Quote (Goomshill @ Sep 18 2020 09:56pm)
'started 4 years ago'
the back and forth about judicial nominees and filibusters and partisan politics and running out the clock to game the rules has been going on our entire lifetimes, with Republicans taking seats from Obama, Democrats taking seats from baby Bush, Republicans taking seats from Clinton, Democrats taking seats from daddy Bush, etc etc. The cyclical escalations and retaliations and partisan tricks have been a permanent fixture of American politics tracing all the way back to Marbury v. Madison establishing the very concept of judicial review in the first place, as federalist hamiltonians tried to pull a fast one of the democrat-republican jeffersonians. So spare me the nonsense about this being 'started' by someone who 'punched first'
when it comes to each step of that cycle of escalation, however, its been democrats escalating and republicans retaliating more often than vice versa- at least in living memory. Going back to FDR if you want to, but the obvious most impactful precedent was Harry Reid going nuclear where the Republicans had demurred to the Gang of 14. And look at how that has come back to bite them in the ass.
each escalation has backfired and been capitalized on by the Republicans to far greater effect. It was profoundly foolish of Harry Reid to go nuclear when he didn't even have a SCOTUS pick to ram through. He got his lower court picks and Republicans then took over, nominated twice as many lower courts and 3 scotus picks and counting.And nobody expects Democrats to get back both the senate and presidency this election, so they won't be able to dig themselves out of this hole even if Biden wins. Maybe if Trump bites the head off a toddler on live TV as an october surprise
Exactly. Mitch McConnell warmed them then that it’d come back to bite them in the ass, & guess what, it did.