What’s the doddering old fool talking about now? Every once in a while Joe Biden lets loose a supposed political attack that ends up having everyone pointing their fingers at him and laughing.
Biden referred to the Republican efforts to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court as “not constitutional.” Why? Apparently, because people are going to the polls and voting for president. What does that have to do with whether the Barrett confirmation is “constitutional” or not? No one can say, but like Bluto in Animal House, “Forget it, he’s rolling.”
“The only court-packing is going on right now. It’s going on with the Republicans,” Biden told reporters Saturday in Delaware. “It’s not constitutional what they’re doing. We should be focused on what’s happening right now.”
Biden reiterated how voters have already begun casting their ballots as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares for Barrett’s four days of confirmation hearings, starting on Monday.
Someone should put back some of those brain cells that are dribbling out of his ears. Voting for a president does not automatically negate his constitutional powers. Once voting starts, the president doesn’t suddenly lose his authority under the constitution. Even after he’s re-elected or defeated, Donald Trump will be able to exercise those powers until at least January 20 at 12:00 p.m.
The same can be said of the Senate. The Senate has a constitutional requirement of confirming a Supreme Court Justice nominated by a sitting president before that justice can sit. They have some options about when that nomination can be acted upon, as they exercised in 2016 by refusing to take up the Merrick Garland nomination. But the Senate has legally decided to vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett now.
On Fox News, Mike Huckabee gently suggested that Joe Biden “might want to read the Constitution.” He might read it, but it’s a question as to whether his reading comprehension skills have diminished with age.
“I appeal to those few Senate Republicans, the handful who really will decide what happens. Please, follow your conscience. Don’t vote to confirm anyone nominated under the circumstances President Trump and Sen. McConnell have created,” Biden said in September.
He added, “Uphold your constitutional duty, your conscience. Let the people speak.”
Joe Biden and many Democrats believe the Constitution says what they want it to say. Ergo, they can claim something is “unconstitutional” all they want without worrying about whether it means what they say.
That’s not how it works, of course. But the worry is, once Biden’s in office, we’re going to see a lot more of this kind of terrifying thinking.
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