I remember thinking that Obama would probably come up with someone ridiculous to nominate like the idiot Holder, then I read an article naming the top six on Obama's short list for the position. Holder was on it. God help us if he's nominated and wins the spot.
I like to think that it is mostly based upon education. The one kid is grounded. Has a sense of reality, instilled by his parents. The other kid has been groomed by "chip on their shoulders" public educators.
well, obviously the republicans would prefer to wait. but, the media isn't going to portray it as "waiting." they're going to go ballistic with the "partisan obstruction of constitutional duty" angle. with that in mind, does the senate take the chance of creating backlash resulting in the perfect storm of 1) loss of senate majority 2) democratic president, and 3) liberal court all occurring simultaneously? or do they play it safe and confirm a nomination from President Obama with the expectation that they keep the senate? or is the perfect storm totally unlikely? (5 seats have been gained by the dems in the last two democrat-won presidential elections. and that's how many they need for control)
Not sure if this has already made its rounds but it made me chuckle with all the lamenting on potential upcoming obstructionism....
I just wish they would have at least waited for the funeral before they started publicly fighting over his replacement.
Alex Jones' take: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/alex-jones-obama-murdered-justice-scalia-and-donald-trump-next LOL
In the words of Scalia himself: "Get over it". That was his standard answer when questioned about Bush v Gore. So take that advice regarding the endless whining about Bork. It all boils down to "If it happens to MY side, there's a different rule compared to when it happens to yours". Face it, Barack Obama is President and gets to fill the post and any RightWinger/Republican hollering that the position should remain vacant for the next 50 weeks is a friggin' LIAR if they say they'd be willing to do the same if the situation were reversed.
Funny how this Senator emphasizes "main stream America" instead of the Constitution as a basis for a SC Justice. If Shumer is correct than we need Kanye on the court. Based on the Kardashian thread (elsewhere) Kenye is so main stream, how could he be denied?
Convenient. Whatever happened to "We the People?" To the power of democracy/voting? I am no subject matter expert here but what would be so wrong with letting this elections be about the will of the people? If you want to quote Scalia, I believe he has his viewpoint of the power the people held? With that said, I do believe that the president should move forward with the nomination. And, Congress should do what is asked of them, go through the process. Nothing says, a nominee must be approved. I did not have opinion the last time a Lame Duck president was confronted with this opportunity/crisis. But I know some politicians were, and they are now lying. I am confident that you can quote me on my opinion today, with respect to letting the will of the people be the law of the law of the land. Or is that will only a subjective thing? In the end, it seems that one side of the aisle is more driven to curtail the will of the people. From Super Delegates to Legislating from the bench...
So, what happens if there's an executive order by BO to somehow circumnavigate the process and someone else gets appointed and legality of the executive order gets pushed to the supreme court?
Details, details. It appears he also forgot how difficult Democrat controlled senates have made SC appointments in the past.
There are many chickens headed home to roost in coming months. Dems have been playing hardball when it worked for them, now we'll see tears when they get as good as they gave.
For me it was kind of embarrassing to hear some of our illustrious leading conservative leaders start harping about "waiting until after the election" to nominate and approve another SC justice. Obviously, for them, maybe they could just select someone to fill the position so that they can make sure that another conservative is seated. I'm sure that they would be happy to circumvent the Constitution, just this once, to make the right choice. It's not going to hurt a damn thing for Obama to nominate someone then let Congress do their thing. If it's someone like Holder, or Lynch, they'll never see the inside of the SC judges chambers. Geez, this election cycle is beyond being an ignorant clusterfuck. What's next? Maybe a nuclear attack coming from N Korea? Let's pencil that in for about August.
circumvent. SCOTUS does not stop operating with eight justices. Sheesh. I am pretty sue there has never been an EO designed to undermine something as explicit as Article 2, but I guess we can all reach. Good commentary here