Is it due?

So this commentator believes McCain's filibuster deal worked out great for the Pubbies and that conservatives owe McCain an apology. Here at PajamaGuy, we concluded at the time it was a win for the Dems.

Based on appearances, it's hard to imagine conservatives having done better for the supremes than Roberts and Alito. There was that one woman out of California, I think she was black, I can't remember her name, who might have been preferable, but in the world of judging getting your second and third choices instead of your first is not only generally acceptable, it's hard to kvetch about.

Of course, appearances can easily be wrong, and there's that gol' durn' life appointment thing. When these guys start signing on to Souter's federalism opinions we can all go hang ourselves (or get Oregon to do it for us).

But the question is, is the commentator correct, do conservatives owe McCain an apology? Put another way, was PajamaGuy (the blog) wrong?

The answers are no and no. Just because you lose a battle doesn't mean later events cease to happen or that you stop fighting. The filibuster gang of 14 did turn out to help Republicans, but so did the incompetence of the Dems, the great competence of the judges, and of course the Reagan Revolution that brought conservatism out of the closet and allowed it to flourish. McCain didn't end up destroying the Republic, and who knows, blowing up the filibuster may have had later bad consequences.

Frankly, the more interesting question is Specter. That's where I expected the knife, and it didn't come. Still might, but you've got to give the man credit so far.