Posted on 04/18/2017 1:00:21 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I’m not sure who Allan Smith at Business Insider ran into who put a bug in his ear to talk to Trump confidant Chris Ruddy, but it must have been one heck of a conversation. The bottom line is pretty much the summation found in the title of this article. In order to avoid any more angst or consternation around Supreme Court nominations, Trump could short circuit the entire discussion by getting Ruth Bader Ginsburg to retire now rather than trying to stick it out for four more years. And what would she get in return? A promise that the President would nominate the same guy Barack Obama tried to put on the court.
Chris Ruddy, a confidant of President Donald Trump, told Business Insider in a Monday interview that Trump should cut a deal with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. His proposition: Replace her on the bench with Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s choice to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s vacated seat in 2016.
Ruddy, who wrote about his opposition to the Senate invoking the so-called nuclear option to help get Judge Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court, said Trump nominating Garland to the court would be a “huge move.”
“I think they made a big mistake by pulling the nuclear option,” Ruddy said. “I wrote about it. I said they should not have done it. I think that he still should pick Merrick Garland and do a deal. Ruth Bader Ginsberg wants to retire, and I think they should swap her out, give her an offer where they would put Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court.”
This actually sounds like a brilliant plan except for the small detail of virtually everything involved in it being insane. First of all, Ruddy may be an old friend of the President’s and a trusted ally, but he’s not advising him on day to day White House operations. If he was he’d already be fighting Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner for desk space adjacent to the Oval Office. And if this is the sort of advice he’d be dispensing, I doubt he’d be in the building for long.
But let’s just say this was seriously under consideration. How much worse of a disaster could it be? The Senate GOP expended a vast amount of political capital and set off a firestorm by deciding to keep Garland’s name out of committee and waiting for the last election to wrap up. There were and still are plenty of conservatives who remain skeptical of President Trump and are not inclined to go along with many of his agenda items, but the one thing they can all agree on was that putting Neil Gorsuch on the bench was worth the pain of the trip. They also know that Trump has a list of other, similarly qualified and inclined judges in his pocket should he need to fill another vacancy and that keeps some from barking at him too loudly on other issues. Pushing Trump to do a deal like this would basically drain all the remaining conservative good will out of his pool.
That entire argument skips right past the question of why Trump would feel like he needs to make a deal. The filibuster is dead and gone. Provided he doesn’t go off of his list and nominate his wife or something, he can pretty much put anyone up he likes. Where is the incentive to make a deal with Ruth Bader Ginsburg? She can stay on the court for as long as she likes.
And what sort of incentive would Ginsburg have to make such a “deal” in the first place? First of all, would she feel 100% confident that Trump would hold up his end, particularly if it was done in private? He doesn’t get to nominate anyone until she’s at least announced her retirement, if not actually left the building. The President could still turn around and nominate anyone he wished. And if the deal was made in public Ginsburg would be further damaging the court by making public a dirty little secret which everyone knows but nobody wants to talk about. The Justices are supposed to be outside the political system. That’s why they have jobs for life. We all know that they would like to be able to pick a time to retire when the “correct” party holds the White House to nominate their successor, but they don’t generally say it. A “deal” such as this would tear the mask off entirely and show that it’s a rigged and highly politicized game.
I suppose the real exit question for all of you is whether or not anyone thinks that Trump is actually that crazy. That list of judges may have been one of the deciding factors which finally got him the support in the GOP he needed in a very, very tight election. I seriously doubt he’d get the GOP nomination for a second term if he put up Garland’s name. And could Garland even get confirmed? He didn’t make it out of committee last time so what makes us think he would now? The President could be slitting his own wrists politically and getting zero for it in return.
Where did you read she had cancer?
What would be the point?..................
Dumb. Let her sit in her embalming fluid until it goes rancid. President Trump has far more time than she.
I am constantly amazed at the Republicans inability to exercise power when they are in office. They think people will respect them if they compromise with the Dems when really people just laugh at them and their Rodney King attitude (can’t we all just get along), including me.
So, you believe that the Constitution should be subject to interpretation by those who are not constitutionalists?
Hell NO! From mumblings of the brain-dead.
It sure is crap, isn’t it Doug?
Hope all is well with you in sunny CA.
Would she pass the mirror test? When she flops over there has to be a remote monitoring system otherwise EMTs would be around her 7 X 24.
That is actually a good plan so long as Trump changes his mind about Garland after Gburg retires.
Don't be fooled by the media's "moderate" narrative, Garland in to the left of many judges that even the media themselves would describe as 'liberal,' according to The New York Times even.
Wait for Ginsburg to retire/die, and put a conservative there.
Chris Ruddy is a legend in his own mind.
Miraculously survived pancreatic cancer in 2009 but doubtless now suffers from “Chemo-brain.”
Here is a link:
http://www.naturalnews.com/054650_Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg_chemo_brain_Donald_Trump.html
Oh man - that would almost be worth it to try!
Imagine the collective left’s heads exploding all at once...
Geez, why is there this constant guilt that somehow we “owe” Democrats something — anything? Democrats weaponize the IRS, they bug Trump, they pull every illegal dirty trick with the help of the corrupt MSM and we owe them something??
We really need to unknot ourselves from this psychological basket case.
It’s actually not totally bad. Garland will never be confirmed leaving a vacancy. The next acceptable appointee could be confirmed by going nuclear.
Why is there a need to appoint a liberal to balance the court when supreme court decisions are supposed to be unbiased to begin with? Isn't what the blindfold on the statue of Justice all about?
Why does President Trump have to appease liberals or anyone for that matter? He pretty much shows he is doing things his way to the consternation of librats and the GOPe.
Why is it President Trump's job to suck up to media and liberal demands? The President nominates justices, the senate confirms or rejects the appointment.
I usually disagree with the liberal Justice Kennedy but his viewpoint is that of a "Constitutionalist".
Unfortunately, when he errs there are four nutcases to pounce.
Replacing Kennedy with a real conservative would put Traitor Roberts in the swing vote seat.
Smells like fear..?
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