A Write From Our President
Posted by Michelle Moquin on October 5th, 2016
Good morning.
From the Huff Po:
Republican Obstruction Is Undermining The Supreme Court, Enough Is Enough
This week, the Supreme Court returns to work. The Justices will hear important cases on issues ranging from the separation of church and state to intellectual property to Congressional redistricting to the death penalty. Many of the cases address questions that are fundamental to our democracy: the right to vote, for instance, or what constitutes U.S. citizenship. Yet – regardless of the stakes – Republicans in Congress have forced the Court to weigh these pivotal issues one Justice short of the Court’s full panel of nine.
In a city of self-inflicted wounds, this one is more dangerous and less defensible than most.
It’s been 202 days since I nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. That’s more than five months longer than the average nominee has had to wait over the last 40 years to receive a hearing in Congress – let alone an up or down vote. This delay has nothing to do with Judge Garland’s personality or his qualifications. Senators on both sides of the aisle acknowledge that he is a distinguished legal mind, a dedicated public servant, and a good and decent man.
Leader McConnell argues that with an election looming, the Supreme Court should remain short staffed, and he certainly knows his way around DC. But the last time a Supreme Court seat was kept vacant through Election Day was in 1864. At the height of the Civil War. So, this isn’t about precedent. This is about the obstruction of a broken Republican-led Congress.
Every day that GOP Senate leaders block this nomination, they hamstring the entire third branch of government. The Supreme Court is the final destination in a federal judiciary that routinely weighs some of society’s biggest questions. Already this past June, we saw a deadlocked Supreme Court, with no tie-breaking vote, unable to reach a majority on a major immigration case – leaving our Nation’s immigrants in limbo.
Part of what makes Judge Garland a remarkable jurist is his understanding that justice isn’t an abstract theory. It touches people’s lives every day. As long as Republicans continue their brinksmanship, America pays the price. Our most basic workings as a nation aren’t possible without a functioning judiciary at every level. Commerce is hindered and lives are put on hold. If we ever hope to restore the faith in our institutions that has eroded in recent years, we cannot tolerate a politically motivated, willfully negligent vacancy on the Supreme Court.
But this breakdown at the highest level is part of a bigger pattern.
By hobbling the Supreme Court for what could be a year or longer, Republicans are eroding one of the core institutions of American democracy. This cannot be the new normal.
Republicans have long been resolved to defeat proposals I’ve put forward or supported on everything from equal pay, immigration reform and increasing the minimum wage, to expanding commonsense background checks for those who want to purchase a gun, and basic protections for American workers against discrimination based on who they love or how they identify.
Republican leaders in Congress have proven they won’t work with my Administration, but along the way, they’ve lost sight of their basic mission. They can’t even meet their own goals. Republicans say they care about good paying jobs, but they’re ignoring one of the best ways to create them by refusing to make long overdue investments rebuilding our roads, bridges, ports and airports. A major infrastructure push would put Americans back to work and make our businesses more competitive – but Congress can’t get it done. They can’t move the ball forward on tax reform, one of the GOP’s biggest priorities, and they continue to delay serious funding to combat an opioid epidemic that has devastated the lives of many of their constituents. They talk a great deal about poverty, but refuse to address it in a meaningful way.
On countless priorities – issues that matter to people across the country, regardless of their politics – Republicans in Washington have traded progress for partisanship.
Their obstruction underscores a fundamental misunderstanding of the way our government should work. Sure, they’re blocking Merrick Garland – and maybe scoring a political point or two – but in doing so they are failing the American people. By hobbling the Supreme Court for what could be a year or longer, Republicans are eroding one of the core institutions of American democracy.
This cannot be the new normal. Let’s disagree on the issues, but let’s work together to protect a system of government that has stood strong for 240 years and made us the greatest country on Earth. We must expect better. You must demand better.
That’s why it’s so important that you make your voice heard. Call your representative. Tweet your Senator. Tell them what matters to you. And in November go vote. Then do it again in the next election, even when the presidency isn’t at stake. Send a clear message that Congress, at the very least, needs to perform its basic, Constitutional responsibilities – and should do much more.
