Did the Senate delay GW Bush's recess appointees by going into session just a few minutes in order

[gratuitous]

5. Yes

But not quite the way it is being done now. The Republicans in this Congress have broken all previous records for holding up nominations for no reason. Some of the Bush nominations (like John Bolton) were held up for really good reasons - like the nominee wasn't qualified, was a colossal fuck-up, or would do real harm to the United States, its interests and reputation.

Obama's nominees have been held up basically to poke a Senatorial finger in his eye, and to throw sand into the governing machinery, not because of any lack of qualifications or anything else. Several judicial nominees, for example, were held up by various Republican nincompoops for no better reason than that they could. When the nominees finally came up for a vote, they sailed through with overwhelming majorities.

Back in the day, the Republicans whined about "the will of the people" and "up-or-down votes" on Bush nominees. That language is now null and void, and you won't hear a peep out of Senate Republicans about any of that nowadays. And for some strange reason, nobody in the liberal media seems all that concerned about asking the Republicans about their "that was then, this is now" situational ethic. But they are quite interested in Republican whining about a measly four recess appointments. It is a puzzlement, it is.