The Democrat's Case for Allowing Trump’s SCOTUS pick
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been in a better place barely five days and my phone, social media, and all media in general, has not stopped blaring hysteria from all corners of the political world. Republicans, as if on a pre-set timer, are flexing their hypocritical muscle by assuring the world that the irreplaceable Ginsburg will quickly be “replaced” by a person likely to be her polar opposite and dismantler of her legacy. Democrats, conversely, are wringing their collective hands and wearing carpet to a threadbare state from their elliptical pacing, while demanding the fairness of a slow deliberation of the Supreme Court’s next occupant, which they argue is only possible upon the ascension of Joe Biden to the nation’s highest office. Without inviting the wrath of the political left, I urge Democrats to let go and let Trump make the mistake his selection will surely prove to be.
To be sure, the Republican leaders are wrong. They clearly stole the Constitutionally provided SCOTUS selection afforded President Obama, along with a slew of judicial appointments up and down the courts, on all levels from coast to coast. Mitch McConnell, in particular, didn’t outplay the Democrats hand, per se, he simply has no shame that can contain his behavior. Moreover, he has cultivated a caucus with so little integrity, that the idea of doing the right thing has become anathema to how they operate.
With a firm understanding that the Senate’s majority party, in its current form, is beyond redemption, Democrats would be wise to change tack, embrace their uphill battles and learn to fight fire with a different kind of water hose.
Foremost on the Democrats’ To-Do List should be to defeat Donald Trump on November 3. Period. Working in their favor is the public’s clear understanding that the current Administration has failed miserably with the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Even without the unmasking heaped upon Trump by Bob Woodward in his new book Rage with his concomitant tape recordings, people can see the death and destruction laid bare by the president’s failure to act timely and woefully inadequate advanced preparation for what was a foreseeable crisis, as well as real-time unwillingness to use his actual presidential powers to deliver the resources needed to nip this in the bud. Getting sidetracked on this Supreme Court tangent is folly at best, and McConnell’s strategy at worst. Democrats would do themselves a favor by not falling into the trap.
It’s not clear to the seasoned pundit, nor even to the casual observer, why Democrats don’t believe Republicans when they show their true colors. Republicans simply do not care about the lofty ambitions of blue states, the logical arguments outlining “plans” for everything that ail us, or being called out for their hypocrisy. That’s the entire point of being a hypocrite. Well-reasoned arguments that articulate past statements that contradict current positions define the very nature of the GOP flip-flopping on every subject from Obamacare that was derived from Romneycare, to Mitch McConnell’s pitiful attempt to out-fashion Obama in the tan suit department, to the contrast between the four deaths in Benghazi which launched years of investigative effort compared to not even a missed step as a result of nearly 7 million infected and a total of a quarter million estimated to be dead of COVID-19, by the time the last vote will be cast. But all is not lost; use their weaknesses against them.
Make no mistake, Trump is entitled to nominate the person of his choice to join the court, just as Obama was entitled to the same. Republicans control the Senate, and as we were schooled by none other than Barack Obama: “elections have consequences.” Bellyaching about the majority party’s similarity to scoundrels or their penchant for running afoul of anything that resembles integrity is nothing short of political suicide. If I’ve heard any criticism of Democrats more than any other, it is this: They don’t know how to fight. Whining is not fighting. Suck it up, get over and move on. Perceived strength resonates on both sides of the aisle.
Consider that Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and for extra measure I’ll throw in William Barr, the Attorney General who has proven well suited in the role of Trump’s “Roy Cohn,” have a collective effective rate of a torn condom in a whorehouse. Aside from a tax bill that privileged the top 1% of wealth-holders, the dearth of legislative, legal or moral victories are too great to count. An inability to build a wall along the southern border, repeal the Affordable Care Act, reinforce the nation’s infrastructure, or even effectively free Michael Flynn from his well-deserved conviction, while Michael Cohen is counting the profits from his Trump tell-all, should give the Democrats comfort that the Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight are metaphorically relying upon weapons from the National Rifle Association, the soon-to-be defunct piggybank of schemers and con men. They all show such hubris and greed that they consume themselves before they can even belly up to the trough.
Give the Republicans the rope with which to hang themselves. The knee-jerk reaction to fill the seat now available due to Ginsburg’s passing, takes little into consideration beyond the ability to wield power that they know is waning and likely to not be available after another 40 days. But call McConnell’s bluff. With 20 GOP Senate seats up for grabs, compared to the Democrat’s seven, he can’t compel those vulnerable candidates to walk the proverbial plank. Doing so would not only enable Democrats to assume the majority in the Senate and oust McConnell from the Leader’s seat, but it would quite possibly, create such a lopsided victory that even the filibuster and other much relied-upon parliamentary tricks will matter not in slowing down the progress they so desperately seek to avoid. Or can he? Would Mitch sacrifice the meek for his own lust for power?
