Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), man of principle

The president nominates federal judges. Once the Senate approves the nomination, the judge serves for life. Any senator can hold up a nomination, preventing the nominee from receiving a straight up or down vote on the senate floor. That’s exactly what mega-conservative Jim DeMint of South Carolina is doing to one of President Obama’s judicial nominees:

DeMint (R-SC) has said he is holding up Marisa Demeo’s nomination to serve on the D.C. Superior Court because she has a “history of very leftist activism,” the Legal Times (sub. req.) reported today.

“There are just a number of things that don’t look like a fair and balanced approach that you’d like in a judge,” DeMint told the Legal Times.

DeMint’s criticism seems to be centered on Demeo’s work for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF).

The Legal Times story says Demeo has been pending “longer than the wait for any other [Obama] judicial nominee.”

Demeo, who is openly gay, was nominated nearly one year ago and was approved by Sen. Joe Lieberman’s Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee in May 2009.

Here’s something DeMint might keep in mind while he undemocratically prevents the Senate from voting on the President’s nominee:

There is a reason Barack Obama was elected to serve as President of the United States. It is because the majority of Americans trusted him to nominate judges.

There is a reason the American people elected a majority of Democrats to the Senate. They trusted our judgment to vote on judicial nominees.

There is a reason the Republican Party is in the minority in Congress. It is because the American people did not trust them to make these decisions.

I would love to take credit for that kind of epic partisan smackdown, but I can’t. I’m afraid the credit goes to…Senator Jim DeMint, who in 2005 said:

One of my goals as a Senator is to confirm highly qualified judges by ensuring timely up-or-down votes for all nominees no matter who is President, no matter which party is in the majority. That is my commitment, and I have encouraged Senator Frist to consider all options, including the constitutional option, to end the undemocratic blockade of judicial nominees. Senators were elected to advise and consent, not to grandstand and obstruct.

I would like to say something to my colleagues across the aisle. There is a reason George W. Bush was elected to serve as President of the United States. It is because the majority of Americans trusted him to nominate judges.

There is a reason the American people elected a majority of Republicans to the Senate. They trusted our judgment to vote on judicial nominees.

There is a reason the Democratic Party is in the minority in Congress. It is because the American people did not trust them to make these decisions.

The fact that Jim DeMint is a sanctimonious religious extremist makes his hypocrisy even more entertaining than it might ordinarily be. What a bunch of suckers South Carolina voters are.

Partisan Gridlock with Geoff Berg airs every Friday from 3:00 – 4:00 pm on KPFT, 90.1 FM in Houston, 89.5 FM in Galveston, and streamed live everywhere else at www.kpft.org. Connect through Facebook or at www.partisangridlock.com.