So, four elections ago, the Supreme Court’s decision to step in and halt the Florida recount was dispositive in the Presidential election. If, prior to that election, one of the sitting justices had died and Clinton had been unable to name a replacement jurist, what would have happened with a four-four tie in Gore v. Bush? Riots? Martial law?
The raw, patently unconstitutional refusal to seat a jurist on the part of the party not in control of the presidency could result in a bona fide constitutional crisis, and we need to look back only 15 years to be reminded of this.
This arguably treasonous power grab on the part of Senate Republicans could lead to a potentially recursive process that would preclude the election of the next President that the Republicans claim has the right nominate the jurist that could conceivably be the deciding vote on the precise issue of the identity of the next President.
The Republicans are grabbing a gun & stepping into a time machine to go get their drunk on in the bar their grandpa used to frequent.
In doing so, they are forgetting that maybe the founders had a good idea when they wanted a full roster sitting at the Supreme Court during transitions involving the head of state.
Checks and balance do not work when one party is kiting the check and had his thumb on the balance.