Taking the High Road to a Supreme Court Nominee
David A. Lombardo
The death of Antonin Scalia has left the Supreme Court with an even four-to-four split vote over the issue of the Second Amendment. Obama’s current pick, Merrick Garland, has a judicial record that underscores his total disregard for the fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms. Garland, currently the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was nominated for that spot by Bill Clinton. Previously he was deputy assistant attorney general in the Criminal Division of the Clinton Justice Department. If his name rings a bell, it is probably because he supervised the prosecutions of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing case.
The Chicago Tribune touted Merrick as a moderate, a gift if you will, that the Republicans should seize. It gushed about how the Chicago-born Merrick is so smart, so fair and everyone in high school loved him. They may call him a moderate, but it’s worth noting Obama’s two Supreme Court appointees, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, have clearly reflected Obama’s far left agenda.
Both the NRA and the Judicial Crisis Network, a group run by a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, agree that Garland is not a friend of the Second Amendment. According to the latter organization’s chief counsel Carrie Severino, Garland’s judicial record “leads to the conclusion that he would vote to reverse one of Justice Scalia’s most important opinions, D.C. vs. Heller. It was the Heller decision that affirmed the Second Amendment confers an individual right to keep and bear arms.” Then-Senator Barack Obama didn’t sign the brief and publicly declared he backed the D.C. gun ban and opposed all laws allowing concealed carry.
Over seven years as president, Obama systematically, using both legal and illegal methods, working with Congress or bypassing it completely through executive order, did everything in his power to disarm John Q. Public. It can be said that one of the major- if not the major-goals of his administration has been total disarmament of the American public. Republicans in Congress and state legislatures have denounced Obama’s anti-Second Amendment executive actions, but, truth be told, the Republicans collectively don’t have the backbone of a jelly fish. Having ascended to the reins of power in the last election based upon how they would ride into Washington on great white horses carrying broadswords, the fact is they are fundamentally indistinguishable from their Democratic predecessors. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, arrogant as ever, is betting, “…the GOP is already on its way to caving on Merrick Garland.”
If Merrick Garland is appointed to the highest court in the land, tipping the balance of power to liberal ideology, there is no guarantee the highest Court will uphold any part of the Constitution. It is now up to Republicans to reject Garland and force Obama to find another candidate or delay the appointment until a new president is in the White House. Even Obama acknowledged the nomination during a presidential election year is controversial.
“I have recognized that we have entered the political season,” Obama said. “I know the Republicans will point to Democrats that have made it hard for Republicans to get their nominations confirmed. And they’re not wrong about that. But I have fulfilled my constitutional duty. Now it’s time for the Senate to do theirs.”
I agree with the President on this one. The Republicans should follow the Biden Rule, referring to then-Senator Joe Biden’s argument against the Senate giving a Republican president’s nomination any consideration during a presidential election year. Mr. President, you haven’t abided by the Constitution for seven years and now you want to take the high road? You’d have to hire a group of Sherpas to help you carry all that baggage so you could climb high enough to even see the high road.
