Excremence In Broadcasting - The Nuclear Option

Has Rush Limbaugh been lying for so long that he no longer recognizes his lies as lies?

On March 17th, as transcribed on his website, Limbaugh spoke with a caller about Republican senators' threats to employ the Nucular Option to keep Democrats from filibustering Bush's most extreme judicial nominees. In defending this radical re-writing of Senate rules, he invoked the legendary fairness and bipartisanship which charactized GOP lawmakers' behavior during the Clinton Administration.

By the way, let's add to this the Republicans have never done this. The Republicans' attitude is: When the people of this country elect a Democrat to be president, for the vast majority of times the president is going to get his appointees. Now, there are a couple instances, the Republicans opposed Bill Lann Lee, civil rights in the justice department, and there are some other examples (emphasis added) and Clinton used the recess appointment here and there.

The italicized portion of the quote is a masterful use of understatement from a man normally not prone to such. Technically, Limbaugh is correct. Republicans did not rely on the filibuster to block President Clinton's judicial nominees. They did not need to. They controlled the congressional approval apparatus and they used it to block the nominations. Republicans denied Senate Judiciary Committee hearings to nearly 60 of Clinton's nominees.

"Some other examples," indeed, Rush.

By contrast, Senate Democrats have used the filibuster to block 10 of Bush's judicial nominees. Ninety-seven percent of the president's nominees have been confirmed.