For Frist, Tough Agenda and Conflicting Pressure

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"I can play hardball as well as anybody," he said, unprompted, at the end of a recent interview. "That's what I did, cut people's hearts out. On the other hand, I do it to cure them, to heal them, to make them better."
...
The Senate, because of its rules protecting minority rights and unfettered debate, requires 60 votes for true control, the number necessary to break a filibuster and end debate. The chamber has 55 Republicans, which means that at crucial moments, like moving for a vote on controversial judicial nominees or Social Security, leaders need support across party lines.

Dr. Frist and the Democrats are heading for an extraordinary showdown - some scholars say historic - over filibustering judicial nominations. Democrats have blocked 10 of about 50 nominees to the appellate courts. Dr. Frist is warning that unless Democrats allow all of Mr. Bush's nominees to go to a floor vote this year, he may seek to change the rules of the Senate to end judicial filibusters.

Democrats say it would fundamentally change the nature of the Senate, and vow to retaliate with parliamentary warfare. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the new Democratic leader, said the rule change - called the nuclear option by Democrats - would affect the chances for bipartisanship across the board. "You can't have it both ways," Mr. Reid said in an interview. "We're not going to have the nuclear option one day, and kiss and hug the next."

http://nytimes.com/2005/02/02/national/02frist.html?hp&ex=1107320400&en=a382026d9bc9ed97&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Meeeeooooooow!

Meeeoo-----

:scared:

-- about a seemingly mild-mannered Senator from a U.S. border state who happens to be a physician and who begins to slowly unravel under increasing political pressure in the capital?

And on nights when the debates have been especially contentious, he walks through the thick fog along the Potomac -- slowly, deliberately, the sharp thing in his hand catching the blurred light of a streetlamp....

Ronny McDowell? Roddy McDowell -- don't remember his name... could star as:

DR. FRIST: c a t b u t c h e r

:scared: