McConnell’s lose-lose stand

I sent a note to Sen. Mitch McConnell suggesting that his refusal to conduct a hearing for the Supreme Court nominee is bad for the court, the nation, the Republican Party and Kentucky.

His reply was a load of nonsense about why this “blockade” fulfills the Senate’s constitutional mandate to provide checks and balances on the executive branch. His refusal to even consider a highly qualified moderate jurist is nothing more than divisive politics at its worst.

The Constitution clearly establishes the responsibilities when a Supreme Court seat becomes vacant, a process that has been followed 100 percent of the time — until now. McConnell is using his position as Senate majority leader to make up his own rules, strictly for political reasons.

Not only is this position unreasonable and unethical, it will help defeat Republicans this year. Then it seems likely Senate Republicans will see that McConnell continues to lead in the wrong direction and he will be replaced. This will be another blow to the Republicans’ hopes of regaining the White House and retaining control of Congress. It will likely lead to the nomination of someone considerably more liberal than Judge Merrick Garland. In short, it’s a lose-lose proposition for McConnell.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 7:19 PM with the headline "McConnell’s lose-lose stand."