News of Justice Scalia's death had barely reached the world when Republicans in Congress began voicing their plans to block the President's nomination to the court. Remember, at this point President Obama had not even commented on who, when, or if he might nominate someone before leaving office next year. Instead of waiting to see what the President said, or who he nominated, Republicans forced the cart out onto the road without the donkey, so to speak, in what is becoming a more routine and dangerous practice by both parties.
Here are the facts: Justice Scalia was nominated by President Reagan. Most people feel that he was a conservative judge who protected the second amendment and first amendment. He was 79 years old and could have easily passed away at anytime - any of us could. We have no way of knowing for sure who the next President will be and a nomination from a new, unknown and untested, President could be more dangerous than a nomination from Obama. Obama faces a battle with Congress in that Republicans control it. Obama also has the advantage of having several Democrat allies in Congress; however, those Democrat allies are very much aware that Obama will leave office and leave them to fight their own reelection campaigns within the next year. Finally, it is the responsibility of the President to nominate a replacement and it is the responsibility of the Congress to review that nomination.
With the above facts in mind, it seems a little hypocritical for the Republicans to be doing two things. First, they are screaming about a nomination that has not even been made yet. Second, they are screaming that a President who they have hounded for overstepping the Constitution will in all likelihood follow the Constitution on this matter. Republicans and Democrats are constantly doing something that many people in this nation have grown extremely tired of and that is put the party ahead of the country.
To be blunt, if the President said that milk is good for you, Republicans would say that it's not good for people who are lactose intolerant. If Republicans said we should eat beef, Democrats would say that beef is bad for you and you should only eat chicken. We live in a country where the loyalty has been drawn away from the country and to specific parties instead, and that is a very dangerous path to go down. In Germany during the 1930s, the people were encouraged to put their loyalty into a party. The people did and the result was Nazi Germany rose. The party replaced the flag with their party flag, symbols were replaced with party symbols, and views were only allowed which coincided with the party views. We can not allow the United States to go down that path.
Republicans need to sit back and wait. Watch and see what nominee the President puts forward. Once the nominee comes on the floor, then they can question, review previous rulings, and determine what is the best avenue of action. By screaming that they would block the President's nomination before he even made it, they essentially made themselves look like a bunch of crying babies in a playpen screaming they do not want what is lunch before even being told what is for lunch. But more importantly than that, they showed the nation that the party comes before the good of the nation, and that is something that should raise a red flag to all of us, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike.
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