Now we all know, or should know, about all of the
hoopla that has resulted from the Republicans putting forth their argument that
it should be the next president, Democrat or Republican, who nominates a
Supreme Court justice to replace Justice Scalia. But how different things were in 1992 when,
during a speech from the Senate floor, then Senator, ‘Slow Joe’ Biden said that
President George H. W. Bush should wait until after the presidential election
and let his successor fill any Supreme Court vacancy. And yet, oddly enough, it’s this same rules
that never seem to apply to Democrats.
It was June 25, 1992 when it was ‘Slow Joe’ who, from the floor of the Senate, was heard to say, “It is my view that if a
Supreme Court Justice resigns tomorrow or within the next several weeks or
resigns at the end of the summer, President Bush should consider following the
practice of a majority of his predecessors and not - and not - name a nominee
until after the November election is completed.” So why is it then, do you suppose, that the
actions of Barry’s predecessors is now considered as being nothing more than a
guideline, of sorts, and has become suitable for ignoring?
‘Slow Joe’ would then go on to say, “If the
president goes the way of Fillmore and Johnson and presses an election year
nomination the Senate Judiciary Committee should seriously consider not
scheduling confirmation hearings on the nomination until after the political
campaign season is over.” So if this was
such a good idea then, why, suddenly, is it not such a good idea today? Could it be because the most leftist
president in our history, along with many members of his party, now see an
opportunity to tilt the court very sharply to the left and, quite possibly, for
decades?
As they say even a blind squirrel finds a nut once
and awhile, and so it was in one of those very rare occasions where ‘Slow Joe’
has actually been known to make a certain amount of sense, that he said,
“Others may fret that this approach would leave the court with only eight
members for some time, but as I see it Mr. President, the cost of such a result
– the need to reargue three or four cases that will divide the justices
four-to-four are quite minor compared to the cost that a nominee, the
president, the Senate and the nation would have to pay for what would assuredly
be a bitter fight.”
But isn’t it amazing how it is that the rules are
always made to change from when there is a Republican in the White House to
when there is a Democrat occupying the Oval Office. And I know it’s not just my imagination
because I’ve seen it take place so often over the course of my life. And granted, I know if it was currently the
other way around the Republicans would be pushing for an appointment with the
Democrats standing opposed. But I think
we can all agree that the Democrats could be counted upon to be much more
resolute in their opposition than the Republicans are likely to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment