Shot:
We are entering uncharted waters in the history of the U.S. system of checks and balances, with potentially momentous consequences. Having gridlocked the Senate for years, Republicans now want to gridlock the Supreme Court with a campaign of partisan sabotage aimed at denying the president’s constitutional duty to pick nominees.
Republicans should not insult the American people’s intelligence by pretending there is historical precedent for what they are about to do. There is not.
Chaser:
I urge my Republican colleagues, for the good of the country and the sanctity of the American system of government, to recall what Sen. Grassley said only a few short years ago: “A Supreme Court nomination isn’t the forum to fight any election. It is the time to perform one of our most important Constitutional duties and decide whether a nominee is qualified to serve on the nation’s highest court.”
Those words are as true today as when they were first spoken. Pursuing their radical strategy in a quixotic quest to deny the basic fact that the American people elected President Obama — twice — would rank among the most rash and reckless actions in the history of the Senate. And the consequences will reverberate for decades.