In "Frist fence flakeout?" this past Monday I raised the question that Mickey Kaus posed after watching Senator Frist on one of the Sunday television gabfests. The post prompted a response from Stephen Smith, Senator Frist's online communications coordinator, assuring us "that Senator Frist isn't 'flaking out' and that he is committed to a cloture vote on the Secure Fence Act this week."

Yesterday Senator Frist fulfilled his commitment, securing a cloture vote that passed 71-28. Senator Frist comments on the vote at his VOLPAC site. Mickey Kaus eats no crow over his misdiagnosis of "flakeout" from Senator Frist's body language on the Sunday show. However, apparently without reliance on body language, he now finds Senator Frist to be "brimming with feck."

Kaus still questions whether the act will pass based on a Los Angeles Times story on a "potential last-minute snag." By contrast, in the heading of his post, Senator Frist announces "secure fence act to pass" as a result of the cloture vote. I think he knows what he's talking about on that score, and on this one as well:

[T]he 27 Democrat Senators who opposed this crucial measure? Their votes serve as a reminder of the stakes of the elections this November. Democrats like Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Maria Cantwell, Robert Menendez, and Harry Reid have again proven they don’t understand what it takes to secure the homeland. They simply cannot be trusted to support real action to secure our borders and they cannot be trusted to lead.

Posted by Scott at 05:55 AM  |    |