With Merrick Garland obstruction, U.S. Senate sets sad milestone
July 19th marked the 125th day since March 16th, the date that Barack Obama named Judge Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy on the US Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Up until that date, that had been the longest period of time that a seat had stood vacant on the Supreme Court, a shameful record that had stood for more than a century. Back in 1916, it ultimately took 125 days for the Senate to confirm President Woodrow Wilson's selection of Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court, due in no small part to the anti-Semitic feelings of the times. But they did eventually consider him, and when the vote was finally taken he was confirmed by a better than two-to-one margin (47 for, 22 opposed, and 3 absent; another 24 members were either 'paired for' or 'paired against' and were not counted in the totals).
The Republicans, however, served notice when Garland's name was first placed into consideration that they would do nothing; their feeling was that since Obama was a 'lame duck' and was going to be replaced within a year that it was OK with them to do nothing other than stall, announcing that they were willing to roll the dice and hope that the incoming POTUS would be a white Republican male rather than "one of them" (a black Democrat male or white Democrat female). And like a bunch of petulant, stubborn schoolchildren, they have stood by their word in that they have not, in four month's time, even scheduled a hearing on his nomination — let alone a vote.
My friends, these are the people we have elected to conduct the business of our country. They have clearly been shirking their duties. I call on all of you to remember this when their names come up for re-election, whether it's in this coming election or others in the future.
-"BB"-
