In the exchange of offers and counter offers between Sen. Frist, the Majority Leader and Sen. Harry Reid, the Democrat Leader, Democrats have made an offer to avoid a vote on the nuclear/constitutional option by confirming one of the four filibustered judges: Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor and William Myers with the choice to be selected by Republicans.

An offer to confirm any one of the those four nominees is an explicit concession that each is qualified for the court and that they are being held hostage as pawns in a convoluted chess game which has spiraled out of control. If the Democrats really believe each is unqualified, a “deal” for confirmation for any one of them is repugnant to the basic democratic principle of individual, fair and equitable treatment and violates Senators’ oaths on the constitutional confirmation process. Such “deal” making confirms public cynicism about what goes on behind Washington’s closed doors.