Alfonse D'Amato

To nominate a potential justice, or not to nominate

Posted

The sudden death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia set off an immediate debate about whether President Obama should be able to fill the vacant seat in an election year.

Politics are clearly on Obama’s mind — so much so that he decided not to attend Scalia’s funeral, held within walking distance of the White House. It’s interesting that he finds it more important to meet with Cuban President Raul Castro in Cuba rather than pay his respects to Scalia, who served the Supreme Court with great honor and distinction.

Obama’s decisions are inexcusable, and beneath the dignity of a president. Shame on you, Mr. President!

For now, he is faced with a decision: to nominate a potential justice, or not to nominate.

With Scalia’s passing, the Supreme Court is equally divided among conservative and liberal ideologies, 4-4. Without a doubt, the balance of the court has shifted. Ask yourself, is it more important to have the seat filled, or to wait until after the election, and have a say, with your vote, in the makeup of the most important branch of government in this country?

The president has every right to put forth a nominee to succeed Scalia, and no one expects him to put it off, despite the calls for him to reconsider. But the Republican-led Senate has every right to refuse to consider or to reject his nominee, and, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, that’s exactly the plan.

Obama and the Democrats in Congress want you to believe that McConnell and the Republicans are doing America an injustice by promising to delay the consideration of any nominee until a new president is elected. However, what the president doesn’t want you to know is that back in 2006, then Senator Obama supported a Democratic filibuster to stop President George W. Bush’s nomination of Samuel Alito.

In fact, Democrats tried 10 times to block Bush’s nominee. At the time, Obama said, “There are some who believe that the president, having won the election, should have complete authority to appoint his nominee . . . that once you get beyond intellect and personal character, there should be no further question as to whether the judge should be confirmed. I disagree with this view.”

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