Posted on 09/20/2020 4:11:55 AM PDT by Kaslin
Perhaps it is glib to observe that, at the end of the day, Republicans should confirm a replacement for Justice Ginsburg because they can confirm a replacement for Justice Ginsburg, but there is a lot of truth to that observation. They can do it because the president has the power under the Constitution to appoint a nominee (I expect it to be Amy Coney Barrett, but Barbara Lagoa is a possibility and a great one), plus because the Senate has the power under the Constitution to confirm said nominee. And they better do it, because the Democrats intend to crush us if they can, and if the GOP wimps out, our voters will melt down.
The GOP can do this, so the GOP must.
There are lots of arguments floating around, often supported by old tweets and video clips, about how people said this and that about what should happen in similar situations (I note that many of these ignore important facts that distinguish the situations, like the president and Senate are held by the same party now but were not when Merrick Garland was rejected). There are appeals to unwritten rules that always seem to restrain Republicans, and one of the many amusing things about this whole situation is that the wailing Democrats have not even hinted that they would hesitate if the situation was reversed. There are rules and norms cited, and precedent asserted, and none of it matters. The GOP has the power to do it, and I expect it will attempt to do it since unilateral surrender because Democrats will get mad is simply not going to fly with the base. This is the Big Enchilada. This is why we have a GOP president and GOP Senate, to do this one crucial thing. And a GOP that wont is a GOP the base has no more use for.
So, save the twisted pseudo-moral arguments for the saps. Look back to the Peloponnesian War. Athens and Sparta were at each other’s throats. Melos was a little island city-state that just wanted to be neutral. Athens came along and told Melos you have to join us or we will wipe you off the map. The reason was that allowing Melos to withstand Athens would make Athens look weak and encourage other city-states to resist. Melos was very upset, and in the Melian Dialogue recorded by Thucydides made a bunch of arguments about why Athens should not do as it saw fit. Athens essentially replied that it could do it, so it would do it, and too bad. Melos refused to yield and got wiped off the map.
It is not a perfect analogy, but let’s call the GOP Athens. However, we can’t quite call the Democrats Melos. Melos (at least as depicted by Thucydides) was not an enemy of Athens. The Democrats are. They already announced, while the Energizer Justice was still going and going, that they intend to nuke the filibuster, expand and pack the Supreme Court, create four new Democrat senators out of the new states of DC and Puerto Rico, wave the citizenship wand over 11 million illegal aliens, and make millions of Americans felons for having guns – and that’s just a start. They are committed to a comprehensive plan to lock-in power for themselves forever at the expense of the GOP.
Thats not just speculation. They have said it. Thats their plan. They are going to launch an unprecedented assault on us with the intention of forever utterly disenfranchising us.
So, why again is it immoral that the GOP use the power it won via elections to exercise the power given it during those terms of office, especially in an existential crisis? Its as if Melos was preparing an invasion fleet but argued, I cant believe you are doing this to us, Athens we arent going to invade you for another six months!
Here comes the headline from lying liberal dummies for liberal dummies: SCHLICHTER SIDES WITH ATHENS IN MELIAN DIALOGUES. Luckily, ancient Greek classics are racist, sexist, cisgender exercises in racism, so no libs will know what the hell that lie even means.
We keep hearing how important it is for us to be bound by the norms and rules the Democrats are not only trashing but that they have already told us that they intend to further trash. Lets assume were good little submissives like the Bulwark types and David Brooks and the rest of the establishment toadies demand we be. What then?
Do we gingerly walk into the post-election lawfare ambush that the Democrats have promised with SCOTUS at 4-4 (I also note how absolutely everyone assumes that Justice John Roberts will totally side with the liberal pro-Democrat bloc)? Since Bidens puppetmasters have already announced that he can never concede ever, theres no time when the Demos would say Okay, youre legit. You get to appoint someone. They never have so far. Remember how, before Party Hearty Bretts alleged sex gang affiliation became the big issue, the narrative was Trump couldnt legitimately nominate a justice because he was under the deep, dark cloud of (manufactured) suspicion about RUSSIA! RUSSIA! RUSSIA!?
