Wild Accusations from Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant

This afternoon in a closed door meeting of Republican Senators, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant told the crowd that 5th Circuit Chief Judge Edith Jones would "take care of" legislative Republicans because Gov. Haley Barbour handled her nomination to the 5th Circuit when he was in the Reagan White House. Bryant went on to regale the caucus with his opinion that Chief Judge Jones would likely appoint Judge Leslie Southwick as the judge from the 5th Circuit, and that if that happened, "Democrats would come to us looking for a deal."

The Lt. Gov. hasn't been to law school, of course, so he may not be aware of the ethical standards to which judges are held. But he ought to know that he just impugned the credibility of not one, but two federal circuit court judges. And he ought to take it back. Immediately.