JUST A PREDICTION, YOU UNDERSTAND
“Schumer warned against the rules change in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, arguing that Republicans would be the ones to blame if it does occur.” (Powerline, March 31, 2017)
I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a prediction.
It is not one that I want to make. If there has been one that I’ve ever wanted to not be fulfilled, it is probably this one.
Reflecting my profound lack of confidence in the leadership of the congressional Republican conference, I predict that the “nuclear option” will not be invoked by Senate Majority leader, Mitch McConnell.
Note, however, that I am NOT predicting that Neil Gorsuch will not be confirmed.
Rather, I foresee the ‘intrepid’ McConnell doing his characteristic imitation of a cheap suit and folding in the face of even the most absurd and weakest challenges by a Democratic opponent.
I submit that at the moment of crisis, with the future of the US Constitution on the line, with Chuckie Schumer claiming to have the votes to sustain a filibuster, and with the ever present likelihood of Mitch’s worst fear… a negative editorial in the Washington Post… on the horizon, “our hero” will submit to a proposition from Chuckie. One which is certain to be a “win-win-win” for the Democrats.
I don’t presume to know the exact shape of the “compromise”, but my guess is it will be something that permits the Gorsuch confirmation by a simple majority. In return, Schumer and the Democrats will be allowed to choose the nominees for the next 2, 3 or however many SCOTUS vacancies open up over the next 4 years ( their choices might be cloaked to appear as President Trump’s picks but they’ll nevertheless be in a Kennedy/Breyer/Kagan mode).
An additional “Sweetener” might be a McConnell commitment to never again threaten the “nuclear option” (for even appellate judges).
And, for the “cherry on top” of this fiasco, we will hear John McCain hail the dawn of “bi-partisanship” this deal opens up!
DLH
