The question at stake in the Democratic filibuster of Mr. Estrada's nomination ultimately has nothing to do with race or with Mr. Estrada's allegedly inadequate answers. It is simply whether a conservative president can reliably place on an appeals court a qualified conservative against whom no serious complaint has been made. The answer must be yes; for if he cannot, the courts will become the province of those anodyne centrists whose views don't offend anyone with power.
I must say I still don't understand why a cloture vote would tear up the Constitution. Isn't that already being done by the RATs' filibuster?