I doubt anyone but Clay Jones would have had a Scalia cartoon ready by this morning. Not sure when he sleeps, but it doesn't seem to be in any particular pattern.
The GOP took the lead in demanding respect for the dead and simultaneously using it as one more political ploy, and their announced plan to obstruct any attempt to appoint his successor prior to January, 2017, seems like a roll of the dice.
Assuming Obama makes a selection, the subsequent food-dragging will likely inspire GOP voters to help continue the crusade against Democrats, but will also infuriate progressives, potentially cancelling much of the "If my favorite isn't nominated, I'm not voting" factor.
The question is not whether obstruction drives turnout, but which end of the spectrum it drives more.
Meanwhile, the GOP debate last night led off with the question of Scalia's successor, and the question seemed to reveal a lot, aside from that, whatever you ask Ben Carson, he responds with whatever he happens to be thinking about at the moment. He's like a live version of Bad Lip Reading.
Rubio probably did not hurt his prospects by saying "we need to put people on the bench that understand that the Constitution is not a living and breathing document. It is to be interpreted as originally meant," because Scalia's opinion on that matter was nuanced and is uniformly misunderstood across the spectrum, and, in any case, a lot of people do view the document, not as a brilliantly crafted "living and breathing document" embodying general principles, but like a rule book to be amended and interpreted capriciously.
The other responses were more predictable but resurrected the ridiculous, a-historic idea that a person not seeking another term is a "lame duck" and should not attempt to carry out any but the most immediate duties of office.
English, too, is living and breathing, but terms still have meaning, and, while I know I've ranted about this before, here's the history lesson:
Prior to the ratification of the 20th Amendment in 1933, the President and Congress took office in March, four months after the election. "Lame ducks" referred to those who had been voted out of office in November and rushed to enact legislation during that four-month interim between their loss of mandate and the installation of the new government.
Not only has that period been cut in half, but Obama will not become a "lame duck" at all until November 9.
Any other interpretation of the phrase logically means that no president should propose any legislation or make any appointments in his second term, since he can't run for a third.
As for the number of times a Supreme Court justice has been appointed in an election year, I'd like to know how many times the situation has arisen, particularly given that most vacancies occur by resignation, not death. It wouldn't be hard to go back and figure it out, but I'm more intrigued by the fact that nobody has.
It's a damned obvious question and we'll learn about the honesty of the discussion and the competence of the press by watching to see if anyone bothers to bring that information to the table.
UPDATE: Scotusblog provides the information, at least for the 20th Century. It does not offer much support to the Republican stance.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, sort of
David Horsey on the scolding of the Millennials. And there's no better way to get young people on your side than by scolding them.
In his essay, Horsey links to this Village Voice piece that lays it out more explicitly (and includes this great Bernie caricature by Drew Friedman).
Read those. I've only got a couple of things to add:
One: In 1968, Bobby Kennedy was killed, Gene McCarthy was excluded by the establishment and we were given Hubert Humphrey, though, actually, "we" hadn't been given the vote yet.
But the Democrats served up a warmed-over bowl of More of the Same, and the result was a heaping helping of Richard Nixon, and roughly the same number of dead Americans in Vietnam as had been produced by LBJ, who had been forced to withdraw from the race over it.
The kids don't want Hillary Humphrey. And, this time, they get to vote.
Two: Here's Jack Weinberg on his newly-relevant phrase:
"I was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter, and he was making me very angry. It seemed to me his questions were implying that we were being directed behind the scenes by Communists or some other sinister group. I told him we had a saying in the movement that we don't trust anybody over 30. It was a way of telling the guy to back off, that nobody was pulling our strings."
Of course we trusted people over 30. RFK was over 30. McCarthy was over 30. Dr. Spock was over 30. Bill Kuntsler was over 30. By the time Happy Hubie was running for President, even Abbie Hoffman was over 30, ferchrissake.
And now we've had a third back page apology for a front page insult, this one from John Lewis who says, well, come to think of it, I guess I didn't know everybody in the Civil Rights Movement personally after all.
Well, not an apology. A clarification.
On accounta it's our fault we didn't figger it out. Again!
Meanwhile, I'm wondering if the ad that ran with that Voice piece contained a typo or if this is really who they're looking for, because, if Hillary doesn't clarify her message, and soon, it might take a search to find healthy women under 55 who are mainlining this particular heroine.
And now the stakes include Scalia's seat as well as (almost certainly) Ginsburg's.
Juxtaposition of the WTF
What Mike Peters proposes in jest, Whitman's candy markets in earnest.
Yes, I know: They aren't actually proposing you buy these for your dog.
But if I were a chocolate maker, I think I'd know the hot-button issues of my industry better than to let this through.
They should have advertised on TV.
I am feeling very guilty that I am not mourning the death of Scalia, a child of God’s creation … but I am not. Not only have I viewed his jurisprudence most of the time to be absurd and hurtful for the country, he was an arrogant bully on the Court; and his homophobia was terribly disturbing given his position of power.
Posted by: Dave from Philadelphia | 02/14/2016 at 01:40 PM