Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's decision to appear in a national telecast with prominent Christian conservatives -- who are calling for new Senate rules to seat federal judges and are assailing "the liberal, anti-Christian dogma of the left" -- drew fire yesterday from Democratic leaders. The April 24 "Justice Sunday" telecast is sponsored by the Family Research Council. Its president, Tony Perkins, said in a letter to supporters: "We must stop this unprecedented filibuster of people of faith." He was referring to Senate Democrats' use of delaying tactics that have blocked confirmation votes for 10 of President Bush's most conservative appellate court nominees. Frist (R-Tenn.) is threatening to change the Senate's long-standing rules in order to ban judicial filibusters, a move that Democrats and their allies virulently oppose. Several Democratic senators criticized Perkins's comments and Frist's planned participation, which were first reported in yesterday's editions of the New York Times. " [more]

• Pictured above: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn, addresses a crowd via teleconferencing at an evangelical Christian rally called 'Justice Sunday, Sunday, April 24, 2005 in Louisville, Ky., in an effort to rally churchgoers to protest the filibuster tactic used by Democrats to stall President Bush's picks for the federal court. Out of 215 nominations Democrats have approved 205 of Bush's judges. [more]