The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Crisis: Justice Scalia Dead at 79

Posted on | February 14, 2016 | 152 Comments

 

The voice of conservatism on the Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia, died Saturday at age 79. As soon as I heard the news, the scale of the disaster was apparent. On most cases where conservatives prevailed, the majority was 5-4, and to allow President Obama to replace Scalia with a liberal would tilt the court decidedly to the Left. Therefore, this unexpected vacancy in the final year of Obama’s term produces a crisis. The Republican-controlled Senate will almost certainly attempt to block whoever Obama nominates, and this high-profile political battle in Washington will be fought out during a presidential election year. With the nation already teetering on the brink of political revolution — if the Democrats win the election, the GOP may shatter into incoherent fragments, with unknown consequences — the death of Scalia brings into sharp focus the issues confronting America in the 21st century.

Senior U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice
Antonin Scalia found dead at West Texas ranch
— San Antonio News-Express

BREAKING: Supreme Court Justice Scalia
dies during hunting trip in Marfa
— KVIA-TV

Scalia’s death plunges court,
national politics into turmoil
— Washington Post

GOP candidates urge Senate to block
Obama’s Supreme Court pick
— Yahoo

Mitch McConnell rules out replacing
Antonin Scalia until new president is elected
— Washington Times

McConnell throws down the gauntlet:
No Scalia replacement under Obama
— Politico

Grassley joins call to delay
Supreme Court nomination
— Des Moines Register

 

Category: Supreme Court

Comments

152 Responses to “Crisis: Justice Scalia Dead at 79”

  1. Zhytamyr
    February 14th, 2016 @ 8:43 am

    When the quislings rubber stamp Barry’s predictably hardcore communist SCOTUS pick, they’ll destroy what little faith left in the Republican establishment. The GOP will go the way of the Whig Party. No matter how loyal a dog you have, if you beat and abuse it long enough it won’t come back.

  2. Dana
    February 14th, 2016 @ 8:46 am

    Remember: Senator Barack Hussein Obama (D-IL) thought it perfectly legitimate to block a Supreme Court nomination, when he voted to filibuster President Bush’s nomination of Samuel Alito.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/41/Sauce-for-goose-and-gander.jpg/300px-Sauce-for-goose-and-gander.jpg

  3. Dana
    February 14th, 2016 @ 8:48 am

    No Supreme Court justice has been confirmed by a Senate controlled by the opposing party during an election year since 1880.

  4. Dana
    February 14th, 2016 @ 8:51 am

    Even if Senator McConnell wishes to hold a confirmation vote, the Senate Republicans will filibuster it, and cloture will not be invoked. Senator McConnell will do more for his reputation if he sticks to the principle he has already enunciated by saying that no nomination by President Obama will be voted upon.

    It’s possible that Vice President Biden, in his role as President of the Senate, could try to hold a confirmation vote, but the Republicans would rebel and filibuster it.

  5. Fail Burton
    February 14th, 2016 @ 8:58 am

    What possible harm could a wise black lesbian do on the Supreme Court? I’m sure they’d have no bone to pick.

  6. Dana
    February 14th, 2016 @ 9:09 am

    Here’s the roll call vote to invoke cloture on Democrat filibuster of nomination of Samuel Alito. Note that Senator Obama voted no.

  7. Matthew W
    February 14th, 2016 @ 9:23 am

    I have a 100% expectation that the GOPe led Senate will confirm anyone NObama offers up.

  8. Matthew W
    February 14th, 2016 @ 9:24 am

    True, but for Democrats, history begins every day when they wake up.

  9. JeffWeimer
    February 14th, 2016 @ 9:40 am

    With an 11-8 R majority (including Cruz and Lee) on the Judicial committee, there’s a good chance they won’t make it out of committee, and never mind about holds, if Obama is stupid enough to nominate a person from a state with at least one R.

  10. Zhytamyr
    February 14th, 2016 @ 9:44 am

    Communist black lesbian with a rage disorder. You have a point, what could go wrong?

  11. Matthew W
    February 14th, 2016 @ 9:52 am

    Come on !!!!
    There will be a full metal jacket attack daily on candidate Cruz if he doesn’t comply with the Marxist in Chief on the Judicial committee.

