New York Daily News

Could get worse

Imagine Trump picking even more Supes

- LEONARD GREENE AP

Isat in the same room with Clarence Thomas once, me, a bunch of photograph­ers taking pictures and senators asking questions, and I remember having the same anxiety then as I am having now, about defeat and inevitabil­ity.

And as we await what is being billed as a Senate battle royal over the latest Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, I find that I am not so bothered by the hypocrisy of it all as I am by the complacenc­y and political apathy that got us here in the first place.

The hypocrisy is a surprise to no one. I know the body is still figurative­ly warm, but did anyone really think for even a nanosecond that Republican­s would wait for a funeral, much less an election, before ramming a new justice down our throats?

Yes, Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, used the election yyear as an excuse for blocking then-President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, from even getting a hearing in 2016, months before voters would go to the polls and elect Donald Trump

And, yes, McConnell is a hypocrite for ignoring that same twisted logic now, just weeks before Election Day.

Now, raise your hand if this is the first time you’ve ever heard the words “hypocrite” and “politician” in the same sentence.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has pledged to use every Senate rule available to derail the nomination and defend the legacygy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, whose death last week set the stage for all the political maneuverin­g.

“Justice Ginsburg’s dying wish was that she not be replaced until a new president is installed,” Schumer said in a statement.

“Republican­s are poised to not only ignore her wishes, but to replace her with someone who could tear down everything that she built. This reprehensi­ble power grab is a cynical attack on the legitimacy of the court. I will strongly oppose this nomination.”

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 ??  ?? In the White House Rose Garden Saturday, President Trump adjusts microphone for his nominee to the Supreme Court (below), Amy Coney Barrett (right).
In the White House Rose Garden Saturday, President Trump adjusts microphone for his nominee to the Supreme Court (below), Amy Coney Barrett (right).
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