Well I suppose there's a chance that Obama picks someone who would lean enough to the right to have some chance of being approved. It COULD happen.
RIP I wish his family well. I didn't care for him, and in some high profile cases he wasn't really bothered by the constitution. Thomas now has nobody to copy off of on cases. Good luck to him.
Lame would be that excuse. What makes this year any different than any other year in which Barack Obama is President? Should he just not do his job for the whole year? Again, a lame "well, let's follow the Constitution except when it doesn't suit us." Embarrassing with a capital C. And there's Kennedy- confirmed in 1988. Total whiff on history there, Texxx. If you want to contribute, be an adult and do your homework- or exit the conversation.
He absolutely should do his job....which is nominating someone that the congress will agree with. If he nominates someone the Republican controlled congress is fine with, then this won't be an issue. If he nominates a left leaning candidate, he's just jerking off wasting everyone's time. So far Obama hasn't shown the ability to compromise with anyone other than Congressional Democrats who were opposed to him so there's plenty of reason to doubt that he'll be willing to nominate someone the Republicans approve of but if he wants to fill that spot, it's something he'll have to do.
Not only was he confirmed in an election year, he was confirmed on November 30, 1987- within the 365-day window between that date and the date of the Presidential election. I hope the Republicans who recommend that President Obama not do his job are mocked mercilessly. There is one Constitutionally correct way to deal with this- if you're in the Senate, you disapprove of the President's appointment. But to tell him not to bother to even nominate anyone? How many of you Constitutional conservatives actually have the balls to say this with a straight face? Embarrassing.
only to those who lean far right... to everyone else, it looks petty and is part of a long list of things that turns moderates away from the republican party.
He has the right to nominate whom he chooses- and Congress can reject that candidate. You're missing the point here- you have nearly every Republican running for President saying that Obama shouldn't even bother nominating someone. And you have McConnell saying the same even though he voted for Kennedy in 1988, an election year. This is truly an embarrassing moment for the 2016 Republican Party leaders.
“The American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president,” McConnell said. Oh, now all of a sudden the American people should have a say- and they didn't have the right before? What a hypocrite- he voted for Kennedy in 1998. Utter fail for the Republican leader. Embarrassing.
Trump says if he were President he would nominate immediately. But says in the next sentence that Obama should wait. :grin:
Sure, he has the right to nominate whoever he chooses, and the congress has the right to say no to all of them or even straight up ignore it if that's what they choose. Those who say that he shouldn't bother are likely those that think him incapable or unwilling of nominating a compromise candidate.....and they probably aren't wrong. If he nominates a left leaning candidate he's just wasting everyone's time, so yeah, he might as well not. He needs the Senate to vote for his person if he wants to get a justice confirmed, the Senate in no way needs him. Confirm someone Obama wants, great, don't confirm anyone Obama wants, also great. They can easily wait him out, Obama can't wait them out. Now that he has no leverage whatsoever, will Obama finally be willing to compromise with people other than moderate Democrats? Who knows, but it's totally fair to question it.
You know, you're actually one of the more level-headed posters in here- and you think it's OK for them to tell President Obama not to do his job. Wow.
Doing his job would be nominating someone that could get confirmed, telling him not to waste their time with people who have no shot at being confirmed isn't saying don't do your job. If anything, it's saying SINCE you aren't going to be doing your job properly anyway, don't bother. I don't think anyone saying what you view as "don't do your job" would be opposed to it if Obama nominated a right leaning or at least moderate justice that Congressional Republicans could support and confirm.....but how likely do you think that is? Reagan got justice Kennedy confirmed by a Democrat controlled congress, and he's widely regarded as a moderate that often leans left. If Reagan picks a right leaning moderate, they'll probably get confirmed just as Kennedy was.
So, let me get this straight. You're saying that if Scalia would have died last November, it would have been perfectly fine to nominate a replacement, but since it's 2016, 4 months later, suddenly it's not OK? Really, you're embarrassing yourself. I won't speak to BigTexxx b/c he's a narrow-minded lunkhead who won't listen anyway, but for the rest of you, you do realize how foolish it is that these so-called Republican leaders are telling President Obama not to do his job? Of course you do. You're using your brain.
