It’s simple - they have this unending procilivity for shooting themselves in the collective foot

A final vote on whether to make the conservative federal appellate judge the nation’s 110th Supreme Court justice is scheduled for Tuesday unless opponents win an uphill battle to impose a filibuster.

“The Senate has a constitutional responsibility to hold an up-or-down vote on Judge Alito’s nomination,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “Throughout its 216-year history, the Senate has held an up-or-down vote on every Supreme Court nominee with majority Senate support.”

The president spoke as liberals led by Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, D-Mass., worked to deprive supporters of the 60 votes needed to limit debate. They faced resistance from some fellow Democrats as well as solid Republican opposition to the stalling tactic.

Unfortunately for the Democrats in the Senate, this move to filibuster is the price of consistency. If Alito truly is as bad as they have made him out to be, they have no choice but to make every effort to stop the coming shredding of the Constitution. Even if acting unconstitutionally is required in order to do so. John Kerry, though, continues to offer priceless comic relief

Kerry, defeated by Bush for the presidency in 2004, called for a filibuster Thursday while attending a world economic conference at a Swiss resort.

Asked Friday if the administration was taking Kerry’s call seriously, White House press secretary Scott McClellan chuckled and said:

“It was a pretty historic day. This was the first time ever that a senator has called for a filibuster from the slopes of Davos, Switzerland. I think even for a senator, it takes some pretty serious yodeling to call for a filibuster from a five-star ski resort in the Swiss Alps.”

It is delightfully appropriate that Senator Kerry makes a political pronouncement from a country that refuses to ever take a side on anything. The fact that he is skiing and not wind surfing is only of minor consequence. The larger point is that some Democrats, particularly those from mainstream Massachusetts such as Double Diamond Kerry, seem to feel there is a political gain to be made by filibustering a confirmable judicial nominee. Robert Byrd has pronounced support for Alito, for the sake of sanity. In total, we now have 58 votes for Alito to be confirmed, two shy of the number needed to put ice on Kennedy and Kerry’s ill-fated decision to push for a filibuster. In the meantime, I do hope they filibuster.

UPDATE

More thoughtful analysis over at RedState.

FURTHER UPDATE The Hamilton County Democratic Party blog thinks that a filibuster is a great idea, too.

Like I said - guns, feet and Democrats. Then they reload.