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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
There's going to be a lot of pressure on the Senate to confirm someone, though. Not confirming anyone until the next President takes office means leaving SCOTUS with only eight Justices for almost a full year, and I'm fairly certain there's never been a vacancy on the Court for that long.
GM: AGOG S4 & F/WC RP; Co-GM: TABA, SOTR, UUA RP; Sub-GM: TTS RP. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire.Re: Scalia, my thoughts can best be summed up as, "And nothing of value was lost."
Meanwhile, Republicans waste no time in loudly proclaiming their intent to block whoever gets the nomination.
If anything this will put a full stop to all Obama judicial nominees going forward.
The longest it has ever taken to confirm a Supreme Court nominee is 125 days. Obama has 361 days left in office.
Obama's been trying pass a trade agreement the "Trans-Pacific Partnership" (TPP). The thing has some pretty nasty stuff in it, I don't have all the information on hand right this second but some of the nasty stuff in the TPP include: Allowing countries to import food to the US that would under any other circumstances fail the sanitary requirements we have in place, give make it easier for international corporations to sue us and our states individually for passing laws that inadvertently affect them, allow these lawsuits to be settled by a tribunal of appointed corporate lawyers who are allowed to alternate between being judges and being advocates for the corporations doing the suing. Prosecute whistle-blowers and journalists when they come forward to point out a company's dirty dealings because these dirty dealing will be protect under the title of "trades secrets". And other horrible things as well.
Apparently there's supposed to be some good stuff in the TPP (I doubt it) and Obama wants to get it passed before his final term as president is up. Normally this stuff would be a Republican's wet-dream, but with the political climate being what it is, they're too scared to pass it.
Since the chances of a Republican making it to the White House aren't looking too great, the Democrats have a shot (not sure how good) of taking the Senate back in this years election and since judges are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate, playing keep away with the Democrats might only work short term.
I'm probably the least knowledgeable person in this thread, but getting a judge to take up the vacant seat before the 2016 elections is in the GOP's best interest. Obama could give them their dream pick in exchange for the TPP.
But then again, the GOP isn't some insidious hive mind. I don't really know how much power the RNC has over its individual members, and I don't know how many Republicans in the House would be willing to fall on their swords for the greater...good(?).
The Senate math tends to favor the Democrats, a lot of the Tea Party guys got put in place in 2010 are now up for re-election, and the political winds don't quite favor that sort of garbage right now. If the GOP nominates Trump, Cruz or even Rubio, a lot of Governors and Senators will be vulnerable if they support a candidate that their state sees as a lunatic.
Obama is not going to destroy his social policy legacy to pass TPP.
edited 13th Feb '16 4:07:31 PM by Rationalinsanity
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.If they can see far enough, the Senate's Republicans might note that this fight against the misfortune of a conservative justice dying on a liberal president's watch would cause months and months of stories about the GOP being obstructionist idiots to air, leading right up into November. I don't know how surely they've gerrymandered districts to their advantage for the House, but the class of senators up for reelection would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, the velocity at which that baby was chucked probably being inversely proportional to how close to November they got before they relented. Any cases which split on 4-4 lines would be left up to the lower court, apparently. So... Maybe they shouldn't try to avoid making a decision for half a year? For their own benefit? At least?
edited 13th Feb '16 4:31:48 PM by Artificius
"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."Mostly a general article about the death but includes calls to delay nominating a new justice.
Basically, the Senate Republicans could hold up Obama from nominating another Supreme Court Justice, but given the majority of Senators up for reelection this election are Republican, they risk a potential Democratic President (either Hillary or the Bern, doesn't really matter) having a Democratic Senate which will rubber stamp a liberal Justice from the sheer turnout of Democratic voters wanting to make sure the Supreme Court goes Liberal. Conversely, the best hope the Republicans would have is a Justice nominated by Trump or Cruz, which is something no one, not even the Republican Establishment, wants and is unlikely since a Republican is already unlikely to be elected president. Best to take the L now while Obama might be willing to compromise. In any case, we are talking about a Hard Right Conservative Justice possibly being replaced by a Moderate Left Liberal Justice, which is going to shift the Supreme Court left.
That being said, RIP Antonin Scalia. At the very least, I respected his opinion on video games being free speech.
edited 13th Feb '16 5:11:03 PM by GameGuruGG
Wizard Needs Food BadlyThat's a worthwhile point. Republicans can talk about taking back the White House all they want, but what they face in reality-land is the prospect of a Democratic Senate plus a Democratic President putting a super-liberal justice on the bench in 2017. They would do well to consider confirming whomever Obama nominates, lest they face that prospect.
edited 13th Feb '16 4:57:15 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"See, the Onion is as spiteful as the rest of us.
Justice Scalia Dead Following 30-Year Battle With Social Progress
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.So we should just let one of the highest court seats in the land sit vacant for a year? That's idiotic.
It won't necessarily be a year. If a democrat is elected president, they'll presumably fold right after the election.
But yes, welcome to the new world of American Partisan Dysfunction. At least it's not as bad as Belgium, I guess?
edited 13th Feb '16 5:17:57 PM by storyyeller
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play@Fighteer: Regardless, gravedancing is entirely uncivil and reduces the level of discussion in this forum to a grade-school level. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
Now, on to the political ramifications. I in fact predict that the Republican Senate will intentionally refuse to nominate anyone for the seat in hopes of taking the White House and Senate and appointing a justice from the farthest right of the Tea Party. A tied Supreme Court is better than a blank one, and remember that the oldest member of the bench right now is Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Hell, if the Republican Senate/Democratic President trend continued for a while, I wouldn't be surprised if the Supreme Court was reduced to three members and consequently shut down completely.
With that, the consolidation of the Executive and the Judiciary into an Imperial Presidency? Be still, my Spenglerian heart.
edited 13th Feb '16 5:32:52 PM by Artificius
"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."

Not while Obama is in office. The Senate will never allow it. Makes the downtickets more important than ever now though.