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I suspect most readers of MillersTime, as well as most individuals who are concerned about the nomination and confirmation to the Supreme Court of Pres. Obama’s selection, have already settled in their mind where they stand on this issue.

My two cents is not so different from what I read in an Open Letter to Mitch McConnell by Kate Geiselman, someone I have never known. They key part of her view is toward the end of her very short, six paragraph letter:

The purpose of the confirmation process is not so you can wait for someone from your party to take office and pick a nominee you like better. No, the reason checks and balances exist is so that one branch of the government cannot abuse its power. By design, the system slows government down, and that’s as it should be. But deliberately forestalling the confirmation process of a moderate, qualified nominee who would likely sail through were it not an election year is not “checking” the executive branch. It’s ugly partisan politics.

Actually, I would take it a bit further.

It’s not just partisan politics. It’s obstruction, something Sen. McConnell has perfected in the last seven years.

It seems to me the bottom line is that the Republican Senate, because of their numbers, has the power to wait to advise and consent until a new President is elected, despite the fact that there are nine months remaining in the current President’s term (his second term).

But because someone or some group has a certain amount of power, that does not mean that exercising that power is the right thing to do. To deny the President and his nominee a hearing and a vote is an abuse of that power.

It’s that clear and simple to me.

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