Sid Salter: GOP, Dems both have obstructed nominees
So “stolen seat” is a bit breathless in terms of characterizing Republican efforts to do the very same thing in the very same way to Garland in 2016. If the GOP has a playbook on partisanship in the judicial confirmation process, rest assured that Democrats are the co-authors of that tome.
Any rational debate about how the otherwise straightforward process of the nomination and confirmation of federal appellate court judges must first stipulate that it long ago became a cesspool of partisan showmanship, procrastination and character assassination.
Neither the Democrat nor Republican parties can claim one solitary inch of high ground on the judicial confirmation front. Both parties do it. Slow rolling or blocking nominations disrupts the separation of powers that the Founding Fathers intended.
Clarion Ledger
2/5/17
Magnolia Tribune
