Not for This President

In case you didn't notice, I'm a fan of this President. I obviously want him to succeed, much more so than the average Republican wants him to succeed. I also have to admit, I want him to succeed more than I wanted George W. Bush to do so, or more than I would want any of the Republicans running right now to, if they won. Even so, I never really root against the American Presidency, because I live here. This is my country. If a President's time in office is a failure, the country was failing at that time. No one really wins under that scenario.

The Republicans in the U.S. Senate are currently calling for a Supreme Court seat to sit vacant for at least eleven months, rather than to allow a rightfully elected President to appoint a member. In fact, it took them less than an hour after Scalia's death to call for blocking any nominee President Obama puts forward. Yes, everyone on the right will note Robert Bork and Harriet Miers, both appointed by Republican Presidents, were never confirmed- but both had Republican opposition to their nominations. It's also important to note that current judges Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas were confirmed by Democratic Senates, one of them during an election year. If you use the Republican logic that this President shouldn't be allowed to appoint a judge in an election year, maybe the Senate shouldn't vote on anything this year.

Let's not BS ourselves though, this is not an isolated incident of the Republicans saying no to this President. All but a hand-full voted against his Stimulus package, and virtually none supported Dodd-Frank, the Affordable Care Act, or any piece of legislation this President passed. They would not allow a House vote on immigration reform, despite the support of more than 218 members being out there, and they won't pass much of anything now. Within the Republican Party, they can't even settle that he's a citizen of natural birth in this country. The Republicans have spent the past seven years denying this President is the President. They don't take him as legitimate. This isn't new.

The shame is, this isn't how it has to be. I remember Senator John Breaux of Louisiana going to meet with George W. Bush shortly after his controversial election in 2000. There is a history of Presidents getting the benefit of the doubt, and the opportunity to do things in this country. There's just no such history of that under President Obama.