Dusty Johnson: “If any American sadly wants to see debasing of the institution, they have only to look at the strategy that has been…”

“If any American sadly wants to see debasing of the institution, they have only to look at the strategy that has been foisted upon this body and on the American people by the Republican leadership of this Senate with their fabrication of a ``crisis'' relative to the nomination and approval of Federal judges. There is no crisis. The fabricated crisis the media has talked about is a polite way of saying the phony crisis, the fake crisis. The reality of the situation is that this Senate has approved 168 Federal judges nominated by President Bush. The Senate has blocked the approval of 4 Federal judges, a remarkable 98 percent success rate. The ratio of unfilled judgeships is now at its lowest point in some 13 years. The pace of approval of judges is at a higher rate than that of past Presidents of either political party, and I think it is fair to say that of these 168 judges, most of whom I voted for, virtually all, if not all, were conservative Republican judges. The question is, Should there be some shred of moderation, some shred of bipartisanship in this institution relative to these judges who will serve life terms on the bench?”