We didn’t grow from a fledgling nation into the greatest force for good the world has ever known by flouting the institutions that define our democracy. We did it through fidelity to the values of our founding, and an understanding that our American experiment only works when we the people have a say. So do your part, and demand your representatives do theirs. That’s how we’ll carry forward the work of perfecting our Union.
*****
Readers: I’m with our president. Make your voice heard. I’ve made it easy. Pick one or all: Call your representatives. Send an email to your senators. Or tweet them. The more they hear from us the more they will be inspired to do something. I HOPE you will too, TODAY.
Yeah, I watched the VP debate – much more of the same same. Pence was just another republican LSOS. Of course he was calm, he knows that Trump supporters don’t give a damn about the lying, or most are too Lazy to take the time to google the truth. They believe what they want to believe. They would rather have someone who “looks presidential and blatantly lies” than someone interrupting him and calling him out on his lies. Me? I prefer the latter. I want the truth. I want the facts. It’s obvious they are a fuck-the-facts politics – truth to many is something that if said long enough you and those around you will believe it. I used to like Chris Matthews years ago. My liking for him left years ago too.
Thoughts? Blog me.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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October 6th, 2016 at 6:08 am
If anyone thinks the republicans are going to do their jobs, good luck.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:11 am
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October 6th, 2016 at 6:12 am
Janet#1, and if you think those basket of deplorables will give a shit, think again.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:13 am
Okay, just vote Garland down then.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:13 am
I am ok with the idea of stonewalling until there are no Justices left.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:15 am
Glenn#4, Garland is out.
He will never sit on the Court.
The next president, Donald Trump, will appoint Justice Scale’s successor.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:22 am
Thanks Kentucky!
You know what he is, yet you keep returning him to office.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:23 am
The perpetual obstruction is deplorable.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:24 am
Forget the media’s “endorsements” of Clintoon. They are unfit to be Americans. Vote Trump!
October 6th, 2016 at 6:28 am
The GOP is all about getting nothing done.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:28 am
The SCOTUS is just another DNC tentacle out to destroy America. It needs to be defunded. Same with all Feral Courts.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:29 am
I don’t think they should ever fill the seat. Permanently reduce the Court to 8 Justices. Going back to the original 6 would be even better.
No matter where you are on the political spectrum, I can point you to a 5 to 4 Supreme Court decision that you will say was a complete travesty. With only 8 Justices, every ruling requires at least a 5 to 3 majority. If the Court cannot get a 2 Justice consensus then they should send the case back to the courts of appeal and try again when they have a consensus.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:31 am
The solution to this problem is really very simple.
Vote.
Make yourself a single-issue voter, by voting against any and all who have refused to do their sworn duty under the law.
If the republipukes are kicked out of office – and they should be, after all the racisist, bigoted @!$%# they’ve pulled – The problem simply goes away.
And take a good, close look at the democrats as well, on this issue. When I say vote against any and all, I’m serious.
That said, I’m going to be voting a straight democratic ticket next month, for the first time in my life. I will not vote for any republican again, until the party expels all tea-baggers – who, contrary to popular belief, are NOT republicans, and never were – apologizes for the racist tactics of the past eight years, and changes their political platform to be more inclusive, more freedom-oriented, and less misogynist.
While it is true that we cannot eliminate the GOP completely from our government – they’ve spent too many years cheating and gerrymandering for that to happen, unfortunately – we can make them irrelevant, with a large enough majority in House and Senate.
Like I said, pretty simple, really, as most things in life are.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:33 am
Leroy#12, If we thought Merrick wouldn’t destroy the Constitution, he would have been confirmed, wouldn’t he?
Hillary for Prison 2016
October 6th, 2016 at 6:34 am
No one should be allowed on the court that does not understand what natural born citizen means.
Born here of citizen parents.
Naturally a US citizen because there is no possibility of being anything else.
