I’m sure you’re getting emails asking you to sign petitions to press the GOP to give Judge Garland a hearing and vote. Don’t sign them, unless you want to give the GOP a big gift and set back progressive causes for decades to come.
Understand, Judge Garland is a very good Judge, and would make an excellent compromise Justice. But we don’t need to settle for compromise, thanks to Trump. In addition, if the rumors are true, we could have a second opening after the elections, with the possibility that Justice Thomas might retire.
When Judge Garland was proposed by President Obama, the President was once again trying to find common ground with the GOP. And as the GOP has done to him for the last 7 years, they suggested something they would accept, only to reject it when offered. This happened over and over during the ACA writing. President Obama understood the Supreme Court needs nine Justices, but the GOP instead wanted to use it as a way to deny Obama any sort of success.
Skip forward to today. The Supreme Court term is about over, and they appear to be limiting what will be heard next term. The GOP is being battered by Trump and could lose control of the Senate and perhaps even the House. Do we really want to give the GOP a reward for obstruction?
What should happen (and may be the plan) is that if the GOP suddenly decides Judge Garland is better than any candidate a President Clinton would propose, or a Democratic Senate would approve, the President should withdraw Judge Garland. The President could (and likely would) throw back at McConnell and Grassley and Hatch their own words about “allowing the voters to decide”.
And while President Obama could propose a new candidate in January 2017 (during that window of a new Congress and Obama still in office), I think he would either let Clinton propose her nominee, or propose whoever Clinton wanted (taking any RW “heat” as a parting gift to Clinton and rubbing the GOP’s nose in their obstruction).
So, I delete those emails asking me to sign petitions for the GOP to act, because the progressive side is getting stronger and the GOP weaker. And I do not want to give McConnell any sort of reward for his eight years of constant obstruction.
You might want to delete those petition requests as well.