The Vizini strategy

Pejman Yousefzadeh and Mickey Kaus think that the Democrats may vote for a cloture motion in the Priscilla Owens nomination in order to sidestep a vote on the filibuster until some later point, when a nominee for the Supreme Court comes before it. Something about this strikes me as the kind of cleverness exhibited by Vizini, Wallace Shawn's character in the iocane powder scene of The Princess Bride. If they want to hold off the showdown, all they have to do is drop the filibuster on Appeals Court nominees. I don't think they dare to back down on some of these nominees, because their big donor groups expect them to fall on their swords over them, and Republican small donors would be upset if Frist, et al. compromise on this issue. They would rather see them go to the mat.