The body was barely cool when the Republican presidential candidates began their rants. They want President Obama to wait until the next president is elected to nominate Antonin Scalia’s replacement on the Supreme Court. That would mean that the third branch of our government would virtually be ineffective for over one year.

President Obama has both a duty and a right to nominate a man or a woman who will once again prevent a tie which would have negated many cases the Court has already agreed to review.

Now let’s get to the truth of the situation. Although the media and government officials praised Scalia, he was an enemy of the majority of the American people. He was the most extreme conservative on the court and continually bent the Constitution to positively affect the right wing. The GOP candidates are afraid that the President will appoint a Justice who will be more moderate; that wouldn’t require a great deal of effort.

That said, it appears that ‘change is in the wind’ in the Senate. Two more realistic and sensible Senators, both women, understand the Constitution and the necessity for the Court to effectively perform its job.

The Huffington Post reported two recent comments.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Wednesday if Obama nominates someone, she will give that person her “full attention.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said the nominee should, at the least, get a fair hearing.

Unfortunately, the most useless Senate Majority Leader in history, Mitch McConnell, remains confused about how our government is intended to work, and disagrees with his colleagues.

“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice,” McConnell said Saturday. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President.”

What else should we expect from a man who is one of the biggest reasons the Republican Party is imploding?

I am likely to be disappointed once again while being a ‘foolish optimist,’ but I believe that there are sufficient true Republicans in the Senate who will support a qualified nominee, and quickly.

Congress is broken; we do not want to see the same thing happen to the Supreme Court.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

Source

Photo Courtesy of DonkeyHotey

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