Block Heads

​Currently, the two top contenders to be the MAGOP leader in the Senate are John Cornyn (R-TX) and John Thune (R-SD).  And if the party wins enough seats, they will be Majority Leader.  Both are already making statements that if Kamala Harris wins the White House, they will likely block her nominees to the Supreme Court from even having a vote on the Senate floor, if any openings occur.
 
Yes, already.  How “No, we’re not-undermining democracy” of them.  How “oh-so Mitch McConnell” of them.
 
To be fair, they aren’t saying they will refuse to hold a vote on all nominees.  Though Cornyn comes pretty close.  And Thune is visiting the neighborhood.
 
“It depends,” Cornyn said. “Obviously, they would have to go through the committee process, and so it would depend on that, and then I think it would also depend on who the president nominates.”
 
Well, no, it doesn’t depend on that at all, unless you choose to once again go full-MAGOP and defy the Constitution and not let the President of the United States to get a vote on her Supreme Court nominee, whoever that person is.  As was the country’s precedent for over 200 years up until Mitch McConnell decided to undermine government and keep President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland from getting even a hearing in 2016.  Now, after two centuries, this appears to be what the MAGOP does for sport.  Though, cool that Cornyn at least said it had to go through committee first.  For appearances, obviously.  But he went further --
 
“If I’m in a position to make the decision, I’m not going to schedule a vote on some wild-eyed radical nominee --" wait for it... “-- which I know she would love to nominate. But that would be my intention.”
 
There it is!  So, John Cornyn actually believes – no, sorry, he “knows” that Kamala Harris, if President of the United States, would love to nominate a “wild-eyed radical.”  He knows this.  Because he is a mystical psychic – well, that, or either totally crazy or so incredibly far-right that any nominee to the left of Attila the Hun would be a wild-eyed radical to him.  But since John Cornyn says he “knows” (!) that this is who Kamala Harris wants to nominate to the Supreme Court, and he won’t hold a vote on it, if he’s Majority Leader, then he’s basically saying he will block every nominee a President Harris would put forward.  Unless the nominee is someone he, as Majority Leader, approves of – which, believe it or not, is not how the presidential nomination process works.
 
His MAGOP opponent to be leader, John Thune, is currently the party whip.  And what he says about how he’d handle allowing a vote to a Democratic president’s Supreme Court nominee is – well, not “Yes, of course, that’s how the process has worked for 200 years.”  No, instead he equivocated.  And said --
 
“We’ll cross the bridge when we come to it. But, you know, it probably depends on who it is and that’s the advantage of having a Republican Senate.”
 
Again, no, it doesn’t probably depend on who it is.  When the president names a Supreme Court nominee, the person gets a hearing in the Judiciary Committee, they make their recommendation and then the nominee comes to the Senate floor for a vote.  Not doing so is not the “advantage” of having a Republican Senate.  Having that “advantage” has been the reality through the 248 year history of the United States.  But until Mitch McConnell, it wasn’t used.  It’s not an “advantage," it's a cudgel.
 
By the way, note that Thune does not say that this is the “advantage” of having the majority in the Senate.  He says it’s the “advantage” of having a…”Republican Senate.”  But then, that’s understandable because up to now, it’s something reprehensible that only Republicans have ever done.  As in…ever.
 
And here’s the really pathetic thing about it –
 
If your party has the majority, which is why you would be the “Majority Leader” who decides what comes to the Senate floor for a vote, if you don’t personally approve of who the nominee is…no problem, you are in the the majority!  The nominee will get voted down.  Defeated.  Out.  Thanks for playing, here’s a lovely parting gift, goodbye.  It’s a pretty easy concept.  So easy that they knew they didn’t even have make a Schoolhouse Rock cartoon about it for kiddies.  When you have the majority, you don’t have to block the nominee from getting voted on.  In fact, there is only one real reason for doing so:  if the nominee isn’t a wild-eyed radical at all, and you’re concerned that the person is reasonable and qualified and will get approved by enough of your own members to become confirmed.  In which case, your action as Majority Leader blocking the nominee from even getting voted on has absolutely nothing to do with democracy, but authoritarian rule of personal vindictiveness, manipulating long-established rules to undermine the Constitution.
 
Though John Cornyn describes it differently.  “We would be the loyal opposition,” he says, no doubt choking on reality.  And dearly hoping that his base is stupid enough to believe him.
 
Because not only is there nothing “loyal” about it, nothing “loyal” about undermining the U.S. Constitution – and even saying you’ll undermine it before a president is even elected! – but Cornyn, Thune and their thugs wouldn’t be the “opposition” at all!!!  They would be…the majority.
 
Only in MAGOP World would the insecure, fascist majority see itself as the “loyal opposition.”  Because to MAGOPs, it seems that pretty much everyone not them is the enemy.