Bye bye, Miguel Estrada. Don't let the gavel hit your ass on the way out.

Just caught a few snippets of Orrin Hatch whining and moaning about this on CNN. Sorry, dude, but Estrada was not forthright in his confirmation hearings, and the White House witheld information (not that that's anything new). You guys thought that a Hispanic-sounding name, on its own, would be enough to get a right-wing extremist onto the federal bench.

I can hear Trent Lott from the other room, complaining on CNN. He brings up the American Bar Association's "well-qualified" rating of Estrada . . . but then again, here's what the Bushies think of the ABA. From March 2001:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush White House Thursday formally ended the American Bar Association's role as an early arbiter of the qualifications for nominees to the federal bench and the Supreme Court...

"The decision was based on the principle that the American Bar Association should not receive a preferential role over all other interested parties," said McClellan. "We welcome their input and they will continue to have an important role in the process."

Eh. One down, a few more to go...