You may remember the stupidity of the Senate Judiciary Committee this past summer, where Chairman Leahy put off the vote on the nomination to the federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals of right-wing bigot Judge Leslie Southwick until Republicans had enough votes to win.  Whereas, if Leahy had held the vote early in the summer, he had the votes to defeat the nomination.

Well, Majority Leader Reid is proving just as incompetent.

From Rollcall:

Reid earlier had indicated he would hold a confirmation vote on the divisive nominee before the brief October recess, which begins Friday. But Democrats close to Reid said Monday the Majority Leader has no plans to add the nomination to the calendar unless and until GOP Senators ask for it.

"From everything we can see, Republican Senators are still trying to shore up their votes," said a high-level Democratic Senate staffer. "The fact is, the Republicans aren't pressing for a vote. They need more time and we understand they are looking for more time to work on improving their vote total."

Republicans acknowledge they still are trying to corral the votes they need to avert a filibuster and install Southwick, a former Mississippi appeals court judge, to a lifetime appointment on the New Orleans-based federal bench. But GOP sources also pointed out Monday that Reid, as the Majority Leader, controls the calendar and ultimately will decide when votes are cast.

Yep, that's right.  Republicans need more time to improve their vote total, so we won't put the nomination on the calendar until Republicans ask for it.

Argh.