Jim Inhofe: “I want to say this, first, though. Back when she was first nominated I was the first one to say I was opposed to her.…”

“I want to say this, first, though. Back when she was first nominated I was the first one to say I was opposed to her. The main reason was these things came up, most of them, when she was up to be confirmed for Solicitor General. At that time I objected to her being in that position. I have a policy--I think it is good; people in Oklahoma know it--and that is, if you oppose someone's confirmation for a position and then they come back later for a higher position, it is automatic because the bar should be higher. Anyway, today I want to reemphasize a couple of things that were mentioned by my friend from Arizona. One objection to the Kagan nomination is that she undeniably lacks the experience. I think Senator Kyl said it very well. People say there have been others in history that didn't have any judicial experience, but in those cases, they averaged 21 years of practicing law. They had that experience. This would be the first time in history we have someone with less than 2 years' experience and no judicial experience. That would be reason enough, but that is not my major objection. My major objection is her disdain for the U.S. military.”