Shocking, I Tell You

I never would have possibly hazarded a guess that my own Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican Minority Leader, would in fact put out a press release the day after the Sotomayor hearings to say that he cannot in good conscience vote for her confirmation and make a huge production number out of it.

A senior aide today told the Associated Press that McConnell plans to announce his opposition to her confirmation on Monday.

McConnell’s aide reportedly said that Sotomayor’s “statements show an alarming lack of respect for the notion of equal justice, and that he’s worried she’d let her sympathies and prejudices interfere with her decisions as a justice.”

Update: McConnell has sent out a statement including excerpts of his remarks he’ll deliver about Sotomayor on Monday. Here’s one:

Judge Sotomayor’s record of written statements suggest an alarming lack of respect for the notion of equal justice, and therefore, in my view, an insufficient willingness to abide by the judicial oath. This is particularly important when considering someone for the Supreme Court since, if she were confirmed, there would be no higher court to deter or prevent her from injecting into the law the various disconcerting principles that recur throughout her public statements. For that reason, I will oppose her nomination.

The rest of his remarks are here.

Hell, I figured he would put the press release out before her hearings. Apparently Republicans are pleading they need several months to carefully decide on the fate of health care reform when presented with draft legislation, but it only takes about 24 hours to decide you hate an Obama Supreme Court nominee. Not like that decision will have long lasting repercussions or anything that requires careful deliberation.

How does that work, exactly?