Senator Schumer’s recent behavior is a disgrace. Even though the ideology and vision driving the modern Democrat party has been repeatedly repudiated by voters, Schumer persisted in turning the process of confirming Supreme Court Justices into a highly charged partisan sideshow. This, even though Judge Gorsuch is an extremely qualified candidate with a temperament and record that is a strong fit for the court.
It could be easy to mistake Schumer’s petulance and pandering as the natural manifestation of a lust for power that has been denied, but that would oversimplify the problem that shapes men like him.
Like Harry Reid before him, Senator Schumer is nothing more than the byproduct of a failed ideology embodied in an individual. As the Democrat party lurched left over the last several decades, their active base has simultaneously become smaller and more radical. The Gorsuch nomination has only served to expose a disconnect between Democrats and reality in a whole new way.
That radical left is apoplectic over their recent loss to Donald Trump. They saw him as eminently beatable, and yet Hillary Clinton couldn’t even hold former strongholds like Wisconsin, Michigan, or Pennsylvania. In fact, Democrats lost over 1,000 state and federal seats during the Obama years.
That leaves the remaining Democrat office holders running scared from an angry base that is too small to win national general elections, but plenty large enough to dictate the outcome of Democrat primaries. The result is a downward spiral into a radical abyss that could have long lasting negative ramifications.
Enter Judge Neil Gorsuch. Only time will tell if Judge Gorsuch is able to measure up to the standard set by Justice Scalia on the Court, but he has clearly stated he intends to follow the law and uphold the Constitution. As he said during his confirmation hearing, “Sitting here, I’m acutely aware of my own imperfections and I pledge to each of you and the American people that if I’m confirmed, I will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant to the Constitution and laws of this great nation.”
Unfailingly faithful to his oath of office, unflappable, resolute, and always likeable, his character shined during four long days of hearings. Democrats were unable to lay a glove on him, and may have actually helped America to respect the Judge more at the end than they did before the hearings.
There is no rational excuse for opposing the Gorsuch nomination, but blind partisanship is rarely rational. For now, his confirmation has become a turning point in our civil discourse.
Senate Republicans have all the political cover they need, and are using every tool available, to see Judge Gorsuch confirmed. If there was any single issue that united voters behind Donald Trump in the days leading up to last November’s election, it was the lingering Supreme Court vacancy.
Were Republicans not to follow-through in this environment would have been far more than the abandonment of the trust given them by the American voter. It would have also served to empower the extremists that now run the Democrat party.
Allowing the most radical fringe elements, and their proxies in the minority, to negate the results of the election would represent the crossing of a Rubicon from which we might never return. Democrat leaders in Congress are hopelessly afraid of their own base. There is probably nothing that can be done to keep them from further beclowning themselves in an attempt to appease a group that wants nothing more than chaos and destruction.
Subjugating the will of the people to the whims of those that whine the loudest would only invite a further degradation of our political discourse. The real question that remains to be answered is, are there any Democrats remaining that are willing to make the difficult choice to break with leadership and return to a place of rationally representing their constituents.
Senators like Claire McCaskill and Jon Tester swore allegiance to the kamikaze tactics of Schumer’s filibuster ahead of the vote. Others who were less vocal may have been trying to decide if they will risk the ire of the radical left in order to return to political relevance.
Chuck Schumer’s unwavering devotion to the most radical portions of his political base caused him to trip the so called “nuclear option” from Republicans. While that did nothing to stop the ultimate confirmation of Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, he may well have invited a procedural nuclear winter that could leave his caucus out in the cold for a long time to come.
There are many important fights remaining for this young administration and the Republican led Congress. Thanks to Chuck Schumer, the world has now seen an example of just how relatively easy it is for the majority to change the rules and to assert their political will. The lingering mushroom cloud from the Gorsuch confirmation fight could eventually block out all sunlight from the struggling Democrats in the Senate.
In this environment, it could be difficult for current members to rise up and become the face of a future Democrat party. Thanks to the leadership of Chuck Schumer, rank and file Democrats now need to wonder if they are left to spend the remainder of their abbreviated careers cowering in fear of the radical left.
By helping to create this turning point, Judge Gorsuch is already having a profound impact on the nation, and he hasn’t even spent a single day on the Supreme court — yet.