SCOTUS Nomination: Follow The Fox News Talking Points.
I watch Fox News regularly. Mainly to have fun seeing how they attempt to spin the unspinable, and craft the latest right wing talking points. Sometimes they're pretty good. Other times they're pathetically desperate. Days like today are fun because the NYT story on the WH Staff who briefed Nunes broke before they had time to craft any spin. Give them a day or two, and they'll have honed a good, consistent message. But when the NYT breaks a story at 9am, they desperately flail around like a beached fish until at least 3pm.
One of the most amusing pastimes of watching Fox is to see the talking points originate there, and then start appearing in the mouths of politicians, often without editing of any kind, a day or two later.
1. Watch Fox News broadcast the talking points.
2. See who starts repeating them a day or two later, and you (probably) know where they got them.
Well, for a SOLID MONTH the pundits on Fox were saying "The Democrats shouldn't filibuster Neil Gorsuch, because he's a moderate. And if they filibuster Gorsuch, McConnell will change the rules (so called 'nuclear option'), and then the NEXT Justice they nominate will be a full-on, bat-shit-crazy, wingnut! And Dems won't have anything left to stop it!"
In other words, the official Fox talking point is: Don't provoke McConnell to go nuclear on the Senate rules over a moderate like Gorsuch! Save that for an EXTREMIST. Filibuster Gorsuch now, and the Republicans will change the rules, and appoint Louis Gohmert to the SCOTUS!
Sounds reasonable, right? Except that this is a bullshit talking point. McConnell doesn't have the power to change Senate rules on his own.
1. (As far as I'm aware) You can only change Senate Rules at the START of a Senate session. So, they couldn't change the rules until after the next election. and,
2. The Senate would have to vote on the rule change, and McConnell couldn't get 51 Republicans to vote that way. They don't have the votes.
So, this "don't provoke McConnell into changing the Senate rules over nice, folksy, moderate Gorsuch" is bullshit. It's a Fox News talking point that was disseminated to give Democrats who don't want to filibuster Gorsuch some fake intellectual cover.
So, it's amusing (and REVEALING) when I start hearing Democratic Senators beginning to repeat it, and using it as a reason to vote FOR Gorsuch.
= new reply since forum marked as read
