Justice Scalia found dead in Texas

[frank ryan]

The four libs on the Court always vote together on any case that has a political/cultural element to it. The same can't be said of two of the remaining conservatives. The last Democratic nominee that ever voted on both sides was Byron White. Obama could get a moderate through, but he's not going to nominate a moderate.

I don't think he could get a moderate through. He should nominate one, but I'm not sure it matters.

[All-American]

http://fee.org/articles/justice-scalia-s-great-heart/

[Jeff Lebowski]

You are so magnanimous! But if you can look past your generous act of condescension perhaps you might consider the chance that some of us DID read and watch the entire statement. And I hope that doesn't disappoint you.

Compare Obama's attitude and content to the simple statement of Bill Clinton. Then watch Clinton when he says it. Clinton wants the same thing as Obama but Obama can't help but stoop to the same political level as the dope from Kentucky. Calls to control the next appointment are better left for tomorrow. Or the next day. But while Scalia is yet unburied Clinton knows you let the small-minded politicians start screaming about the next appointment. A real leader who inspires doesn't do that. Obama misses that point. It isnt a narrative. It's about being an actual leader who doesn't seek to divide and conquer. It's about mourning for a loss. Ginsburg mourns. Clinton hits the right note. But Obama can't. It reveals much.

But I'm glad you're on top of the full truth.

I assume you are equally outraged at all the republican leaders who have referenced the topic of a replacement?

Given the full context, it seems like a silly thing to get worked up about. But knock yourself out.

[creekster]

I assume you are equally outraged at all the republican leaders who have referenced the topic of a replacement?

Given the full context, it seems like a silly thing to get worked up about. But knock yourself out.

Ummm, did you not see my reference to the dope from Kentucky? That is the republican.

I really wasn't worked up about it, I was pointing to it as an example of how Obama is a poor leader, how he is not a good politician while Clinton, who I don't like on policy grounds, is a great politician. The 'worked up' part was over your presumptuous and condescending assertion that I and others hadn't seen or read the entire statement by Obama. Thanks for permission to get worked up, however. I appreciate that.

[creekster]

Chaos after his death:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/texas-tv-station-scalia-died-of-a-heart-attack/2016/02/14/938e2170-d332-11e5-9823-02b905009f99_story.html

question:

the article says he died in his sleep at the hunting lodge but also says he received the last rites. How does that work? Don't you still have to be alive to get the last rites?

[All-American]

Chaos after his death:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/texas-tv-station-scalia-died-of-a-heart-attack/2016/02/14/938e2170-d332-11e5-9823-02b905009f99_story.html

question:

the article says he died in his sleep at the hunting lodge but also says he received the last rites. How does that work? Don't you still have to be alive to get the last rites?

You're supposed to be, but they'll still do it post mortem if they didn't before death.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I don't think he could get a moderate through. He should nominate one, but I'm not sure it matters.

We'll never know because he won't nominate one. If he found someone like O'Connor or Kennedy, I think the Republicans would take it. Both were/are pretty good on ruling against government expansion and overreach, but they go the other way on things like gay marriage.

[cowboy]

You guys are hilarious. You see a tweet and assume that is the entirety of his statement?

I hate to disappoint you, but he said lots of nice things about Scalia.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/us...ions.html?_r=0

I don't know how to ask this question without sounding snarky, and I don't mean to be, but I'm more interested in your take on Obama's statement than what you think of our take on it. So did you think Obama's comment was appropriate or not?

[venkman]

We'll never know because he won't nominate one. If he found someone like O'Connor or Kennedy, I think the Republicans would take it. Both were/are pretty good on ruling against government expansion and overreach, but they go the other way on things like gay marriage.

Yeah, no way he nominates a moderate. He's incapable of betraying his ideology. There will be intense pressure on the GOP to cave, my money is that they do.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Yeah, no way he nominates a moderate. He's incapable of betraying his ideology. There will be intense pressure on the GOP to cave, my money is that they do.

Obama can make a recess appointment if he wants. Eisenhower did it back in 1956 while he was running for reelection. Obama won't do that initially because he wants a permanent appointment. Also, a recess appointment lets Senate Republicans off the hook politically. I've heard some talk about McConnell calling a pro forma session so Obama can't make a recess appointment. Conservatives will lose some cases over the course of the year, but their best alternative might be Obama making that recess appointment.

Something that's interesting to me is that there is some precedent for holding off on these appointments in either lame duck situations or reelection years. The Republicans told LBJ to jump in the lake when he tried to get his crony Abe Fortas installed as the Chief Justice. Then there's what Eisenhower did. And apparently the Democrats in 1960 passed a referendum telling Eisenhower that he wasn't going to get any appointments that year.

Obama got a good justice on the court and a terrible one. David Axelrod mentioned today that Scalia himself recommended Kagan when the first opening came up. They were sitting next to each other at some dinner and Scalia brought it up.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I don't know how to ask this question without sounding snarky, and I don't mean to be, but I'm more interested in your take on Obama's statement than what you think of our take on it. So did you think Obama's comment was appropriate or not?

I thought it was fine. He has that goofy clipped speaking style that I don't care for, but I had no problem with the content.

BTW, the NYT video above is not the complete statement. Full statement here:

http://www.mediaite.com/online/watch...alias-passing/

[Maximus]

Conspiracy theories already abound.

[creekster]

I thought it was fine. He has that goofy clipped speaking style that I don't care for, but I had no problem with the content.

BTW, the NYT video above is not the complete statement. Full statement here:

http://www.mediaite.com/online/watch...alias-passing/

Was it fine? Perhaps. But my point is that it was such a missed opportunity. Within hours of Scalia's death you have the dope from KY demanding that Obama not appoint anyone and you get a reaction from Clinton and Obama. If you want to see how Clinton managed to be a philanderer, as well as a bad president, and still be beloved as a politician, look no farther than his reaction to Scalia's death to see why. If you want to see why mr. Hope and Change has ended up presiding over one of the most divided and fractured body politic ever, look no farther than his reaction to the same event.

Imagine if Obama had said all those nice things about Scalia and then, rather than announce his intent to get in the ring with republicans and force the appointment process, he had said that it was premature to talk about that, that he would move forward on those issues with deliberate speed following the process the constitution outlines, but for today he would simply mourn the passing of a great statesman, by any measure, and that both sides of the aisle should join him in marking this sad event.

Obama likes to see himself as a man of vision, but his vision is small town and petty and always partisan. It extends only to his immediate interest. He never inspires across the spectrum like Kennedy did or like Reagan did or like Clinton did. That was my point. And after all is said and done, I think this is one of Obama's greatest failings. He is leaving the country more divided and partisan than he found it.

[Maximus]

We've "lucked out" in that O's appointees have all been used to fill liberal vacancies. What are conservative Senators to do? Block a nominee and the media portrays them as obstructionist (although they let Dems get away with it all the time), let one through and goodbye Heller and many other decisions. Obama's new SCOTUS pick may very well finish his stated objective of Fundamental Transformation. He's been very effective.

if he nominates a liberal or unknown, block it, if he nominates a moderate, go with it.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Apparently it's kind of a thing where Supreme Court justices don't retire in presidential election years. The last one I can find is the guy that retired in 1956. Eisenhower went with a recess appointment that went to William Brennan.

Oliver Wendell Holmes retired in 1932 and Benjamin Cardozo replaced him. Benjamin Cardozo is regarded as one of the greatest legal minds in history and he had basically already gained that reputation by the time he was nominated by Hoover.

So, maybe Obama can nominate Richard Posner. But we're talking about Obama here and Posner is only socially liberal, not a full spectrum liberal.