fromtheeditr

Photo of the Day: An Evening With Karen Chase

2013-06-19T22:39:00.002-04:00

This is your favorite editor with Karen Chase, the writer of Bonjour 40, and a woman I have come to admire a great deal in a short time. Karen was the guest teacher tonight at our Writers Series class at Community High School and her talk was superb. A natural teacher along with her many other talents. You'll have a chance to see her again Jan. 24-25 at Hollins University during the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference. Tonight, she taught "Blog to Book."

Irony: Cheney Screams About Leaking Secrets

2013-06-19T16:33:00.002-04:00

Valerie Plame: Victim of Cheney's CIA leak.

"The irony of people like Dick Cheney or Karl Rove whining and bemoaning the fact of the leak of intelligence, given my history and certainly Dick Cheney's intimate involvement with the betrayal of my CIA identity is really something."

--Valerie Plame, former CIA agent outed by Dick Cheney to columnist Robert Novak (story here)

(Photo: eoinbutler.com)

Praying When You're Told: Not a Good Thing

2013-06-19T13:36:00.001-04:00

"But teacher, I don't want to pray right now."

From a new survey:

"According to a Pew Research Center poll conducted last year, 65 percent of Americans said 'liberals have gone too far' in attempting to keep religion out of schools and government. A smaller number of Americans, around 48 percent of those surveyed, told Pew that conservative Christians have gone too far in trying to 'impose religious values on the country.'"

I don't quite understand why it is that the religious right--and even people who aren't with that group, but think forced prayer in school or anywhere else is okay--doesn't quite get that prayer is optional for individuals no matter where they are. I pray under all kinds of circumstances, in many different places and sometimes even during a conversation. Nothing and nobody stops me. It's my choice.

Forcing people to pray in a manner that is foreign to their belief, however, is as bad as forcing a person to eat horse meat if that is repulsive to him or to have sex with an animal. It is not natural, not pleasant and results either in total capitulation to a notion he doesn't believe or rebellion. Neither of those is good.

Praying when you want to is good, legal and ethical. Praying when you're told is none of that.

(Photo: nowpublic.com)

A Small Conicidence and It's Irresistible

2013-06-18T14:15:00.001-04:00

Sometimes the coincidences are just absurd to even try to figure out. What we have here is a six ounce jar of Pampa Marinated Artichoke Hearts I just bought at Big Lots, precisely because they are the Pampa brand. I could have bought three times the volume for the same price, but it's the Pampa--my grandgirl's name for me--that was the selling point.

I bought five jars. They'll be in Christmas stockings. The four I didn't eat, anyway. Had this one on my lunch salad.

Fixing Women's Basketball: Solutions Are Simple

2013-06-18T11:37:00.003-04:00

UT vs. UConn used to be the face of the women's game. No more.

For years, I've been a fan of women's basketball--and not just at the college level, where it is the most entertaining. That's beginning to flag, however, for a lot of reasons, many of them highlighted by former USABasketball and WNBA President Val Ackerman. She conducted a recent study (story here) on how to reinvigorate the women's game and has reached some reasonable conclusions that I suspect will be ignored for the reason most of these studies are ignored: officials want to protect their fiefdoms.

I came to the women's game in the late 1970s when, as a sportswriter, the women's game(s) offered a change of pace, a freshness, a look at a kind of purity in sport the men had lost long ago. I covered women's basketball, tennis, volleyball and a couple other sports (softball was not one of them then) with enthusiasm because of the new perspective.

Then came the University of Tennessee's basketball success and I was a semi-regular in Knoxville to see those great women's teams.

These days, though, UT is not on the top tier and the game in general has lost its appeal to me. I think a change began (for men and women) with the big, baggy uniforms and the shot clock, which I've always disliked. The women's basketball shrunk to four-fifths the size of the men's ball and that made sense, but the basket remains at 10 feet where almost no women can dunk. That is silly. It needs to be lowered, allowing one of the most exciting plays in the game to be more than a rare curiosity engaged in by Candice Parker and that monster from Baylor. I'd like to see it at nine feet.

Attendence is often dismal. From the story: "Only one team, Tennessee, averaged more than 10,000 fans last season. Of the 343 women’s teams in Division I, 205 averaged fewer than 1,000 spectators and 90 averaged fewer than 500." Some averaged fewer than 100 spectators. Almost all needed financial help from their schools or football programs.Tennessee's attendance (at a 24,000-seat arena) has declined in recent years.

