ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Posted in Senate Rules — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Senator Santorum writes in the Washington Post:

Texas Supreme Court Judge Priscilla Owen .... has shown time and again that the American Bar Association got it right when it unanimously awarded her its highest possible rating. She was also reelected with 84 percent of the vote in 2000 ... [with] the endorsement of every newspaper in Texas....

Justice Janice Rogers Brown .... was called upon by her colleagues to write the majority opinion more often than any other member of the California Supreme Court. She was retained with 76 percent of the vote in her last election.

Hardly out of the "mainstream." Senator Lott sums up:

People outside the Washington Beltway don't care about endless debates .... They want results. Whether liberal or conservative, most fair-minded Americans would agree that every judicial nominee, regardless of ideology, deserves an up-or-down vote by the U.S. Senate --- a vote by your representatives.

And, on a silly note, Senator Reid's shutdown threats evoke a scene from Blazing Saddles:

SHERIFF BART: (deep voice) Hold it. The next man makes a move, the n*gger gets it.
OLSON JOHNSON: Hold it men. He's not bluffing.
DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON: Listen to him men. He's just crazy enough to do it.
SHERIFF BART: (deep voice) Drop it or I swear 'll blow this n*gger's head all over this town.
SHERIFF BART: (high voice) Oh lordy lord! He's desperate. Do what he say! Do what he saaaaaay!

John Armor gets credit (or blame) for this analogy. In any event, because a shutdown would likely hurt the Democrats more than anyone else, there probably wouldn't be a shutdown or even a slowdown.