Antonin Scalia dead

OZONE said:

RIP.

But with Obama appointing one now, the dems will get the Supreme Court majority.

Time to undo some of the damage done by 5-4.

It'll be fascinating to watch the GOP obstruction strategy play out in this one.

did the Dems kill Scalia the way they killed Breitbart

Obama will get his nominee in. Cook it.

topdawgnc said:

GreenRiverGatorz said:

And the GOP leadership has already come out saying that Obama should not pick the next justice. Having a vacated seat for 11 months would be absolutely unprecedented and has no rational basis to it.

There is precedence, but you shouldn't let facts get in the way of the Constitution's clearly defined checks and balances mandate.

If you'd like to better understand the precedence you can reference Lyndon B. Johnson's 1968 appointment, which subsequently was filibustered.

My bad, I should amend my original comment to say: "Having a vacancy for 11 months while another president takes office would be unprecedented." The long vacancy of the Nixon administration occurred entirely within his first term. As did the long vacancy under John Tyler.

Anyone is free to chime in and explain what possible rationale there could be for Obama not being able to appoint the next justice. We're not even close to him announcing a nomination and the GOP is preemptively throwing a tantrum. There's not even a thin veil of reasoning here, this is pure political obstructionism that is quite symbolic of the nosedive that the Republican establishment has taken these last seven years.

dnc said:

Next justice will be appointed by Obama. Question is, will they be LGBT or Muslim? I'm going LGBT. Makes his legacy as THE GLBT president untouchable.

It'll be an Indian. Sri Srinivasan has been groomed for this position for awhile now.

dhdawg said:

No chance Obama makes this next appointment

Hard to predict. The GOP obstructing the nomination all the way into the election could absolutely sink the Republicans chances for President. It's a lose-lose for the GOP.

This is a huge development and I imagine the dems will try to get someone through quickly. The GOP crying "that's not fair" on this is kind of sad. This is why you want to win the presidency and you have to play by the rules. If Ruth Bader Ginsberg dies at the end of a GOP presidential term,Mitch McConnell won't be crying to wait until after the elections.

I heard the other day that Ted Cruz would possibly be a justice nominee under a republican president. That would be interesting.

bananasnblondes said:

This is a huge development and I imagine the dems will try to get someone through quickly. The GOP crying "that's not fair" on this is kind of sad. This is why you want to win the presidency and you have to play by the rules. If Ruth Bader Ginsberg dies at the end of a GOP presidential term,Mitch McConnell won't be crying to wait until after the elections.

I heard the other day that Ted Cruz would possibly be a justice nominee under a republican president. That would be interesting.

It is sad but it's the reality

AIRWOLF said:

GreenRiverGatorz said:

topdawgnc said:

GreenRiverGatorz said:

And the GOP leadership has already come out saying that Obama should not pick the next justice. Having a vacated seat for 11 months would be absolutely unprecedented and has no rational basis to it.

There is precedence, but you shouldn't let facts get in the way of the Constitution's clearly defined checks and balances mandate.

If you'd like to better understand the precedence you can reference Lyndon B. Johnson's 1968 appointment, which subsequently was filibustered.

My bad, I should amend my original comment to say: "Having a vacancy for 11 months while another president takes office would be unprecedented." The long vacancy of the Nixon administration occurred entirely within his first term. As did the long vacancy under John Tyler.

Anyone is free to chime in and explain what possible rationale there could be for Obama not being able to appoint the next justice. We're not even close to him announcing a nomination and the GOP is preemptively throwing a tantrum. There's not even a thin veil of reasoning here, this is pure political obstructionism that is quite symbolic of the nosedive that the Republican establishment has taken these last seven years.

It may be a very calculated attempt to force Obama to choose somebody who is at least somewhat moderate. It would probably be wise of him to do that anyway, because if the Senate Republicans attempt to block a very well qualified and politically moderate nominee, that would give the Democrats some valuable political ammo.

I think this is what happens. Obama ultimately nominates a moderate/ compromise justice and it goes through. I also expect Cruz to announce this week that he will block the nomination until the next presidential election. It'll turn into a circus.