What Mitch McConnell Said in 2016
The great Ruth Bader Ginsburg died just last Friday.
Let's listen to Mitch McConnell (Republican- Kentucky) speak to us in 2016:
"The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President." https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell#2016
Here's what McConnell said in 2016:
February 13, statement on the day of Scalia's death: "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president."
February 16, Washington Post op-ed with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa: "Given that we are in the midst of the presidential election process, we believe that the American people should seize the opportunity to weigh in on whom they trust to nominate the next person for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. It is today the American people, rather than a lame-duck president whose priorities and policies they just rejected in the most-recent national election, who should be afforded the opportunity to replace Justice Scalia."
February 22, press statement: "[W]hile finding the right person to take the seat [Scalia] occupied will clearly be a monumental task, it's one we think the American people are more than equipped to tackle. Some disagree and would rather the Senate simply push through yet another lifetime appointment from a president who's on his way out the door...I believe that it is today the American people who are best-positioned to help make this important decision." (CBS News, September 19, 2020)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mitch-mcconnell-supreme-court-vacancy-election-year-senate/
So the McConnell rule is, Ah, Election year. No, the US Senate does not confirm a Supreme Court Nominee. No, we let the American people do that in November 2016.
So now it is an election year, 2020, and we are just 6 weeks from election day on November 3.
Is he is saying the same thing? No, he switched!
Listen to what he said in 2016. (I am explaining it...objectively). Ahh, we have a Black President Obama (born in Hawaii, moved to Chicago). It is election year. Ahhh, shucks. Let's not let a Black President living in Chicago decide who the new Supreme Court Justice will be. Let's let the people decide in November. Then we'll have a new justice nominated in January 2017.
Now, what, in effect, is McConnell saying in 2020, with just 6 weeks until the November 3 election?
I'll paraphrase it...for objectivity.
Ahh, we have a White President Trump (born in New York, living in Florida). He is a Republican. Ahhh, shucks. Let's let this President choose a Supreme Court Nominee. We won't let the people decide in November, even though it is very close to an election right now. Then we'll have a new Justice confirmed in November or December. No sense waiting for a pesky election and the will of the people.
Diametrically opposed? You bet.
A Black President, Democrat, in 2016, nominates a Justice with 10 months before the election? No. Let the people decide in November. (McConnell said).
A White President, Republican, in September 2020, nominates a justice 6 weeks before the election? Yes. Let the White President decide. Forget the vote of the people in November. (McConnell said).
You could easily speculate that in 2024 (if McConnell is still in office, a Democratic woman is running against him this year) that McConnell will change his Rule again, as in: Ahhh, it's January 2024, we got a White President from Delaware (born in Pennsylvania), yeah, we'll just wait until the November lection for the will of the people.
So is McConnell biased against Black President, or favorable to White Presidents who happen to be in his Party, Republican?
I don't think so. I think he has such a DEEP understanding of all the history and foibles of the US Senate, that he discovers a new rule for appointing Supreme Court Justices in election years. (I say that last sentence, dripping with sarcasm).
So for uniformity's sake, I will go along with the McConnell 2016 rule. In a Presidential election year, the US Senate will relax and not vote on a Nominee, and wait until the following January.
There's also the Lincoln rule. Here it is: (Courtesy of National Geographic).
"According to the New York Times, this Supreme Court vacancy is the second-closest to an election ever—the only one that occurred closer was when Chief Justice Roger B. Taney died 27 days before the 1864 presidential election. Then-president Abraham Lincoln delayed his nomination of Salmon P. Chase until after he won reelection." https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/09/how-supreme-court-vacancies-confirmed/
Ah!
So Lincoln, who is probably one of greatest Presidents ever, had Chief Justice Taney die on October 12, 1864, in the middle of the Civil War. Did Lincoln say, OK, we'll put Salmon Chase in? No.
Lincoln did not know who was going to win the election. (That's humility). He basically followed Senator McConnell's 2016 rule! (What great vision! Maybe Lincoln made a time-machine visit to 2016 and heard and understood the 2016 McConnell rule?) Lincoln basically said, Let the people decide in November 1864. Whoever gets elected President in 1864, will choose the new Justice in 1865.
That's exactly what Lincoln did.
He was re-elected on November 8, 1864. Lincoln nominated him on December 6, the US Senate conirmed him on the same day, and Chase was sworn in on December 15, 1864. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase#Chief_Justice)
What rule do I support? The Lincoln rule of 1864, and the McConnell rule of 2016.
I am running for State Senate in South Dakota, District 20, so we in the State Senate don't vote on Supreme Court justices.
I suggest you write to Mike Rounds and John Randolph Thune and tell them in no uncertain terms: DO NOT vote in 2020 to confirm anyone for the Supreme Court. Wait until the new President is sworn in on Janaury 20, 2021. (Now that may be Trump, or Joe Biden, or Jo Jorgensen of the Libertarian Party--one of those 3 will be sworn in as President in 2021).
It's a good rule.
Pay attention to the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
She wrote ground breaking decisions on gender discrimination, abortion rights (the right of a woman to make medical decisions with her Doctor), and search and seizure (basically, against unreasonable and illegal searches).
Her life as a law student, a law professor, a lawyer, a Judge and Supreme Court Justice in inspiring: she was always fighting for the rights of people who did not have any rights.
She wanted us all to think and feel and work towards everyone having equal rights, everywhere.
When you can work and fight for peoples' rights as much as she did, you indeed will be beloved by many.
So this is easy. Do as Lincoln did. Wait until 2021.
Dream big!
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