Posted 12:05 AM by Robert

Ah, Yes. The Old Damning Self-Indictment, Petty Partisanship, Comically Overwrought Strategy!

These just in:

Los Angeles Times:

IT WILL BE A DAMNING INDICTMENT of petty partisanship in Washington if an overwhelming majority of the Senate does not vote to confirm John G. Roberts Jr. to be the next chief justice of the United States. As last week's confirmation hearings made clear, Roberts is an exceptionally qualified nominee, well within the mainstream of American legal thought, who deserves broad bipartisan support. If a majority of Democrats in the Senate vote against Roberts, they will reveal themselves as nothing more than self-defeating obstructionists. ... The angst expressed by some senators who feel caught between the pressure of liberal interest groups and their own impression of Roberts is comically overwrought

Washington Post:

JOHN G. ROBERTS JR. should be confirmed as chief justice of the United States. He is overwhelmingly well-qualified, possesses an unusually keen legal mind and practices a collegiality of the type an effective chief justice must have. He shows every sign of commitment to restraint and impartiality. Nominees of comparable quality have, after rigorous hearings, been confirmed nearly unanimously. We hope Judge Roberts will similarly be approved by a large bipartisan vote. ... [B]road opposition by Democrats to Judge Roberts would send the message that there is no conservative capable of winning their support.

Minneapolis Star Tribune(!):

This week's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings have been fascinating on several fronts, not the least for their jab-and-parry-exchanges between senators and Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. Whether you liken the proceedings to a fencing match or a "subtle minuet," as did Chairman Arlen Specter, they ultimately -- if messily, and sometimes testily -- accomplished their purpose. They showed that Roberts is both qualified and fit to serve as chief justice of the United States.

Yet, despite all this support from left-leaning media outlets, Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said Tuesday that he would oppose the confirmation of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. as chief justice - and there are increasing rumors that some Senate Democrats are trying to engineer as narrow a confirmation vote for Judge Roberts as possible.

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of this emerging Democratic strategy is its sheer, remorseless, counterproductiveness. In the presence of so much public liberal support for the Roberts nomination, as the Los Angeles Times(!) so ably notes, there could hardly be a more effective way for Senate Democrats to issue to themselves a damning indictment of petty partisanship and reveal themselves as nothing more than self-defeating obstructionists.

Yet, it seems increasingly likely that a good many Senate Democrats, perhaps a big supermajority of them, will do exactly that - with Senator Harry Reid leading the charge over the cliff ... and the New York Times (opposing Roberts) taking the hindmost.

As I noted previously:

Yes, it's a remarkable man, almost a unique man, that the Democrats of the Senate have chosen as their leader. Vain, violent, ignorant, insecure, vindictive, small minded, corrupt, emotionally bitter and incoherent, ineffective, insightless and unwilling or unable to suppress his own petty feelings for the good of the nation or his colleagues. A man who seems to believe that the world owes him a living and hasn't yet paid out enough in dividends and interest. Why did the Senate Democrats elevate him to be their leader?

That's a secret; and that would be telling.

And it is a secret never more impenetrable than it is today.

Odd the way the word "petty" seems to attach itself so naturally to the man's thinking and approach - even at the Los Angeles Times.

UPDATE: Perhaps the Damning Self-Indictment, Petty Partisanship, Comically Overwrought Strategy chosen by the Senate Minority Leader was just too dumb for him, or he decided that some liberal Democrat has to retain a bit of credibility for the next confirmation fuss, but Senator Leahy now says that he will support John Roberts.