“But I have friends that want the job instead!”
“Conflict of interest!”
He can go screw himself with that stuff.
Going wobbly.
Well, I agree with Fieldmarshaldj that Kennedy's objections are legit (picking some DC insider to "represent" Louisiana on the federal bench instead of picking a local guy who has paid his dues and actually lives there), and IMO the White House shouldn't have ignored him. The Constitution says ADVICE and consent from the Senate for a reason. It doesn't say "The President knows best for whats all the states and the Senators from those states should shut up and get in line"
To me, its a whole different ballgame than say, John Thune going rogue and vowing to oppose nominees because of an totally unrelated issue relating to federal bacon for SD.
That being said, while the White House SHOULD have listened to Kennedy, Kennedy's objections aren't enough to justify voting against the nominee on the final floor vote. IMO, the only valid reason to vote down a Trump nominee is they are either not qualified for the job or there's a good possibility they are a stealth liberal. Every Trump nominee I'VE opposed has been on those grounds (::cough:: Tillerson ::cough:: ) He can't just leave any seat vacant because the choice is less than ideal and not who he would have picked.
And I never trusted "Republican" Kennedy and I still don't. Sort of like "Republican" Walter Jones in North Carolina. Two guys who only switched parties not because of sincere ideological reasons, but because of political necessity to advance their careers. Too many FReepers were ready to blindly "get behind" Kennedy the moment he put an "R" next to his name, simply because he was a candidate with "name ID". Tsk, tsk.
Well, I agree with Fieldmarshaldj that Kennedy's objections are legit (picking some DC insider to "represent" Louisiana on the federal bench instead of picking a local guy who has paid his dues and actually lives there), and IMO the White House shouldn't have ignored him. The Constitution says ADVICE and consent from the Senate for a reason. It doesn't say "The President knows whats best for all the states and the Senators from those states should shut up and get in line"
To me, its a whole different ballgame than say, John Thune going rogue and vowing to oppose nominees because of an totally unrelated issue relating to federal bacon for SD.
That being said, while the White House SHOULD have listened to Kennedy, Kennedy's objections aren't enough to justify voting against the nominee on the final floor vote. IMO, the only valid reason to vote down a Trump nominee is they are either not qualified for the job or there's a good possibility they are a stealth liberal. Every Trump nominee I'VE opposed has been on those grounds (::cough:: Tillerson ::cough:: ) He can't just leave any seat vacant because the choice is less than ideal and not who he would have picked.
And I never trusted "Republican" Kennedy and I still don't. Sort of like "Republican" Walter Jones in North Carolina. Two guys who only switched parties not because of sincere ideological reasons, but because of political necessity to advance their careers. Too many FReepers were ready to blindly "get behind" Kennedy the moment he put an "R" next to his name, simply because he was a candidate with "name ID". Tsk, tsk.