In response to news that some Repub Senators are already beginning to break rank with McConnell on this:

RedState Reader:
Once again the base has idiotically pushed the GOP into a no win situation. They demand the GOP reject all candidates sight unseen which makes it trivial for Obama to nominate someone highly respected and then say ‘look how unreasonable the GOP is being.’ And he’s objectively right. But if the GOP relents now the base will go completely nuts.

I almost feel bad for the GOP Establishment, but then I remember that they encouraged this madness in their base when it suited their purposes. So screw them. […]

RedState Reader:
Dope GOP solution: hand Obama another easy political victory by pre-emptively refusing to even engage with him. Because these dopes are scared of the conservative base that they don’t like and don’t understand. They think the base will hate them even more if they engage with Obama.

THAT ISN’T WHY WE HATE YOU. WE HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU LOSE. We want Republicans to BEAT Obama, not lose by refusing to play and other stupidities. Rejecting his nominee in a confirmation vote is a LOSS for Obama. Refusing to even consider a nominee from Obama is a WIN for Obama. These idiots like McConnell don’t have a damn clue. […]

Obama: 'The Constitution Is Pretty Clear' On SCOTUS Nominations

President Obama punched back Tuesday at Republicans who have threatened to delay the nomination of a successor to the late Justice Antonin Scalia until there is a new president.

"The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now," the president wryly noted. “There's no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off-years.”

His remarks came at a press conference at the U.S.-ASEAN summit in California.

“When there is vacancy on the Supreme Court, the president of the United States is to nominate someone, the Senate is to consider that nomination, and either they disapprove of that nominee or that nominee is elevated to the Supreme Court," Obama said. "Historically, this has not been viewed as a question.”

“I'm amused when I hear people who claim to be strict interpreters of the constitution suddenly reading into it, a whole series of provisions that are not there," Obama said. "There is more than enough time for the Senate to consider in a thoughtful way, the record of a nominee that I present and to make a decision.”

H/T: TalkingPointsMemo (TPM)

The myth of the GOP's supposed power to defeat Pres. Obama has become "a tale told by {idiots}, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

The sentence that simply says it all: "Almost immediately after Scalia’s death, the GOP played their entire deck of cards."

And every sentence after that is just icing on the cake because you detail beautifully the absolute ass-foolery that is the Republican leadership.

I would posit that beginning with Ronald Reagan's Presidency the Republican party has devolved in so many significant ways that the party has finally reached a real tipping point. Today, what passes for Repub leadership is little more than a collective of (mostly) White men who just AREN'T that bright. Not at all.

Beginning with the likes of Mitch McConnell, it goes downhill from there. It's no wonder they've shown themselves incapable of actually governing responsibly and effectively, They have NOT a clue as to how to do any of that. They seem only to know how to LIE, scheme, plot, Hate, obstruct, Scapegoat and FAIL. That's it. Just a vicious cycle.

Btw- IF there is ONE thing Trump should be given credit for it's that HE alone has pulled the covers off of the entire Republican charade, Exposing the rot and sewage within. Trump even took a meat-cleaver to the Bush/Cheney Presidency and chopped it to pieces when he called them OUT for LYING the U.S. into the illegal Invasion of Iraq which ignited total upheaval in the Middle East, gave rise to numerous terrorist groups and led to all kinds of catastrophic losses (blood and treasure) that continues to this day. But I digress.

I said yesterday, the President will do his job and NOT give a flying fig about the Repubs. IMO, he can't go wrong nominating either U.S. AG, Loretta Lynch or Judge Sri Srinivasan.

As noted by DJ, the Repubs have *played* themselves…yet again. They will (of course) reject Obama's pick.

But no matter. This President will NOT bow. And most certainly, he will NOT break.