Charles Schumer: Guest editorialist for the New York Times

Why oh why did I read the NYT editorial on Miguel Estrada? Maybe it’s because I had a desperate, fleeting thought that even the liberal Times would assess just a little blame on the Democrats for corrupting the judicial nomination process. Instead, they simply parrot the standard – how can I put this? – lies of Kennedy, Schumer, and Leahy.

If the Democrats in the Senate felt that Miguel Estrada was unqualified, or out of the mainstream, or didn’t answer questions, they had an option: they could vote against his nomination. Instead, the Estrada filibuster sets a new extra-Constitutional threshold for judicial nominees, beyond the long-standing “advice and consent” arrangement between the Federal and Legislative branches of government.

All I can say is: payback’s a bitch.