  12. physicsnut
    February 14th, 2016 @ 9:54 am

    as Harry Reid said ‘it is dead on arrival’
    any nomination is DEAD ON ARRIVAL

  13. Steve White
    February 14th, 2016 @ 10:10 am

    The GOP is called the ‘Stupid Party’ for a reason: I suspect there are at least a few Pub Senators who won’t take the threat of “electoral annihilation” this fall seriously and will consider voting in favor of whoever Champ sends forward. They’ll then be “dismayed” and “surprised” and “disappointed” in the Pub rank and file come election day. Then they’ll cut another deal with Dems to preserve their seats when the GOP falls apart.

    Save the nomination for the new President and Senate, and work like hell to ensure we’re not dealing with a new President Clinton.

  14. Zhytamyr
    February 14th, 2016 @ 10:12 am

    Unfortunately, the dead are a core constituency for the Dems.

  15. marcus tullius cicero
    February 14th, 2016 @ 10:28 am

    …This shows once more that God does not have America’s back anymore.

  16. Art Deco
    February 14th, 2016 @ 10:58 am

    Your default assumption should always be that the Waste-of-Space caucus in the U.S. Senate will fold like cheap tents. That’s McConnell, Grassley, Hatch, Burr….

  17. Finrod Felagund
    February 14th, 2016 @ 11:05 am

    .. when the vacancy occurred during the election year. Kennedy was confirmed in 1988 but the vacancy happened in 1987, and two previous candidates (Bork, for one) had already been rejected.

  18. physicsnut
    February 14th, 2016 @ 11:09 am

    // just saw this

    // what DemocraticUnderground.com wants to replace Scalia ( Loretta Lynch ? ??? )
    http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141348418

  19. Zhytamyr
    February 14th, 2016 @ 11:13 am

    Lovely. And everything at DU has that heaping portion of otherworldly madness that you expect to read about in an H.P. Lovecraft story, so they think exactly like Barry.

  20. JeffWeimer
    February 14th, 2016 @ 11:17 am

    And he’ll bend to that, when his own party couldn’t bring him to heel?

  21. Matthew W
    February 14th, 2016 @ 11:36 am

    Based on the political history of Ted Cruz, I believe his commitment to Conservatism. However, under 24 hour a day napalm attacks by democrats and the media (redundancy noted) it doesn’t mean that others on the judiciary committee would fold like laundry because of the attacks on Cruz

  22. Matthew W
    February 14th, 2016 @ 11:37 am

    Surely you meant “Chump.”

  23. Joe Joe
    February 14th, 2016 @ 12:42 pm

    May he rest in peace:

  24. Joe Joe
    February 14th, 2016 @ 12:43 pm

    I hate to agree with you, but they are a whipped party.

  25. Joe Joe
    February 14th, 2016 @ 12:43 pm

    This should be on EVERY conservative website around.

  26. Joe Joe
    February 14th, 2016 @ 12:45 pm

    The Daily Mail has this guy:

    Indian-American litigator Sri Srinivasan is tipped as Obama’s choice to replace Scalia

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3446624/Is-Supreme-Court-Justice-Indian-American-litigator-Sri-Srinivasan-choice-pivotal-position.html

  27. jakee308
    February 14th, 2016 @ 1:03 pm

    If the Republicans don’t hold the line against an Obama nominee, they will never have a majority ever again. They may not even exist as a party if they let it happen.

  28. Stogie Chomper
    February 14th, 2016 @ 1:14 pm

    Communist black lesbian in a wheelchair.

  29. Garym
    February 14th, 2016 @ 1:19 pm

    Communist black lesbian in a wheelchair with an unfortunate harelip.

  30. Steve White
    February 14th, 2016 @ 2:17 pm

    ‘Champ’ is just as disparaging…

  31. Steve White
    February 14th, 2016 @ 2:34 pm

    Let’s not get too wound up here: suppose Obama makes a recess appointment tomorrow? Assume for the moment that it is constitutional — Elizabeth Foley at Instapundit suggests that it would be.

    What would the new justice DO? In the next year, not much. Most of the current cases before the Court have been argued. There’s no big 2A or 1A case sitting there. The new justice would (I would have to think) recuse her/himself on any case in which the justice was not present for the oral arguments, so those cases are still going to be decided by 8 votes. Yes, there are a few cases remaining for oral argument; one can parse those and see how bad the damage might be.

    Likewise, the new justice is gone in January 2017. So even as the Court opens its next session in October, the new justice won’t be there long enough to make much of an impact. The new justice, likely a rabid Democratic progressive, is certainly gone if a Pub is president, and might even be gone if Hilarity wins — she’ll want her own justice.

