Columnist Charles Krauthammer argued that the replacement of Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court is “the moment of his life” for Senate Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and that any obstructionism charges pale in comparison to what would happen if Scalia is replaced by a liberal justice on Monday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel.
Krauthammer stated, “The future of the court is at stake. The future of the Scalia legacy is at stake. Whatever the effects on the election, however much the Democrats play the obstructionism charge, it pales in comparison with what would happen if Scalia were replaced by say, another Elena Kagan.”
He added, “I think this is the moment of his life for Mitch McConnell. He’s the ultimate Senate tactician. He knows the rules. He knows how to get around things. This is purely a decision, a political decision, how best to turn this guy down, or girl down, whoever it is, and it could go one way or the other. But that’s nothing but tactics. In the end the Republicans have to be absolutely united on the fact that they will not accept an Obama nominee one way or the other.”
Earlier, Krauthammer said, “Robert Bork had been confirmed earlier to the DC Circuit Court, and he was denied by Democrats, there is nothing wrong with turning down a nominee who had been okayed for a lower office. Look, the arguments from [Sen.] Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and all the others, on both sides, are completely hypocritical, almost embarrassingly so. Everyone knows that if the circumstances were reversed, if there were a now Republican president who was in office, and he were to nominate someone in the last year of his presidency with a Democratic Congress, they would be making the reverse argument. In fact, they made the reverse argument. That actually happened in the George W. Bush term, and [Sen.] Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that he would recommend, this 18 months to go in the Bush administration, 18 months to go, and said that he would recommend to his colleagues not to confirm any nominee from this president.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.