But in an unusual case of intraparty defiance, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey is holding up President Obama's nomination of a judge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the only time a Democrat has tried to block one of Mr. Obama's judicial nominees.
It was a typical example of defiance overriding realism.
That – if one remembers correctly – was to be the celebration of more than 4,000 cases of great defiance of randomly distributed adversity.
Perhaps his attitude is reflective of his well-known stubborn or obsessive streak, or of a simple case of nostalgia or defiance.
They have also expressed concerns about the conduct of Judge Jackson, who spoke to the press and to an author of a book about the case, in defiance of legal protocol.
It also revealed that more than one in 10 jurors carried out their own investigations online about a case in defiance of trial judge orders.
The new report cited case after case of Iran's continuing defiance in providing information, material and access to inspectors, as well as its failure to halt its increasingly aggressive program to enrich uranium.
There was little dispute that Mr. Bush's actions in both cases were a calculated act of defiance of the Democrats with whom he has been engaged in an increasingly hostile battle over his judicial choices.
The plea is surprising because the elder Mr. Espada was the epitome of defiance throughout the case — his chest out, hardly ever breaking a sweat.
The top 10 films of the year, according to the board, were Slumdog Millionaire, Burn After Reading, Changeling, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Defiance, Frost/Nixon, Gran Torino, Milk, WALL-E and The Wrestler.
