Is the GOP This Stupid, Or Just Almost This Stupid?

The Democrats are proposing a "deal" in the Gorsuch confirmation: For promising to not block his nomination, which they can't do anyway, they want Republicans to promise not to nuke the filibuster for any subsequent nomination -- you know, the one that's really important because it might just well tip the Court's balance for 20 or 30 years.

In short, the Democrats are offering to take a Big Something from the Republicans in exchange for Nothing.

Here's the thing: The Republicans actually want the Democrats to keep the filibuster, because they actually don't want a conservative court. Or to have the power to enact any of their legislative measures that they claim they want to enact, but in fact do not want to enact. They like pretending they want conservative reforms, while loving the fact that the Democrats can block those reforms.

Then they get to have their cake and eat it too -- they perpetually run on issues they don't want a resolution on, while being able to explain away their failure by saying "Because Democrats" or "Because Political Reality."

So some Republicans -- I'm thinking of Orin hosta and John "Build the Dang Fence" McCain and Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins and maybe Mitch McConnell -- might just seize this non-deal "deal" as a political fig-leaf for getting what they wanted anyway (keeping the Court "balanced") while citing their eternal excuse of "The Democrats made us do it, don't you Hobbits understand that?"

posted by Ace at 12:38 PM

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