Know Islam, No Peace – No Islam , Know Peace
October 6th, 2016 at 6:35 am
Michelle is the article a joke? Those idiot leftist justices are undermining the court.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:36 am
Ozzy#16, It’s the actions of McConnell that have given all politicians a bad name. Obstruction and failure to do the jobs they were elected to do should mean their impeachment. No work, no pay, no job.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:37 am
Republicans in Congress have forced the Court to weigh these pivotal issues one Justice short of the Court’s full panel of nine.
Needlessly I might add, the CON gress Directly Controls what cases the supreme Court can and Can Not hear.
In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:38 am
kent#17, More than half the population was opposed to 0bama Care and no Republicans were allowed to read the bill before voting. I say that the Republicans should derail anything he wants, but sadly there is only this little one they are stand up to..
October 6th, 2016 at 6:39 am
I am sure our courts and country are doing just fine without Obama’s nominee. Trump can take care of submitting Supreme Court nominees next January.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:40 am
Michelle, Since when is congress obligated to approve any nominee by the president? Some seem to have forgotten the whole “balance of powers” concept. The person in that Whitehouse is not our king.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:42 am
when its ‘Republican’ it is OBSTRUCTION …… when it is Progressive, it is ‘getting whats best for Amercia’
October 6th, 2016 at 6:43 am
This just show how frightened Obama is.
He wants his liberal on the court.
If Trump is elected he may actually save the court and the country from years of liberal rulings.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:44 am
Roy#22, Mark my word though… if Clinton wins, Garland will be confirmed…………….. quickly.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:47 am
Peter#21, Ummm…I guess you don’t understand. Congress is obligated to VOTE on the nominee put forth by the President. Why? BECAUSE IT IS THEIR JOB! The checks and balances are how our system works.
Congress does not have to approve Mr. Merrick (sp?)…but it does have (or SHOULD) hold a vote on the man’s nomination.
If you do not agree with that statement, then you are not an American because you are not about upholding our Constitution (you know that document you all cling to about your damn guns…the same document you spit on when it comes to every other word it contains.)…all you people are worried about is your damned political party.
So…consider this scenario…Trumps wins and the Ds take the Senate…why should the Senate consider the nominee of Mr. Trump? They can just say Mr. Trump didn’t win with a majority of the total vote (which neither candidate seems likely to achieve) and since he doesn’t have a mandate, the Senate doesn’t view his policies as legitimate.
The current Senate has created the same “slippery slope” you republicans claim when it comes to obstructing Obama. Only this time…it is actually real and has the potential to have a significantly negative impact on the future of this country.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:48 am
Harry#23, Why is Mr. Obama frightened? Of what? He’s done.
Yes Mr. Obama wants his nominee confirmed. Name any President who didn’t?
You think Mr. Trump wouldn’t want his nominee confirmed…or at least voted on?
You are an excellent example of why we need IQ tests, not ID cards, before someone can register to vote!!
October 6th, 2016 at 6:49 am
Lois#25, Oh isn’t this rich… now you call out the constitution when it fits your thinking; and WE’RE not American if we don’t think the way you do; yet, you have thwarted the constitution over and over again when it comes to guns. How American are YOU really, in your incessant anti-gun pursuits?
When this nomination came around (and I don’t expect you to remember) I was critical of the senate for sitting on it. Merrick and Obama deserve an up or down vote. But, I don’t think there is a constitutionally defined timeline in which the senate must act. Perhaps someone could correct me on this. I’m not going to make excuses for this senate, as they have failed to act on so many things they should act on.
The implication of the OP was that this senate is obstructing; when you know damn well when both sides have controlled congress they done the same thing. It’s all a bunch of political games we’ve all become tired of helplessly watching.
But for you – an avid anti-gun/anti-2A advocate – to call someone else un-American
October 6th, 2016 at 6:51 am
Peter#27, Perhaps someone has discovered your true state, allow me to quote him where you are concerned, “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
- Robert J. Hanlon.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:53 am
Everyone of those sentaors, especially Yertle himself, should be thrown out on their ear.
