Supreme Frenzy
The so called “election year appointment” of a Supreme Court Justice has generated enormous controversy. Almost from the moment of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s last breath, Democrats went into a frenzy at the prospect of a Supreme Court composed of a conservative majority.
One of the most definitive statements on the issue, however, is, verbatim: “There is nothing in the Constitution that says that the president stops being president in his last year.” A statement that is, without doubt, true. But, from whom did this pronouncement come? Was it opinionated conservative columnist Rush Limbaugh? Was it a legal scholar? Was it President Trump, never one to hide his opinions? Was it Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader? Was it Senator Lindsay Graham, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee? No it wasn’t any of these. The statement actually came from a source more relevant than any of the above…
The quote is from none other that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself! The year was 2016. The issue at hand was the “election year” nomination of Justice Merrick Garland for a seat on the Supreme Court by then President Barack Obama. (Source: The New York Times). Perhaps due to her very advanced age or her numerous medical conditions, Justice Ginsburg, just prior to her passing, seems to have forgotten her previous position on the matter. Supposedly, now, her “fervent wish” was to hold off the appointment until AFTER the election, presumably in the hope that the appointment might fall to Democrat Joe Biden. But, if I may address the late jurist posthumously: Justice Ginsburg, it doesn’t work that way. Whether you like the current President or you don’t, there is still, as YOU YOURSELF pointed out, NOTHING in the Constitution that curtails the sitting president’s power in an election year. A nomination, vote and appointment are well within the President’s Constitutionally ordained rights. And, the current President has made it clear that he intends to exercise those rights post haste.
But, the exercise of his rights is NOT an aberration. It was DESIGNED to be that way by the framers of our Constitution. Critics carp about the fact that a Supreme Court Justice is appointed for life, and, as a consequence, this one decision may have lasting enormous effects on the country. But, again, it was designed that way on PURPOSE. The predilections of the Supreme Court Justices were SUPPOSED to function as a sort of political “echo.” That “echo” was built in to the Constitution in order to provide a stabilizing force so that what ever political party is in power at a given time would find that there would be constraints upon them coming from previous administrations. As a consequence, this system would prevent wild swings in governmental policy. As an example, consider the situation in today’s America. In the very unlikely event that Joe Biden is elected to the Presidency and, as a consequence, the current Democrat supported political insanity (defunding the police, dismantling capitalism, releasing criminals without bail, and other “progressive” schemes) continues unchecked by a liberal Democrat Congress, a conservative leaning Supreme Court would function as a check on the Democrats (perhaps the ONLY check on them) when thier policies are challenged, as they will inevitably be, in the courts.
And, mirabile dictu, the notoriously fickle “conservative”, Mitt Romney, on Tuesday, has, for ONCE, taken the correct position. Calling upon historical precedent (there have been TWENTY TWO “election year” Supreme Court appointments in American history, by the way) he has endorsed that the Supreme Court appointment be made BEFORE the election. And, with the expected nomination of a woman justice, we are unlikely to see a repeat of the “sexual misconduct” circus that the Democrats foisted on America during the Justice Brett Kavanaugh nomination.
Now it’s true that an increasingly desperate Nancy Pelosi has threatened, get this, to impeached President Trump AGAIN (a surprising strategy considering just how well that worked out for her the LAST time). Well, Pelosi can impeach all she wants, but the the Senate will IMMEDIATELY ACQUIT.
Also, increasingly frantic Democrats are now threatening to “pack the court” during the next term in retaliation. While it is true that the number of seats on the Supreme Court is not stipulated in the constitution, changing it would be extremely difficult (which will be a topic for another essay to follow shortly) and, consequently, extremely unlikely. Which is why the current number of nine has not changed since 1869.
So, it looks increasingly like it will be impossible for the Democrats to derail this nomination. Accordingly, a conservative court WILL be installed, and WILL be able to protect our country from the crazy politics that currently grips our nation. And that, dear readers, is EXACTLY how the system is SUPPOSED to work. Thank, God.