Blarney

Regarding the constitutional duty of the Senate to give "advice and consent" on the Executive Branch's judicial nominees, one senator said this responsibility doesn't include denying judges a vote for partisan reasons: "If we don't like somebody the President nominates, vote him or her down. But don't hold them in this anonymous unconscionable limbo, because in doing that, the minority of Senators really shame all Senators." Who said this? Was it a disgruntled Republican, fed up with his colleagues across the aisle, who have taken the novel approach of filibustering George W. Bush's nominees? No, it was Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Leahy said this in 1998 (when Bill Clinton was president). Can anyone guess why he has changed his mind?