West. Michigan US Attorney Nomination Shows How Toxic Things Are

"You live by the sword, you die by the sword." Cliche? Yes? But true, too. Other than for ultra-partisans, the toxicity in our government that just keeps ramping up is just a combination of frustration and incredulity.

Maybe it's a stretch to connect the nomination by Donald Trump of former Michigan House Speaker Tom Leonard as the U.S. Attorney for Western Michigan, to, say, the refusal of Republicans to even start the process to confirm Barack Obama's nominee Merrick Garland to the United States Supreme Court, but the dots do connect.

The Detroit News has a story today about the whole situation and Leonard's frustration, on how Michigan's two Democratic senators, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters have effectively blocked his confirmation in the U.S. Senate. This, despite having had good relationships with each other in the past, and with Leonard having bi-partisan support within the state.

Is there a solution to all this? No. It's not a simple as having to wait for this generation of politicians to all age out and die. Partly because there's no guarantee the next generation will be any better. Party above all is the prevailing sentiment and it appears it will be this way for the foreseeable future.