Lindsey Graham says Obama's Supreme Court nominee is great, but has no problem not giving him a vote

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), has made criticizing his fellow Republicans his job since leaving the presidential race. But his disgust with his party isn't enough to stop Graham from being a willing participant in blockading President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. That's even after meeting Merrick Garland, and finding nothing bad to say about him.

Graham, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he told Garland that despite his credentials, the Senate won't act on replacing deceased Justice Antonin Scalia until a new president is elected in November.

"He's a very nice man. He's, I think, an honest, very capable judge," Graham told reporters after his sit-down with Garland. He noted that Garland "worked well" with current Chief Justice John Roberts when both men were on the D.C. Circuit Court, "so there's no beef with him. Well-qualified man."

Given that, does the blockade seem even just a little bit extreme to Graham? Of course not, even though "a topic raised during the meeting between Garland and Graham was the 'politicization of the judiciary,' which Graham said was a concern to the veteran judge." Graham's take-away from the Supreme Court becoming too politicized in the Senate?

"He said he hopes that the politics between the parties will not do a lot of damage to the judiciary," Graham said. "I worry about that. That's why I think the 60-vote requirements [to confirm Supreme Court nominees] are good because it requires both parties to get a handful of votes."

Yep, his answer to the problem of extreme partisanship infecting the process of judicial confirmations is keeping the filibuster that this crop of Republicans have used to thwart Obama at every turn. So principled, that Graham.

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