John McCain Obstructing Qualified Interior Department Nominee Because He Hurt Ronald Reagan’s Feelings

There have been a lot of vaguely-worded complaints in the past two days about the dysfunctional nature of the appointments process and the Obama administration’s slow pace of staffing. Well, now we can put a face to Senatorial grandstanding—the face of John McCain, who’s threatening to hold up David Hayes’ nomination to be Deputy Secretary in the Interior Department over the fact that Hayes once wrote something mean about Ronald Reagan’s environmental policy. That’s right, a member of one political party has, in the past, said something disparaging about a prominent member of the other party. This is McCain’s objection. Seriously. How on earth would you staff an administration of people who pass that test?