In chess terms, Obama is sacrificing a pawn rather than risking his queen. He wants to have the debate while maintaining the future viability of younger, more compelling candidates. A cautious rather than bold move.
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Which makes him light years better than Scalia.
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Its worth noting that Millhiser is less than thrilled also, on twitter this morning.
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Yes, but Scalia was appointed by Reagan. Thatās not the bar we are trying to get over here.
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Obama got us another Jewish Woman, and a Wise Latinaā¦I donāt see a problem with a moderate white Protestant man to replace a rabidly reactionary Catholic fascist white man.
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I think heās letting the Republicans know they will get younger and more liberal each go around. This is almost a dare.
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The GOP wonāt buy it. Remember the Grand Bargain?
Baier phrased it this way: āIām going to ask a question to everyone here on the stage. Say you had a deal, a real spending cuts deal, 10-to-1, as Byron said, spending cuts to tax increasesā¦. Who on this stage would walk away from that deal? Can you raise your hand if you feel so strongly about not raising taxes, youād walk away on the 10-to-1 deal?ā
All eight candidates raised their hand. Literally all of them, if offered a debt-reduction deal thatās 10-to-1 in their favor, would simply refuse.
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Iād also just like to say, Congratulations to TKTKTK on his and/or her nomination to the Supreme Court!
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Feels like the GOP rolled Obama again and got him to nominate an old white bread vanilla candidate. Who is going to go to polls so this guy can get on the court? Underwhelmed.
Hey!! Heās two months younger than I am, and Iām still perfectly capable ofā¦ umā¦ Damn, lost my train of thought.
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It feels like the GOP rolled Obama again and got him to nominate an old white bread vanilla candidate. Who is going to go to polls so this guy can get on the court? Underwhelmed.
After cleaning up in the primaries last night, itās all good at TK headquarters!
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ON the other hand, it may be that PBO is saying āI want to de-politicize the court. This is how we do it.ā
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Oh, please. Some Americans think Judge Judy is a SCOTUS judge. This isnāt gonna move the needle that much.
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The more I watch Obama operate, the more I realize he is really a Jedi Master in this kind of stuff.
I think he feels Hillary is going to win this fall. He also realizes that under the best of circumstances, whomever he nominates now is going to face intense GOP intransigence and may not get considered or voted upon
But by choosing Judge Garland, clearly āabout as middle of the road as you can find,ā and 63, he really sticks it to the GOP right now. Not only is he NOT putting up someone with any clear ideological cant, but he is choosing someone older who would not be on the Bench as long as Srinivasan if he were nominated and approved.
Hillary can still name Srinivasam AND Garland if Garland is not approved nowā¦and maybe one or two more during her term.
But for right now, Obama is clearly looking to paint the GOP in a very difficult corner heading into the summer and fallā¦forcing them to block a guy who is about as as objectionable as Charlie Brown and sticking that in their faces from now to November.
Reportedly the White House has a coordinatedplan in place to drive this narrative and it will be fascinating to see the GOP struggle to avoid looking like total obstructionists when up to two thirds of Americans believe Obamaās right and duty is to put forth a nominee and the Senate has the duty to advise and consent. Charlie Pierce had it right when Scalia died: Obama picks a nominee and then storms the country campaigning for the party and bringing that nominee with him to event after event and asking why the GOP wonāt give him a vote.
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The only question that matters with this selection: Will Garland vote to reverse Citizens United. If so, heās a winner.
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Poor Greenwald spent all morning researching why Sri Srinivasan was a terrible choice by PBO, now he has to research Merrick Garland. 
.
You know who else loves Merrick Garland?
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the one major issue that I have with Mister TK is that heās frankly a blank sheet of paper. Now he has a decent stance (i hope) in regards to human rights, but it essentially took him five years to reach that point.
Iām somewhat curious as to what sank Jane Kellyās chances, but seeing how nothing will likely get done between now and say Juneā¦shrug
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Depends on what bar Obama seeks to get over here with Merrick, though, given the unusual situation surrounding the nomination.
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Well, I knew she wasnāt. But I was kind of expecting her nomination.
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