February 14, 2016 6:38 AM

We shouldn't take pleasure from Antonin Scalia's passing, but neither should we mourn him

The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President.

  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

I’m going to start by paraphrasing Mark Twain, who once said that he wouldn’t celebrate someone’s death but that he’d read a few obituaries with some considerable pleasure. So it is with the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. On a personal level, he may have been a prince of a man…but his public persona was combative, controversial, intolerant, and devoid of anything resembling compassion. Eager to mix religion and government, as well as force his version of God onto Americans (most of whom don’t share his Neanderthal worldview), Scalia’s politics were abhorrent to most decent, compassionate Americans. His legacy from his years on the Supreme Court will be of a jurist who rejected anything but the most Conservative interpretation of the law and morality. In his written opinions, he often referred to the LGBT community as “disgusting,” and there are myriad examples to buttress the truth that Scalia was as crude and disrespectful as he was intolerant and self-superior. Outside of his family and friends, I don’t expect he’ll be much missed. Antonin Scalia’s legacy will not be warm and fuzzy.

Not surprisingly, Scalia’s body wasn’t even cold before Republicans were posturing about refusing to even consider a nomination to replace Scalia if put forward by The Black Guy in the White House ©. Sen. McConnell is already on the record saying the American people should have a voice in replacing Scalia via the upcoming Presidential election. Here’s the thing, though: the American people have already spoken; they elected and RE-elected Barack Obama and despite the Majority Leader’s utter disdain, Obama is still President for the next 11 months. McConnell’s statement is pure political posturing by someone who considers The Black Guy in the White House © to be an illegitimate President. It seems McConnell only considers elections to be legitimate when they produce Republican officeholders. He’s hoping for a Republican to be elected President (good luck with that) and then nominating someone every bit as reliably Conservative as Scalia.

You’d think that McConnell and his fellow Republicans would be ashamed to be caught being so unabashedly partisan…but that would presume they’re even capable of feeling shame. McConnell is the same leader who pledged on Day One of Brack Obama’s presidency that Congressional Republicans would do everything in their power to thwart The Black Guy in the White House ©. They’ve done exactly that over the past seven years…to the point of being willing to damage this country in order to deny The Black Guy in the White House © anything even faintly redolent of a victory.

What McConnell undoubtedly doesn’t want Americans to remember is that on February 3, 1988, he (and every other Republican in the Senate) voted to approve Anthony Kennedy, who’d been nominated to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan. McConnell may claim that no Supreme Court nomination should take place during the run-up to a Presidential election, but what he really means is that this Democratic President shouldn’t be allowed to make a nomination until or unless Republicans give him permission.

This was during President Ronald Reagan’s last year in the White House, and at a time when Democrats controlled the Senate. Kennedy was confirmed 97-0, with three Democrats — Joe Biden, Al Gore and Paul Simon — not voting at all because, presumably, they were busy running for president that year.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who currently chairs the Judiciary Committee, was among those Saturday arguing that the Senate isn’t obligated to confirm Supreme Court picks when it’s a president’s last year in office.

“The fact of the matter is that it’s been standard practice over the last 80 years to not confirm Supreme Court nominees during a presidential election year,” the Iowa Republican said in a statement.

But Grassley, too, voted to confirm Kennedy under Reagan.

I’m frankly stunned, but not particularly surprised that Republicans began their crass political posturing almost as soon as Scalia was pronounced dead. Yes, they hate The Black Guy in the White House © Just. That. Much…and if takes lies, propaganda, and disinformation to prevent this President from making a nomination so they can get one more to their liking, so be it.

You can do that when you’re incapable of feeling shame and integrity means nothing to you.

Barack Obama said it best when he said he plans to fulfill his Constitutional obligation and nominate a replacement for Scalia. The Senate also has a Constitutional obligation to give that nominee a fair hearing and a timely vote, but given the current crop of moral midgets populating the Republican majority in the Senate, no obligation takes precedence over thwarting The Black Guy in the White House ©.

It doesn’t get much more pathetic and despicable.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Technorati

Technorati search

» Blogs that link here

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on February 14, 2016 6:38 AM.

First they came for our women. Then our jobs. Then our dictionaries. was the previous entry in this blog.

The reason why those who are good without God make better lovers? No pressure. is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Contact Me

Powered by Movable Type 6.0.8