    The new justice is an 11-month recess justice. She/he can’t do much. There would be harm there to be sure but it’s limited. Chief Justice Roberts still decides the agenda, and it still takes four justices to want to hear a case. Justice Kennedy would like slide some to the right since he understands that if he doesn’t he’s no longer in the sweet spot of being a ‘swing’ vote.

    And a further point to ponder: if you’re worried about the Pub base coming out in the fall, just install a Recess Justice Holder and see what happens.

  32. Joe Joe
    February 14th, 2016 @ 2:37 pm

    Major SCOTUS Cases Impacted by Scalia’s Death
    https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/02/14/major-scotus-cases-impacted-by-scalias-death/

  33. Jupiter
    February 14th, 2016 @ 2:45 pm

    It would be wonderful to see the democracy destroying Citizens United decision overturned, set on fire, and then erased from collective memory.

  34. Zhytamyr
    February 14th, 2016 @ 3:11 pm

    They are the Whig Party part “duh”.

  35. Matt_SE
    February 14th, 2016 @ 3:13 pm

    Thankfully, Reid’s partial nuclear option didn’t extend to Supreme Court nominees. It still takes 60 Senate votes to override a filibuster, or 14 more votes than Obama has.
    No Republicans will cross that line, as it would be instant and utter political suicide.

  36. Matt_SE
    February 14th, 2016 @ 3:13 pm

    Democrat-destroying…
    FIFY

  37. Dana
    February 14th, 2016 @ 3:37 pm

    Look again at the roll call vote to invoke cloture on the filibuster against the confirmation vote on Samuel Alito: Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), Barack Hussein Obama (D-IL), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Biden (D-DE) all voted to continue the filibuster.

  38. Adobe_Walls
    February 14th, 2016 @ 3:47 pm

    A new Roberts might recuse himself. A new Sotomayor would be another matter.

  39. Adobe_Walls
    February 14th, 2016 @ 4:01 pm

    *Obligatory down twinkles*

  40. Dana
    February 14th, 2016 @ 4:08 pm

    Also voting to deny a confirmation vote for Justice Alito were Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
    Senator Leahy has already said that it would be a “dereliction of duty” for the Senate not to vote on whatever nomination President Obama makes.

  41. Adobe_Walls
    February 14th, 2016 @ 4:17 pm

    A recess appointment for a UN ambassador is a very different thing than one for a member of a Co-equal branch of government.

  42. Dana
    February 14th, 2016 @ 4:40 pm

    @instapundit @ron_fournier Schumer wanted to block any Bush picks in July 2007 pic.twitter.com/h1qyHl0nvh— Gray Connolly (@GrayConnolly) February 14, 2016

  43. CaptDMO
    February 14th, 2016 @ 4:46 pm

    “On most cases where conservatives prevailed, the majority was 5-4,…”
    Same is true where progressives prevailed, no?
    I’d LIKE to think ALL cases that were deemed worthy of the SCOTUS’ attention were so (or 6-3, else why would “clearly stupid” even be heard?
    MY concern is the “reinterpretation” of what words mean, or implications of “According to recent college survey, what (fill in the blank) really MEANT to “imply” by signing…”, or “THAT was a typo…, on ALL 17(or so) copies!”
    (AKA: Abe Lincoln shared a bed with other men while traveling, so he was OBVIOUSLY homosexual, and clearly wanted GLBTQWERTY marriage. safe spaces “rights” included in the emancipation proclamation.)

  44. trangbang68
    February 14th, 2016 @ 5:06 pm

    he defunct god of Greek mythology chirps in. Greece is bankrupt. You too Sparky

  45. Robert What?
    February 14th, 2016 @ 6:17 pm

    I think you are giving the “Republican controlled Congress” way to much credit. Given recent history I expect

  46. Tyrconnell
    February 14th, 2016 @ 6:59 pm

    Don’t forget many on the right who seem to have the idea that Cruz is an “establishment” Republican.

  47. Jim R
    February 14th, 2016 @ 7:15 pm

    We’re relying on Mitch McConnell.

    …

    We’re fvcked, aren’t we?

  48. Finrod Felagund
    February 14th, 2016 @ 7:30 pm

    Yes, because politicians really need to be protected from all that evil free speech out there.

    Are you insane?

  49. Finrod Felagund
    February 14th, 2016 @ 7:35 pm

    It would take 14 GOP Senators to break a filibuster. Even with the low opinion I have of the Senate GOP caucus, I don’t think that will happen.

  50. Quartermaster
    February 14th, 2016 @ 8:33 pm

    There are no recess appointments to the SCOTUS. POTUS can make recess appointments to the Executive branch only.