A little bit whiny and long-winded...

WSS

@oldbrownsfan said:

Fair enough man

@oldbrownsfan said:

It does swing both ways.....and until people stop pushing their way or the highway, it will continue.....great article on it here

http://scienceblog.com/482998/when-it-comes-to-politics-youre-not-as-rational-as-you-think/

@diehardbrownsfan said:

Man of the people.

@baconhound said:

I'm biased but I see hypocrisy as a door swinging both ways which neither party has a lock on it.

@oldbrownsfan said:

Holy Shit! Exactly but OBF you're stance seems to be constantly liberals do this, democrats do this, Obama believes this, etc.. How do reconcile the fact that every politician in the last 50 years has done this but only blame one side?

@oldbrownsfan said:

For sure. It would be nice if people just did as they were supposed to do - president nominates the best qualified candidate and senate just rubber stamps (because the best available candidate is the best available candidate). Perhaps someone who has worked both sides of the aisle and would presumably not just vote the party line on everything would be worth considering. Instead, you have Mitch McConnell and whoever else flat out refusing do do their job because they want 'the american people to have a say' - they did, when they elected you, obama, and all the other senators and congressmen to do this job.

In brief passing the top name I've seen is Sri Srinivasan - he's worked under both bush and obama, and clerked for Reagan, for example.

@westside-steve said:

It shouldn't be about swinging the balance in either direction, even if there were only two directions for it to swing. It should be about appointing someone who understands how the law works, and how it should work.

And I don't think those who demand Obama appoint another justice give a fuck about democracy either. They want another lefty who would swing the balance of power for many years.

And those who oppose, don't. Remember that replacing Scalia with a constitutionalist would not swing the balance to the right.

WSS

Sen. Mitch McConnell, on the so-called "Thurmond Rule", 2008.

@westside-steve said:

Yes, which is a political system I never understood - you've basically held another election to determine who has the power, right? Congress/senate proposes laws/bills, votes on them, and whoever has the majority wins and the law gets approved/rejected. So you change who has the power every two years, potentially? On top of that, you have the president, who has the legal right to just make whatever laws he wants and veto the ones proposed by the senate.

It seems a very strange version of democracy.

@mld-woody said:

"We should let the people decide when they vote for president."

The people did already. They picked Obama. They made their voices heard

They also picked all the congressman and senators.

WSS

The people did already. They picked Obama. They made their voices heard

@calfoxwc said:

Did you actually read the link, or watch the video?

“I believe that so long as the public continues to split its confidence between the branches, compromise is the responsible course both for the White House and for the Senate,” he said. “Therefore I stand by my position, Mr. President, if the President [George H.W. Bush] consults and cooperates with the Senate or moderates his selections absent consultation, then his nominees may enjoy my support as did Justices Kennedy and Souter.” Watch it:

Yep, that definitely sounds like he's saying "we don't care who you nominate, we'll just block them"

is their sincere belief, even when they stupidly contradicked themselves

time and time and time again over the years.

Party rhetoric reverses in current election year

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/22/joe-bidens-1992-opposition-to-lame-duck-supreme-co/

@jbluhm86 said:

It won't pierce the bubble

@oldbrownsfan said:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2016_02/joe_biden_in_1992_context_matt059706.php