The ever-charming Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democrats’ pit-bull Senate minority leader, said today that he will not vote to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court and that Democrats will filibuster the nomination. This is about as surprising as learning the sun will come up in the East tomorrow.

Here’s how Schumer, as predictable as he is charming, phrased it: “After careful deliberation I have concluded that I cannot support Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court.” What a knee-slapper. Of course our all-partisan, all-the-time Chuck engaged in no “deliberation” at all and made up his mind to oppose Gorsuch before the man was even nominated.

In his Senate remarks Schumer trotted out various bogus reasons for opposing Gorsuch, all of them easily lifted from Democrat political talking points and none of them having anything to do with the law: He “favors the powerful over the weak.” He won’t act as a “check on President Trump,” as though this were the mission of a judge.

“We don’t want judges with ice water in their veins,” Schumer said, demonstrating an absolute lust for the irrelevant, and suggesting that the New York State Bar Exam, which Schumer passed after graduating from Harvard Law (where else?), is way too easy.

But then Schumer the lawyer knows that his objections to Gorsuch are political and have nothing to do with law or the proper role of judges. He’s cynical, not stupid. And partisan to his last breath. If Solomon were a Republican, Schumer would not vote to confirm him to traffic court.

It’s going to be a long four (eight?) years. (Q: What’s the difference between a snapping turtle and Chuck Schumer. A: The snapping turtle eventually lets go.)