The Death of a Conservative Icon

Dear Fellow Survivalist;

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard of the death of Chief Justice Scalia on February 13th. There has been, quite unsurprisingly, much controversy about the circumstances of his death. But while his death may or may not have been an act of murder, that’s water over the dam. Of much greater concern now is what’s going to happen to the country.

Justice Scalia has been a bulwark of conservativism for 30 years, jealously guarding the original intent of the Constitution. His votes and written opinions have helped to protect the country from the ravages of progressivism, while his integrity and honor were applauded by even his enemies.

But his death leaves an opening in the Supreme Court. According to the very same Constitution that Scalia defended all his life, the Supreme Court is to consist of nine senior judges. So it is up to the president to nominate a replacement and up to the Senate to confirm or deny that nomination.

This is where things start getting sticky. Before Scalia’s death, the court was fairly well balanced. Most said that it was 5/4, with the majority being conservative. But in reality, it was 4/1/4, with one of the supposed conservatives actually being a moderate. That’s how the liberals were able to win on Obamacare and same sex marriage. The moderate sided with them.

With Scalia’s death, Obama will surely seek to appoint the most liberal judge he can to replace him. That will turn the makeup of the court to 5/1/3. Even in those cases where the moderate votes with the conservatives, the liberals will win. The Supreme Court will become a rubber stamp for whatever liberals want. They allow no dissent in their ranks, and the Supreme Court is no exception.

The bid deal here isn’t so much whether judgments are handed down which favor liberal ideology, but whether the Constitution as we know it, survives. A major plank in the Democrat platform is that the Constitution is a living document and that every generation needs to change it to meet their beliefs. In contrast, conservatives believe that the Constitution is to be maintained throughout the generations, and that the Supreme Court’s responsibility is to seek the original intent of the founders.

So if liberals manage to take control of the Supreme Court, we can expect to see a literal transformation of our country’s laws. We may still have the name “United States of America,” but the country you and I grew up in will no longer exist. It will be turned into the progressive liberal utopia that leftist politicians have promised.

The only hope is if the Senate blocks Obama’s appointment. This is not unprecedented. During President Bush’s last year in office, Democrats blocked a Supreme Court appointment he wanted to make. Should Republicans do the same, it would only be fair.

Of course, the liberals don’t see it that way. They’re already screaming about the Republicans playing political games with Scalia’s death, conveniently ignoring their own political games. But the Democrats have the media on their side, so they’ve got an advantage. Republicans are going to have to do an excellent job of getting their message out about why they are blocking the nomination, or it will play bad for them in November’s elections. It may not hurt the presidential elections, but it could hurt elections for Senate seats.

A lot depends on Mitch McConnel right now. As the Senate Majority Leader, he’s the one who schedules votes in the Senate. He’s said that he’s going to block Obama’s nomination, but he’s going to be under tremendous pressure over that. He needs to stand firm or the liberals will win.

That’s not the only way that the liberals can win though. There are two other ways that Obama could get his choice into office. The first is by recess appointment. The constitution allows for this, during times when the Senate is in recess. With a scheduled recess soon approaching, McConnel is going to have to cancel it and keep the Senate in session, regardless of who he upsets in the process.

The other way that Obama could win is if the polarity of the Senate changes this November. The Senate is sworn in before the president, about 20 days before. So, a Democrat Senate could modify Harry Reid’s “nuclear option” to allow it to apply to Supreme Court nominations and then confirm whoever Obama appoints. While 20 days isn’t a whole lot of time to do that, if they organize it well, the Democrats can accomplish that before the new president takes office.

Of course, if the Democrats win the presidential race in November, it really doesn’t matter what happens to the Senate, they can’t delay forever. The next president would simply pick liberal justice after liberal justice, until one was approved. They would win the propaganda war, making Republicans look bad again.

There’s a lot that has to happen for conservatives to come out on top in this. First of all, the Senate has to stall till the new president is sworn in. But to accomplish that, Republicans have to retain the majority in the Senate. We also need to vote in a true conservative president, so that a conservative justice on the order of Scalia is appointed to the bench. Finally, the Senate has to remain in session, blocking the option of a recess appointment. That’s a lot.

We are in a critical time here. The country is quite literally in the balance. It seems that every election becomes more critical than the last and that’s happening once again. If we don’t get out and vote, putting the country in conservative hands, God help us.

More than ever, we need to vote; we also need to keep our powder dry and our survival equipment close at hand.

Dr. Rich