Alexander and Corker really need to talk some sense to their leadership
So a Supreme Court Justice dies and before the POTUS can even come up with a list of replacements, Mitch McConnell states the Republican Senate will not seat Obama's replacement. Why? Because they want to throw a hissy fit.
For 240 years the Senate has done their constitutional duty and has given advice and consent on nominations to the High Court. And during that time there have been times it was a Democratic President with a Republican Senate and a Republican President with a Democratic Senate.
True, in the past there have been fights and horse trading to get nominees on the court. But what the current Senate leadership is proposing is unprecedented/ The longest confirmation process for the High Court was Brandeis, which took 125 days. The current President has 341 days left in his term as of this writing. Three times that amount of time. The Senate leadership, and I use that term loosely, is proposing that the country's business before the High Court should lie fallow for almost a year. And in the process set a dangerous precedent for our country in the future.
Besides damaging our civic virtues of constitutional stability and getting the country's business done, this is bad politics for the Republicans. Let us examine why. The High Court is always an issue in presidential politics, but one most people ignore. This action puts that issue front and center in front of everyone. As well as making it an issue in Senate races in a year the Republicans are playing defense to hold onto control of the Senate.
And for what? Obama is the devil you know, a centrist Democrat arguably to right of Nixon on many issues. With a little horse trading you could get a nominee that is palatable. Not your first choice, but palatable. But Republicans would rather have a year-long hissy fit and face a crap shoot as to who will get the presidency next year? Let look at the options.
You could face a President Sanders. It is a weird year. With his growing youth vote this and retaking of the Senate could be a real possibility. And you want to energize that base with this issue? Do you really want Sanders filling Scalia's seat?
Could be Madame President Clinton. Arguably her politics are not much different from Obama's. But y'all hate her and yet you risk letting her pick Scalia's replacement.
Or how about President Ted Cruz. If there is one person more hated by Senate Republicans, it is Ted Cruz. Plus he is just a little too cozy with Christian Dominionists who want to turn our legal system into something out of the Old Testament. You think I'm joking? It was only last November he attended a conference of people who want to make breaking the Sabbath, adultery, and worshiping false gods, all capital offenses. To let Ted Cruz choose a Supreme Justice should give even conservative Republicans pause.
Or you could get President Trump. It is anyone's guess what his idea of a Supreme Court jJstice is. But given his neo-fascist rhetoric this option should be as scary as President Cruz.
How Senator Alexander and Senator Corker respond to this will tell us volumes if we have statesmen as senators or partisan hacks. This member of the Green Party is hoping for statesmen.
R.W. Young
Chattanooga