President Trump on Tuesday selected Neil Gorsuch to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. As the president introduced the nominee and his wife to the press, you could almost hear the wheels of obstruction flowing from Democratic Senate and House Minority Leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi respectively.
Trump could have named Oliver Wendall Holmes as the nominee and those two lawmakers would flay their arms in discontent and cry foul about the entire process. Although that has yet to be seen, it doesn’t take Karnac to predict what those two will do.
Never mind that Gorsuch is a highly respected conservative who sits on the Colorado-based Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. That will make zero difference to the Democratic obstructionists who have all but said the election of Trump was null and void in their leftist way of thinking. It’s their way or the highway and damn the American system of government.
Meanwhile, in the real world, Trump had narrowed the list of his possible picks to 21 and then to either Gorsuch or Judge Thomas Hardiman of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Before Judge Gorsuch is confirmed by the Senate, and he will be, Hardiman may be the happiest man on the planet that he lost out. He will not have to see his reputation run through the mud and his family’s privacy invaded by the likes of Schumer and Pelosi who have vowed to stall anything that has Trump written on it.
But a mere two weeks into his presidency, Trump is doing what he said and is keeping his promises to the American people who elected him. In Gorsuch he has picked a man who is a staunch conservative thinker and a strict constitutionalist. It is exactly what he said he would do when provided the opportunity to nominate a Supreme Court Justice.
The Democrats will act surprised and disheartened that the man elected to the presidency is doing exactly what he promised he would do if elected. Naturally, if the roles were reversed and Hillary were picking a Supreme Court nominee, the media and the likes of Schumer and Pelosi would be “horrified” if there was a whisper of discontent. There would be outrage and front page stories about the “evil Republicans” and their stranglehold on the president’s choice.
When, and not if, Gorsuch is confirmed, he will join a court split evenly between conservatives and liberals, with Justice Anthony Kennedy, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, often being the key vote. That will last as long as liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s health and advancing years makes her the next likely replacement. There is also talk that Justice Kennedy, a “moderate,” will be leaving the bench soon.
The possibility of two more justices soon leaving the court would put it firmly in the hands of a conservative majority for a generation to come. That reality alone will make nominee Gorsuch’s life a living hell the next month or so thanks to the petty grievances (fill in the blanks) of the Schumer/Pelosi gang of obstructionists.
Gorsuch joined the appeals court in siding with the craft store chain Hobby Lobby and Christian bookstore chain Mardel Inc. in its challenge of Obamacare’s mandate that requires employer health care plans to cover birth control.
Now there’s something Schumer and Pelosi can sharpen their axes over. Oh, oh .. the judge has also said it was “not for secular courts to rewrite the religious complaint of a faithful adherent, or to decide whether a religious teaching about complicity imposes ‘too much’ moral disapproval on those only “indirectly” assisting wrongful conduct.”
Them is fightin’ words to the far left, by God.
At 49, Gorsuch will be the youngest member of the court. Something that was certain to be one of Trump’s biggest items for his choice. His confirmation battle will be less provocative than had it been Bill Pryor, the circuit judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He was a conservative favorite among certain groups and argued gay people should be prosecuted for having sex, and that abortion should be outlawed including in cases of rape. His nomination would have brought nuclear winter to Washington.
One stark reality is this: When Donald Trump won the White House; it meant the liberals lost any chance to achieve a majority on the court. It also meant Trump has a full four years to appoint federal judges to the bench who are conservative. The Democrats can scream until they are hoarse, but that is the real reality of their loss in November.
There is more than Schumer and Pelosi in the tight little band of naysayers no matter what. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) has promised to raise procedural objections to any Supreme Court nominee from Trump, meaning Gorsuch will likely need 60 votes. Who is Jeff Markley?
But again, the reality is whether Democrats at large will back a filibuster. Republicans have 52 seats in the Senate, meaning they need eight Democratic votes to break a filibuster. Ten Democrats are up for reelection in 2018 in states won by Trump in the presidential race. It may be difficult for them to filibuster a nominee such as Gorsuch – though they will be under tremendous pressure from liberal groups to do so, again, no matter what.
Get ready for high theatrics, especially from the likes of Sen. Corey Booker (D-NJ) who is already running for president in 2020 and other Democrats anxious to get their faces on MSNBC and interviews with Rachael Maddow.
In the end, Judge Neil Gorsuch will set up shop at the Supreme Court next to a fuming Justice Ginsberg and her merry band of far left liberals. They can already feel the loneliness setting in as Donald Trump actually follows through on his campaign promises.
Isn’t it refreshing to have someone in the White House who does, like it or not?
