June 17, 2019: "Milksop" Mitch McConnell Says if Trump Nominates a Crumpet for the Supreme Court, He'll Ram the Nomination Through

 

6/17/19: Sen. “Milksop” Mitch McConnell makes it clear. He’s not all that interested in the U.S. Constitution.

 

____________________ 

“The Senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next president nominates, whoever that might be.” 

Sen. “Milksop” Mitch McConnell

____________________

 

 

You may recall that in 2016, McConnell said he would not allow a Senate confirmation vote on Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama’s pick for a vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Obama was a “lame duck president.” His pick for the court (March 16, 2016) came too close in time to the presidential election (November 8, 2016). 

Milksop wasn’t going to allow a “lame duck” to fill a seat, even though the Constitution makes no exceptions, when filling judicial positions, for length of time left in a president’s term. 

When he made the appointment, Obama had ten months, four days, remaining in the White House. 

“The American people are perfectly capable of having their say on this issue,” McConnell insisted at the time. “So let’s give them a voice. Let’s let the American people decide [emphasis added throughout]. The Senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next president nominates, whoever that might be.”

 

What happened next? The American people did decide. The people gave Hillary Clinton 65.8 million votes. 

The people gave Donald Trump 63 million. 

The Electoral College gave Trump the win, as per the U.S. Constitution, but Milksop Mitch had never said, “Let’s give the Electoral College a voice.” 

The next election, in 2018, was a rout, with the people giving Democrats 59 million votes vs. 50.3 million for Republicans.

 

The people had spoken. Twice. Mitch had a little trouble with ear wax. Now he says if a vacancy opens on the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020, he’ll allow Trump to nominate a person to fill it and Milksop will be sure his choice gets a vote. “Lame duck” status won’t matter. If Ruth Bader Ginsburg retires from the Court on the morning of January 19, 2020, Trump will nominate son Eric to fill the vacancy and McConnell will hold hearings and ram through a vote that afternoon. 

Trump could nominate a ventriloquist dummy to sit on the highest court and GOP senators would vote for the dummy.

 

“Let the American people decide.” 

And let’s remember what other leading Republicans said in 2016: 

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan: “We should let the American people decide the direction of the court.” 

(Said no Founding Father ever; there is a reason federal judges are not elected.)

 

Sen. Charles Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee: “The American people shouldn’t be denied a voice.” 

Sen. John Cornyn: 

At this critical juncture in our nation’s history, Texans and the American people deserve to have a say in the selection of the next lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

 

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.

 

Sen. James Inhofe: 

Sens. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid have all made statements that the Senate does not have to confirm presidential nominations in an election year. I will oppose this nomination as I firmly believe we must let the people decide the Supreme Court’s future.

 

Fair enough, to quote Democrats to support the case; but McConnell, Grassley, Ryan, Cornyn and Inhofe were arguing that the people would have to have a voice in the coming election. 

The pertinent election then is coming in November. 

 

POSTSCRIPT: In an interview on June 24, Trump owns the hypocrisy. Screw the voice of the people! Would he pick a replacement for an opening on the highest court next year? “It depends,” he says. “I mean, we have the Senate. We have a great Senate. We have great people. If we could get him approved, I would definitely do it. No, I’d do it a lot sooner than that. I’d do it. If there were three days left, I’d put somebody up hoping that I could get ’em done in three days, OK?” 

Sure, if your goal is an increasingly authoritarian state.

A forgotten Founding Father, who played a large role in 1787.

None of the Founders thought federal judges should be elected by the people.