The DailyKOS thread excerpted below contains a legion of statistics and real roll call votes showing the GOP senators, including Frist and his cohorts, repeatedly used the filibuster to try to prevent Democratic nominations from getting up-or-down floor votes.

The Constitution makes no distinction between the President’s nominees for judgeships and his nominees for other positions. US Constitution, Article 2, section2, clause2 “and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States . . . .”

It’s disengenuous for the Republican spinwits to try to portray the Democrats in a bad light for doing the same things as the Republicans have been doing for decades. But Limbaugh-Hannity-Coulter-Fox will continue to spin things, rather than engage in reasoned debate.

It’s interesting that the President seems to be reluctant to appoint people for judgeships who are less objectionable to the Democrats. Certainly Bush could find some mainstream Republicans out there to appoint in place of the lightning rods.

But political battles keep the spinwits mouthing off and keep the people talking about the Republican agenda, and so I guess the fighting pays dividends in terms of publicity.

Daily Kos :: Caught with their Pants Down–43 GOP senators
So what does the record show? –> Senators regularly have made presidential nominees surmount the 60-vote hurdle.

The same single clause of the Constitution covers the approval of all nominations made by the President. It’s Article 2, Section 2, clause 2. There is no constitutional distinction for judges, diplomats, cabinet.

How could members of the Judiciary Committee (lawyers all of them), its chairman, Orrin Hatch, then-majority leader Bob Dole (1995), future majority leader Lott, future Attorney General Ashcroft, Sen. Arlen Specter (1994), whip Mitch McConnell have voted repeatedly to filibuster Presidential nominations in violation of the Consitution? How do they square it now?