Yes, the republic is screwed.
Posted on 02/17/2016 10:09:22 AM PST by Kaslin
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is doing the nation a service by announcing he will work to block President Obama's appointment to replace Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia and delay until after the election.
The inevitable resulting clash between the Senate and the White House, made sharper in the midst of an election, is a confrontation vital for the nation.
This is more than raw politics, Democrats versus Republicans. It is about ideology and bringing clarity to what the country has become and where it is headed.
America is extremely polarized today compared to where it was just 20 years ago.
In 2014, according to Pew Research data, 92 percent of Republicans were more conservative than the median Democrat. Just 20 years earlier, in 1994, it was just 64 percent. In 2014, 94 percent of Democrats were more liberal than the median Republican. In 1994, it was 70 percent.
The far less polarized country of the past, when there was more common ground between the two parties, made compromise on court nominees more possible between the president and the Senate.
This is not the case today. President Obama isn't just a Democrat. He is a liberal of the far left and will nominate a far left justice. The chance that he will send a candidate that can find common ground with conservative Republicans is practically zero.
Many are pointing out that President Reagan nominated Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court, and he was confirmed in the last year of Reagan's presidency.
But despite Reagan being a conservative president, the whole country was far less polarized then, and Reagan himself was far more inclined to do business with the other party. Reagan sent two centrist jurists to the Supreme Court: Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O'Connor.
What has come of the Kennedy appointment? Kennedy voted with the liberals last year in the Obergefell v. Hodges case, providing the deciding vote in the 5-4 decision in which marriage was redefined.
Even in the remote chance that Obama would nominate a centrist like Kennedy, matters are too far gone in the country today to tolerate replacing Antonin Scalia with anyone less conservative.
The major domestic crises we face today trace to Supreme Court decisions.
Our massive fiscal imbalance is the result of the Court giving Congress wide new powers to tax and spend. The breakdown of the American family is traceable to court decisions to remove religion from our schools and public spaces, the legalization of abortion and now the redefinition of marriage.
Now a Democrat who openly and proudly calls himself a socialist is running for president. Bernie Sanders is getting support that has surprised everyone. But it is a logical continuation of the ongoing transformation of America -- from a free nation rooted in religious tradition to a socialist nation rooted in secular humanism.
By drawing a line with this nomination, Mitch McConnell is carrying on the tradition of the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, who said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. ... It will become all one thing or all the other."
America is as deeply divided today as it was when Lincoln spoke those words. Then we needed a civil war to work it out. Hopefully we can get through this today with just some tough leadership.
This court nomination will force Americans to take a stand. It even forced Donald Trump to clarify himself and back off after saying his sister, a pro-abortion federal judge, would be a "phenomenal" court appointment.
Those who understand the Constitution appreciate that, just as the president has a responsibility to nominate, the Senate has a responsibility to reject nominees not to its liking. It's called checks and balances.
Let's hope, as this gets increasingly politicized, Sen. McConnell holds his ground.
No way McConnell delays a supreme nomination.
With McConnell being one of the good old boy club member I wouldn’t hold much stock in that.
Not holding my breath
Yes, the republic is screwed.
Does the Senate have to comnsider a nomination by the President?
From what I recall, the constitution does not require that there be 9 justices on the SC.
So, why does McConnnell have to do anything?
I hope others are doing the same. It's also easy to find most of them on Facebook.
Kelly Ayotte (New Hampshire)
Roy Blunt (Missouri)
John Boozman (Arkansas)
Richard Burr (North Carolina)
Dan Coats (Indiana) retiring in 2016
Mike Crapo (Idaho)
Chuck Grassley (Iowa)
John Hoeven (North Dakota)
Johnny Isakson (Georgia)
Ron Johnson (Wisconsin)
Mark Kirk (Illinois)
James Lankford (Oklahoma)
Mike Lee (Utah)
John McCain (Arizona)
Jerry Moran (Kansas)
Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Rand Paul (Kentucky)
Rob Portman (Ohio)
Marco Rubio (Florida) retiring in 2016
Tim Scott (South Carolina)
Richard Shelby (Alabama)
John Thune (South Dakota)
Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania)
David Vitter (Louisiana)
McConnell could stop all this today by Pushing through legislation in the Senate to reduce the number of Justices to 8, send it the house for a vote.
Then watch the fireworks
“So, why does McConnnell have to do anything? “
Uh, because McConnell is a traitor, who would wholesale his mother for 10 bucks, or 12 if he included her walker?
GOP senators are beginning to crumble already. obama will get his nominee and court. By this time next year national gun laws will resemble New York’s and will be on the way south. Ammunition and soon to be illegal “assault” weapons are currently as cheap as they have been since pre Sandy Hook. Next year you’ll be in bad enough shape, don’t also be black and blue from kicking yourself.
The Washington (slimes) thinks the Crats are getting weak knees on this, check it out: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/16/gop-signs-back-down-vow-block-obama-scotus-nominee/
This author would be very successful if she wrote Fantasy genre books.
I’m a minority here, but I don’t think the GOP should have come out and said nobody will be considered or get a hearing.
What they should do is go thru the process and Bork the nominee. Filibuster and say they are only doing what Obama himself tried to do to justice Alito. Point out that Obama voted against both Roberts and Alito due to.politics and not due to issues of being qualified to be on the court. Shove all that back at Obama when the liberals and media go into outrage mode that Obama ‘s nominee is being rejected.
He had a strong primary challenge in 2014 with the conservative Matt Bevin, thanks Kentucky...
The question: Can you explain the rise of Donald Trump?
The answer: That pic of Mitch McConnell.
All the OTHER options are worse.
Put a Obama nominee up there in hearings and she/he will be called the victim of GOP witch-trials due to racism, sexism,......just like the others were.
Dems game is obvious.
Thats as good an explanation as any.
This is probably the most important issue you will address in your life. This is one time you should not "go along to get along".
Remember, you're getting pretty close to the age where life will put you out to pasture. Time to do what is necessary to repair your legacy. Turning full-on Benedict Arnold on your party won't let you retire honorably.
David Vitter (Louisiana) is not running for reelection. He announced that he is retiring from the office at the end of this term.
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