Republican Senator: “It’s Not That Big A Deal” To Leave Supreme Court Seat Vacant

Ever since extremely conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died on Sunday, leaving a vacancy on the bench for President Obama to fill, Republicans have twisted themselves into knots looking for justifiable reasons for holding up any nomination presented. On Thursday, one GOP Senator claimed waiting for a year and allowing a new POTUS to make a choice would be totes cool since it wasn’t a biggie.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who is currently facing re-election in a swing state, said he didn’t believe we should ever have election-year confirmation hearings for appointments, especially for the Supreme Court. His reasoning was that the court was too important to allow an outgoing leader to impact the balance of power. Also, we shouldn’t even think of holding a hearing because it would mislead the public into thinking that Congress might actually do its job.

“It’s very unlikely that any nominee, however well qualified, could reach the level that would be necessary to satisfy both sets of criteria. And for that reason, it might be just as well not to have a hearing that would, sort of, might mislead the American people into thinking that this is just about the qualifications of the candidate, because it’s bigger than that.

…

I think the question before us now is … should the outgoing president fundamentally change the balance of the court for the next one or two generations? I don’t think that’s reasonable. I think that it’s more reasonable for the American people to have a more direct say in that process, which they will do through the election of the president knowing now with certainty that the next president is going to make this really important pick.”

The only way Toomey would not oppose anyone Obama picks is if the Usurper-In-Chief picked a Scalia-like nominee. Unless he does that, Toomey won’t budge, because the Kenyan Muslim Atheist Socialist will just put someone on the bench who will let him run drunk with his dictatorial powers. FEMA camps for all!

“The president intends to change the balance of the court and I am not going to support him changing the balance of the court with nine months before an election, I’m not going to do that,” Toomey said.

But, what about the court being reduced to eight justices for roughly a year, Mr. Toomey?

“It’s not that big a deal,” the Pennsylvania Senator uttered.

Your Grand Old Party in a nutshell, folks.