The Supreme Court vacancy, a minefield for Republicans

Ah . . . you crack me up. Will you please tell us upon what occasion the majority leader of a Democrat-controlled Senate stated publicly that the Senate would not even hold a hearing on any nominee of the President?...

By the way, as Brandon probably has me on ignore as a result of his petulance, i will point out a few things here. Mr. Obama attempted to filibuster a Bush appointment, but the attempt failed because the Senate, then controlled by the Democrats, voted for cloture. Twenty Democratic senators voted for that motion. That shut down Mr. Obama's attempt at a filibuster. Mr. Biden once stated that a Democrat-controlled Senate should not consider hearing a {a[[u Bush nominee, if tehre should be a resignation from the Court. There was no vacancy to be filled at the time of Mr. Biden's remarks. But Biden was not the Senate majority leader, nor was Mr. Obama at the time of his attempted (and failed) filibuster.

More than that, talking about what the Democrats have done or would do is a logical fallacy. The Tu quoque fallacy holds that a moral position is wrong if the person expounding it is being a hypocrite. This is a form of the argumentum ad hominem fallacy in that it holds that a proposition is false because the person offering the proposition is a hypocrite. Even if Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden are hypocrites, the validity of their position rests on its own merits, and not whether or not they are hypocrites. It is a moderately clever tactic on the part of Republicans, because it puts their adversaries on the defensive. Democrats should combat this by using a spokesman who merely has not advocated such a tactic in the past. I have too little faith in the majority of the American electorate being able to absorb the logical fallacy being employed here.

As you alluded to, during a speech he delivered on the Senate floor on June 25, 1992, then Sen. Joe Biden urged his Democratic colleagues to block until after the presidential election any potential Supreme Court nominations President George H.W. Bush might name.

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As you alluded to, during a speech he delivered on the Senate floor on June 25, 1992, then Sen. Joe Biden urged his Democratic colleagues to block until after the presidential election any potential Supreme Court nominations President George H.W. Bush might name.

There was no opening on the Supreme Court at the time of Biden's speech. There is no comparison to be made other than apples to oranges.

You're kind of slow Brandon--an argumentum ad hominem is a case of making a personal attack rather than arguing the position. I argued the position very clearly. Your argument, basically, was "well you guys do it too!" That is a tu quoque fallacy. Saying that you are petulant is just an added perquisite of the debate.

There is a comparison and I made it. I was supporting my assertion that Democrats regularly oppose Republican efforts.

The actual truth is that you oppose what we want the same way that we oppose what you want.

Ah . . . you crack me up. Will you please tell us upon what occasion the majority leader of a Democrat-controlled Senate stated publicly that the Senate would not even hold a hearing on any nominee of the President? Then have the courtesy, if you will, of providing us a source for that? I am not buying your BS unless and until you do that.

I think that is a precedent setting communication.

He fears a potential sea change in the highest court which could block the Koch's attempts at "stacking the opinions in their favor".