I write in a few places so can't recall if I noted here McCain's statement from a week ago that Republicans would stonewall any President Clinton appointment to the SC. And Ted Cruz has now said the same (and a number of conservative voices in right wing media have been pushing this strategy as a good and proper idea). Grassley has said they won't stonewall but he's not someone you ought to trust.
So let's recall the rationale that was advanced when Scalia died and Garland was nominated by Obama to fill that vacant seat. This rationale (that a president in his/her last year of office must not be permitted to forward a SC nominee and that this appropriately falls only to the next president, after the election, so the people can have a voice) has no precedent, of course, but it served the purpose of keeping, at least temporarily, a Dem president from placing his/her choice on the SC.
To go another step forward, as McCain and Cruz and others are now doing (effectively - NO Democrat president has any right to place a SC justice) is as bad as it seems. As I've said before, these people do not give a crap about democracy and the will of the people. They really don't.
Here's what they said back around March:
Quote:“I believe the overwhelming view of the Republican Conference in the Senate is that this nomination should not be filled, this vacancy should not be filled by this lame duck president…The American people are perfectly capable of having their say on this issue, so let’s give them a voice. Let’s let the American people decide. The Senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next president nominates, whoever that might be.” (McConnell)
Quote:“I believe the overwhelming view of the Republican Conference in the Senate is that this nomination should not be filled, this vacancy should not be filled by this lame duck president…The American people are perfectly capable of having their say on this issue, so let’s give them a voice. Let’s let the American people decide. The Senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next president nominates, whoever that might be.” (Paul Ryan)
Quote:“The only way to empower the American people and ensure they have a voice is for the next President to make the nomination to fill this vacancy.” (John Cornyn)
Quote:“The next justice could fundamentally alter the direction of the Supreme Court and have a profound impact on our country, so of course the American people should have a say in the Court’s direction. The Senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next President nominates, whoever that might be.” (McConnell)
Quote:As we mourn the tragic loss of Justice Antonin Scalia, and celebrate his life’s work, the American people are presented with an exceedingly rare opportunity to decide, in a very real and concrete way, the direction the Court will take over the next generation. We believe The People should have this opportunity….to protect the will of the American people, this Committee will not hold hearings on any Supreme Court nominee until after our next President is sworn in on January 20, 2017. Numerous Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee
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