And if he loses in November (Until Ginsberg died, I thought Trump was on a glidepath to victory, but its not clear how this wild card will affect the correlation of forces), do we just waive the last six months of Trumps term, which is compounded by how the Mueller baloney made us already give up about two years of his term to that nonsense?
Theres no situation where they will ever agree that Trump is a legitimate president, and therefore that you and I can legitimately have a say in our own governance. We never get their thumbs-up to pick a replacement for RBG no matter what.
In a paradigm of norms and rules, Amy Coney Barrett or Barbara Lagoa would sail through a quick confirmation process (they both just passed one a couple years ago to get on the Circuit Court of Appeals). Instead, well be subjected to a long line of lies about how the nominee is a religious nut and a secret Nazi and loves Q and how she groped a bunch of timid liberal males who were totally shattered by her vicious assaults in 1981 near the water fountain at George Washington Junior High.
Athens cut to the chase when dealing with Melos it could and it was going to. And the GOP should do the same and cut to the chase. It can and it must because its dealing with people who have already promised an all-out assault on our rights and sovereignty.
We either win, or they go down the path of trying to ensure that our interests and rights never again interfere with their unrestrained exercise of power again. And that leads to a dark place.
Appoint and confirm, GOP. Do it, because you can, and because you must.
Love me some Kurt.
L
Hearings arent necessary.
Salmon P. Chase was nominated by A. Lincoln for CJ SCotUS December 6, 1864 and confirmed by the Senate December 6, 1864.
The. Same. Day.
Confirmation vote by end of September!
The last thing we need is a Republican nominated Supreme Court Justice who evolves to the left once on the bench.
Agree. Lagoa’s resume and that 80-15 vote scares the heck out of me.
It’s been a while since we’ve had a total Quisling like Souter. Roberts, while awful, plays both sides. It seems some folks don’t think that a Souter is possible again. History shows us it is very possible for a GOP nominee. While it would be nice to have a hispanic conservative on the court we certainly don’t need another “wise latina.”
But it's time to gird for battle. The American Republic is on the line here.
Nice, one-line encapsulation of the real Republican Party platform - 1989 to present.
Trump has more committed enemies on our side, it seems.
Inconsistency? How about hypocrisy?
The Constitution places the power to fill SCOTUS vacancies with the elected senate. If the left feels that the Constitution should be ignored, and that late-term SCOTUS vacancies should be saved and filled by a future senate, then why didn’t they feel the same way in 2016?
Sure, politics aint bean-bag.
Finley Peter Dunne
I like your history lesson and way of thinking...
Why do we need all this media bluster?...just vote!
Born 1978 Elizabeth Britt Cagle[1] in Atlanta, Georgia, Grant attended The Westminster Schools.(Presbyterian) She received a Bachelor of Arts in English and politics from Wake Forest University in North Carolina.[2] She worked for then-Congressman Nathan Deal in Washington, D.C., and then served in various roles in the administration of President George W. Bush.[2] Grant received a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School, where she was president of the Federalist Society chapter, and was thereafter a law clerk to then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[3][4]
Georgia girl. Younger then Amy Barret, not Catholic. Nomination went through along party lines. Don't know much about her other than that.
Whomever
p
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Exactly right. This is the hill for the GOP to stand on or die on. Give no more ground.
Yep. President Trump frequently needs oversight on his personnel choices......Wray comes to mind.
She’s one of my two top choices, along with Rushing. (So far).
Winning those two Senate seats in 2018 was crucial! And we must hold the seat in Arz! We have the votes even if we have 3 defections.
Why allow it at all?
The 47 Democrats (OK, 45 + 2 "independents") have announced their votes.
They have announced they have all the information they need. Therefore, there's no need for more.
The assumption that PR would send nothing but Dems to DC is incorrect. The current Governor is a Republican, for example, as is the Resident Commissioner (House Rep.) Admitting PR during a Republican administration likely would make them a red state for a while.
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