Say Goodbye To The Supreme Court Filibuster

I almost entitled this post something to do with the "nuclear option," but with the nuclear football in the hands of an unstable man-child, I don't think we should do any more word play with the word "nuclear."

In regards to the filibuster, of course, the phrase "nuclear option" means the ultimate anti-filibuster measure by the party in power: eliminate it. The filibuster is nowhere enshrined in law; it is simply a custom in the Senate, although one that has been followed since the 1850s. What respect do you think Donald Trump holds for custom and tradition? It is to laugh.

Trump will propose a hard-line right-winger for the Supreme Court, to replace Antonin Scalia in the seat the Republicans have stolen from Barack Obama by denying his nominee, Merrick Garland, not only a vote but even a Senate hearing. The Democrats are having a fierce debate among themselves as to whether they should filibuster this nominee, or meekly submit because this SCOTUS seat only returns the Court to the status quo existing before Scalia's death, or to hold off and filibuster Trump's next nominee, also sure to be a hard-line right-winger, but who would shift the balance of the court to a solid Republican majority.

Anthony Kennedy, considered the swing vote on the court, is 80 years old; two of the court's staunch liberals, Ruth Bader-Ginsburg (the notorious RBG) and Stephen Bryer are 83 and 78, respectively. Any of them could die or retire in the next four years. The nightmare scenario would be death or retirement for all three, in which case Trump's hard-line right-wing nominations would cement an unbreakable Republican majority, potentially for decades.

I believe it doesn't matter whether the Democrats filibuster Trump's first nominee -- expected to be announced tomorrow -- or his second. Whenever it happens, the Republicans will kill the filibuster.

Previous administrations have been reluctant to take such a drastic step, because it opens the door to tyranny by the majority, a situation which will certainly be used against them when control of the Senate passes to the other party. But we're in new territory now: Trump will not give a damn about what happens in the future. His only concern will be what will be of benefit to him while he is president. If killing the filibuster means he gets to have his way, that's what he'll do -- and the Senate are too cowardly to stand up to him.