The political free-for-all that started about five minutes after the unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is beyond unsavory. Most of what passes for our political system is unsavory and always has been, but this is beyond the pale.
The Republican leadership, under the auspices of the incompetent Mitch McConnell, immediately got the ball rolling on the controversy. Literally within an hour of Scalia’s passing, he announced that the American people should decide who should nominate the next justice, based on the result of the November election. Historically there is precedent for Supreme Court nominations to be rejected during a President’s final year in the White House, so the statement in itself wasn’t controversial. I just found it distasteful for the controversial sparring in the press to begin so quickly. Democrats jumped into the fray right away, too.
Generally, Presidents put forth a nominee very quickly, but please don’t pretend for a second that one party or the other is more holy when it comes to obstructionist tactics. Please. The past behavior of Democrats may be dismissed by the likes of Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer, but this sort of thing has played out many times before on both sides of the fence. So let’s dispense with that nonsense right now.
I’d like to at least see Justice Scalia properly eulogized and laid to rest before the tit-for-tat begins, but it is clearly too late. So, here are some thoughts for both sides. To all my Democrat friends, please spare me from your memory lapses. Be honest and fair. Your side is no better than the other when it comes to these political battles. When Reid in all his phony rhetorical glory claims this will be the worst thing Republicans have ever done, be decent enough to admit what the rest of us know: he is full of it. It’s pathetic, but his media pals really don’t care what the truth of past history is, because it conflicts with the agenda they share with Reid.
The only thing more pathetic is the weak-kneed response we’re already seeing and hearing from some Republicans, who seem more concerned about not offending anybody and hurting their re-election chances by standing up for what they believe in. Have some backbone. Stand in front of the cameras and say, “We’re not giving an inch to King Obama.” Then tell both the media and the Democrats loudly and proudly to go you-know-where if they don’t like it. It seems to be working rather well for Trump!
Reid says the GOP will cave. It’s hard to argue the point when we’ve seen it happen so many times before. Wilting in the face of lefty media pressure is far too commonplace these days on the right side of the aisle. Reid and Schumer ignore their own history of obstructionism, and their media pals never challenge them. If Republicans want to win, they need to get in the game and give as good as they’ve been getting, and then proudly stand up to the scrutiny. Period.
