The blocking of nominated Obama judges by the GOP did not start with Merrick Garland, but long before that…judges and other appointees were left stranded, their positions open indefinitely. And it started in Obama’s first term. By 2010, there were almost 100 blocked appointees. Commerce, banking, wildlife, all levels of secretaries were blocked…even those that initially had bi-partisan approval. There were blanket objections, based on GOP agenda items prior to the person actually being nominated:(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/us/politics/20nominate.html).
The GOP had a historically low number of confirmed justices in 2015 at 11 (low since before 1960). A fraction of what Democrats approved when W was in office, although the total number of justices was roughly equal (W vs Obama). The GOP decided to focus on blocking appellate court judges, many of which were filibustered. Obama could have rightfully made recess appointments, but he instead chose to respect the process. He technically could have even appointed Garland to the Supreme Court, the logic being that the Senate had sufficient time to consult and declined, but he chose to respect traditional process.
The point is not whether or not it is a good idea to pause the process in an election year. Given the fact that these justices have a lifetime appointment, it is actually not a terrible idea (so pass the law and be done with it). Instead, my issue is that there have been rules in place and the party that claims to honor the rules seems to twist them when it is to their benefit. They no longer can claim to be the party of the Constitution if they do not follow these basic rules.
The Democrats filibustered Neil Gorsuch (forever to be known as “judge with an asterisk”) but the GOP immediately changed the rules of the Senate (with little thought to future implications) to force Gorsuch through. They were well within their rights to do so, but if the situation had been reversed the outcry would have been thunderous. Instead they now accuse the Dems of doing what they themselves did for eight obstructionist years.
Which brings met to my last point…when it appeared Hillary Clinton (and not an unqualified Fox News parrot) was going to be president, the GOP had several “investigations” lined up, ready to go, because…you know…truth, Benghazi, emails, and other imaginary crimes. We now have the most corrupt POTUS since Nixon, with plenty of evidence of using his office for personal profit (not to mention solid connections with the Russians) but they sit on their hands.
An independent judiciary is enshrined in our constitution and yet both our president and our AG have put out statements that directly undercut our entire judicial process. A civics lesson is in order for the unqualified one but the AG should know better (he just doesn’t care).
The “law and order” party is now the “ends justify the means” party where expediency over-rides justice. The outrage has reverberated to every part of the nation and at some point a political price will be paid.