Discussion for article #246038
Preaching to the choir here Senator Reid.But I think this is going to be one of those times where all of the people wont be fooled.
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Of course NPR has already had Orrin Hatch on this morning saying it’s perfectly reasonable for the GOP to tell Obama not to make a nomination. We all know what he would say in the same interview if we had a republican president.
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A conservative Justice would be a huge improvement! Scalia was a flagrant judicial activist, who practically called the plays like an offensive coordinator. The next justice simply cannot be sending partisan smoke signals, making it clear who to sue when and where, to achieve which result.
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I hope the President takes the matter to the Supreme Court. I am confident that their opinion would not support McConnell’s Usurpation.
I do not think this would even be a precedent. This sort of thing rarely comes up if ever. There are rare instances of it happening, but even then they tend to go against what the GOP is saying. I mean Regan did something with a 47 year gap and nobody gnased their teeth too much.
It is a political move really. Their hope is to get their base going. As this justice is key to keeping the court conservative. So if they make a stand against a hated president, from their end anyway, the base may rise up. Their best case is keep control of the senate and get the presidency. And then basically pack the court with conservatives. The incentive for them to act is low unless they lose. Then they went from being able to potentially get a moderate (still shifting the slant of the court) to potentially a liberal if the Dems win the presidency and the senate. So they are playing roulet.
Reid is very right about what the Founders were going for initially. There are not restrictions based on time frame. The president has a job to put people on the court. The senate has their part in it too. Now, I think it would be better politics and make them look less like spoiled kids if the president nominated and then they voted down everyone for random reasons. At least they could say they are doing their job.
Not that their base cares. Really, getting people on the Court is going to be harder and harder in this sort of climate. I imagine that it would be hard for an uber conservative too that would deal with a Dem senate. You rarely get to put exactly who you want on there.
However, the president could play politics a bit the other way. Nominating qualified female African American candidates or similar would pretty much play into the narrative that the GOP is against anybody not white. Seems only fair.
And I’m certain NPR has an someone one to counter Orrin Hatch, right? Right? Haven’t heard NPR this morning, but I’m guessing that they didn’t. Oh NPR, how far have your fallen?
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Open casket?
Department store dummies have more zing…
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Meanwhile, Obama considers his cards.
http://f.tqn.com/y/boardgames/1/L/8/4/1/200193421-001.jpg
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Oh for fuck’s sake, why are so few Democrats making use of this? It completely destroys the Republican argument.
“In the year ahead, we’re not going to be on the defensive,
shoring up problems and answering our critics. We are moving forward,
and I have no doubt that when we look back 1988 will be a year of great
accomplishment toward our goals. This is the year when Judge Anthony
Kennedy will be confirmed and the Supreme Court will again be brought
up to full strength. The Federal judiciary is too important to
be made a political football. I would hope, and the American
people should expect, not only for Judge Kennedy’s confirmation but for
the Senate to get to work and act on 27 other judicial nominations that
have been left in limbo for quite awhile now.”
—Ronald Reagan on January 19, 1988, in the last full year of his Presidency.
But wait, there’s more: http://crooksandliars.com/2016/02/st-ronnie-speaks-question-scotus
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I just heard Ted Cruz claim (heard it on CNN) that if the Senate approves any Obama SCOTUS nominee that it meant the Justices themselves would “write out” the 2nd amendment. He actually said the SCOTUS can rewrite the Constitution at their whim. I think Cruz should go back to law school and let the grown ups run things.
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Jeb! said essentially the same thing this morning.
Fear. Fear. Fear.
And trump is defending torture…
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Reid also said that by blocking an Obama nominee, Republicans would be
“unconditionally surrendering their party to hard-line presidential
candidates Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Donald Trump.”
I love the smell if trolling in he morning.
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The Constitution is much like the Bible to the Cons and Baggers and these assorted fruitcakes representing the Republican Cult. Their feelings for the Constitution run the gamut from “a goddamned piece of paper” to “a sacred and holy text” depending on their need at the moment for it.
Those who have actually read either, and they are few, twist and pervert it as necessary and most, of course, have never read either, and simply and embarrassingly, parrot their long ago faulty memories from Civics 101 (Rubio…~cough~ ~cough~).
Their adherence to, belief in and understanding of the Constitution are the same as to the Babble’ ___ and it manifests in loud public blustering, using either for propaganda as needed and doing it with little or no substance simply for effect and political gain.
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Ted should take note of Dubya yesterday. Found liars don’t fare well in the Presidency and after as 43 illustrates. Though collected punditry didn’t appear to notice, Dubya looks haunted…
Off-Topic but I’m always interested in peoples avatars - what is that thing? Is it a thing? Is it a pile of things? Enquiring less-then-stellar minds want to know.
Rafael Cruz is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Since he’s running for President and has a personal interest in how this plays out, will he recuse himself when President Obama presents a nominee?
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Obama has an “ace in the hole”, Cruz is just an asshole. So close, yet so different.
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When you paddle around the swampy creeks of coastal Carolina as I do, you encounter all kinds of buzzing, biting, stinging, snapping, striking creatures both below and above the water. So I guess this amalgamation represents all of them in one unified nasty form. There are a few plutocrats needless to say that I would like to sic it on.
And thanks for asking.
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