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Senate Republicans have formed a united front around the principle Barack Obama should not be able to appoint a replacement for Antonin Scalia, and that the seat should instead be selected by the winner of the 2016 election. This “principle” rests on a wildly selective reading of senatorial history, according to which it is somehow improper for a president to fill a Supreme Court seat in his final year. In reality, this principle has never existed before and was concocted on the fly in order to justify the simple exertion of power.
The implication of this claim, though, is that if Hillary Clinton wins the election, Republicans will give her latitude to appoint a reasonably well-qualified, non-extreme jurist to the vacant spot. I have long been skeptical that Republicans would actually go along with this if it comes to pass. And now John McCain confirms it. In an interview touting fellow Republican Senator Pat Toomey, McCain pledges that he and his party will continue the Supreme Court blockade throughout Clinton’s term. “I promise you that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up,” McCain said. “I promise you. This is where we need the majority and Pat Toomey is probably as articulate and effective on the floor of the Senate as anyone I have encountered.”
If Clinton wins and Democrats pull enough Senate seats, Republicans will oppose her nominee, and then, eventually, Democrats will change the rules to abolish filibusters of Supreme Court nominees. (Republicans will decry this foul measure and justify any subsequent actions of their own as justified revenge.) If Clinton wins and Republicans hold on to 51 seats, they will simply refuse to let any nominee through. The fact that it is McCain, a personal friend of Clinton and as strong an institutionalist as can be found in the Senate, who is proposing to extend the blockade indefinitely shows just how deep the commitment runs through the party.
The old norms held that presidents were given some deference in filling Supreme Court vacancies. Senators might object to a particular nominee on the basis of ideological extremism or lack of qualifications, but the president’s general right to appoint a member of his judicial team was considered sacrosanct. Like all the other norms holding back the exercise of power, this one has now collapsed. The new rule is that a president needs 50 senators to fill a Supreme Court vacancy.
This is the first step to shutting down a free society.
This is how despotic regimes chip away at voting rights. They deny the winner of an election (and hence the voters) the right to govern.
They do this with the Fascist battle cry that there is ONE TRUE NATION, and only their side represents it. Therefore, only we can choose justices and determine laws/policy.
People who are afraid of ONE PARTY RULE should take notice. This is a coup de'tat.
Without the Supreme Court they can't steal elections. This is exactly what happened in the Soviet Union where they slowly got rid of all opposition and created an institutional structure that enabled them to jail their political opponents. They are creating a legal system where no opposition was possible.
They disenfranchised Obama's voters by denying his right to pick a Supreme Court Justice. If they deny Clinton, than we are one step closer to the end of American Democracy.
Hitler also rose to power on the heels of movement where a sub-set of uneducated homelanders had been manipulated to believe that their nation had been stolen by Jews and liberal outsiders bent on destroying Borders, Language, Culture.
History is repeating itself. If America sees another Republican President who ushers in another long recession, and if the desperation spreads further than that caused by the Bush Meltdown, we will see the rise of a movement that puts Democrats in jail and subjects "outsiders" to firing squads. If you don't believe me, take a look at the violence of a Trump rally. They are more than capable of a modern Holocaust, not least because they believe, like the Germans supported Hitler, that their nation has been stolen and it is time to act.
God Help us.
back in 2008 everyone thought he'd be dead by now.I think this is a fig leaf. This gives cover so Republicans can vote for Clinton.
McCain Vows Supreme Court Blockade Will Continue Through Clinton’s Presidency
Senate Republicans have formed a united front around the principle Barack Obama should not be able to appoint a replacement for Antonin Scalia, and that the seat should instead be selected by the winner of the 2016 election. This “principle” rests on a wildly selective reading of senatorial history, according to which it is somehow improper for a president to fill a Supreme Court seat in his final year. In reality, this principle has never existed before and was concocted on the fly in order to justify the simple exertion of power.
The implication of this claim, though, is that if Hillary Clinton wins the election, Republicans will give her latitude to appoint a reasonably well-qualified, non-extreme jurist to the vacant spot. I have long been skeptical that Republicans would actually go along with this if it comes to pass. And now John McCain confirms it. In an interview touting fellow Republican Senator Pat Toomey, McCain pledges that he and his party will continue the Supreme Court blockade throughout Clinton’s term. “I promise you that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up,” McCain said. “I promise you. This is where we need the majority and Pat Toomey is probably as articulate and effective on the floor of the Senate as anyone I have encountered.”
If Clinton wins and Democrats pull enough Senate seats, Republicans will oppose her nominee, and then, eventually, Democrats will change the rules to abolish filibusters of Supreme Court nominees. (Republicans will decry this foul measure and justify any subsequent actions of their own as justified revenge.) If Clinton wins and Republicans hold on to 51 seats, they will simply refuse to let any nominee through. The fact that it is McCain, a personal friend of Clinton and as strong an institutionalist as can be found in the Senate, who is proposing to extend the blockade indefinitely shows just how deep the commitment runs through the party.
The old norms held that presidents were given some deference in filling Supreme Court vacancies. Senators might object to a particular nominee on the basis of ideological extremism or lack of qualifications, but the president’s general right to appoint a member of his judicial team was considered sacrosanct. Like all the other norms holding back the exercise of power, this one has now collapsed. The new rule is that a president needs 50 senators to fill a Supreme Court vacancy.
This is the first step to shutting down a free society.
This is how despotic regimes chip away at voting rights. They deny the winner of an election (and hence the voters) the right to govern.
They do this with the Fascist battle cry that there is ONE TRUE NATION, and only their side represents it. Therefore, only we can choose justices and determine laws/policy.
People who are afraid of ONE PARTY RULE should take notice. This is a coup de'tat.
Without the Supreme Court they can't steal elections. This is exactly what happened in the Soviet Union where they slowly got rid of all opposition and created an institutional structure that enabled them to jail their political opponents. They are creating a legal system where no opposition was possible.
They disenfranchised Obama's voters by denying his right to pick a Supreme Court Justice. If they deny Clinton, than we are one step closer to the end of American Democracy.
Hitler also rose to power on the heels of movement where a sub-set of uneducated homelanders had been manipulated to believe that their nation had been stolen by Jews and liberal outsiders bent on destroying Borders, Language, Culture.
History is repeating itself. If America sees another Republican President who ushers in another long recession, and if the desperation spreads further than that caused by the Bush Meltdown, we will see the rise of a movement that puts Democrats in jail and subjects "outsiders" to firing squads. If you don't believe me, take a look at the violence of a Trump rally. They are more than capable of a modern Holocaust, not least because they believe, like the Germans supported Hitler, that their nation has been stolen and it is time to act.
God Help us.
No...this is called a check and a balance on the concentration of too much power in one branch of government.........obama put two justices on the court twit....they didn't stop anything.....if hilary gets in office then we are actually done with democracy...she is going to import muslims to vote democrat and make illegals, legal, to vote democrat, she will use the court to pass whatever rules she wants and they will rubber stamp them....
The only ones engaging in organized violence and attacks on the opposite party are the democrats...they are the true fascists.....
But don't worry...the republicans don't have the balls or the spine to stand up to the clinton crime machine..the first thing hilary will do is use the FBI and the IRS against any opposition...and McCain will fold like a cheap suit...
