When President Obama selected Merrick Garland as his Supreme Court nominee, he did so for a calculated political reason. Garland represents the POTUS’s best shot at giving Senate Republicans a nominee they would find it hard to refuse.
During his announcement about Garland, President Obama told the Republican majority, “I have fulfilled my constitutional duty . . . now it is time to do yours.”
Despite the fact that the president failed to choose a progressive liberal for the important position to instead play political mind-games, the point stands that Garland is a gigantic middle finger to Republicans in the Senate who have tried to make the argument that president Obama should not be selecting a justice.
There are a large handful of Senate Republicans who voted to confirm Garland years ago as the Chief Judge of the DC Court of Appeals. These same Republicans are now refusing to move forward on Garland, despite their obvious approval of the judge.
The moment the news broke about Garland’s nomination, Senate Republicans protested, saying that no matter who the president selected, they would stand firm in their refusal to move forward with a nomination.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor to re-assert the judgement from the Senate that they will refuse to move forward on the SCOTUS nominee until after the election.
No matter whether they vote to confirm Garland or if they continue to refuse to review the appointment, progressive liberals in America are losing. If only the president had chosen this moment to select a liberal progressive judge rather than a conservative-leaning, corporate-answering insider.
