David Weigel reports on the looming fight on judicial nominees, starting with a crucial D.C. Circuit Court vacancy:
Later this week it's likely that Democrats will file for cloture on the nomination of attorney Patricia Millett for a judgeship on the D.C. Circuit. It is likely that Republicans will oppose this. As Sahil Kapur explained in August, when the Senate Judiciary Committee gave Millett a partisan 10–8 recommendation, Republicans have coalesced around Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's idea to shrink the D.C. Circuit, stamping in place (for now) a conservative majority. You know, like the majority that ruled against Obama's recess appointments.
Did you catch that, right there? "Pack the court..." The Rethuglicans are up on their Orwell, we see.
"It is clear that the President wants to pack the court with individuals whom he believes will rubber-stamp his agenda," Grassley said in September. "When a President seeks to fill a court with ideological allies for the purpose of reversing certain policy outcomes, that is packing the court."
In their desperation to hold onto a right-wing majority on the powerful D.C. Circuit Court, Rethuglicans, led by that sphincter-faced Sen. "Up" Chuck Grassley from Iowa, are saying that filling vacancies now represents "court packing." In response, we fervently hope that Sen. Reid goes straight to the "nuclear option" on this and any other attempt to play games with the legitimate filling of court vacancies. Shut down any potential filibuster and get an up or down vote.
These obstructionist reactionaries will never recognize the legitimacy of Democratic governance. The only elections whose results matter to them are the ones they win. Screw them (again).
BONUS: Charles Pierce weighs in.
