"Listen up Prez O'Bama....I know the Constitution says the President has the privilege of nominating Supreme Court Justices and we, the United States Senate, have the responsibility to interview and ultimately approve or disapprove your nomination, but screw that shit. Don't waste your time. I don't care who you send us the answer is 'no'. NO, NO, NO! Got it?" Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Sadly the United States Supreme Court yesterday lost a Justice who was, by all accounts, a brilliant legal scholar, Justice Antonin Scalia (front row, second from left). He also happened to be a staunch Constitutional conservative. By all rights the sitting president, Barack Obama, should immediately begin the search for a possible replacement, and he probably will, but his nominee will be a non-starter, whoever he/she might be.
That's because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, backed by virtually every Republican Senator, says he won't even schedule a hearing on a replacement, much less allow a vote. He says the next president (he's assuming he will be a Republican) should have the right to nominate a replacement. I get it....he wants to replace a conservative with another conservative. But I'm pretty sure the Constitution does not allow such blatant cherry-picking.
It seems to me, and I'm pretty sure if he was still here Justice Scalia would agree, the Senate is REQUIRED BY THE CONSTITUTION ("speedy trial", speedy hearing...same thing) to schedule a time to consider the president's nominee, followed by an up or down vote. No where does the Constitution say a lame duck president should forfeit his right to offer up a nominee. It just doesn't say that!
Now if President Obama is dumb enough to nominate some radical extreme left-wing pseudo-commie, the Senate Judiciary Committee should be able to call a hearing to order, ask a couple of questions, ask for a show of hands, and still be able to make their 11am tee time. I have no problem with that.
But what if President Obama were to find several sitting federal judges with plenty of opinions to their credit, who have shown they can fairly and without prejudice or political ideology decide a case based on the principles of the Constitution? Should he not be able to even nominate one of them?
And to be fair, a lame duck President Trump/Cruz/Rubio/Kasich, etc should be able to send a nominee to the Senate, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer should be obligated to give him/her a fair hearing, too.
This is what it's come to my friends: the people we sent to Washington to represent us, in other words our EMPLOYEES, have just told us fuck off!
THEY HAVE SHOWN THEY ARE MORE THAN WILLING TO THROW US ALL UNDER THE BUS, AND TRAMPLE ON THE CONSTITUTION THEY TOOK AN OATH TO UPHOLD, IN ORDER TO PROTECT THEIR OWN POLITICAL POWER AND POSITION.
What's next? The burning of courthouses, state houses, or our capital building in Washington when words spoken there offend a certain power class? Assassinate candidates who seem a little too independent minded? Maybe call in citizens for IRS harassment who dare make eye-contact with elected officials?
This has GOT to stop or else the coming revolution (?) won't be the polite garden-party type Bernie Sanders has in mind.
S
"This is what it's come to my friends: the people we send to Washington to represent us, in other words our EMPLOYEES, have just told us fuck off."
ReplyDeleteThat's the best line I have heard in a long while. These are OUR employees.... who pays their salaries? Hmmm my tax dollars I am pretty sure. Remember your first pay check..... before you knew what taxes were and you took a look at your first pay check and thought "WTF". That's how I feel about the current situation in Washington DC. I would like to be able to allot my tax dollars .... but that's not how this works is it? I have watched a lot of debates recently - being married to you in this political climate.... well it's exciting... but it's exciting in a scary apocalyptic kind of way.... it's like when you are watching F1 and one of the cars touches another and explodes into a million pieces... Hillary and Bernie, Ted, Jeb, Donny T, Marco and Johnny K.... those are the choices currently. The only one that makes a lick of sense (that's Texas speak for something) is Johnny K. When everyone else looks like they are in a cage match shouting and carrying on .... he's calm, cool and collected. Who do you want to handle your Nuclear Codes? The hot heads who are loving nothing more than fear-mongering (sounds like Hitler - just saying) Or some one that can keep a cool head? Ted thinks that ISIS will cross the border between Texas and Mexico in their Toyota pickup trucks.... did he fail geography? ISIS may have a ton of cash but not sure they are going to put their lil trucks on a container ship - just sayin - that's not good business. And he's got a twitchy trigger finger on our ICBMs - does he know how that works? You launch , they launch = world screwed. I will do everything in my voting power to keep that idiot out of office. Is there a revolution coming? I don't know .... but it wouldn't surprise me.
This could totally backfire on the Republicans. To get a nominee confirmed, Obama would undoubtedly choose a more moderate candidate than would a new Democratic president, and should Obamo choose to do so he could appoint someone during a congressional recess, as the Constitution allows him to do.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, Bush the first nominated my brother to be a Federal Judge in the Atlanta district. This was just before, President Bush's term was over. That summer my brother called Joe Biden's office (who was head of the committee with judicial review, if that is what it is called) to ask when he might be called to respond to questioning and review. He wanted to know so he could plan his vacation that summer. He was told very specifically,
ReplyDelete"Unless you are a woman or black, don't worry, nothing will go forward until after the election."
His nomination simply faded away when Clinton won the election. I seriously doubt the republicans in the Senate will act any differently to President Obama's nomination.
BTW, Several years after, President Clinton nominated my brother for a Federal Magistrate*position which he held for many years, but he always lamented missing out on the first position, one which would have meant much greater participation in the judicial process.
*I won't go on about what he had to do in way of soliciting donations to the Democrat Party from associates at the request of the same Mr. Biden's office, in order to secure this nomination, suffice to say it is a very dirty business.
Very dirty indeed. And the Democrats back in those days were just as Constitutionally wrong as the Republicans are today. Everyone seems to pay the Constitution lip service, but then are all too willing to ignore it when it gets in their way.
DeleteI love how people say, "Well the other side does it too." As if that's justification.
DeleteThere was no attempt to call it justification in any way...what the f*** are you reading? Dirty business is dirty business...no offense, but you are a one note symphony of left wing gobblity gook.
DeleteIt's not surprising the people who have tried to block just about every Obama appointment and shut down the government are going to pull this crap. I feel bad for whoever Obama taps because he/she is going to be heavily scrutinized by the media and have to do the talk show circuit.
ReplyDeleteAs much as they claim the independence of the Court, the fact is that justices are political - some more than others - which is why the battle every time to get their person appointed. Scalia made decisions more based on his religion and conservative ideology than the law. The fight for his replacement will be for a Scalia clone.
ReplyDeleteIf Mitch McConnell isn't careful, Mitch McConnell might get the next president to nominate a replacement: Hillary Clinton always could nominate Barack Obama, could she not???
ReplyDeleteLOL! That would chap him 9 ways to Sunday! :)
DeleteKelly Park should have her own blog. She makes more sense than anyone here. (Sorry, Scott, ol' buddy, ol' pal) SWMBO is the same re my infrequent political screeds.)
ReplyDeleteHa! Yep, she can go toe-to-toe with anyone, including me. Especially me. ;)
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