Candidates Debate Again: After Scalia, 9/11 and Fear

It’s hard to say what Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court justice who passed away apparently in his sleep while staying at a resort ranch near Marfa, Texas, this past weekend would have thought of the reaction to his death. 

He might have been either dismayed by the political indignities wrought by the news of his death almost at the moment that the news spread across the country, just hours before a Saturday night GOP debate in South Carolina.  On the other hand, given that Scalia was noted for a healthy sense of humor, he might have been amused at the almost instantaneous eruption of partisan demands and arguments that arose as a perfect illustration of our current dysfunctional political and governmental processes.

The 2016 presidential election campaign—on both sides—rose up like a chomping, ravenous dragon, devouring the news of Scalia’s death as just more grist for the primary and election campaign. 

The reaction on the Republican side and the Democratic side of those wishing and wanting to be and thinking they can be president was a call to arms against each other. GOP contenders to a man agreed and, in fact, insisted that President Barack Obama could not, and therefore should not, and therefore must not nominate a candidate to replace Scalia, a staunch conservative on the often 5-4 court, now reduced to 4-4, and therefore more or less frozen court.

Prompted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky—who said the Senate would not accept, would block, or delay, delay, any attempt by the president to bring a nomination—all the remaining GOP presidential candidates insisted that the next president, and only the next president could do such a thing on pain of: well, nobody knows, perhaps sanctions, impeachments or calling him a liar from the back benches of congress.

This is a campaign thanks in large part to the almost daily piece of outrageousness provided by the GOP poll leader and entertainer Donald Trump, but not excluding such matters as the rise of Bernie Sanders as a challenger to the now-delayed coronation of Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side—which has swallowed up the news whole.

It is almost as if even the death of Scalia, which affects the campaign mightily, is only an ingredient, not the essence of the daily news which is now the standing headline of the election campaign and its various plots and counterplots, polls and pot of polls.

Were it not for Scalia’s death, we might not be talking about or writing about anything else at all except how Hillary Clinton, her much diminished husband standing at her side, is trying to fend off the political advances of a smallish man from Vermont who suddenly finds himself the leader of a children’s crusade in which much is promised — and very little is likely to be given and forgiven.  We might only have been talking about the GOP primary debate in South Carolina, which, by any standards, once the joint obeisance was given to never, ever letting Obama nominate a justice, which is his responsibility and obligation—was a wrecking ball that Miley Cyrus might have admired.

Had it not been for Scalia’s life, and long tenure on the court which made him a giant in the land, a legal scholar of note, a champion of right wing opposition to gay marriage, Obama Care, abortion and every conservative shibboleth in the land, we might still be talking about who was to blame for 9/11, a subject of intense argument and shouting at the South Carolina debate.

As it was, Scalia deserved a little respect and honor, to say the least, even if you opposed just about every stand he took and vote he made, as some in Washington of the liberal sort probably did.

He was an outsized man, the first American of Italian descent on the court, who insisted that he was not interested in the intent of the framers of the law but had a passion for the meaning of the law itself and how it should be processed.  He loved opera, a passion he shared with his ideological opposite on the bench, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and which had made them friends without changing an iota of their opinions or inclinations.   He was the subject of a play called “The Originalist” and was portrayed by actor Edward Gero at Arena Stage, a performance which showed his stubbornness, humanity and a certain strongly held irascibility.

Still, most of the news was not so much about the obituary, as the causes and effect which resulted in a lot of grandstanding, especially on the part of Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who seemed to think they could demand loyalty oaths on this matter, that they as individuals, could force the selection of someone just like Scalia to the court.  They sounded, at best, like the guys in the poker game who want to keep playing until they win their money back.  McConnell pitched in, saying that the people should vote on the matter, but, having already done so, they could do no more.

At the debate, which had fewer participants, but more arguments and fights, the newly relevant John Kasich tried to calm down the combat among Trump, Jeb Bush, Cruz and Rubio.  Rubio was Rubio—he understood his audience, better than most and played to it.  Just as he had tried to court the evangelists in Iowa by practically introducing himself as a relative and certainly close friend of Jesus, he now became a Bush fan in South Carolina in an audience strong with Bush supporters. “I thank God every morning when I wake up that George W. Bush was president on 9/11,” he said, then blamed President Bill Clinton for 9/11.  Trump, on the other hand, blamed George W. Bush for it.  Personally, I think the guys that flew the planes did it, but I am, like Mr. Rubio, only your humble servant.  

The gang of six, if you count Ben Carson, were remarkable for their combativeness in front of an audience that booed them every time they fought.   And yet, Trump, who was the most combative of them all, was never attacked by anyone except Bush, who took remarks made by Trump about his brother, his mother and himself, personally.

And so it goes. Pope Francis visited Mexico, a story that got five seconds on the nightly news.  It snowed again.  The Grammy Awards Show was last night. What’s her name won the main award, but  Lady Gaga channeled David Bowie and Kendrick Lamar reminded anybody that was watching that there is another great division in the land with an electric rap performance. Leonardo Di Caprio won best actor at the British Oscars for the relevant, the revenant, or the revered, not sure which.  There was no lottery winner this week, but there are primary elections coming up in South Carolina (this Saturday) and Nevada — and March 1 is Super Tuesday.

Be afraid. Be very afraid. But of course, we already are.