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Obama Nominates Merrick Garland For Supreme Court (usatoday.com)
According to the New York Times, President Barack Obama has nominated Merrick B. Garland as the nation's 113th Supreme Court justice, choosing a centrist appeals court judge for the lifetime appointment and daring Republican senators to refuse consideration of a jurist who is highly regarded throughout Washington. Like Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Garland comes from the powerful D.C. Circuit court. The president said Judge Garland is "widely recognized not only as one of America's sharpest legal minds, but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness and excellence. The qualities and his long commitment to public service have earned him the respect and admiration from leaders from both sides of the aisle." Mr. Obama said it is tempting to make the confirmation process "an extension of our divided politics." But he warned that "to go down that path would be wrong." Mr. Obama demanded a fair hearing for Judge Garland and said that refusing to even consider his nomination would provoke "an endless cycle of more tit for tat" that would undermine the democratic process for years to come. Merrick B. Garland will serve in the seat vacated by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in his sleep while on a hunting trip near Marfa, Texas.
This is a deliberate attempt to pick a fight with folks who support the second amendment. There is nothing "middle of the road",
or "centrist" about this terribly flawed politically motivated nominee.
not three years + one year of Congress ignoring their constitutional duties
You mean like in 2008? When Pelosi didn't bother doing anything until Obama was sworn in? What goes around comes around.
I believe you have to let everyone vote for one simple reason: where would you draw the line?
I look back on my own admittedly small sample of a life's experience, and I'd probably keep 21 yr old me from voting until he was a little smarter.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
You refer to him as President Obama the first time and Mr Obama after that, what's the problem?
That's standard editorial practice. The Economist style guide says that you provide the title once, and then it's Ms/r/rs So-and-so for the rest of the piece. In my newspaper, that's the way it works as well.
I know that last sentence was purely gratuitous. I just get a kick of out of saying, 'in my newspaper....' :-)
Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
My uncle George was a Rhodes scholar, and his scholarship class got the traditional honor of taking tea with the Queen (the one who was later the Queen Mum). All the other guys said "Your Majesty" or "Your Highness" every time, but George got it right thanks to his wealthy and equally regal Southern grandmother who was "Grandmother" first and then "Ma'am".
"widely recognized not only as one of America's sharpest legal minds, but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness and excellence."
I don't want a Supreme Court Justice who is one of the "sharpest legal minds". I want one who's level of reading comprehension equals or exceeds that of a five-year-old. And make sure he's read the Constitution.
[...] respect and admiration from leaders from both sides of the aisle.
I want someone who both parties hate.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
Can we dispense with the "well qualified" bullshit? Robert Bork was also well qualified.
The reality is the court is ruling on subjects so far out of its original mandate it's perfectly reasonable for the Senate to require prospective judges to have an acceptable judicial temperament. The founders knew it would be a political decision, anyhow - they gave it to the Senate. In this case the candidate is anti-2nd amendment, so he doesn't belong on the court.
I think the Republicans are more willing than Democrats to sacrifice the interests of the Nation as a whole for their own partisan and selfish interests.
You can parse McConnell's quotes yourself. https://www.washingtonpost.com...