Last week, Senate Democrats effectively defeated the nomination of Charles Pickering to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals through abuse of the filibuster. No doubt liberal ringleaders against the judge — Sens. Ted Kennedy (D., Mass.), Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.), and Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) — were pleased to add another Bush nominee's scalp to their collection, but with Tuesday night's Republican victory in the Mississippi gubernatorial race, as well as vulnerable Senate seats across the south and midwest in 2004, it may be Pickering who ultimately has the last laugh. The Pickering saga began almost three years ago when...