Picking RBG’s Successor: The Who, The When, & The Hypocrisy | Zero Hedge
The political battles over who will succeed Ruth Bader Ginsburg as Supreme Court Justice have already begun with some demanding delays, some pushing urgency, others urging more radicalism, and all of this being super-amplified by every mainstream and social media feed, happy to use any old piece of fake news to make their point ever louder, and fearmonger the consequences of “the other side” getting to make their choice.
First things first is the Hypocrisy – Obama/Biden/Hillary Can’t Make Up Their Minds
Former president Obama has called for a delay in the decision until after the election (which presumably he believes Harris – and Biden – will win).
All of which is very awkward since it’s 100% the opposite of what he himself said in 2016…
Just dug up this clip of Obama in 2016:
"When there is a vacancy on the SCOTUS, the President is to nominate someone, the Senate is to consider that nomination… There's no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off-years. That's not in the Constitution text." pic.twitter.com/vrOi3DrkJN
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) September 19, 2020
Obama in 2016:
"I'm going to do my job. I'm going to nominate somebody… It's not as if the Senate calendar is so full that we do not have time to get this done." pic.twitter.com/4mdp8hKMtv
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) September 19, 2020
Which is also what former vice president Joe Biden demanded in an NYTimes op-ed in 2016:
In my 36-year tenure in the United States Senate — nearly half of it as chairman or ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee — I presided or helped preside over nine nominees to the Supreme Court, from both Republican and Democratic presidents. That’s more than anyone else alive today.
In every instance we adhered to the process explicitly laid out in the Constitution: The president has the constitutional duty to nominate; the Senate has the constitutional obligation to provide advice and consent. It is written plainly in the Constitution that both presidents and senators swear an oath to uphold and defend.
That’s why I was so surprised and saddened to see Republican leaders tell President Obama and me that they would not even consider a Supreme Court nominee this year. No meetings. No hearings. No votes. Nothing. It is an unprecedented act of obstruction. And it risks a stain on the legacy of all those complicit in carrying out this plan. I would ask my friends and colleagues — and all those who love the Senate — to think long and hard before going down this road.