What have Kennedy and Kerry wrought?

Ed Whelan notes that by forcing a vote on cloture, the Democrats have done three things.

1. Absent the filibuster effort, lots of attention would mistakenly have been focused on whether Judge Alito would reach the filibuster-proof level of 60 votes on final confirmation. If he were to fall short of that, the media would proclaim that the vote level sends a warning shot that another nominee like Alito could be filibustered. By forcing an actual vote on cloture, Kerry and Kennedy have deprived the Left of this pretend-filibuster argument.

2. Kerry and Kennedy have turned the wrath of the Left against those 19 Democrats (nearly half the caucus) who voted for cloture.

3. By using the filibuster weapon against a nominee whom the public rightly recognizes to be superbly qualified, Kerry and Kennedy have undermined Democrats’ future use of that weapon.

If you doubt that those 29 Democrats are the subject of anyone's wrath, may I call your attention this post? Terry Karney names "those sonsabitches" in his tirade and recommends his readers give them large pieces of their minds.