Not confirming Neil Gorsuch is the easiest decision in the world. Why? Glad you asked.
First, the “nuclear option”, in regards to the Supreme Court, McConnell keeps threatening is coming. There is no avoiding it. Look at it this way. McConnell threatens to go nuclear if Dems filibuster (or, really, if Gorsuch doesn’t get 60 votes). Basically, he’s saying – Confirm Gorsuch or I’m changing the rules so Gorsuch is confirmed.
Here’s the deal: Either Dems help put Gorsuch on the court or Republicans change the rules and put Gorsuch on the court. All roads lead to Gorsuch on the Supreme Court.
There is zero reason to assist Republicans – especially since it keeps the threat of the nuclear option on the table. It’s only a matter of time before they use it. I say pull the trigger now. Why not? If the threat of the nuclear option means Dems give the GOP the votes they want then that’s the same outcome as actually employing the nuclear option. Make a stand.
Second, do not reward Republicans for stealing a Supreme Court seat. Talk about a dangerous precedent. They denied President Obama of fulfilling his presidential duty and they made it crystal clear that they would do the same thing if Hillary became president. (8 justices on the court was a-okay with them last year. Well, it’s fine with me now. Republicans made up this new rule. And if, for some reason, they don’t employ the nuclear option (doubtful) – Let them live by their new rule.)
But now we’re supposed to forget their past behavior. Now we’re supposed to uphold the sacred senate history and decorum and pretend that the GOP didn’t play politics with the SCOTUS. And if I hear one more “liberal” pundit tout this line I’m going to lose it.
If all roads lead to Gorsuch on the Supreme Court (and they do), then Dems have nothing to lose by filibustering. Mainly because McConnell and co. will eventually go nuclear. The only thing Dems control is when that happens.
Third, Russia. It seems like everyone associated with Trump has serious ties to Russia. Yeah, I’m not comfortable with any nominee coming out of this camp. Hey, how about Dems say… we’ll consider revisiting the SCOTUS nomination once we get to the bottom of Trump’s Russia connection. Toss in his tax returns, as well!
That may sound snarky, but it’s really not. Everything should be put on hold until we discover what went on. Trump has zero credibility on… anything. He’s a serial liar. Perhaps we shouldn’t allow a man whose legitimacy decreases every day to appoint a Supreme Court justice. Just sayin’
Listened to the hearings at length yesterday on NPR, as noted Gorsuch is likely unstoppable, filibuster or not. I also agree that at some point Uncle Mitch will go nuclear and kill the filibuster, the way things are going he may well be contemplating losing the house in 2018 and with it Republican dominance. As such his time is short if it comes about. Finally I also believe we have yet to see ultimate hard ball politics, there’s is far worse in store for coming years.
The SCOTUS filibuster is already a dead parliamentary procedure walking. I’ve heard people say that we’ve got to make sure that we keep it around so that if one of the liberal justices leaves the bench, we can possibly peal off some moderate R’s to block anyone that’s too conservative from getting on the court, but that’s a bunch of bologna. No republican senator is going to stand in the way of potentially locking in a conservative majority for the next few decades, even if Trump puts up the resurrected corpse of Robert Bork. This is a losing battle regardless of the outcome, so why shouldn’t the Democrats go down swinging, showing their base that they’re willing to fight for the principals that got them elected in the first place?
Politico, oy.
They are reporting that there may be a deal on the table between the GOP and Dems that might let Gorsuch be confirmed and preserve the filibuster.
Which looks from here that Senate Dems are working harder at preserving their crumbling institution than they are trying to fight for me. Or anyone else for that matter. And this relies on trusting these GOP members to keep their word when they typically show up to take the Dem’s lunch money Every Damned Day.
Like I said, if the Dems make this deal it only puts off the inevitable. The GOP continues to have the nuclear option in their arsenal and Gorsuch gets confirmed.