Just in case anyone labors under the delusion that Democrats in the Senate will be anything other than a rubber stamp for Obama, especially on appointments, look no further than Majority Leader Harry Reid. He spent a lot of time during the Bush administration carping about the lack of oversight Republicans gave the White House, but at least the GOP got engaged on judicial nominations. How will Reid put that into practice in the Obama administration? He started off today sounding pretty good on Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court:

“Everyone in America, I want them to understand that we have the whole package here,” Reid said, listing Sotomayor’s academic and professional background. “If that wasn’t enough, her background is very significant — we could not have anyone better qualified,” Reid said.

No one better qualified, eh? That must mean Reid has taken a close look at Sotomayor, especially since she topped everyone’s short list of predicted nominees. Or maybe not, because Reid apparently can’t be bothered:

I understand that during her career, she’s written hundreds and hundreds of opinions. I haven’t read a single one of them, and if I’m fortunate before we end this, I won’t have to read one of them.

Er, then how does he know that “we could not have anyone better qualified” than Sotomayor? Because Harry Reid’s biggest aspiration as a public servant nowadays is to carry Obama’s water. Not a surprise at all, but it’s always good to get that on the record.