Judicial Flinching

Judicial nominee filibuster observations from
Charles Krauthammer:

the compromise legitimized the principle of the judicial filibuster. Until 2001, not once in more than 200 years had a judicial nominee been denied appointment to the court by Senate filibuster.

The Democrats broke all precedent by systematically using it to block Bush nominees
in his first term in the hope that they would recapture the presidency in 2004.
They did not, and have continued the filibuster into his second term. This violation of Senate tradition has now been codified in writing as legitimate so long as circumstances (``extraordinary,'' in the eyes of the beholder)
warrant.