Most baldfaced lie I've read today

In tomorrow's New York Times (and probably elsewhere), you'll find this statement of opinion, immediately followed by two assertions of fact, made by the duly elected voice of the Democratic Party in the United States Senate:

"The president is at it again with the extremist judges," said Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat is the minority leader.

Mr. Reid said the Senate had made clear its position on the seven nominees.

"We should not divert attention from other pressing issues facing this nation to redebate the merits of nominees already found too extreme by this chamber," he said.

Sen. Harry Reid is a liar.

None of the seven judicial nominees just resubmitted by President Bush have ever received an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate. None of them were voted down by "this chamber." The only portion of the Senate to "[make] clear its position on these seven judicial nominees" were the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee — a tiny minority of the minority party — whose abuse of procedural rules has permitted them to deny these nominees the floor vote contemplated by the Constitution.

I don't know what percentage of the voting public genuinely understands the Senate's advice and consent role with respect to judicial nominees in general. But I'm quite sure that only a tiny fraction of the electorate understands that the total number of senators who have successfully colluded to deny an up-or-down vote to President Bush's nominees could fit comfortably in an average-sized minivan, and would leave the gap between second and third bases empty if they tried to field a baseball team.

So when Sen. Reid solemnly looks into the cameras and intones that "the Senate" has made clear its position, and that "this chamber" has "already found" these nominees to be "too extreme," only that tiny fraction will immediately recognize that the Honorable Gentleman from Searchlight, Nevada, is deliberately, brazenly lying through his teeth. It's not spin; it's not interpretation or opinion; it's not debatable. It's just a damned lie.

Restoring the constitutional integrity of the judicial nomination process for the third co-equal branch of the federal government isn't at the top of the list of national priorities. But I can count the more important issues on one hand with fingers left over.  Sen. Reid's suggestion that the Senate just is too busy with other more important matters is almost tantamount to another bald-faced lie. But at least it's the kind of slanted misinformation common to politicians — a matter of opinion rather than pure fact.

The so-called "nuclear option" — a term frought with rhetorical overkill for a procedural countermove that will do nothing more than oblige the Senate to perform its constitutional duty — looks more attractive to me every day. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was quoted today as saying he believes that he has the votes to employ it if need be. It will be ugly, provoking much wailing and moaning and doubtless more desperate spin and outright lies from the likes of Sen. Reid. But if it's handled properly, it will have the important collateral benefit of educating some larger fraction of the public.

And that will be a good thing, because in the end, Harry Reid and his party can't continue to lie through their teeth effectively to people who already know better.