Good shooting was always a hallmark in women's basketball, but shooting percentages at the top levels of college basketball last year were in the 30s (the three-point show was a flat 30) and the game is, frankly, too slow, the scores too low, the players boring and their uniforms far too large. This is the only sport where the athletes don't wear uniforms that fit (men and women). Track and volleyball uniforms are form-fitting--almost too much so.

Finally, the officiating in women's basketball, even in the Final 4, is just about the worst in organized sport from my perspective. I have no idea why these officials can't be consistent and predictable, but their lack of same creates confusion among the players and coaches and anger among the fans. Better training is an absolute necessity.

I still enjoy the women's game and will continue to for a while. Unless they don't change it.

Happy Father's Day: A Brief Rememberance

2013-06-16T08:33:00.000-04:00

Mom and Dad about 1957 or so. He was old for 47.

Dad at the barbecue grill about 1958.

It's Fathers Day again and I never quite know what to say. Dad died when I was 13 and I didn't know him all that well. When he was alive, he worked seven days a week, 364 days a year (365 on Leap Year) and when he was home, he was usually reading one of the seven or so books he read each week.

The only time I remember him playing with me, I caught a pop fly in the middle of my forehead (he'd nearly bounced it off the moon and I was only about 10) and knocked me cold. The one phrase I remember from that was Mom standing over me--supine--and saying, "George, he's just a little boy. You can't play ball with him like he's in the Major Leagues." Dad was an old college baseball (and football) player and he was just doing what he did, I guess.

Dad cooked for a living (hence the shot at the left), but he never cooked at home. Mom wouldn't let him near the kitchen ("You're too much of a mess") and he didn't mind, I'd say, any more than the cobbler wanted to make his kids shoes on his off-days.

For many years after Dad died, I had vivid dreams of him visiting me. They were so real that when I'd awaken, I'd fully expect to see him standing there, baseball bat in hand, motioning me to follow him outside.

He was the father of eight children and most of us have done alright with our lives (some--like me--had a hard time getting to "alright," but we got there) and I think we all retain his sense of justice, of integrity and of treating people the way we want to be treated--with respect, especially. Happy Father's Day, Dad.

Photos for Grandpa's Day: Hat Night at the Ballpark

2013-06-16T08:16:00.001-04:00

Pampa's hat is really--like, REALLY--nasty.

Grandaddy's hat fits just exactly right.

It was Oz Hat Night at the Salem Red Sox-Lynchburg Hillcats baseball game last night at LewisGale Centerfield (who's on first?) last night and his two grandfathers (one of whom is moi) provided the gear.

He first tried on Pampa's nasty as an outhouse cleaning brush Superman ("No, that's the family crest!") hat, then Grandaddy Wayne Dickerson's Parrothead lid.

Don't know which he liked best. Maybe the hotdog.

Photos of the Day: A 'Nice Haul' from Happy's

2013-06-15T12:57:00.001-04:00

A dramatically slimming Ariel Clark with my pretty German tablecloth.

Didn't buy this Red Ryder lead toy set (with Hopalong Cassidy pix included).

This morning's Happy's Flea Market run was a pretty good one, thanks in part to my pal Ariel Clark, who furnished a lovely German tablecloth (new) and a Captain America T-shirt for $3 total. I didn't buy her dad's Red Ryder cigar box full of lead toys, a poster and a Hopalong Cassidy photo inside because it was $50. It's probably worth $250, but I didn't have with me, either.

Also scored three (3!) old-style fountain pens (with two ballpoint pens) for $7, all of them new. Now I must find ink and an inkwell for the pens. Picked up a 1946 Argus flash unit for one of my cameras ($1), a new-in-package electronic mouse for my laptop ($1), a new pair of very sharp hair-thinning sheers ($1, Leah cuts my hair), a lighthouse wire sculpture ($1), three Women's Heart Awareness Month pins (25 cents), a red ribbon (25 cents) which I gave Ariel, and two pairs of pretty nice earrings (new) for $1 each. Leah gets those.

Nice haul, I'd say.

Oh, and on the way out, I got to see a near fist-fight between one of the ticket-takers and a guy who kept abusing the rules. The Happy's guy told him he was banned from ever coming back. The rule-breaker swore, "I'll be back." Hope I'm there when he is.

