Derrick: Don’t forget that the best part of the story was the use of the infamous “evil twin” defense.

I knew Claude when he was an undergrad in Chapel Hill in the early 80s. I had lost track of him until he ended up in the Bush White House. I am still at a loss to understand how he could have been so stupid to get arrested for theft from Target stores.

BTW he really did have an identical twin brother named Floyd. At the time I knew Claude, Floyd was attending VMI and playing football for them.

Derrick:
Don’t forget that the best part of the story was the use of the infamous “evil twin” defense.

“Claude Allen? That’s impossible. He’s not dead. I just had dinner with him in London.”

Mark N.: Was there anything controversial about him, beyond situational issues (being an Obama nominee, the lingering controversy over Bush’s appointees not being confirmed, etc.)? I see the vote was 72–16, which is fairly high opposition for a nominee not (as far as I know) seen as particularly ideological.

Has Obama re-nominated any of W.’s nominees?

OSU3L: Claude Allen plead guilty to theft (shoplifting) while serving in the Bush Administration.

His ill treatment by the Senate drove him to crime.

The centrist portion of the majority party [the left-most Republicans or the right-most Democrats] often find that their party’s base want something they don’t.

Most notably demonstrated by Bush refusing to nominate a candidate endorsed by both John Warner (R-VA) and Jim Webb (D-VA).

In 2006, Virginia’s two U.S. senators at the time – John Warner and George Allen, both Republicans – had recommended three candidates from Virginia for two open seats on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Getchell was on that list. But before the president acted, Allen was defeated for re-election by Democrat Jim Webb. In July, Warner and Webb submitted a new list of five recommended names for the court, and Getchell’s was not on it. Nevertheless, Bush nominated Getchell, noting that he was rated “highly qualified” by the Virginia State Bar. Warner and Webb did not support him, so his nomination never received a hearing.

You can read more about Getchell at his wiki.

Claude Allen plead guilty to theft (shoplifting) while serving in the Bush Administration.

Don’t forget that the best part of the story was the use of the infamous “evil twin” defense.

Why fortunately for Allen and unfortunately for Rosenstein? I know nothing about either one so the distinction seems odd to me.

Here’s an alternative explanation. The centrist portion of the majority party [the left-most Republicans or the right-most Democrats] often find that their party’s base want something they don’t. Maybe they think it’s bad policy, or it offends an important supporter, or it would be embarrassing at the next election or whatever. Anyway, the centrists often find it convenient to blame minority obstructionism when the measure languishes.

All part of the show for the rubes outside the Beltway.