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Brad Marsh · 09-23-2020, 10:59 AM

Quite the thread - I guess that's politics these days!

So I don't really follow US Supreme Court activity very closely at all, and so I wasn't very familiar with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her work, but the more I read about her the more impressed I am with the impact and influence she's had, no doubt about that.

But I'm surprised that there is so much controversy over filling the vacancy created by her passing.

I do get the frustration of the democrats here given that the republican-controlled senate denied Obama's attempt to name a replacement in his final year. But I don't think the republican-controlled senate is breaking their own precedent - didn't the democratic-controlled senate do the exact same thing to George HW Bush in 1992? Is there any precedent at all for this situation, where the majority controlled senate would reject a nominee from their own president? I don't think so. Can't really use 2016 as the precedent because the circumstances now aren't the same at all - republicans control the senate and have the president.

Here's what it comes down to for me:

The Constitution does allow a sitting president to put forward a nominee
The senate has the legal right to appoint (or not) that nominee
The senate is elected by a democratic vote

So I get that the democrats don't like what's happening here, as there is no doubt that this will push the supreme court to the "right".......but what the republicans are doing is most certainly within their legal and constitutional rights, and it most certainly qualifies as democratic.

If the US public doesn't agree with what the republicans are doing, they need to elect more democrats to the senate. But they haven't done that (at least not yet), and until they do, there shouldn't be any surprise (or even controversy really) that Trump will nominate a replacement and the senate will confirm that nominee.

09-23-2020, 10:59 AM	#327
Brad Marsh Scoring Winger Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dar es Salaam Exp:	Quite the thread - I guess that's politics these days! So I don't really follow US Supreme Court activity very closely at all, and so I wasn't very familiar with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her work, but the more I read about her the more impressed I am with the impact and influence she's had, no doubt about that. But I'm surprised that there is so much controversy over filling the vacancy created by her passing. I do get the frustration of the democrats here given that the republican-controlled senate denied Obama's attempt to name a replacement in his final year. But I don't think the republican-controlled senate is breaking their own precedent - didn't the democratic-controlled senate do the exact same thing to George HW Bush in 1992? Is there any precedent at all for this situation, where the majority controlled senate would reject a nominee from their own president? I don't think so. Can't really use 2016 as the precedent because the circumstances now aren't the same at all - republicans control the senate and have the president. Here's what it comes down to for me: The Constitution does allow a sitting president to put forward a nominee The senate has the legal right to appoint (or not) that nominee The senate is elected by a democratic vote So I get that the democrats don't like what's happening here, as there is no doubt that this will push the supreme court to the "right".......but what the republicans are doing is most certainly within their legal and constitutional rights, and it most certainly qualifies as democratic. If the US public doesn't agree with what the republicans are doing, they need to elect more democrats to the senate. But they haven't done that (at least not yet), and until they do, there shouldn't be any surprise (or even controversy really) that Trump will nominate a replacement and the senate will confirm that nominee.