Fathers Day 2013: And Now for a Good Father

2013-06-15T08:48:00.001-04:00

My son Evan with wife Kara and kids Oz and Madeline yesterday on their front steps.

Ev with the kids and Oz's leftover pizza.


Kara and my favorite kid in the entire universe.

Maddie, her buddy Gracie and a delighted Oz.

Now that we have discussed (in the previous post) what a crappy dad I was, let us assure you that it is not a genetic condition. My son, Evan, is one of the best fathers I've ever known. Here he is two days before Fathers Day, 2013, with his brood. He won't get to spend the celebratory day with them, though, because he's heading to Europe for a few days of work beginning today. They're moving to Spain at the end of the summer and this is his introduction to his new workplace.

Father's Day: Even Drunks Get It Right Some of the Time

2013-06-15T08:15:00.001-04:00

Jennie and me shortly after we moved to Roanoke in 1972. This is on the Parkway.

Toddler Evan and me in 1975, Summit Hills, Roanoke.

Evan and Jennie playing in 1975. She's 8, he's 1 or so.

Jennie leans on her dad during a mid-'70s softball game.

One of my favorite photos of the kids (and their dog Daisy, center distance).

The responsible Miss Jennie cradles her little brother.

Evan's learning to walk; Jennie's his cheerleader.

Me with newbie Evan and his mother, Chris.

Evan and me on the front steps.

My contention has always been that I was never much of a dad, but it wasn't for lack of wanting to. I'm a recovering drunk--19 years this past May--and when the kids were growing, I was at my worst.

That does not mean every minute they were kids and I was Dad was a bad minute. There were times when I was lucid, attentive, caring and, well, a pretty good guy. But they rarely lasted before I lapsed. They both grew through it, Jennie probably getting the worst of it. I got sober when Evan was in high school and have been trying to compensate for years.

It took Jennie a while to come around ("You'll pardon me if I'm skeptical," she once said at my announcement of impending sobriety), but now we're close, like I always wanted. I've always adored that girl (woman, now) and the firstborn is always special in a way that nobody else can be. In the last eight years, Evan and his wife Kara, have presented me with two grandkids. I remember telling both of my kids that if they had children before I was 50, they weren't mine. I just wasn't ready. The grands came when I was fully ready and I've thoroughly enjoyed every minute of being part of their lives, especially Madeline's (as you probably know, if you've been paying attention).

So, I will thank god, my teammates, my coaches, my kids and everybody else who had anything to do with me finally growing up, ditching the booze and getting to the rewarding part of life: loving my good kids and good grandkids.

A Just About Perfect Thank You Note

2013-06-13T18:01:00.000-04:00

Got this Edible Arrangements package at my front door a couple of hours ago and it's supper time now. It won't last long. I love these as thank-you notes because they're wonderful tasting, healthy and you don't have to keep them beyond the next meal.

This one came for a little work I did for some lovely people who put on a press conference earlier this week and needed a little advice. The press conference was a singificant success and so is the edible giftie. Thank you back.

Valerie Garner Going Independent with Web Site

2013-06-13T17:13:00.000-04:00

Val at the recent Riverside Project press conference (the local daily missed it)

For the past couple of years, I've wondered--often out loud--why Valerie Garner was writing weekly for the weakly Roanoke Star, a newspaper that needed her far more than she needed it. Now, she's caught on to the wisdom of moving online and owning her words.

She is now putting all of her efforts--or most of them anyway--into Roanoke Free Press, her website and the Roanoke Valley political news you want will be there on a regular basis. You can catch her on Facebook and Twitter, as well, for the breaking stuff.

Val's work is often the best of any outlet in the Roanoke Valley and certainly the most comprehensive. The daily paper here has people with far better credentials, who write better and receive better editing, but Val kills them almost daily with her depth and her understanding of what she's writing and how it affects people.

I hope you will visit her site, mark it and see just how impressive this old lady is in her dotage. She's in her mid-60s and she's still beating the crap out of the journalism kids. Let me also suggest that any of you with a few advertising bucks to spend, throw some of the Val's way. This will help ensure she continues and we need for her to do that.

'Blog to Book': Three Questions for Karen Chase

2013-06-13T12:54:00.001-04:00

Karen Chase will read for you, too.

Karen Chase, a designer who once had a studio in Roanoke and who now operates out of Richmond, will teach this month’s Writers Series class of the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference Wednesday, June 19 at Community High School’s Limnal Space. Gametime is 6:30 p.m. There is no charge, but we will pass the hat at the end of the class.

