Do Democrats Have The Will To Act Like Republicans Over The Supreme Court?

As we await Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Democrats find themselves in a tough spot. They’ve lost. They’re going to continue to lose. More people voted for the Democratic presidential candidate, and she lost anyway. A person nominated by Donald Trump will sit on the Supreme Court to replace a Justice who died while Barack Obama was President of the United States.

A year ago, our reality would be unfathomable to me. But a year ago, I was under the delusion that America was a good and decent place. A year ago, I thought that most Americans respected our institutions. Now, I hold those institutions in the same contempt as Trump voters do.

Republicans are better at coalescing contempt for government into effective political strategy than Democrats are. Republicans don’t suffer “setbacks,” they only see new opportunities to f**k everybody who tries to move forward. Their obstruction of Merrick Garland worked. Their refusal to participate in the normal functioning of government worked. Many voters did not punish the GOP for its actions, and the ones who did were disenfranchised by a constitutional gimmick. Republicans just proved that you don’t have to have the moral, ethical, or popular high ground on your side to get what you want.

What will Senate Democrats do with that information? How will they choose to lose this time? Do they bend a knee and ask for a quick death? Or do they lie on the rack crying “freedom” while Mitch McConnell strings their intestines out all over Faux News with Megyn Kelly on NBC? There are no good options here. There are no moral victories. Republicans stole a Supreme Court seat. There’s no “right” or “appropriate” or “normal” way to react to that. The only options are anger, or acceptance.

“Acceptance” is the logical, rational, standard candy-ass liberal choice. It also has the benefit of being intellectually consistent with what Democrats have said before. Democrats said it was wrong for Republicans to obstruct Garland, it stands to reason that it would be “wrong” for them to obstruct whoever Trump nominates. Why would Democrats give up that moral high ground, for a nominee that they can’t stop anyway? If the Democrats filibuster, Republicans will just change the filibuster rules. Remember, Republicans DGAF about “changing the rules” if it helps them win.

This week Chuck Schumer went on Rachel Maddow to say:

“We are not going to settle on a Supreme Court nominee if they don’t appoint someone who is really good.”

Translation: We’re probably going to roll over like dogs and accept his nominee, but we don’t want it to look like that’s what we’re doing.

Writing in the Washington Post, David Weigel writes that the Democrats “stumble toward a Supreme Court strategy.” He picks up on the series of ineffectual, contradictory statements coming out of Senate Democratic leaders. The reason the party line is disjointed is because there are a lot of Democrats who want to go with the “anger” option.

Weigel says that Republicans had a “rationale” for obstructing the Garland nomination, and Democrats would have to come up with one if they want to oppose Trump for four years. If we’re going to give the GOP BS of “letting the people decide” the next Supreme Court nominee the status of a “rationale,” then it would seem the Democrats have two similar reasons to oppose the Trump nominee with everything they have:

1. Trump, and the GOP agenda, did not in fact win the votes of “the people.” The popular vote is still in favor of a more liberal Supreme Court;

2. The Republicans stole this seat with obstruction, the Democrats should obstruct until they give it back.

Look, it’s not hard to come up with “reasons” to be a little bitch. You don’t even need a reason, you just need the will to do it.

It would be hypocritical for Democrats to obstruct Trump’s nominee, but it’s pretty clear American voters don’t punish hypocrites. Or liars. As long as you don’t have lady parts and tell old white men what they want to hear, American voters will forgive you. Republicans WON, and they’re still being hypocritical about their own positions:

https://twitter.com/KatzOnEarth/status/816871490859704320

Nobody cares.

Republicans will set fire to whatever is standing in their way, then blame someone else for disrespecting the ashes. They’re Mariah Carey, Democrats act like Ryan Seacrest.

Democratic ideals and principles are going down these next four years. Democrats can choose to die on their feet or die on their knees.

Democrats stumble toward a Supreme Court strategy [Washington Post]