The Washington Post editorial page chimes in regarding Senator Sam Brownback’s undemocratic blockage of Julie Finley and calls him out on the national stage:
The move may please Republican anti abortion activists, who have launched a campaign against Mrs. Finley, demanding that the president withdraw her nomination. But the hold is repugnant, on both procedural and substantive grounds. If a filibuster is at best a controversial way of deciding policy, allowing a single senator to have effective say over whether to hold a vote on a particular presidential appointment would seem completely unacceptable.
It will be interesting to see how Senator Brownback reponds to this very public, national criticism. Being a Senator from Kansas, he is not used to the level of scrutiny that comes with being a presidential candidate. Perhaps this will spur the Kansas media to pay attention to the hypocrisy. Anything that reduces ‘ole Sam to less of a diety in Kansas is a good thing.