In order to get you in the mood for Karen’s class “Blog to Book,” we asked her a few questions, teasers for the class. There’s much more to know than this, but Karen gets the conversation started below.

Karen’s book Bonjour 40 is taken from a blog she wrote when she celebrated her 40^th birthday with 40 days in Paris. She blogged about it daily and assembled the blog—with illustrations—when she returned. The self-published book is a gem and it is selling well. Here are the questions and Karen’s answers.

Should one write a blog with the specific goal of publishing it or should the blog simply evolve?

Writing a blog should always be geared toward readers and consequently, whether they are following the blog or picking up the book, it should be well written for either format. The best advice an editor gave me was to make it personal. A blog can contain facts or researched bits, but if also contains your view point, your outlook, it will inherently become yours.

How do you pick and choose among posts for inclusion in the book?

This is a tricky question and one I'd like to cover in the class instead, because it's such a long answer and it depends on many factors. Perhaps this question instead…Should there be different entries in the book versus what was on the blog? Answer: Absolutely. If your book is only the blog entries, you're now trying to sell a free cow. Your readers want more–whether that means more pictures, content, guest entries or graphics–the book has to supply more.

How long are typical blog entries of this type and how long is too long?

The length of a blog entry, whether or not it's going to a book format is not only up to the writer, but it's somewhat dictated by the readers. How much do you want to write, and how long do you think your readers will stick around to read it? How much to write is dependent on how much time you want to dedicate to the blog, and how interesting and engaging the content is. Readers have other lives beyond hanging around to read your blog, and the writer has to let go of the ego that assumes everyone will want to follow. So gage your length by what you think is appropriate, look at similar blogs, and know that as you collect readers its easier to get away with a longer post here and there.

We'll definitely cover more about this topic in the workshop, because there's a finesse to this, and it's driven so much not by word count, but by what you have to say and who is listening.

I'm looking so forward to the interaction with the writers who will be taking this workshop. While I'm coming in with my experiences, I'm hoping to learn from other bloggers eager to go to the publishing route too. The industry is changing by the day.

I did a similar talk last month, and I think things are already different. Fortunately that means that all of us sitting in the RRWC Writers Series have the means to shape our publishing future. As a result, this class will be very interactive. Bring your questions, bring your ideas. I'm not doing a powerpoint talk, we're going shape blogs to book!

(Photo courtesy Karen Chase, and yes, I wish I'd shot this one.)

A Noble Gesture from Virginia Senator Tim Kaine

2013-06-12T08:35:00.001-04:00

Tim Kaine: Internationalist.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine's floor speech in Spanish in support of an immigration bill yesterday in the U.S. Senate was not only a first for that body, but it was a noble gesture from a man with international credentials, something sorely lacking in our governing halls and rooms.

Kaine has been a missionary and a frequent overseas traveler. He is fluent in Spanish and he understands how cultures differ. He knows that being multi-lingual is not a threat to our democracy. His speech yesterday read, "inclusive" and was both generous and intelligent.

I get sick to death of those right-wingers who demand that English be our national language--barring correspondence or contracts in any other language--but don't bother to learn to speak or write it themselves. If they had to take the test they are demanding immigrants take, most would fail, I'd bet.

In any case, thank you Tim Kaine for showing us what generosity looks like. We tend to forget.

Photo of the Day, Too: Faux Roanoke as the Sun Sets

2013-06-11T09:43:00.005-04:00

This was Roanoke yesterday about 7:30 p.m. from I-581 going by downtown. And no, it didn't really look like this unless you were looking through a PhotoShop lens. But it's pretty.

Photo(s) of the Day: Watching Mom

2013-06-11T08:57:00.003-04:00

Annette Patterson takes off in the 50-meter backstroke for the Hunting Hills Houndogs yesterday.

Annette's girls, Libby (left) and Ella watch as she moves toward the finish line (center).

Yesterday marked opening day of the swimming season for my grandfish Maddie, who did some nice work in her HHCC Houndogs' massive victory over Roanoke Country Club and Vinton Area Swim Club, doubling the score of RCC and nearly tripling Vinton. Among those scoring bunches of points was Annette Patterson in the over 40 category. Annette can usually be counted on for a lot of points. Her daughters love watching her and eight-year-old Ella scores some points, herself.

