Kyl On Sotomayor: Slow Down. Kyl On Alito: Hurry Up.
Hmm, this one is pretty amusing. In reacting to the Sonia Sotomayor announcement, GOP Senator Jon Kyl said that when Samuel Alito was nominated to the Supreme Court in 2005, Dems were given some three months to consider the pick. Kyl today asked for Dems to extend Republicans the “same courtesy.”
But back in 2006, Kyl actually hammered Dems for wanting time to consider Alito, saying that it should only take the Senate a “couple of days” to debate the choice.
Kyl, in a statement today:
“When Samuel Alito was first nominated on October 31, 2005, the minority was afforded 93 days before he received a confirmation vote on January 31, 2006.
“I would expect that Senate Democrats will afford the minority the same courtesy as we move forward with this process.”
Kyl, speaking about the Alito confirmation battle in 2006 (via Nexis):
“One might wonder why we would need more than just a couple of days of debate (the average of recent nominees is two to three days), especially since nothing new has been said for weeks. But, if the public has noticed anything during this process it is that senators value their right of unlimited debate.”
Indeed, one of the chief reasons that Alito’s confirmation hearings did take 93 days, as Kyl now says, is that the hearings were put off so that Kyl could get back to his state and campaign against a stiff Democratic challenge he was facing in the fall of 2005. And then, once the hearings were rescheduled, he pushed for them to be wrapped up in a “couple of days.”
So it’s not clear what Kyl means when he says Dems were extended the “courtesy” of a delay at the time.
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O I kind of like the fact that Huckabee publicly attacked “Maria” Sotomayor.
The GOP: the ultimate gift for all your liberal family members and friends. Don’t forget to pick up one for yourself today and it’s never too early to shop for the holidays!
It means he’s a BS artist who’s forgotten that the Internets will save everything you ever said and throw it back in your dumb face.
You have to believe that Republicans hate the day the internet was ever invented, doubly so for youtube. It makes flip flopping a LOT harder lol.
Tena,
I read that. It was just so sh***y. The ******* didn’t even have the decency to get the future SCOTUS judge’s name correct. Of course she’s Hispanic, so she must be named Maria!
***.
Greg: Aren’t you confusing the scheduling of hearings with the amount of debate once the hearings have begun?
So predictable lol
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http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200905260035
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http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200905260036
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Any chance a journalist might ask Republicans if they agree with Rusbo?
Stuck in moderation.
Seems clear that Kyl is simply asking for hearings to not be hastily scheduled. That is, “Since Sandra Day O’Connor’s nomination by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, the average number of days between the designation of a nominee and the start of hearings has been 45 days.”
Kyl is merely asking for time to examine her record prior to holding confirmation hearings. Thereafter, debate should be concluded within a couple of days. Nothing controversial or unusual here at all . . .
seems very clear to me, too, sbj.
And even if Kyl did delay the people’s business so he could go campaign, I hardly think he is the only elected official who ever pulled something like that. Show me one who hasn’t.
if they weren’t hypocrits they wouldn’t be repubs. Kyl is
one of the worst. Dishonest to the max.
if memory serves kyl led the pack saying dems shouldn’t filibuster
court nominees. that was then, this is now. so what else is new.