The Transitive Property of Judicial Tyranny & Confirmation

You may recall that last week the Algerian national who wanted to blow up LAX was sentenced to 22 years in prison (including time already served) by District Court Judge John Coughenour, who then went on to make a rather emotional mini-speech about how

We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, or detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant, or deny him the right to counsel, or invoke any proceedings beyond those guaranteed by or contrary to the United States Constitution.

For this, Michelle Malkin branded Coughenour "the terrorists' little helper," but I was more interested by Hugh Hewitt's reaction: Namely, that it was "a reminder of why Democrats should not be allowed to obstruct President Bush's effort to place serious people on the bench."

Sounds normal enough, until you consider that Coughenour was appointed by Ronald Reagan. So how exactly does the special logic work? Hewitt expanded: "Yes, this judge was an early Reagan mistake–quite obviously a gimme to a GOP Senator, and an example of how not to conduct judicial appointments. But this president isn't making those sorts of mistakes."