Photo of the Day: Now Them's Boots

2013-06-10T12:38:00.004-04:00

Spotted these stylins Washington Post comic page cowboy boots today at the groundbreaking for a new building (90 percent foam material) at Community School in Roanoke County. I like 'em.

Photos of the Day: A Run Down the Virginia Creeper

2013-06-09T18:19:00.001-04:00

Green Cove Station: Black and white and color. A spot, anyway.

Green Cove Station on the way down the mountain from White Top.

Your favorite editr at Whitetop, the top of the run.

It's hard to concentrate on the trail when this is the view.

Blooming heather near the bottom of the run.

There's not much better for the soul than a run down (18 miles down--all down) the Virginia Creeper Trail near Damascas (which is near Abingdon, which is near Bristol). You can do 36 miles all the way to Abingdon and you're still only going flat. It's the dream of people who aren't in great shape or don't have a lot of time.

The old railroad bed trail is a pretty good drive from Roanoke and the run is only about an hour and a half, unless you dawdle--which you should--but it's a beaut. My pal Will Milsaps, who lives in nearby Whitesburg, Ky., avoided bad weather and had a truly spectacular run. Wish you'd been there.

For Betsy, It's Birthday No. 16 or 91; You Pick

2013-06-08T19:18:00.001-04:00

Betsy's cake: Upside down, she's 16.

The whole crowd, except me, who is shooting pix, as usual.

Buzz from Academy of Fine Arts' David Jenkins.

With Josh, Samantha Smelzer of Roanoke.

With Catherine, Luke Mosley.

Luke does some clowning.

Sam shakes hands with Josh mirrored behind her.

Betsy with Joyce and Jim Gloudemans.

Academy's Jenkins and Vickie Budge, Brenda and Jim Ferrell, Betsy's in-laws.

Catherine looking lovely and being lovlier.

Our favorite editr and his surrogate mom celebrating in his new favorite seersucker shirt.

My friend Betsy and I are veterans of the June 6 (delayed two days this year) birthday of hers and this year was special. Betsy pointed out that her 91 years turned upside-down worked out to 16 and "sometimes I feel 16, other times 91." Me, too, Betsy.

Here we all are--Betsy and close friends; family came last year for 90, but they're spread out too far and wide to make it every year--today at Isabella's in Lynchburg, one of my favorite restaurants anywhere. We had a grand time and Betsy, as is often the case, was the center of attention.

Are Obama and Bush the Same Person?

2013-06-08T09:19:00.003-04:00

I don't like saying "Bush" and "Obama" in the same sentence when it's not critical of the former, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to avoid. Obama is, in many ways, becoming Bush and that is a tragedy for those of us who have wholeheartedly supported what we believed to be a moderate and reasonable voice of reform of a government gone haywire.

In recent months, however, a string of Bush-like decisions--especially anything having to do with big business and "national security"--have reminded us of the man we don't miss. Obama is far smoother and far more believable than the bumbling Texas-Connecticut brush cutter, but that doesn't address policies that are undercutting our individual freedoms.

All of the snooping and spying on our own citizens is unconscionable, even if the administration is claiming that it is saving lives. I'm not sure that's true, but what are the lives worth if they've lost their freedom to move without a spy cam or a government oversight committee reading their e-mails?

The Atlantic has a good piece on this and I urge you to read it here.

Obama's on thin ice with me and a lot of people like me. The problem is that I don't see an alternative (certainly nobody in the Republican Party, who privately celebrate all this snooping). We may be stuck here.

(Poster: theridgewoodblog.net)

A Warm Kid on a Cool Day at the Pool

2013-06-08T08:57:00.000-04:00

The grandfish is trolling for ... whatever grandfish troll for.

Stylized backstrokin from the fish.

Backstroke from the front.

Shaking off the water.

In the background, the Jaws theme plays.

Helping with the ropes.

My favorite little girl doing her favorite thing.

It was 65 degrees when Mads hit the water for swim practice yesterday, but, as is her custom, the kid found the only ray of sunshine for miles around and had a grand time. Here she is in full form. Pampa was writing on his book, but couldn't resist picking up the Canon and running off a little "film."

Photo of the Day: Self-Portrait

2013-06-07T14:36:00.001-04:00

I shot this "Portrait of the Artist as an Old Fat Man" on a concrete slab when I was out the other day taking some photos of something or other. Forget what, truth be told.

