Filibuster: For It Before Being Against It Before Being For It
Let's remember this if and when Republicans decide to filibuster President Obama's judicial picks (emphasis added--ed.):
Focusing on President Clinton's judicial nominations in 1999, I described what has been the Senate's historical standard for judicial nominations: "Let's make our case if we have disagreement, and then vote." Democrats' new filibusters abandons this tradition and is unfair to senators who must provide the "advice and consent" the Constitution requires of them through a final up or down vote. It is also unfair to nominees who have agreed, often at personal and financial sacrifice, to judicial service only to face scurrilous attacks, trumped up charges, character assassination, and smear campaigns. They should not also be held in permanent filibuster limbo. Senators can vote for or against any judicial nominee for any reason, but senators should vote. -- Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), 2005
Remember the "nuclear option?"
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