Up until now, Mitch McConnell and the Republican Senate in absentia have been playing in Heisenberg land. They could make the pretense that they were ignoring the outrageously qualified Merrick Garland* because of reasons, you know, reasons. Then they could close their eyes, count to ten, and hope that a Theoretical Future Republican President would reward them with Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, or a creature constructed from Scalia’s brain and Bork’s beard.
Well, show us what’s behind door number two, Bob!
Behind door number two, we have a choice selected by Hillary Clinton. Which could very well be Merrick Garland, but will almost certainly be someone both younger (sorry, Merrick) and more progressive. It won’t be anyone to the right of Merrick Garland. The most moderate choice the Senate is going to get, is the one they are deliberately ignoring right now.
Or… in that version of reality where enough Americans have traumatic brain injury between now and November to allow Donald Trump to put his hand on Two Corinthians, we get Trump’s choice. Who will be selected by grabbing a Lotto ball marked with an assortment of fine pageant candidates, pro-wrestling stars, and the season four cast of the The Celebrity Apprentice.
Republicans stalling over confirmation meetings with Garland are now clearly doing nothing but stalling. And doing so for no reason they can defend to the folks back home or even to the Republican base.
There is no one to please by withholding hearings, which is why President Obama is making a totally non-coincidental tour of states featuring vulnerable Republican Senate candidates. Republicans need to face it: all their planning and positioning in the Presidential race has only handed that race to Trump, and Mitch McConnell’s just-say-no approach in the Senate is making it entirely likely that the next Court nominee gets approved in a Democratic Senate.
Holding hearings on Garland now is the best damage control the Republicans can manage.
Contribute now to Upgrade the Senate and send Mitch McConnell back to his pond.
*chief judge of the US Court of Appeals, federal prosecutor on the Oklahoma City bombing, law clerk to Justice William Brennan, and Harvard valedictorian — that’s the short version.