Senate Dems slander a good man

I’ve been negligent when it comes to reporting on the efforts of Senate Democrats to block the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and their accompanying smear campaign. Fortunately, Ed Whelan at NRO’s Bench Memos has been doing his usual great job, and you should check out his posts on the subject (just keep scrolling) from which much of the discussion below is drawn.
Judge Southwick was rated “well qualified” by the American Bar Association. He thus received the highest rating given by this organization, which has certainly not been prone to “grade inflation” when it comes to President Bush’s nominees.
It’s easy to see why Judge Southwick received this rating. After graduating from the University of Texas Law School in 1975, he clerked for Fifth Cirucit Judge Charles Clark, a very solid judge before whom I appeared a few times. Then, after more than a decade in private practice, he served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice