Exercising those futility muscles

The Hill reports that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has warned that Senate Republicans may attempt to filibuster Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court.  Did he and Kim Jong Il attend some special Sorensen Institute seminar on statesmanship together?  Even assuming that Al Franken is not a member of the Senate by the time the nomination reaches the floor--though it seems increasing likely that he will be--the political ramifications of filibustering Judge Sotomayor on the Republicans' ability to campaign for Hispanic and Latino votes would be devastating.

Senator McConnell's comparison to the Democrats' filibuster of Miguel Estrada is inapt.  First, Senate Republicans are already considered to be hostile to Hispanics and Latinos because of the party's stance on illegal immigration; Senate Democrats were not so viewed when they filibustered Estrada.  Second, a Supreme Court nomination is much more visible and symbolic than a court of appeals nomination.  Third, any hostility Senate Democrats may have earned for their treatment of Estrada was purged by President Obama's nomination of Sotomayor.

So this filibuster warning is about as effectual as a nuclear attack warning from North Korea.  Unless the point is really to look muscular for the right wing.  It's a shame the Senate Republican leadership has the same definition of statesmanship as the dictator of the DPRK.