Trump hasn’t the ability to curtail his mouth because he continuously needs to remind us that he deserves what he has and it’s all a result of his hard work. Nothing could be further from the truth. His incompetence shows through in his business, familial and life choices, but he talks a good game. In the last 72 hours he’s given up the game though, as he’s explained his reliance on the courts to deliver him yet another underserved victory. Perhaps the clearest and most direct explanation of where we are, came via tweet from Trump superfan, James Woods, the former Hollywood B-lister, who now wallows somewhere around the F-list with Chachi and Chuck Norris, when he wrote:
“This conversation is easy. We couldn’t care less about Merrick Garland. We certainly don’t care about the feelings of those who have tried to destroy this President. We. Simply. Don’t. Care. We are going to #FillTheSeat and we couldn’t care less what Democrats think. Ever. Again.”
Believe them. They all agree with this sentiment, otherwise we wouldn’t be in this pickle. They also agree that they need Trump to win, by any means necessary.
The “lame duck session” is probably where McConnell will flex his muscle, but he’s just as likely to see a defection as election-losing Senators might try to salvage some semblance of honor on their way out the door. After all, they’ll be looking for jobs and many will not be able to find their way to K Street. The threat of casting their lot with Trump and returning home defeated may be the reality check that breaks the fever.
The biggest reason, however, to let Trump move forward as the Constitution requires, is that the Constitution requires it. Yes, retention of the moral high ground is still a thing. It may be more satisfying today to knock the smirk off the faces of the very group (of mostly old white men) who don’t deserve this victory at the expense of a country who is in dire need of regaining faith in its institutions, but a day will come when the normalcy of real law, and especially, order will be more attainable. It’s unfair and it sucks, but we’ll never get “back to normal” if we maintain a tit-for-tat posture.
Allowing everyone to play the cards they’re dealt takes nerves of steel and an ability to read a bluff when it’s in the eyes of your adversary. Democrats should have been able to figure out this game long ago. Trump is liar. Through puffery, he wears down those who don’t share his win-at-all-cost attitude, which was described in detail by his cousin and author of Too Much and Not Enough, Mary L. Trump. She understood that Trump is a weak, feckless bully who knows he’s unworthy of the office or riches he’s had lavished upon him since birth. Mary Trump has breathlessly warned us of Trump’s unmitigated willingness to burn it all down to save himself.
McConnell has thrown a lifeline that Trump thinks will save him on Election Day, but like with everything else, Trump is blinded by his ego and eagerly chomps at the bit to appoint his third SCOTUS Justice in his first term. Trump will blindly pluck a name off of a list that he doesn’t even comprehend, and like a peacock fanning his train, Trump’s only gambit is to use that power to attract voters to him. He doesn’t realize the attraction is only surface deep and voters will quickly remember how much they’re struggling to put food on the table and stay alive during his presidency. He shouldn’t confuse checking off one item on a wish list with generating deep affection among his base, as Obama has done with his. Instead, he’s more likely to repel those whose most fervent wish is a return to civility.
When Democrats trust the voters, rely on Chief Justice Roberts to continue his path to right Trump’s wrongs, and show some backbone, they may surprise themselves and declare victory as their rightful prize for staying the course. Becoming one of them, is not what delivered a 40-seat advantage in the 2018 mid-term election; nor is it what prompted over $130 million in political contributions to the Democratic Party coffers over the three-day period following RBG’s passing. Panic and fear can be smelled from a mile away and Democrats would do themselves a favor by standing back far enough to give Republicans the room they need to dig their own political graves. Stop the talk about expanding the SCOTUS roster and pleading with Republicans to do the right thing and trust the system to hold it together until January 20, 2021.
While elections do have consequences, it’s often after suffering from those consequences that people learn…the hard way. Democrats―who thought it wise to throw away their votes in 2016 because they allowed 40 years of anti-Hillary Clinton rhetoric to cloud their judgement, coupled with suburban white women who couldn’t see in her, their own hopes and aspirations―opened the door to where we find ourselves today. Until and unless we feel the negative effects of our actions, we may be bound to continue repeating them ad nauseum. Let the consequences of RBG’s replacement be her legacy. That might just speak louder than she ever could, and reinforce the need to accept defeat, but nevertheless persist.
Greer McVay
Host of Capital G Podcast