Posted on 11/18/2016 7:00:19 AM PST by KeyLargo
Republicans Didn't "Steal" Scalia Vacancy
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Ed Whelan reminds us that Senate Republicans, in refusing to hold hearings on Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court, were only following the Democrats' advice (emphasis added):
I see that some on the Left are now trying to recast their huge political loss on the Scalia vacancy as a claim that Republicans “stole” the Scalia seat. Two observations:
1. The Scalia vacancy never belonged to anyone, so it makes no sense to say that it was stolen. Or is the Left going to go beyond its “obviously fatuous” claim that the Senate had a constitutional duty to hold an up-or-down vote on the Garland nomination and now insist that the Senate had a constitutional duty to confirm Garland?
2. Let’s assume that the political situation had been reversed: that is, that a liberal justice died in an election year while a Republican was president and Democrats controlled the Senate. It’s a very safe bet that Democrats would have taken exactly the course that Senate Republicans did.
Indeed, then-Judiciary Committee chairman Joe Biden threatened exactly that a full 24 years ago, during the 1992 election year. And in late July 2007—more than 15 months in advance of the 2008 presidential election—Democratic senator Chuck Schumer [said] that the Senate “should not confirm another U.S. Supreme Court nominee under President Bush ‘except in extraordinary circumstances.’” . . .
So those who imagine that the battle over the Scalia seat involved some dramatic escalation of the confirmation wars are overlooking that Senate Democrats had already baked that escalation into the process. What made the Scalia vacancy battle different from earlier battles were two simple facts: (1) this was the first time since 1991 that a president was making a nomination to a Senate controlled by the opposite party, and (2) the vacancy arose in an election year.
The battle over the Scalia seat is likely far from over, but after the election last week, Democrats are losing the battle. But claims that the Republicans were acting in an unprecedented fashion in the past few months are overblown.
Yes but its different for them, don’t you see?
The Republicans represented their constituents and used their power wisely.
Can’t you see they are upset! Give it to them! ...
Our recurring mistake is to argue with the expectation they will say “oh, ok, you’re right” at some point, and that we must reach that point to proceed beyond the argument.
They don’t care. They’ll just say whatever $#!^ advances their agenda, plowing forward despite opponents’ attempts to reason with them.
Okay, Democrats. We DID steal it! Go on and do something about it! Pony up and give it your best shot.
Well, Killary and Soros shouldn’t have “created” the vacancy in the first place...
First rule of fascism: Never believe your own propaganda.
They did all the work to get rid of Scalia at the right time with anticipation of getting a super liberal anti constitution judge appointed by either obamma or Killary. BUT suddenly there was a big surprise, a fly in the ointment, TRUMP WON... they loose. They made the cake and we ate the whole thing.
You said exactly what I meant. I like your last sentence. Good way to put it.
Let’s not forget, too, with past vacancies the RATs demanded that the “black seat” held by Thurgood Marshall remain black (ok, here’s Thomas heh, heh, heh), female seat remain female, etc. So why not the conservative seat remain conservative? Again, it is their own meme being thrown back at them.
I wonder if The dems feel that they are entitled to that seat since they went through all the trouble of murdering him...
Elections have consequences. You lose. We win. That works for me. Stick it where the sun don’t shine. And your horse, too.
Excellent point! Trump put up a list of judges from whom he would select Scalia’s replacement. This was gutsy because if, out of all those names, even one had proved an easy mark for the Democrats, it would have hurt Trump’s campaign. But since the Demos were so sure of victory, they never tried their “out of the mainstream” con on any of them during the election.And now that Trump, list and all, has won, the Dems will be waking up to the reality is that, politically, Trump’s list is the mainstream. By electing Trump, the voters have made it so. And ten of the twenty five Democrat senators whose terms expire in 2018 hail from states carried by Trump - and his list.
That could make opposing a nominee from Trump’s list a delicate problem for the Senate Dem leadership.
Scalia was murdered.
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