Now THIS is how an opposition party acts

Showing a startling and unprecedented hint of actually possessing a spine, Harry Reid threatened to effectively shut down the Senate if the Republicans exercise the nuclear option (or the "nukular option" if you ask other prominent leaders) to prevent fillibusters in the confirmation process of radical conservative justices. (Read about it at CNN and the AP wire.) Reid showed his cagey side when he assured people that such moves would not apply to legislation relating to vital national security interests or the continuation of critical government services.

Any such change would mark "an unprecedented abuse of power," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, wrote Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee.

Reid, the Democratic leader, exempted military and national security legislation from the threat, and said Democrats would not block passage of measures needed to assure continuation of critical government services.

The statement of course brought immediate and indignant condemnation from GOP bulldog Bill Frist.

"To shut down the Senate would be irresponsible and partisan," Frist said in swift rebuttal. "The solution is simple: return to 200 years of tradition and allow up or down votes on judges."

It appears that Mr. Frist is once again forgetting that he and the rest of the GOP, when they were the minority party, did exactly the same thing to a number of Clinton nominees. I suppose I should really stop being surprised at the way these guys continue to try to rewrite history.

For more historical revisionism, check out Capt. Ed. Even while including quotes which show that Bush has had more nominees approved than any president in three decades, he pretends that Republicans didn't do the exact same thing as the minority party.