Cameron Kerry's nomination to Commerce is being blocked by Republicans

[beachmom]

He's not the only one, but this is ridiculous:

Yeah, I know it's the Moonie Times but there is no reason not to think this is accurate.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/14/republicans-block-interior-nominee/

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked President Obama's nomination for the No. 2 post at the Interior Department, the latest in a series of partisan clashes over personnel as the White House tries to advance its ambitious agenda.

...

The confirmation logjam includes the nomination of Cameron Kerry, the brother of Democrat Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, for Commerce Department counsel. The nomination was blocked by an anonymous "hold," a parliamentary procedure that allows any one senator to prevent matters from reaching the Senate floor.

You know, I don't think these Senators should be able to do this anonymously. I want to know who has put the hold on that nomination.

I have noticed some right wing blogs have been attacking "cronyism" and using Cameron Kerry as an example because he is the brother of John Kerry. Seeing that he is qualified for the job, I don't see what the problem is.

[karynnj]

1. I had noticed that he was not confirmed when April Boyd was - this is asinine

How long can the hold be used for?

I agree with you, they should have to sign their names to these holds, which should limit the times when it is done for petty reasons. Here, it is clearly someone who dislikes Senator Kerry.

[Mass]

2. At this point, this is a total mess in the Senate. People are blocked with no reason, or because

they want to apply the law, and even if they are not blocked, Reid cannot be bothered checking everybody is there before he schedules a vote (see Hayes yesterday).

May be they should do a major show on this. Now, they are starting to attack people and start smear campaigns before they are even nominate (Sotomayor.).

[karynnj]

4. I wondered why Kerry missed that vote - when he made other votes

but this article (that doesn't mention Kerry - because it was about Patrick) shows he was at the funeral of a MA soldier. He and Patrick are in the photo. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/14/quietly_patrick_keeps_up_a_somber_duty/?page=1

[beachmom]

5. Thanks for that info. I was wondering why Kerry missed that vote.

Harry Reid, apparently, just wanted to get people to record their votes. Thing is he will need Ted Kennedy in order to get to 60 on the Dawn Johnson nomination (I think). Still, I don't know why he scheduled a vote he knew would fail.

[Mass]

6. He has been attending to most of the funerals of MA soldiers.

The article is the follow up on another article the Globe had the day before who was attacking Patrick because he was not attending enough public events like ribbon cuttings. Now, they publish a lavish article on him about how he attends funeral of all soldiers. I guess Patrick is now part of MA. He gets the schizophrenic reporting MA pols have got to expect from the Globe (he is good, he is bad, he is good, he is bad). And they are surprised they are not doing well.

More local papers have noted Kerry's presence at the funeral (as well as the presence of other dignitaries).

[wisteria]

3. This is becoming a problem and it is so childish because this is done for only one reason- partisan

politics. Cronyism? What nerve when Bush appointed so many unqualified money supporters to cabinet and ambassadorship positions. Remember Brownie and Fox? Cameron Kerry is highly qualified for this position.

[beachmom]

7. If this article is correct, Cameron has been confirmed:

http://www.multichannel.com/article/263545-Senate_Confirms_Chopra_As_Chief_Technology_Officer.php

The Senate confirmed Aneesh Chopra for Chief Technology Officer Thursday night, a post that will almost certainly be key to monitoring the administration's broadband policy goals across agencies
and issues.

Also getting their official nods late Thursday were veteran cable lawyer Cameron Kerry (brother of Senator John Kerry) as general counsel of the Department of Commerce and former Discovery chief Judith McHale as under secretary of state for public diplomacy at the State Department.

Edit: Yes, it is true!! Good news for Cameron!

http://www.rollcall.com/news/35193-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

The Senate on Thursday night confirmed Cameron Kerry as chief counsel in the Commerce Department, pushing through one more Obama administration nominee before adjourning for the weeklong Memorial Day break.