ESTRADA REDUX: Here at Patterico’s Pontifications, we aim to please. I have gotten yet another request for more on Estrada, and I do have a lot to say, so why not get started? Estrada, of course, is the Bush judicial nominee who is getting filibustered by Senate Democrats for no good reason whatsoever.

The main point to make — the one that takes precedence above all others — is that the Democratic arguments regarding him are all complete horsefeathers (this is a family blog, so the more appropriate term is left to your imagination). I started a post to explain why, but there were too many silly arguments to refute, and 4-5 reasons why each argument was silly. The post was just too long. Plus, the arguments have all been refuted thoroughly here — in a letter from Alberto Gonzales to Sen. Leahy and Sen. Daschle. Read it, if you have the time (it’s even longer than the post I started).

If you have any doubt about whether Leahy, who is leading the Estrada filibuster, is a complete hypocrite, let me put that to rest right now. Here is Pat Leahy in 1998, in his own words: “I have stated over and over again on this floor that I would refuse to put an anonymous hold on any judge; that I would object and fight against any filibuster on a judge, whether it is somebody I opposed or supported; that I felt the Senate should do its duty. If we don’t like somebody the President nominates, vote him or her down. But don’t hold them in this anonymous unconscionable limbo, because in doing that, the minority of Senators really shame all Senators.” 144 Cong. Rec. S6522 (June 18, 1998). You can read it for yourself here — in a press release on Leahy’s own web site.