The GOP's Self-Defeating Opposition to Health Care Bill

2013-06-07T08:20:00.002-04:00

Meanwhile, Medicaid rejectionism will deny health coverage to roughly 3.6 million Americans, with essentially all of the victims living near or below the poverty line. And since past experience shows that Medicaid expansion is associated with significant declines in mortality, this would mean a lot of avoidable deaths: about 19,000 a year, the study estimated.

Just think about this for a minute. It’s one thing when politicians refuse to spend money helping the poor and vulnerable; that’s just business as usual. But here we have a case in which politicians are, in effect, spending large sums, in the form of rejected aid, not to help the poor but to hurt them.

--Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist (here)

(Photo: premisepunchtag.wordpress.com)

A Question for Candidate Michael Abraham

2013-06-06T09:50:00.001-04:00

Michael Abraham

Michael Abraham, who is running for the 7th District seat in the Virginia House of Representatives--a conservative district among conservative districts--is waging what I'd classify as an "uphill campaign," but he compares his chances to those of Jim Webb running against George Allen for the Senate six years ago.

Webb, he recalls, had a 15 percent chance of beating the popular Republican until Allen said "Macaca" and imploded. Webb, though, is a Southern Democrat and a former Republican who walked easily between the moderate portions of each party. Michael, like me, is an unapologetic liberal, a trait I consider courageous and admirable in today's climate of personal destruction politics. Michael is smarter and better at explaining his positions without becoming annoyed than I, as well, which is better for the political arena.

Michael has asked me to support him every chance I get and I don't mind giving that a try for the few of you who might want to know what I think, so I'll pass this exchange between us this morning to give you an idea what Michael believes:

Me: I want you to understand that I fully support your efforts toward winning a general assembly seat, although you're probably too good a guy to wish that on. You and I share a political philosophy--we're almost parallel--that is far to the left of most people we know, including the moderates and that's tough to hide in a political campaign. Jim Webb is an old-line Southern Democrat, which is why he easily walked between parties and why he even had a chance against Allen. I'm waiting for the first person to ask you about gun control, tobacco subsidies, LBGT rights, health care, abortion, gay marriage and the like. But, again, I think what you are attempting is noble in the same way Sancho Panza admired his buddy, Don.

Michael: You're right on all counts of course. The first person who asks me about gun control I'll say, "I ride a motorcycle everywhere. The state of Virginia requires me to earn a drivers license, buy insurance, have it routinely inspected and I can have my right to drive revoked at any time if I disobey the rules.

"Why? Because it is deemed a public safety hazard. I don't believe our founding fathers felt gun ownership should be any different. I'm not looking to take anybody's gun away who uses it responsibly, but today guns are increasingly a public health risk and I don't believe someones right to own a gun trumps another person's right to not be shot." If over 50 percent of the voters in my district disagree, then I'll lose.

"But I think times are changing. The GOP is increasingly viewed as radical, disruptive, ineffective, racist, and vindictive, even by their own party members. Many of the voters in my district are voting for a GOP that doesn't exist any more, the GOP of Eisenhower, Reagan, Godwin, and Holton"

Imtimidated Turtle McConnell Getting His Bluff Called

2013-06-05T13:05:00.002-04:00

Mitch McConnell: Fear the (ugly) turtle.

The Ugliest Man in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has charged that Minority Leader Harry Reid (a Democrat) has been engaging in a "culture of intimidation" over judicial nominations.

My guess is that McConnell is intimidated because he may have to actually vote yes or no on a judge, rather than simply hold all of them all up with insider trading, waiting for a Republican president so he can pack the courts again (as was done by the Bushes).

Reid, a guy who normally waffles more than Mrs. Butterworth, countered, "Before the Republican leader accuses me of going back on my word, he should take a long look in the mirror. And he should spend some time in honest reflection of Republican contributions to the gridlock threatening this storied institution before he claims that, quote, 'there is no real problem here.'" The word McConnell is going back on is the deal he made with Reid to hold off on blocking judicial nominees via filibuster unless extraordinary circumstances prevailed. So far, extraordinary circumstances have surrounded all the nominations. Every one of them.

Reid gave some stats (in this report) : "Executive and judicial nominees ready for Senate confirmation have been pending an average of 200 days, first-term judicial nominees unanimously reported out of committee have waited nine times longer to be confirmed than those under President George W. Bush, first-term district court nominees have waited five times longer than those previously, and first-term circuit court nominees have waited more than seven times longer."