Congrats to Bill Pryor

From the AP:

After more than a year serving as a U.S. Court of Appeals judge, former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor officially joined the court for life on Monday.

Pryor was sworn in as a member of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit appeals court at an investiture ceremony, officially ending more than two years of political fighting over his appointment by President Bush...

"I agree with his critics; ... he is an extremist," said William D. Smith, chief counsel to U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., one of Pryor's chief backers. "He is extremely intelligent, extremely principled, extremely honest, extremely prone to do the right thing and extremely qualified to serve on this court."

The only extremists in the battle over Pryor's nomination were Democrats in the U.S. Senate, who used unprecedented and shameful tactics to oppose his confirmation.

Here at home, it was a different story. Support for Pryor crossed party lines, with many prominent Democrats lending their unreserved endorsements. They should be commended for that, but this whole episode should cause them to rethink their association with the national Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party in Alabama is dying. Its funding is drying up, its constituency is shrinking, and the "D" label is quickly becoming the surest route to loserdom. If there was ever a time for the Alabama Democrats to separate from their national party, this is it.

Luckily for the GOP, though, Alabama Democrats seem to have about as much political sense as Washington Republicans.