To tip the decision in their favor

There are a lot of online remembrances of Ruth Bader Ginsburg today after her death yesterday. I haven’t even read all of the ones that have come through my regular sources. Of those I have seen or heard the best is the one by Nina Totenberg on NPR. It’s 8 minutes, though there should be a transcript soon. Also widely discussed is the process of nominating and confirming her replacement on the Supreme Court. Again, there are lots of voices out there and I have read little even in my regular sources. Though here’s one from Leah McElrath. She cited a tweet from Kelsey Carolan, a tweet with Moscow Mitch’s statement that the nominee will get a vote, and another quoting a Dear Colleague letter from him, then tweeted:

McConnell’s wording sounds like he is planning to rush a vote on the Senate floor and bypass any confirmation hearings. Forgoing even a performance of respect for regular order is a pattern of behavior on his part. They are also likely looking to SCOTUS to decide the election.

Note that well – they anticipate the election will be decided by the Supreme Court, as it was in 2000. They intend to have their person on the bench ready to tip the decision in their favor. Though without RGB they already have a 5-3 advantage. Shortly after Ginsburg died money started flowing to ActBlue, an online tool for raising money for progressive candidates. Between 9 pm last night as about 2 pm this afternoon the amount donated was $56 million. The message is clear: Democrats are to do everything they can to prevent another conservative justice from being seated. It isn’t just the 45 days until the election where this might happen. It’s the lame duck session as well. Moscow Mitch’s refusal to hold hearings for Merrick Garland and his eagerness to fill this vacancy has a lot more Democrats saying when Democrats hold power it is time to expand the number of seats on the court.