‘Mindless Obedience To … Opposition’

‘Sen. Chuck Schumer … Will Lead A Filibuster Of Neil Gorsuch’s Nomination To The Supreme Court. What A Pity. And How Utterly Shameful’
SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): “If you’d filibuster Judge Gorsuch, it’s obvious you’d filibuster anybody.” (Sen. Grassley, Press Release, 3/23/17)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): “If this man doesn't get 60 votes, then I don't believe we can ever find a Republican in the country, presidential pick, that would get 60 votes.” (U.S. Senate, Judiciary Committee, Hearing On The Nomination Of Judge Neil Gorsuch, 3/22/17)

• GRAHAM: “If my Democratic colleagues choose to filibuster this guy, then they will be telling me that they don't accept the election results -- 306 electoral votes -- that they're trying to delegitimize President Trump…” (CNN, 3/23/17)

‘So Much For Senate Deliberation,’ Sen. ‘Chuck Schumer Came Out Swinging.’ He’s ‘Really Saying That No One Nominated By President Trump Can Be Confirmed’
“Liberal activists have been urging Schumer to do everything in his power to stop Trump's pick, even as Senate Democrats have struggled to mount a case against him.” (“Schumer Confident Democrats Have Votes To Block Gorsuch,” Politico, 3/24/2017)

BOSTON HERALD: “So the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer made it official yesterday — he will lead a filibuster of Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court. What a pity. And how utterly shameful…” (Editorial, “Shame On Senate Dems,” The Boston Herald, 3/24/17)

• CNN: “Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer came out swinging, vowing to vote against the judge, hours after Neil Gorsuch wrapped up his marathon testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.” (“Chuck Schumer Pivots And Sets Up A Game Of Chicken On Neil Gorsuch,” CNN, 3/23/17)

BILLINGS GAZETTE: “Note to Democrats: Spare us the lectures about doing the right thing. …no more lectures about swamps and their need to be drained because Democrats would seem to be wallowing in the muck on this one.” (Editorial, “Democrats Refuse To Rise Above Petty Partisan Politics,” Billings Gazette, 3/24/17)

WALL STREET JOURNAL: “So much for Senate deliberation. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch had barely finished his testimony when Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that he would vote against the judge and demand 60 votes for confirmation.” (Editorial, “Schumer’s Gorsuch Gambit,” Wall Street Journal, 3/24/17)

• “By offering this pathetic excuse for opposition, Mr. Schumer is really saying that no one nominated by President Trump can be confirmed.” (Editorial, “Schumer’s Gorsuch Gambit,” Wall Street Journal, 3/24/17)
• “If Mr. Schumer insists on a filibuster, then Republicans have an obligation to respect their voters and confirm Judge Gorsuch anyway.” (Editorial, “Schumer’s Gorsuch Gambit,” Wall Street Journal, 3/24/17)

KIM STRASSEL: “New York’s Sen. Chuck Schumer made history this week, in formally declaring his intention to break the U.S. Senate. … That’s the best way to process the minority leader’s announcement Thursday that he will vote to filibuster the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and urge his fellow Democrats to join him. Not even Mr. Schumer denies Judge Gorsuch possesses a singularly gifted legal mind and is eminently qualified for the court. His objection, instead, is that the nominee is ‘conservative.’ This is apparently now a disqualifying attribute for any Supreme Court justice.” (Kim Strassel, “Chuck Schumer Breaks The Senate,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/23/17)

• STRASSEL: “Democrats were always going to oppose anyone Mr. Trump picked. The president could have named Mr. Schumer himself to the high court, and Mr. Schumer would have filibustered — on principle. The slow-rolling nature of the process has nonetheless masked the extraordinary new standard Mr. Schumer is setting, and the damage to the Constitution.” (Kim Strassel, “Chuck Schumer Breaks The Senate,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/23/17)

JAMES ROBERTSON, Retired U.S. District Judge & Former Bork Opposition Researcher: “Judge Neil Gorsuch is superbly well-prepared and well-qualified to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. There is no real dispute about that. Nevertheless, it seems that anti-Gorsuch forces are girding their loins for battle. ‘Poor Gorsuch,’ they will say. ‘We’re going to do the best we can to defeat your nomination — but it’s not about you.’ Just what is it about, then? … [one] common reason to oppose Gorsuch: ‘The Democratic base demands it.’ That answer gives new meaning to the term ‘leading from behind.’ It assumes that this ‘base’ is a rabid, unthinking multitude of sans-culottes who must be obeyed. ... Democrats should want leadership from the front, not mindless obedience to those whose only position is opposition.” (James Robertson, “The Judicial Nomination War Started With Bork. Let’s End It With Gorsuch,” The Washington Post, 3/15/17)

Sen. Schumer Is Following The Lead Of ‘Rabid, Unthinking’ Left Wingers Who ‘Demand Nothing Less Than Total Warfare’
“‘We can't have Vichy Democrats,’ says Dan Cantor, the national director of the Working Families Party, a leading outfit in progressive politics which cosigned the Gorsuch letter.” (“Inside the Democrats' Plan to Fight Trump,” Rolling Stone, 3/9/2017)

• “Liberals will demand nothing less than total warfare.” (“The Democrats Who Will Decide Gorsuch's Fate,” Politico, 2/2/17)
• “Total war… liberals seeking scalps...” (“Weakened Democrats, Opting For Total War On Trump, Bow To Their Voters,” The New York Times, 2/23/2017)
• “…progressive groups are beginning to get serious about the nominee, forming the The People’s Defense ― a new activist coalition aimed at bringing Gorsuch down at all costs.” (“Democrats Who Support Neil Gorsuch Will Pay A Price, Progressive Groups Warn,” Huffington Post, 3/9/17)

NARAL PRESIDENT ILYSE HOGUE: “We’re not hearing from enough of the Democratic senators that they will fight this nomination with everything they have. We need them to understand that simply stating their opposition to Neil Gorsuch is not enough…. We need Senate Democrats to filibuster this nomination...” (“Progressive Groups Demand A Filibuster Against Trump's Supreme Court Pick,” ABC News, 3/20/2017)

MURSHED ZAHEED, Political Director Of CREDO Action: “Any Democrat who votes to advance Judge Gorsuch's nomination will have a permanent stain on their record.” (“Liberal Groups Vow Revenge On Democrats Who Back Gorsuch, The Associated Press, 3/09/2017)

“[O]rganizers behind #WeWillReplaceYou said they haven’t seen enough, describing any Democratic collaboration as unacceptable… [such as] an offer to speak with Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Sandberg, the co-founder, acknowledged that no Democrat in Congress — not even Sanders — currently meets their demands for wholesale ‘non-compliance.’” (“Bernie Sanders Keeps Quiet On His Supporters’ Plans To Primary Democrats,” BuzzFeed News, 2/22/2017)

JANUARY FLASHBACK
Before Judge Gorsuch Was Even Nominated

SEN. SCHUMER (D-NY): ‘It's Hard For Me To Imagine A Nominee… That We Could Support’
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): “It's hard for me to imagine a nominee [for the Supreme Court] that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support that we could support. So you're right.” RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC: “So you will do your best to hold the seat open.” SCHUMER: “Absolutely.” (The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, 1/3/2017)

• SCHUMER: “…we absolutely would keep the seat open. …we will fight it tooth-and-nail, as long as we have to.” (CNN’s “State Of The Union,” 1/22/17)

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