Some African-American lawmakers are urging their Congressional Black Caucus colleagues to skip a meeting with Valerie Jarrett because of discontent with President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee.

The members are irked by Obama's selection of a moderate judge instead of a progressive who could rally the base, according to three lawmakers and senior aides familiar with the meeting. They also don't think that their input was adequately sought by the administration before Merrick Garland was nominated.

A source said members are asking themselves, "What is the point" of attending the meeting, now that Garland has been nominated.

And some of the lawmakers questioned why Garland, who is white, was selected over a minority in an effort to make the court more diverse.

Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama, was on the Hill Thursday to meet with the CBC about Garland's nomination and other topics, according to a source.

Progressives have expressed tepid support for Garland. National progressive groups said they wished the selection was more liberal, but they still planned to back Obama in his fight with congressional Republicans. […]

H/T: Poltico

Pres. Obama is not an ideologue. And to the degree he actually subscribes to any political philosophy at all – he's a Moderate; a Centrist. And this supreme court pick certainly reflects that.

Hear! Hear!..DJ.

In fact, it was such a politically savvy move that the GOP's supposed "United" front against Pres. Obama on this matter is already beginning to weaken for the reasons noted in DJ's post. Not only is Garland well qualified for the job but by all accounts he's also highly respected by leaders on both parties, as well as by the Justices already on the High court, in particular, Chief Justice Roberts. But I digress.

Here are the names, thus far, of the GOP senators who have said they WILL indeed meet with Garland:

– Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

– Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL)

– Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)

– Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)

– Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)

– Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK)

– Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)

H/T: TalkingPointsMemo

The problems for the Repubs are obvious.

First: If the polls are accurate, nearly 70% of all Americans believe that the Repubs should at least grant Garland a full hearing.

Second: The Repubs have just spent the last 7.5 yrs opposing anything and everything Pres. Obama has proposed. Now..given the extremely hostile mood of their *base* Repubs can't work with the President even if they want to. Hence they're hoisted, if you will, on their own petard. Once again, they come off looking like incompetent, juvenile and nutty-azz obstructionists.

Which brings me to the 3rd (and biggest problem) for the Repubs as articulated in DJ's post:

The entire process will be played out in the court of public opinion over and over again — and the end result should not only benefit the eventual Democratic presidential nominee, but trickle down to congressional races as well. […]