John Oliver delayed his scheduled season opener to honor deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and to note how quickly Republicans – led by Mitch McConnell have sprinted to declare the Thurmond Rule – in order to delay the appointment of a replacement for Scalia.
Trump, Cruz and McConnell in accord over waiting a respectful amount of time to appoint a new judge, say a year or so. John Oliver quipped that “Mitch McConnell is pretty good at delaying things for people whether it’s legislation, court appointments or orgasms. Believe me, if you ever need to delay, delay, delay just picture that face and I guarantee you noting will happen – possibly for the rest of your life.”
If we entertained the idea of the Thurmond Rule, President Obama wouldn’t fall into the proscribed time frame until July…But entertaining it is all we need to do, it isn’t a law – in fact, Mitch McConnell didn’t ‘believe’ in the Thurmond Rule just a few years ago.
When Democrats sought to use the Thurmond Rule during Dubya’s reign.. McConnell decried it as fluff and poppycock saying; “it’s just an excuse for our colleagues to run out the clock on qualified nominees that are waiting to fill badly needed vacancies.” Sometime between the presidency of George W. Bush and today Mitch M. became a believer in the Thurmond Rule! I’m certain it’s coincidence.
John reads Article 2 Section 2 of the Constitution which states “The President shall nominate by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint, Judges of the Supreme Court” Even if the president is a Democrat!
Keeping in mind that Scalia loved the letter of the law, John has a bit of advice for Republicans. “If they truly love Antonin Scalia, they wouldn’t honor his memory by desecrating the things he loved most. Think of Scalia like a Brita water filter or a child’s hamster. Why don’t you honor his entire reason for being by swiftly and quickly replacing him?”