Laura Ingram Show

Senate GOP Leader Predicts Historic Failure for Obama Nominee

Republican opposition to controversial University of California-Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu, nominee for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, is all but certain to sink the nomination, a first in President Barack Obama's presidency.

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, just made the prediction on the conservative radio talk show of Laura Ingraham, "This is a very bad nominee. He testified against both Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito in the most strident of terms. That vote will occur after lunch today. I'm optimistic that we will be able to defeat the nomination."

Senior Republicans launched an all-out push to quash the nomination, urging their entire conference to support a GOP-led filibuster.

"(Liu's) record reflects a carefully honed and calculated philosophy that he developed and advanced over the course of his brief career in the ivory towers of academia and which threatens the American tradition of limited constitutional government," Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, and senior panel member Jeff Sessions of Alabama, wrote in a letter, obtained by Fox News, to their GOP colleagues Wednesday.

In a most ominous sign, former GOP members of the so-called "Gang of 14," who narrowly averted a judicial crisis back in 2005 that nearly shut down the Senate, are lining up against Liu, as well.

The somewhat undefined threshold developed by the bipartisan group back then stated that a nominee should be filibustered only under "extraordinary circumstances."

"The nomination of Mr. Goodwin Liu does rise to a level of 'extraordinary circumstances,' and therefore McCain will seek to filibuster the nomination," read a statement by the office of former gang member John McCain .

In a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy , D-Vt., in 2010 the Arizona Republican cites Liu's writings and indicates the nominee appears to be an activist.

Same goes for McCain's fellow gang member, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., who said Liu's words "ring of an idealogue," adding that Liu should, rather, "run for Senate, run for President. Don't sit on the court...In Mr. Liu's world, I think he has a very small view of the law."

Graham did take pains to say, however, he did not see Thursday's defeat of Liu as precedent-setting

Democrats need at least seven Republicans to keep the Liu nomination alive, but their GOP possibilities are fading fast.

PAXALLES: Rep. Peter King, New York Republican with Jed Babbin on ...

Laura Ingraham sub Jed Babbin hosted  Rep. Peter King , New York Republican.

King agreed with Babbin that the profusion of information on the Osama bin Laden raid does endanger our troops and the CIA.  

King said Pakistan and other governments are unstable in the best of times and he is concerned how Obama's new funds will be spent.  He hopes that Obama's speech won't be another round of apologies to the Muslim world and that we don't have to keep explaining that we aren't trying to destroy their part of the world.

Both King and Babbin can't see how Jews can be expected to support Obama with his pressure to accept people who are bent on destroying Israel.  

Both King and Babbin commented on the dangers of homegrown radicalism given recent arrests in Miami and NYC.