Tuesday, April 4, 2017

The bad boy page in the history book



McConnell bets the Senate on Gorsuch


On McConnell:

“Merrick Garland is how he’ll be remembered, violating 230 years of Senate tradition to create this unholy mess we’re facing,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

Republicans blame Democrats for using the filibuster routinely during the presidency of George W. Bush and launching the first major rules change since 2013, but there is no doubt McConnell has weaponized the Senate rules in a manner that is certain to alter the chamber for years to come."

And on the election:

Now, several Republican senators say they likely would have lost the Senate and the White House without a Supreme Court vacancy on the line to bring reluctant conservatives around for Trump and GOP incumbents. Asked whether the GOP would be in power without McConnell’s move, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) responded: “No. I think it was critically important to voters.”

“It’s distinctly possible that that was a game changer, yes,” said Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who ran the GOP's campaign arm in 2016. “It’s one thing to say there are future nominations that may be at stake. It’s quite another to say there’s a vacancy there and you can vote on Nov. 8 to decide.”

Trump won the election by tipping three Rust Belt states his way by margins small enough that Republicans believe the Supreme Court vacancy was a determining factor. Republicans “would have felt betrayed" had McConnell allowed Obama to fill the high-court seat, said Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who narrowly won reelection."

So let's put it this way -- not only did Mitchey McC's foul move disrupt the Constitutional function of government, it also may have been an important factor in getting Donald Trump elected President. So if Trump brings the country down around our ears, wrecks the Republican Party and ushers in a massive mid-term election reversal (and the signs are pointing that way), we can blame him for that, too!

I certainly will.

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