Richard Shelby has, essentially, committed an act of terrorism against the U.S. government: the senator from Alabama has taken 70 hostages and will release them in exchange for an exorbitant ransom roughly $40 billion in government spending on defense contractors in Shelby’s home state.
Today, Matthew Yglesias cites Harold Meyerson and says hey, if the Republican party is going to stand by as their colleague from Alabama baldly exploits procedural weaknesses to cripple government, then Democrats and the president should feel no shame in appointing all of the nominees during the upcoming recess, thus avoiding the confirmation process and Shelby’s hijack attempt.
I agree with Yglesias on this approach; we discussed this the other day. Dems need to get their talking heads out en masse, however, ahead of, during, and after such a move. Based on what I’m seeing in the mainstream media (google “Richard Shelby + hold + CNN” to see what’s *not* there), Dems will get pilloried in the press for playing hardball.
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