David Axelrod: Filling SCOTUS vacancy in 2020 would ‘tear this country apart’

Make sure to let us know what you think... we now have comments turned ON below the article!

Within an hour of the announcement on Friday that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had suffered yet another health scare — this time, radiation treatment for a cancerous pancreatic tumor — discussion commenced on the topic of a potential fight over the eventual replacement for the long-serving 86-year-old jurist.

Democratic political strategist and former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, David Axelrod, took to Twitter to warn that any hypothetical effort by the Republican-led Senate to fill Ginsburg’s potentially vacant seat in an election year would “tear this country apart.”

Bracing for a fight

Axelrod, who has surprisingly served as something of a voice of reason as his party shifts ceaselessly toward the left, nevertheless reverted to irrational fear-mongering — though likely with a hint of truth, unfortunately — in predicting a disastrous political fight if efforts were made to fill Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court in 2020.

The former Obama adviser tweeted, “If there is a SCOTUS vacancy next year and @senatemajldr carries through on his extraordinary promise to fill it-despite his own previous precedent in blocking Garland-it will tear this country apart.”

The Washington Examiner reported that Axelrod’s commentary referenced remarks made by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in May, as well as the manner in which McConnell blocked consideration of Obama-nominated Judge Merrick Garland to fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2016.

Apples and oranges

With respect to McConnell’s recent remarks about the potential to address a hypothetical vacancy in the 2020 election year, McConnell said, “Oh, we’d fill it.” That comment didn’t sit well with Democrats that are still smarting over McConnell’s refusal to even consider, much less hold confirmation hearings, for Garland when he was nominated to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

But McConnell has explained how the situations surrounding the 2016 vacancy and a potential 2020 vacancy are vastly different, and therefore lend themselves to disparate treatment.

In the case of Garland, his nomination was made by a lame-duck, term-limited president in his final year at a time when the Senate, the body tasked with providing “advice and consent” on Supreme Court nominees, was under the control of the opposition party.

The situation would be starkly different for a vacancy in 2020, however, as any prospective nominee would be put forward by a president seeking re-election at a time when his party also controls the Senate.

Sad, but true

Democrats have either refused to accept, or simply don’t understand, the nuanced differences in the two scenarios, and given the manner in which Democrats fought against the nominations of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — both to fill seats vacated by Republican-appointed jurists — the fight over who will fill a previously Democrat-appointed seat will be that much more contentious.

Unfortunately, Axelrod is probably correct that an attempt to fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2020 — especially if that vacancy is Ginsburg’s seat — will “tear this country apart.”

The sad reality is that angry Democrats unable to accept the reality that “elections have consequences” will be the ones lashing out and disrupting the country with yet another prolonged temper tantrum over political differences.

375 Responses

  1. Hi, I do believe this is a great blog. I stumbledupon it 😉 I will revisit yet again since I saved as a favorite it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people.

  2. Greetings from Carolina! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to check out your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the info you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my mobile .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, fantastic site!

  3. You’re so interesting! I do not think I’ve truly read through a single thing like that before. So wonderful to discover someone with a few genuine thoughts on this topic. Really.. thank you for starting this up. This web site is something that’s needed on the web, someone with some originality!

  4. Wow that was strange. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say fantastic blog!

  5. We wanted to create a store where our customers can come to us and tell us their needs so we can help them find exactly what they are looking for.\n\nWe work tirelessly to find top quality products to bring you at a price you can afford

  6. Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your post seem to be running off the screen in Chrome. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The design look great though! Hope you get the issue resolved soon. Thanks

  7. Hi, I do believe this is an excellent website. I stumbledupon it 😉 I will come back once again since I bookmarked it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people.

  8. Hi there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You have done a extraordinary job!

  9. Hi there! This article couldn’t be written any better! Looking through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He always kept preaching about this. I’ll send this article to him. Pretty sure he’ll have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!

  10. Thanks for your intriguing article. Other thing is that mesothelioma is generally a result of the inhalation of materials from asbestos, which is a extremely dangerous material. It’s commonly witnessed among laborers in the engineering industry who have long contact with asbestos. It could be caused by moving into asbestos covered buildings for a long period of time, Your age plays a crucial role, and some folks are more vulnerable for the risk than others.

  11. I blog often and I genuinely appreciate your information. Your article has really peaked my interest. I am going to book mark your website and keep checking for new information about once per week. I subscribed to your Feed as well.

  12. Do you have a spam problem on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was wanting to know your situation; we have created some nice practices and we are looking to exchange techniques with others, be sure to shoot me an email if interested.

  13. What i do not realize is in reality how you’re no longer really much more neatly-appreciated than you might be now. You’re so intelligent. You realize thus significantly on the subject of this subject, produced me in my view imagine it from so many numerous angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be fascinated unless it’s something to accomplish with Girl gaga! Your individual stuffs excellent. Always take care of it up!

  14. You made some good points there. I looked on the internet for more information about the issue and found most individuals will go along with your views on this site.

  15. This is the right site for anybody who really wants to find out about this topic. You know a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I personally will need to…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic which has been written about for decades. Wonderful stuff, just wonderful!

  16. I simply couldn’t go away your web site prior to suggesting that I really enjoyed the standard information an individual provide to your guests? Is going to be again frequently to check out new posts.

  17. This is the right web site for anyone who really wants to understand this topic. You know a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want to…HaHa). You certainly put a new spin on a subject which has been discussed for decades. Great stuff, just great!

  18. I have seen that costs for internet degree authorities tend to be a terrific value. For instance a full 4-year college Degree in Communication in the University of Phoenix Online consists of 60 credits with $515/credit or $30,900. Also American Intercontinental University Online makes available Bachelors of Business Administration with a entire study course element of 180 units and a cost of $30,560. Online studying has made obtaining your higher education degree been so cool because you might earn the degree in the comfort in your home and when you finish working. Thanks for all tips I’ve learned from your blog.

  19. Needed to write you one tiny observation just to give many thanks yet again over the spectacular methods you’ve discussed here. This has been really incredibly open-handed with people like you to make without restraint exactly what a lot of people could possibly have distributed for an ebook in making some profit for themselves, chiefly considering that you might well have tried it if you desired. The creative ideas in addition served to be the good way to be certain that many people have similar zeal much like my personal own to see way more when considering this matter. I know there are thousands of more fun situations ahead for many who scan your site.

  20. you are truly a just right webmaster. The site loading velocity is incredible. It kind of feels that you’re doing any distinctive trick. Moreover, The contents are masterwork. you have done a excellent activity on this subject!

  21. Have you ever considered creating an ebook or guest authoring on other sites? I have a blog centered on the same topics you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would value your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.

  22. An interesting discussion is worth comment. I do think that you should publish more on this issue, it may not be a taboo subject but usually people do not talk about these issues. To the next! Best wishes!!

  23. An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a coworker who had been conducting a little homework on this. And he in fact bought me lunch because I discovered it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending the time to talk about this topic here on your web site.

  24. Throughout the great scheme of things you actually secure a B- just for effort. Where exactly you confused us was first in the specifics. You know, as the maxim goes, details make or break the argument.. And it couldn’t be more accurate at this point. Having said that, allow me inform you just what did work. Your text is definitely pretty engaging and that is possibly why I am making an effort in order to opine. I do not really make it a regular habit of doing that. Second, while I can notice a leaps in reasoning you come up with, I am not really convinced of exactly how you appear to unite your points that make the final result. For the moment I will, no doubt yield to your position however trust in the near future you connect the facts better.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Popular