Just Say No, No, No, Never

A little over a week ago, there was a headline on RawStory: "Lindsey Graham hints a GOP Senate would not consider another SCOTUS nominee before the 2024 presidential election"

Seriously, no hint was needed. We all assumed this. And Graham saying it out loud should be a Democratic campaign issue.

In fact, just to make sure no one thought it was a slip of the tongue, or that Lindsey Graham was having one of his now-frequent hissy fits, Manu Raju (chief Congressional correspondent of CNN) quotes Lindsey Graham not only saying the same thing about Judge Jackson, but even goes further, “If we were in charge” he swaggered, “she would not have been before this committee.  You would have somebody more moderate than this.”

Keep in mind that Graham actually voted to confirm Judge Jackson to a lifetime term on the federal bench only last year.  And most analysis of the judge’s career has described her as a solid replacement for Justice Breyer who was one of the more moderate members of the Supreme Court.  But still, there Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is, telling everyone that if Republicans were in charge, not only would Judge Jackson not be confirmed, but they wouldn’t have even given the first black woman ever nominated to be on the Supreme Court the chance to merely have a hearing!  Not…even..a…hearing.

Again, Lindsey Graham saying this out loud and repeating it should be a Democratic campaign issue in the 2022 mid-term elections.

In fairness, not to be too hard on Lindsey Graham, the reality is that if Republicans were in charge, it's likely that no one nominated by a Democratic president would have been before the committee. Just like they did with Merrick Garland, the last would-be Supreme Court Justice nominated by a Democrat.  

Of course, it’s a bit of an uphill challenge not to be too hard on Lindsey Graham.  After all, he’s the same guy who in 2016 pontificated and preened, “"I want you to use my words against me. If there's a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said let's let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination."  And he said this two separate times.  And then, just four years later, when Graham was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Trump was not only in the last year of his first term, but in the last few months, Graham quickly pushed through the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett.  (Also described as the little-qualified religious zealot Amy Coney Barrett.)

But still, on so many levels, this is just today’s Republican Party.  After all, The Hill had a story over the weekend that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said something related.  They wrote --

“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is putting public and private pressure on his Senate Republican colleagues to oppose President Biden’s nominee to the Supreme Court, despite the historic nature of her nomination to be the first Black woman on the court.... McConnell made an impassioned plea at a recent Senate GOP lunch for his colleagues to oppose Biden’s choice, according to senators who attended the meeting.”

This is what’s known in the news business as "BREAKING NEWS!!"   I mean, whoa, it is shocking to learn this.  Mitch McConnell is actually pushing Republicans senators to oppose a black woman -- for anything. Let alone to be the first-ever for the Supreme Court.  Who would have ever imagined?!  Just as a pure guess, I suspect that McConnell didn't have to push his fellow-Republican senators too hard.

Lindsey Graham saying this out loud and repeating – and Mitch McConnell confirming it from angle should be a Democratic campaign issue in the 2022 mid-term elections.  Make it just as clear to Democratic and independent voters as Graham and McConnell are making it to their racist and misogynistic base –

If Republicans gain the majority in the Senate, they will likely not even give a hearing to any person President Biden nominates for the Supreme Court if a vacancy opens.  They will hold the seat open, just as they did with Merrick Garland, until a Republican becomes president. 

As a 2022 campaign issue for Democrats, it shows what's at stake not just to the party but democracy.  Not even hearing a nomination, which is a Constitutional requirement, undermines the Constitution and corrupts its intent -- and is an adjunct to the Insurrection to overthrow democracy. This is who the Republican Party is, enabled by its supporters. And part of why calling the GOP "fascist" today is not hyperbole, but descriptive.

It’s so GOP these days.