At the risk of being accused of beating a dead horse
here, I have to say that I really get tired of hearing about how it’s the
Democrats who always operate above the political fray. And it was once again that, just this past
Sunday, we had Chuckie Schumer doing his best to portray his Democrat Party as
somehow being the ardent defenders of the Constitution while it’s the
Republicans who seek only to undermine it, when, actually, it’s just the
opposite that’s so very true. During a Sunday morning appearance on ABC’s “This
Week,” with George ‘Stephy’ Stephanopoulos, Schumer decried the intent of many
Senate Republicans to prevent Barry “Almighty” from appointing the successor to
the recently deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
It was after hearing him spew his ideological drivel
that I was left wondering if the good senator, from New York, might actually be
suffering from, perhaps, what would be at least a mild case of Dementia since
it was less than a decade ago that we heard from this the very same Democrat an
advocating for doing exactly the same thing he’s now accusing the Republicans
of planning. That if any additional
Supreme Court vacancies opened under former then President George W. Bush, none
should be confirmed. Now of course
‘Little Stephy’ Stephanopoulos, former Clinton hack and wannabe journalist, can
always be counted on not to question Democrats regarding any of their previous
statements. Schumer knew ‘Stephy’
wouldn’t confront him, so he once again lambasted the Republicans.
It was almost immediately after Justice Scalia’s
death was announced this past Saturday evening that Republican lawmakers and
presidential candidates began arguing how it is that the appointment of his
successor should be left to the next president.
And about how for the last 80 years, or so, it has essentially been
political precedent that during an election year a decision of such paramount
importance as the naming of someone to what is essentially a lifetime
appointment, should not be done by a lame-duck president. But as we all know, Barry has never been one
to abide by past precedent, only in setting new precedent. And Schumer, of
course, supports Barry and lamented the Republican outlook as nothing but
obstructionism, pure and simple.
Schumer said, “You know, the kind of obstructionism
that Mitch McConnell ‘s talking about, he’s hearkening back to his old
days.” Then this sleazy hack went on to
say, “In 2010, right after the election or right during the election, he said,
‘My number-one job is to defeat Barack Obama,’ without even knowing what Barack
Obama was going to propose. Here, he doesn’t even know who the president’s
going to propose and he said, ‘No, we’re not having hearings; we’re not going
to go forward to leave the Supreme Court vacant at 300 days in a divided
time.'” Chuckie added, “When you go
right off the bat and say, ‘I don’t care who he nominates, I am going to oppose
him,’ that’s not going to fly.” But
McConnell is doing nothing more than to take Schumer’s own advice.
I say that because what McConnell is proposing is
virtually no different than what Schumer himself proposed not so long ago. And as we roll the tape we can see how it
was, back in 2007 and while George W. Bush was still president, that Schumer
can be heard advocating the exact same approach McConnell is now planning to
pursue. During a speech at a convention of the American Constitution Society (a
group that claims its mission is to "promote the vitality of the U.S.
Constitution and the fundamental values it expresses: individual rights and
liberties, genuine equality, access to justice, democracy and the rule of law),
Schumer said that if any new Supreme Court vacancies opened up, Democrats
should not allow Bush the chance to fill it “except in extraordinary
circumstances.”
And it was also back at that same time that Schumer
was also heard to say, “We should reverse the presumption of confirmation.”
Adding, “The Supreme Court is dangerously out of balance. We cannot afford to
see Justice Stevens replaced by another Roberts, or Justice Ginsburg by another
Alito.” And it might also be worth noting
here that it was during this same speech that Schumer would go on to lament the
fact that he hadn’t managed to block Bush’s prior Supreme Court
nominations. And you know, about
McConnell saying that his number-one job was to defeat Barack Obama, hasn’t Schumer
seen his job as being doing all that he could to bring about the defeat of
every Republican president who had held office during his tenure in Congress? Seems that way to me!
And I think it also worth noting that when Schumer
made his remarks in 2007, then President Bush still had about seven more months
remaining in his presidential term than Barry “Almighty’ now has remaining in
his. Much like Republicans today,
Schumer’s sentiment was clearly based on a fear that another Bush appointment
would radically shift the overall makeup of the Court’s ideology. Of course, Schumer’s attitude back then provoked
a response from Republicans very similar to the one Democrats are making
now. Bush’s Press Secretary Dana Perino
argued at the time that Schumer’s statements showed “a tremendous disrespect
for the Constitution” and amounted to “blind obstructionism.” My only point here is that it’s rather
hypocritical to say Democrats don’t engage in such activities.
And as it just so happened, Schumer’s suggested
obstruction never came to pass, as no more vacancies opened during Bush’s
presidency. But that does nothing to
alter the fact that had such an opportunity presented itself there should be
very little doubt regarding what would have ensued because we know how things
would have played out. And I’m also
quite sure that when the Democrats regain control of the Senate after this
year’s election, and Schumer replaces ‘Dirty Harry’ Reid not only as leader of
the Senate Democrats but of the Senate as well, we will be about to count on
the fact that Schumer will play politics, and to the greatest extent possible,
with judicial appointments should it be a Republican who wins the White house,
however unlikely that may be.
So look, as you can see it becomes pretty clear,
pretty quickly, that the Republicans are not to be afforded the luxury of being
able to play by the same rules that the Democrats get to play by. But at least part of the blame for that rests
solely upon our limp-wristed Republican leadership in Congress. Because once you are perceived as being a
pushover that’s pretty much how you will then continue to be treated. And until we have Republican leaders who
possess the requisite balls to dish it out to the Democrats instead of simply
bending over and spreading ‘em, this kind of belligerence on the part of
Democrats will continue. This is yet
another reason why people are so pissed off and why Trump remains the
Republican frontrunner. No one trusts
the Republicans to stand up for those who put them into office!
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