"In a resumption of the judge wars from last decade, Republican senators today voted for the first successful filibuster ..."

"... of one of President Barack Obama's judicial nominees, Goodwin Liu.... The vote was a throwback to Democratic filibusters of some of President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees."

Senators who had been members of the so-called Gang of 14 justified the filibuster by pointing at Liu's testimony against the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

What did Liu write?

"Judge Alito’s record envisions an America where police may shoot and kill an unarmed boy to stop him from running away with a stolen purse … where a black man may be sentenced to death by an all-white jury for killing a white man.... I humbly submit that this is not the America we know. Nor is it the America we aspire to be.”