Minutes after the news broke, GOP word was out: the president should not be allowed to fill the vacancy.
This based on the interesting idea that Election Day is "too close," so it's improper for Obama to perform his duties by nominating a new justice. Yes, it's always about "The Constitution" and "Originalism" with these characters. On the other hand, McConnell's stylings serve as homage to Nino's greatest hits: "unprecedented" as they were, and disavowing future precedent with a, "Get over it!"
And of the late Nino's own stylings, many bloggers found the perfect memorial in a picture.
Predictably, Charles Pierce is more humane than the subject deserves (though in his comments section, the regulars are much more pointed). Among some of the very pointed posts by other bloggers, here are John Cole and David Ehrenstein.
The tubes were humming, and among the useful material from law blogs and legal reporters, Ian Milhiser soon offered an excellent run-down of what happens with an evenly split court, and how specific cases now pending are likely to be affected. Before that review, though, Milhiser remarks on the import of the unexpectedly empty chair—
Twenty-four hours ago, Republicans were headed into what remains of the current Supreme Court term with a solid majority and a docket strewn with some of the most consequential cases in decades. Affirmative action, abortion, birth control, immigration, an effort to shift congressional power to Republicans — all of these issues are before the justices this term.
The issues remain before the Court, but the balance of power just changed. Justice Antonin Scalia, the longest-serving member of the Court and one of its most outspoken conservatives, is dead. When the sun rose this morning, Republicans enjoyed a 5-4 majority on the nation's highest Court. It sets on an evenly divided bench.
