairness, consensus, and adhering to the Constitution, and one that is easily saleable to the American people. It can also be tied to any ideological qualms we may have about a nominee, since we can always say that if the President had sought our advice, we would have recommended a more moderate, mainstream selection. And best of all, Lindsay Graham, whose role in the agreement was basically to mediate (he supports the "nuclear option"), and the other six Republican signatories have signed off on that. So chill out, my friends; that language was in the agreement for a reason.