You Want To Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name...

OK, we've come to the conclusion that republicans are strange little critters. Now, before we tell you why, allow us to say that most of the time we have no problem with people who prefer an alternative universe to the one most of us are stuck in, sans the Stoli transporter if you get our drift.

But either these people are drunk all the time, or they've undergone some sort of epic synapse fail. In either case, they're in the first class cabin on the bullet train to Cluelessville.

Case in point, the erstwhile senator from Minnesota, Norm Coleman.

"When debating judges, I was firm that I would use the same standard to evaluate judges under a Democrat President as I would a Republican President. Are they intellectually competent, do they have a record of integrity, and most importantly, are they committed to following the Constitution rather than creating new law and policy. When I am re-elected, I intend to review Judge Sotomayor's record using this process."

Um...Norm? That ship has sailed.

Well, on the bright side, despite Mr. Coleman's delusion, he's not in a position to critique Judge Sotomayor. That job will be given to brighter lights within the commentariat, right National Review Online's Mark Krikorian?

"Putting the emphasis on the final syllable of Sotomayor is unnatural in English... and insisting on an unnatural pronunciation is something we shouldn't be giving in to."

This is going to get interesting, in a bang your head against the wall sort of way.