Imtimidated Turtle McConnell Getting His Bluff Called

Mitch McConnell: Fear the (ugly) turtle.

The Ugliest Man in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has charged that Minority Leader Harry Reid (a Democrat) has been engaging in a "culture of intimidation" over judicial nominations.

My guess is that McConnell is intimidated because he may have to actually vote yes or no on a judge, rather than simply hold all of them all up with insider trading, waiting for a Republican president so he can pack the courts again (as was done by the Bushes).

Reid, a guy who normally waffles more than Mrs. Butterworth, countered, "Before the Republican leader accuses me of going back on my word, he should take a long look in the mirror. And he should spend some time in honest reflection of Republican contributions to the gridlock threatening this storied institution before he claims that, quote, 'there is no real problem here.'" The word McConnell is going back on is the deal he made with Reid to hold off on blocking judicial nominees via filibuster unless extraordinary circumstances prevailed. So far, extraordinary circumstances have surrounded all the nominations. Every one of them.

Reid gave some stats (in this report) : "Executive and judicial nominees ready for Senate confirmation have been pending an average of 200 days, first-term judicial nominees unanimously reported out of committee have waited nine times longer to be confirmed than those under President George W. Bush, first-term district court nominees have waited five times longer than those previously, and first-term circuit court nominees have waited more than seven times longer."