Swelled Head Mitch McConnell |
Tossup needed
I read with both dismay and disgust that both Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee leader Charles Grassley have both decided that they will not hold hearings on any Supreme Court nominee put forth by President Obama.
Whether you love or hate the president, it is not only his right, but his constitutional duty to name a successor to Justice Scalia. Their refusals carry about as much merit as Sen. Charles Schumer’s did when he proposed the same thing at the end of President Bush’s term. To refuse a hearing — based not on a lack of judicial qualifications, legal experience or Bar Association recommendation, but only on who makes the recommendation — only further politicizes an institution which is already far too political. There are bad rulings on both sides, conservative and liberal alike, and we would be far better off if we had no idea of the politics of a nominee. Before Scalia’s death, we had three conservative votes that would not waver, and also three liberal votes that were also completely predictable, with Kennedy and occasionally Roberts as toss-ups. We need more toss-ups.
And I wonder how happy Sens. McConnell and Grassley will be if they have to hold hearings for the nominee of newly elected President Bernie Sanders! Just do your jobs, and leave the politics out of it.
By: Michael Buchanan
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