The Yasser Arafat of the Democratic Party
Column: How Chuck Schumer talks out of both sides of his mouth
It is by this standard that I hereby judge Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer to be the Yasser Arafat of the Democratic Party. Schumer is so practiced at saying one thing to Democratic elites and another to the Democratic base that it is easy to fall for his charade. But neither Arafat nor Schumer should fool you. Schumer is a hypocrite and a liar and out for no one but himself. And it is for these reasons that his threat to filibuster Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch should be viewed with incredulity.
Schumer says he will vote against bringing the Gorsuch nomination to the floor of the Senate. He urges his fellow Senate Democrats to do the same. His decision is chum in the water for the frenzied "resistance" to President Trump, which has decided that a judge who was approved to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals with Democratic support—including Schumer's—and whose fans include President Obama's former solicitor general and legal scholar Cass Sunstein is somehow a jurisprudential freak who should be prevented from joining the Supreme Court by extraordinary means. The conventional wisdom in Washington, taking Schumer at his word, holds that enough Democrats will follow their leader to force Mitch McConnell to change the Senate rules. This is the so-called "nuclear option" on which Democrats were ready to act had they won last November. But of course they didn't win. So now 60 votes is "the appropriate standard for a Supreme Court nominee," Schumer said this week. Another lie.
The abortion lobby and liberal activists are pleased with their leader. The donations will keep rolling in. But what is Schumer telling his caucus behind closed doors? I ask because, while plenty of Democrats seem willing to expose themselves as dishonest hypocrites, as I write there are not enough votes to sustain a filibuster. According to the Washington Post, 29 Democrats are ready to block Gorsuch, but 12 additional votes are necessary. If you look at the list of Democrats on the fence, you see that the April 5 vote could go either way. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Manchin, both of whom are up for reelection in states President Trump won by double digits, have said Gorsuch deserves an up or down vote. Sens. Joe Donnelly and Jon Tester are both up in 2018 in states Trump won by 20 points. Senator Angus King's desire to be known as an "independent" would be quashed if he fell into line for such a transparent power grab. Last week Senator Pat Leahy said he might vote for cloture, only to back off on Twitter when the liberal interest groups went after him. Who knows what he'll decide in the end.
Column: How Chuck Schumer talks out of both sides of his mouth
It is by this standard that I hereby judge Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer to be the Yasser Arafat of the Democratic Party. Schumer is so practiced at saying one thing to Democratic elites and another to the Democratic base that it is easy to fall for his charade. But neither Arafat nor Schumer should fool you. Schumer is a hypocrite and a liar and out for no one but himself. And it is for these reasons that his threat to filibuster Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch should be viewed with incredulity.
Schumer says he will vote against bringing the Gorsuch nomination to the floor of the Senate. He urges his fellow Senate Democrats to do the same. His decision is chum in the water for the frenzied "resistance" to President Trump, which has decided that a judge who was approved to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals with Democratic support—including Schumer's—and whose fans include President Obama's former solicitor general and legal scholar Cass Sunstein is somehow a jurisprudential freak who should be prevented from joining the Supreme Court by extraordinary means. The conventional wisdom in Washington, taking Schumer at his word, holds that enough Democrats will follow their leader to force Mitch McConnell to change the Senate rules. This is the so-called "nuclear option" on which Democrats were ready to act had they won last November. But of course they didn't win. So now 60 votes is "the appropriate standard for a Supreme Court nominee," Schumer said this week. Another lie.
The abortion lobby and liberal activists are pleased with their leader. The donations will keep rolling in. But what is Schumer telling his caucus behind closed doors? I ask because, while plenty of Democrats seem willing to expose themselves as dishonest hypocrites, as I write there are not enough votes to sustain a filibuster. According to the Washington Post, 29 Democrats are ready to block Gorsuch, but 12 additional votes are necessary. If you look at the list of Democrats on the fence, you see that the April 5 vote could go either way. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Manchin, both of whom are up for reelection in states President Trump won by double digits, have said Gorsuch deserves an up or down vote. Sens. Joe Donnelly and Jon Tester are both up in 2018 in states Trump won by 20 points. Senator Angus King's desire to be known as an "independent" would be quashed if he fell into line for such a transparent power grab. Last week Senator Pat Leahy said he might vote for cloture, only to back off on Twitter when the liberal interest groups went after him. Who knows what he'll decide in the end.
