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    bassguitarheroJordan Sargent
    2/22/16 6:17pm

    Asking the president to not name a replacement in the event a justice retires before the election, 4 months before the election, doesn’t sound like remotely the same thing as saying a president should not name a replacement to a justice who DIED in february before the court’s docket opens.

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      Unabashed Appliantologistbassguitarhero
      2/22/16 6:27pm

      It’s an argument of timing and semantics but Biden spoke in hypotheticals rather than actuality. Also, he suggested not nominating, not that all nominees will be blocked without cause.

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      SJDubyabassguitarhero
      2/22/16 6:35pm

      So then go back five years earlier when the Democrats warned that they would block any of Reagan’s nominations before Justice Powell retired.

      Both sides use the same tricks and tactics. If we end up with a GOP President, the Dems will filibuster everything they can. There’s no real world where one side is constantly using trickery and the other plays by the rules. Congress just keeps getting worse and worse because people believe that and allow their side latitude because it always happens to be the most important decision ever.

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    TychoJordan Sargent
    2/22/16 7:03pm

    ok let’s play a game together. it’s one i play on a daily basis and i’ve never lost. i’m gonna call it “i suspect the democrat didn’t actually reverse his position but the small portion of the video makes it look like he did” and then we’ll watch his whole speech together and see...

    oh you don’t want to play? ok i watched it for you:

    “Therefore I stand by my position, Mr. President. If the President consults and cooperates with the Senate or moderates his selections absent consultation, then his nominees may enjoy my support as did Justices Kennedy and Souter.”

    the entire thesis of this article is mooted by actually watching the thing you say makes words meaningless. Biden’s complaint was actually that the SCOTUS nomination process had become TOO political, and that holding divisive hearings in an election year would be counter-productive. so he asked that Bush either moderate his choices or consult with the Senate, and that if he did either, he’d get what he wanted. it turns out words do matter, just not the ones on this page i guess.

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      flamingolingoTycho
      2/22/16 7:14pm

      Shhh—Gawker is now engaged in a time-honored journalistic (mal)practice: stating “both sides do it!” in order to convince people that there’s little difference between the parties and therefore, their votes don’t matter.

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      Siuol11.2Tycho
      2/22/16 10:35pm

      No, ol’ Diamond Joe is equivocating here and you’re not smart enough to know the difference. He’s saying “if you don’t give us someone we like, we’ll block the nomination” because the President is bound by this little thing called the Constitution to seek the avdice and consent of the Senate when appointing anyone to the Supreme Court. It’s part of the 3rd Amendment. He doesn’t have a choice NOT to.

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    thuggyBearJordan Sargent
    2/22/16 5:55pm

    Bernie does a pretty good job of keeping true to himself, even by non DC standards.

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      MizJenkinsthuggyBear
      2/22/16 6:07pm

      He does. If only anyone else in DC ever agreed with him.

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      SJDubyathuggyBear
      2/22/16 6:32pm

      He was part of the Democratic drive to avoid having Dubya’s nominees get an up and down vote in 2008.

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    Montauk MonsterJordan Sargent
    2/22/16 5:38pm

    Heck, what voters say doesn’t matter. Trying to block whoever Obama nominates is obstructionism of the worst order, and anyone who does so is a boil on the ass of democracy. But I’m sure if Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died in February ‘08, I’d have lost my goddamn mind and begged literally any liberal person in D.C. to do the same.

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      CharlieKellyKingofTheRatsMontauk Monster
      2/22/16 5:42pm

      If what voters said mattered, Canada would get an influx of about a quarter of the Americans after every election.

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      Montauk MonsterCharlieKellyKingofTheRats
      2/22/16 5:43pm

      Fun fact, Canada at this point is actually 4,000% American.

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    VanNostrandJordan Sargent
    2/22/16 5:36pm

    Unless you’re Bernie Sanders, who we are nominating for POTUS, VPOTUS, and Supreme Court Justice all at once.

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      YummshVanNostrand
      2/22/16 7:00pm

      Don’t forget ice cream man, tooth fairy and Santa Claus!

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      Gaying Mantis TobogganYummsh
      2/22/16 8:39pm

      He’s from Vermont and has a Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream flavor named after him, I think he’s already the ice cream man.

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    effdotJordan Sargent
    2/22/16 5:58pm

    I saw that speech, about ten minutes later, Biden said he and the judiciary committee would consider any nominees Bush put forward, so long as he worked with the committee.

    That detail isn’t particularly clickbait worthy, since it negates the premise of the article, so I could see why you’d leave it out.

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      CiegoDostaeffdot
      2/22/16 6:52pm

      Yeah, the fact that Biden was making a rather nuanced argument won’t get clicks. “EVERYONE IS A JERK” makes for better headlines. Biden is advising that Bush consult with the Senate. That is all. He never says that Bush should not nominate anyone, period.

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    MWarnerMJordan Sargent
    2/22/16 6:57pm

    Anyone with a 6th-grade level of reading comprehension and access to a calendar understands the obvious difference between what Biden called for in this speech and what McConnell is calling for now. These two proposals are not the same thing and anyone who claims they are is either an idiot or being willfully deceptive for political purposes.

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      EvanrudeJohnsonJordan Sargent
      2/22/16 6:20pm

      This plays out a lot, but people continue to think their side’s shit doesn’t ever stink.

      Someone from out of state sets up shop to run for office, if it is your party: We are lucky to have such an important figure run for office in our state. Not your party: Fucking carpetbagger who doesn’t get us or our values.

      Recall election - Trying to kick out my dude: Recalls are undemocratic, the people spoke in the general election. Trying to kick the other dude out: Recall is important to prevent tyranny and corruption.

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        SJDubyaEvanrudeJohnson
        2/22/16 6:33pm

        Yeah...it’s amazing. I’m not saying I don’t fall prey to stupidity myself, but it’s so simple- if you’re accusing one side of changing their views out of convenience, and your side is always against them- how do you not see that both sides have done the same thing?

        But you can’t point that out. There’s always a reason why it’s totally different. And there’s always a reason why the other side needs to stop being so partisan and take the first step..

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      Gaying Mantis TobogganJordan Sargent
      2/22/16 8:43pm

      While I will agree we live in a world where words become increasingly meaningless with each day what you said happened isn’t what happened. Biden gave a nuanced explanation as to what would get and also what would prevent the nominee’s approval while the current GOP is refusing to approve any nominee period regardless of who it is or what Obama does.

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        BuryMeInEnglandJordan Sargent
        2/22/16 5:35pm

        Oh what a fucking surprise. The Democrats would say exactly the same thing the Republicans did if their positions were reversed.

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          ObummerslibtarddemocrapsBuryMeInEngland
          2/22/16 5:54pm

          I've been saying this for days and asshole after asshole has mocked me for it saying it never happened

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          stymie99BuryMeInEngland
          2/22/16 6:10pm

          I find it sadly amusing to think of the number of commenters here on Gawker truly beside themselves at the horror and inhumanity of it all. That all of this amounts to “obstructionism of the worst order”.

          How is it tremendously amusing? Imagining those same people if the same situation had played out exactly 8 years ago, and if it was George W Bush nominating a justice with 10 months left in his term and Harry Reid and his party responsible for confirming that nominee.\

          Guaranteed, the vast majority of these hypocrites would have been singing a VERY different tune 8 years ago....

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