But alas, only 1/3 of the Senate is up for re-election.
So everything will remain the same.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:54 am
Republican obstruction is undermining everything. It’s undermining congress for Christ’s sake. They overrode a veto and then claimed they didn’t know what the ramifications of the bill was when Obama literally told them, multiple times, how that law could be used to hurt the U.S.
And, unfortunately, democrats had to be in on it too because no one wants to run against ads claiming to protect Saudi interests before grieving American families.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:54 am
The GOP: proving that civil government doesn’t work by deliberately breaking it.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:56 am
Lois#28, I’m sorry to say this but your quote could apply to the dems who sat out the last midterm election.
Sitting out the midterms is just self-defeating.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:57 am
I wonder how quickly they’ll act to confirm Judge Garland on November 9th.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:58 am
They overrode a veto and then claimed they didn’t know what the ramifications of the bill was when Obama literally told them, multiple times, how that law could be used to hurt the U.S.
This is one of the greatest failures of congressional leadership I’ve ever seen.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:59 am
Leader McConnell argues that with an election looming, the Supreme Court should remain short staffed, and he certainly knows his way around DC. But the last time a Supreme Court seat was kept vacant through Election Day was in 1864. At the height of the Civil War. So, this isn’t about precedent. This is about the obstruction of a broken Republican-led Congress.
But surely there is some value in STIGGINIT!, no?
October 6th, 2016 at 7:00 am
Amy#34, It will probably, quietly, be overturned after the election. But still, it can’t ALL be performance art and bullshiat. There has to be some meat in that sausage they’re making.
October 6th, 2016 at 7:00 am
I want to see Justice Obama.
October 6th, 2016 at 7:01 am
One definitely gets the feeling that Obama has been gleefully waiting for this point in his presidential career – where he doesn’t have to worry about reelection and can stop treating his opponents with kid gloves.
It’s a great look on him, and if he had been this combatitive about calling out political obstructionism earlier in his term I’d have a lot more love for him.
October 6th, 2016 at 7:07 am
Michelle, It is good to get the position and facts on record, but I doubt if this particular op-ed will have any effect at all.
Check the comments by the insane racist, misogynist, gun crazy, religious hypocrite fanatics above. The sane people already know what’s in it and what should be done.
The insane and the ignorant will remain insane and ignorant and will filter out any information that contradicts their world view which is to believe that they are the real Americans and Obama, and the rest of the OTWs in this country are not, end of story.
October 6th, 2016 at 7:09 am
Frankly I’m going to miss President Obama. ‘m not gonna miss his “but maybe if we be nice to them, they’ll listen to reason” approach to the GOP.
I’m very much looking forward to watching President Clinton treat them and their constituents with the contempt they deserve.
October 6th, 2016 at 7:14 am
Helen#32, I agree with you. The dems need to know that the POTUS needs a supporting cast in Congress.
Anyone that thinks just electing a President solves all of the nation’s problems must’ve skipped civic/governance classics in middle/high school. If they still think that, they must have missed the op-ed by Michelle when she explained Civics/governance in a clear succinct manner.
October 6th, 2016 at 7:15 am
This is one of the main reason to vote against every republican incumbent in congress. This strategy should not be a “winning” one. The republicans that play this game should be defeated so soundly that neither party will see mindless obstruction as a winning tactic.
October 6th, 2016 at 7:16 am
It’s not their fault. Had Obama been a little whiter and more republicany then Congress would have been able to work with a little more. Obama chose to be a democrat and black so the GOP had no choice.
October 6th, 2016 at 7:20 am
Michelle loved your op-ed. So true the republicans would rather have someone who “looks presidential,” than someone who tells the truth angrily when faced with a litany of lies.
October 12th, 2016 at 3:45 am
Another of the Keno suggestions and tricks that previous timers
will use is to keep monitor of the winning numbers of
previous video games and enjoying those numbers that have not popped up but.