McConnell: NRA gets to decide on Supreme Court Nominee

[_moksha]

In this shocking video, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell brazenly admits on Fox news that Republicans are so beholden to the campaign contributions of the NRA’s gun manufacturers that they will literally refuse to even consider President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court unless the NRA gives their approval.

It is a stunning admission of guilt from a seasoned politician who, perhaps because he was on friendly FOX News turf, let the cat out of the bag and revealed to America that the Republican Party is now a wholly-owned subsidiary week of the gun industry.

It’s safe to say that our founding fathers would be turning in their graves if they knew that modern day Republicans are putting the profits of private industry ahead of the functioning of our highest court.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix7lQLplA_E

[Guest]

That enrages me! It looks like McConnell and other Republican leaders have given up even the pretense of not being bought and paid for by wealthy corporate interests and special interest groups. It sad how many of the slowly vanishing middle class and those in the lower economic strata, who will be hurt the most by current Republican conservative policies and the consequent move to government by and mainly (if not exclusively) for the benefit of the wealthiest of the wealthiest, actually buy into the Republican BS that they actually stand for genuine democracy and human liberties and rights for everyone, not just the very wealthy!

McConnell is also the idiot who not only opposes any move by our government to address climate change and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, but favors exerting diplomatic pressure to discourage any other nation on earth from doing so. I hate much of what he stands for with a passion! I am convinced that he and others like him are little more than well paid lackeys of the fossil fuel industry and other wealthy and selfish corporations. Genuine concern for the common man is probably one of the last things on his agenda.

[_The CCC]

And that's the best that can be said about him. But the people off Kentucky keep voting for him. So I'm not too sure which is more vile.

[_Gunnar]

And that's the best that can be said about him. But the people off Kentucky keep voting for him. So I'm not too sure which is more vile.

Agreed!

[_cinepro]

Here's the actual quote:

I can't imagine that a Republican majority in the US Senate would want to confirm, in a lame duck session, a nominee opposed by the NRA, the National Federation of Indendent Business, that represents small businesses, that have never taken a position on a Supreme Court appointmnet before, they're opposed to this guy, I can't imagine a Republican majority senate, even if it were soon to be a minority, would want to confirm a judge that would move the Court dramatically to the left. That's not gonna' happen.

So to be fair, he's not exactly saying what the headline says he says. He's just offering sound-bite examples of why conservative republicans in the Senate might object to the nomination.

In an unusual move this week, one notable business group also voiced its opposition to Garland’s confirmation. The National Federation of Independent Business, which represents small privately owned U.S. businesses, came out against Garland in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. It is the first time the organization is weighing in on a Supreme Court nominee in its 73-year history.

“After studying his extensive record, [the NFIB] believes that Judge Garland would be a strong ally of the regulatory bureaucracy, big labor and trial lawyers,” wrote NFIB President Juanita Duggan. “On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of members we represent, the NFIB opposes Judge Garland’s confirmation.”

Duggan cited Garland’s decisions in cases involving environmental regulations and labor law.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/pow ... omination/

That being said, I still think the Republicans are out to lunch on this, and George Will sums it up nicely:

The Republican Party’s incoherent response to the Supreme Court vacancy is a partisan reflex in search of a justifying principle. The multiplicity of Republican rationalizations for their refusal to even consider Merrick B. Garland radiates insincerity.
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Trump’s multiplying Republican apologists do not deny the self-evident — that he is as clueless regarding everything as he is about the nuclear triad. These invertebrate Republicans assume that as president he would surround himself with people unlike himself — wise and temperate advisers. So, we should wager everything on the hope that the man who says his “number one” foreign policy adviser is “myself” (because “I have a very good brain”) will succumb to humility and rely on people who actually know things. If Republicans really think that either their front-runner or the Democrats’ would nominate someone superior to Garland, it would be amusing to hear them try to explain why they do.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... story.html

[_Some Schmo]

McConnell should be shot right smack dab in the middle of ugly turtle face. What an incredible piece of crap.

[_Gunnar]

McConnell should be shot right smack dab in the middle of ugly turtle face. What an incredible piece of s***.

And yet, Kentuckians keep reelecting him! Why is that? Is it because so many of their livelihoods are connected to the coal industry for which McConnell is such a huge advocate?

[_Doctor Steuss]

McConnell should be shot right smack dab in the middle of ugly turtle face. What an incredible piece of s***.

And yet, Kentuckians keep reelecting him! Why is that?

With almost 1/5th of the state sucking on the teet of the government's program of food stamps, they probably want to make sure social welfare programs remain intact and funded. Oh wait, he's Republican.

Yeah, I got nothing.

[_Some Schmo]

McConnell should be shot right smack dab in the middle of ugly turtle face. What an incredible piece of s***.

And yet, Kentuckians keep reelecting him! Why is that? Is it because so many of their livelihoods are connected to the coal industry for which McConnell is such a huge advocate?

Because there is too much thoughtless voting in this country. People don't consider candidates; they only see (R) and (D).

[_EAllusion]

I think the way this is phrased is quite misleading. McConnell's argument is that anyone the NRA strongly disfavors, probably due to 2nd amendment cases, probably does not ideologically align with Senate Republicans. This isn't quite the same thing as outsourcing approval to the NRA. A Democrat might say the same of a nominee who gets a grade F from Planned Parenthood. It demonstrates a litmus test on abortion rights, not that PP has bought the courts. The point is that anyone with an F from PP can be counted on to favor abortion restrictions or overturn Roe vs Wade.

McConnell is implying a similar litmus test on gun rights. How honestly he is doing that I'm not sure, because here he's just trying to justify his actions to an audience fillrd with rabid NRA fans.