So…
Republicans are arguing that « the American people » should have a
say in naming the new Supreme Court justice and that therefore, President Obama
should wait for a new president to nominate a successor.
But, it’s
the job of the president to nominate
SC justices.
And as for
the people having a voice, they won’t have any more of a voice with the new
president. The people do not elect Supreme Court justices. The people elect the president (albeit indirectly) and they elect Congress: the President nominates the justice, Congress
confirms the nomination. The next batch of elected heads will be no less
elected than the current batch. Obama was elected by a majority of votes. It is
the will of the people that he is president, and it is his duty to nominate
this justice.
No reason for that not to happen.
Both parties have at different times tried to change the way SCOTUS members are chosen, always with the goal of either making it easier to install a favorable judge, or to block nominations from the other party. Partisan politics as usual. And yet, it does remain the president's duty to nominate - and only the president's, as the disingenuous Mr McConnell himself insisted on in 2005.
So stop it with the hysterics and the hyperbole and get on with governing. Yes, yes, there is governing to do. I think politicians tend to forget that.
