The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

So Senator Sam Brownback has been caught in yet another astonishing act of hypocrisy. After railing against Democrats for holding up some of President Bush’s nominees, he is now holding up in committee the nomination of Julie Finley to be U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. This is one of President Bush’s nominees. Senator Brownback is apparently angry that she is pro choice. The ridiculous part is that her position has nothing to do with setting abortion policy. He opposes her nomination solely based upon her personal views.

Opposition is fine. If he wants to vote against her in the full Senate, that is certainly his right. However, bottling her up in committee so that she never gets a vote is extremely hypocritical. Doesn’t Brownback believe all such positions receive an up or down vote from the senate?

Apparently, this is even too much to swallow for some republicans. From RedState.org, a popular republican political blog:

On the issue of Bolton’s nomination, we were particularly upset when Senator Boxer placed a hold on his vote (since lifted) because it represents an even more odious version of the filibuster- one that can be used by one Senator only. Sen. Brownback should certainly not be immune to criticism for his use of this undemocratic procedure, even though the great majority of Republicans may agree with his justification. He was behind the President on the nuclear option. Why he now chooses to violate the spirit of that principle is incomprehensible, no matter how pro-life he is.

This brazen act of hypocrisy seems to have rattled even seasoned partisan hacks. It should. Brownback clearly needs to explain his position on this matter. Calls to his Washington D.C. office were never returned.