Discussion for article #246107
I’m sorry Sen. Schumer, the constitution specifically says that all appointments to the SCOTUS must be made by a white Republican president with an American name!!!111!!!11!
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Once again he is being far too kind to the GOP. Democrats need to start stating the truth - Republicans don’t care about the good of the country.
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“That’s what happened in 2013 when the Republican leadership tried to shut down the government. They’re doing it today with their attempts to shut down the Supreme Court,” Schumer continued.
In the interest of stating facts, Republicans are not “shutting down” SCOTUS. They are not preventing any SCOTUS function from continuing. 8 Justices can temporarily do the court’s duties. There are cases wherein a Justice recuses themselves due to conflict of interest and the remaining 8 hear oral arguments and render a decision. I suppose fighting nonsensical GOP hyperbole with Democrat nonsensical hyperbole works for the public relations game involved, but it’s weak tea in addressing the issue at hand.
With the current court composition, there are a lot of decisions that the supreme court can’t make, because a deadlock affirms the lower court ruling without setting a precedent. If you get down to 7 from recusal, things get really weird. (With executive-branch agencies, decisions made by less than a majority of the proper number of members can be challenged; there’s no similar thing with the court. Yet. But if you had any 4-3 decisions against a case that conservatives brought you can be darn sure there’d be a crisis.)
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If the President was GOP, they’d be tripping over themselves to get a confirmation hearing ASAP.
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I believe your example of recusal is the exception. Obstructing a nominee could make the court less functional. The likelihood of more gridlock on contentious issues (4-4 votes) seems plausible given the partisan composition of the court on those issues. In this case, the impact of being short a justice for an extended period of time could be acute given the contentious nature of some of the cases on the docket.
Now, if the MSM pays as much attention to the Trump campaign after he goes on Fox and blasts Bush for 9/11…we may have something here…
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Dems are so bad at messaging. 2013 is long out of people’s memory and gov’t shutdown implies both parties are involved. Just f-ing say “the GOP is refusing to the job the people of this country are paying them to do”.
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If Schumer meant to say Republicans were inhibiting the court’s functions, or hindering customary rulings, or some other iteration of same, then he should have phrased it so. Alleging the GOP was shutting SCOTUS down is inaccurate and a poor way to express the truth of the matter.
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This boils down to an issue of fairness and Americans understand that. It is unfair to the American people to arbitrarily refuse to do your job and consider a nominee.
I’ve heard from more than one conservative friend that, while they wish it were a Republican making the nomination, it is “insane” to block a President’s nomination. Anecdotal, to be sure, but that says to me that a large majority of folks “get it” and the Republicans are digging a hole for themselves.
I honestly think that the road the Republicans are heading down will be a disaster for them in the general election. Given that the next President could easily face 3 nominations + Scalia, the Reps might just be insuring a solidly liberal court for decades.
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Can we have anyone else but this Schumer dick take the lead on this? Hey Congressman Grayson! Handle this, will ya? Tell it like it is!
Boring. Make the correct argument or STFU Schroomer: The people decided on November 7, 2012 that Obama was to have the DUTIES of the Appointments Clause until January 20, 2017. It is a DUTY to nominate and a DUTY to appoint, not a discretionary, whimsical wielding of power. Neither the voters nor the Constitution stuck an asterisk after the 2012 election results that said “unless it’s last year of the POTUS’ term, in which case the nomination and appointment process shall be suspended until a new POTUS has been elected.” These fucking pricks want to run around all day yelling about their love of the Constitution, so call their bluff. Don’t just roll the Constitution into a tube and lightly swat them on the nose with it; roll it into a tube and jam it down their throats.
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No I think it’s a good message. Show a pattern of behavior, connecting the Repubs to something they’ve done before–something that was very unpopular.
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“We’re already see in the Republican coalition, which seemed unified the day Sen. McConnell announced his desire to prevent hearings and a vote on any nominee the president would offer, we’re seeing that coalition begin to crack,” Schumer said
I don’t buy it. All they’ve done is realize how stupid it was to announce the obstruction the way they did. So now they have to pretend they’re not obstructionists by reluctantly agreeing to a vote eventually and then dragging it out the long way, and end up refusing to confirm anyway. I have no faith it will end any differently. Hope I’m wrong though.