Supreme Court vacancy

Supreme Court

Republicans in the U.S. Senate have sunk to a new low.

They refuse to interview and vote on President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court.

Within an hour of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, statements were made that no vote would be forthcoming.

Also, it was said that the nomination should be made by the next president, allowing the people to decide.

The people did decide by electing Barack Obama, and he is responsible for filling any vacancies until Jan. 20, 2017.

It was also said that the court could go liberal for decades.

When Samuel Alito and John Roberts were confirmed, the court went conservative.

Things change. Do your job and vote.

There’s lots of hand-wringing and bluster about Senate Republican leaders delaying confirmation hearings for a Supreme Court nominee.

In 1992, when Vice President Joe Biden was a senator and head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he took the same stance.

And later, about two dozen Senate Democrats lined up in an attempt to deny George W. Bush an up-or-down vote on his nomination of Samuel Alito.

Anti-vote senators included Harry Reid of Nevada, Chuck Schumer of New York, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Barack Obama of Illinois, Biden of Delaware, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Hillary Clinton of New York.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the American people should have a say in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice, although a “constitutionalist” or “originalist” plain reading of the Constitution finds no mechanism for such a process and places the responsibility on the president and the Senate.

Any other reading would be incompatible with the Founding Fathers’ wording of the Constitution.

Nevertheless, in this land of “GOP-ledygook,” it would seem that at the very least the Senate should hold public hearings in prime time so that the “American people” can make an informed decision in the forthcoming general elections.

It may be a minor detail, but Judge Merrick Garland’s name won’t be on the ballot in November. And we’re supposed to believe that if the voters elect a Democrat to the presidency, McConnell won’t stand in the way of Garland’s appointment should his nomination survive.

Breaking news: The American people did have their say.

In 2008 and 2012, they elected Barack Obama president of the United States.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Supreme Court vacancy."