Bring America back

Hello Taffy - she was great for the left and the super progressives. Those of us who believe in the Constitution were never impressed, particularly because she at one time headed up the ACLU, which also took a hard turn to the left under her reign. I honor the dead but that does not mean that all she said needs to be honored. She will be replaced with a balanced justice restoring a court that had gone off the rails in many decisions.

Hello, Tafhdyd... good to hear from you...

No, the Constitution did not say that Barack Obama could not fill a vacancy, but it does say that the Senate is empowered to fill them. The same Senate with Joe Biden sitting as Senate President, Senate President pro tem Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Harry Reid (D-NV) acting as Senate Majority Leader which opened Pandora's box when Senator Reid, tired of the filibuster process for federal court appointees, pushed through the nuclear option, i.e. approving nominees with a simple majority vote. Senator McConnell (D-KY) warned Senate Democrats at the time that changing the Senate's rules would be unwise. Now, Mitch McConnell is the Senate Majority Leader and he employs the rule change wrought by Democrats.

During the past 125+ years or so, the Senate has moved forward with the nomination process in an election year when one party controlled the White House and the Senate. In 2016, Senator McConnell declined to move forward with Barack Obama's nominee. In his view, the election year precedent was absent as a Democrat sat in the White House and Republicans held a majority in the Senate.

We could sit with a couple of adult beverages (properly distanced) and debate whether Senator McConnell's position is hypocritical. I don't believe so. Senator McConnell's position has remained unchanged. Last February, he was asked if the Senate would act on a Supreme Court nominee during this election year. He said, "Yes." The circumstance are such today that the same party (Republicans) holds both the White House and the Senate. I agree... Democrats don't like it, but Senator McConnell has been consistent.

Joe Biden, on the other hand, has been against filling a SC seat in an election year, then he was for it (2016), now he is against it. That doesn't sound too consistent to me.

The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg was great. I take issue with disparaging comments made about her. She was also one of the most liberal justices on the Supreme Court, and it is no surprise she would have liked to see a liberal candidate elected. Her fervent wish is apparently what she would have liked to see transpire politically. However, if she had been asked whether the appointment process could continue as a matter of law... how could she answer any other way but, "Yes"?

On this matter, I find that some on the left are being hypocritical especially when it comes to packing the SC. Justice Ginsburg was not hypocritical on this issue. Do you think Democrats would be acting any differently than Republicans if the roles were reversed?

Hello Dirk,

I appreciate the fact that you honor the dead. Perhaps I should clarify. My comment was that the Trump administration, Donald in particular, has no respect for the dead. Before her body was cold Donald was insinuating that maybe her dying wish was made up to make the left feel good, of course just another one of his off the wall statements with no backing. I wasn't saying that what she said had to be honored.

Ray, you ask whether Dems would act differently if the roles were reversed concerning the filling of a SCOTUS. Yes, I believe Dems would, as precedent, decorum, and respect for the rule of law is far more evident than the power first R's.. Abraham Lincoln set the precedent of waiting to appoint a new justice until after the people had spoken in the oncoming election. McConnell, Graham, Grassley and others are specifically on the record in 2016 that a replacement should wait. But, now that the power grab is there, it is party first, country be damned. The Republicans may push this through this time, but as the arc of history changes as it surely will, they will rue the day their hypocrisy is exposed.

Hello Ray,

Even though I won't convince you to vote for Biden and you know I won't vote for Trump, we are talking the same language. Adult beverages at a social distance is a great idea that has been lost in the current conditions of Washington. Tip O'Neill and his Republican counterparts would throw barbs and insults at each other during the day and solve legislative issues over drinks in the bar in the evening.

Yes, McConnell hasn't changed his tune in the past year or two since he changed his tune during the Obama term. On Feb. 16, 2016 he and Chuck Grassley wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post saying "Given that we are in the midst of the presidential election process, we believe that the American people should seize the opportunity to weigh in on whom they trust to nominate the next person for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court." They added the people should have a say rather than a lame-duck president when replacing Justice Scalia. He reaffirmed his stance on the 22nd and 23rd of February and again on March 16th after Obama nominated Mr. Garland saying "give the people a voice in filling this vacancy" by waiting until the next president takes office.

Nowhere in any of his comments nor any other of other Republican's comments was the caveat about different or same parties in control mentioned as has been bandied about the past few days in an attempt to explain away their change in tune.

In any event, have a nice evening and fix yourself a drink as I am about to do.