So here’s the story: Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) nominated a liberal judge, Elissa Cadish - who once wrote that she didn’t believe there was an individual constitutional right to keep and bear arms - for a judicial vacancy on the federal bench.  However, per Senate tradition, unless both home-state senators agree to allow the nomination to move forward, the nomination doesn’t move forward.

Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nevada) has objected to Cadish’s nomination.  And without Heller’s OK, the nomination is dead.  Which means Cadish should withdraw.  Or Reid should tell her to withdraw.  But instead, Reid released a statement doubling down on the Cadish nomination.

“I will not ask Elissa Cadish to withdraw her nomination," Reid said. "She is supremely qualified and one of the most highly respected jurists in the state of Nevada. She deserves a hearing to defend herself. It is my hope that the process of her nomination is allowed to move forward and she is granted a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

That’s now.  But hop into the Wayback Machine with me and let’s take a trip back to November 2003…

At the time, Reid was the Assistant Senate Minority Leader and leading efforts to filibuster several supremely-qualified, highly-respected nominees to the federal bench who had been put forward by then-President Bush.

Let me repeat: All of these nominees were supremely qualified and highly respected - just as Sen. Reid maintains Judge Cadish is.  And had their nominations gone to the floor of the Senate for votes, all would have been confirmed.  So what did Sen. Reid do?

He mounted a one-man filibuster to block up-or-down votes on those nominees.

“To protest a scheduled 30-hour debate by Republicans on judicial nominees,” Suzanne Struglinski of the Las Vegas Sun reported, “Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., took to the Senate floor at 1:18 p.m. Monday and stopped 8 1/2 hours later, just before 10 p.m.  Several of those hours were spent reading chapters of his book about Searchlight.”

"This is a one-man show to indicate that the Senate cannot necessarily be run unless we work together," said Reid.  “The majority has to be aware of the minority."

What…a…hypocrite.  Anyone recall how Sen. Reid and his Democrat majority steamrolled the GOP minority to force ObamaCare down the nation’s throat?

Nine years ago Reid and the Democrats opened this judicial can of worms by blocking supremely qualified, highly respected nominees for purely political and philosophical reasons.  Indeed, Miguel Estrada was blocked solely because Democrats didn’t want President Bush to get credit for appointing a Latino to the federal bench. 

Well, now the shoe’s on the other foot and Sen. Reid is getting a taste of his own medicine.  Maybe someone should send him a spoonful of sugar.

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Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, founder of CampaignDoctor.com and blogs at MuthsTruths.com.  He can be reached at chuck@citizenoutreach.com