So, the appellate court nomination of Charles Pickering was voted down in committee, and the Republicans are demanding that nevertheless, Pickering should get what would be an unprecedented floor vote. In what they acknowledge as a direct response, the Republicans are trying to shut down several committees working on such things as 401(k) reform.

So, to summarize: Tom Daschle's Democrats follow established procedures to deal with a controversial issue, as far as they go. Disliking the outcome, Trent Lott's Republicans try to delay those procedures (they invoked a procedural hold on the Pickering vote for a week trying to scare up a Democratic vote), and then petulantly hold up unrelated business. This won't be remembered as a bright moment in the history of the Republic, but it certainly does clarify who is, and who is not, an obstructionist.