The Gorsuch Moment

Tuesday, January 31, 2017. Just after 8 p.m. That’s when President Donald Trump announced his pick for the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the tragic death of the great Justice Antonin Scalia. That’s the moment. The one that is all over the news this morning. The one that is the subject of hotter takes than a photo shoot on Io.

Democrats have received the order to unleash hell, and with many a sad and tepid cry of “but Merrick Garland was good though” they are trying their best. It’s only too bad for them that so many have already given Judge Gorsuch their support in the past.

For the Trump administration, and the man himself, it’s a primary promise kept and a truly worthwhile concession to conservatives that have been generally sent into the wilderness in Trump’s GOP. An unexpected one. A “surprise” in Trump’s own words. One he wants to make sure everyone knows was done to please the parts of the GOP where he is still not trusted.

But the moment of the moment I’d like to discus for a … moment, is the conservative one. Not the administration’s view of conseratives. And not the left’s. There are a lot of aspects to the nomination, and one aspect is “how will (or should) skeptical conservatives react to the nomination?

As for the “how” part of it, we saw right away on social media and blogs that it ranges from “this proves Trump is greater than Mount Rushmore” to “get back to me when he sheds his outer skin and reveals reincarnated Reagan is now at the controls.” A gamut, to say the least.

Erick rightly says what I have also said many times, which is that you praise what is praiseworthy (to paraphrase.) He adds you can’t be credible if your only position is “against” regardless of what Trump does. It’s true. (I’ve said the same about praising the rare Democrat moment of sanity, but that kind of talk is verboten in 2017.)

Other, less-right people snidely say things like “ha ha #nevertrump you lose” which is preposterously stupid since the reason most conservatives opposed Trump was the totally reasonable, well-grounded concern that Trump would fail to do things like nominate Gorsuch. The fact that he has, after months of shaping and pressure, produced a result that was spoon-fed to him doesn’t change that those who were Never Trump opposed him because they WANTED people like Gorsuch. Since that is the case, how would getting exactly the desired result make one a loser? An illogical, unproductive, asinine point of view. Jason.

The other part of was the “should” of it. How should conservatives react? Well they should be glad. This is what you wanted. It’s what we wanted. We wanted conservative policy and an originalist who will be true to the Constitution nominated to the Supreme Court. Now we have that. Be happy about getting the thing that you wanted to get. That is not so very complicated.

But as to whether or how much it should change the way you consider and regard Trump, I would point out the one million and three unnecessary or malicious or offensive or nasty or dumb or trivial or significant or frustrating or maddening, maddening lies Trump told over the last year and a half. I would direct you to his wishy-washy positions and general state of not being trustworthy on conservative points of view on guns, God, abortion, and so on. A week of executive orders (which three weeks ago were the most unconstitutional abomination ever but are now sweet, sweet awesomness apparently) and one excellent Supreme Court pick does not erase that. You can still think he’s a jerk and a liar.

Nevertheless, you can’t say it doesn’t change anything. Many conservatives, including yours truly, pegged him for a coward who would fold on SCOTUS. And while Gorsuch hasn’t quite yet put on his black robe and placed a maraschino cherry between his butt cheeks, things are looking good. There are a lot of Republicans in office now, if you haven’t noticed. Elections do, in fact, have consequences. And as it turns out, the little letter behind a politician’s last name can make a difference.

So please, I ask you, don’t pretend nothing has changed. He made a great pick. Several, in fact, if you include the cabinet. I’m not trying to put lipstick on a pig here. I’m just pointing out that the pig showed up to work on time and got the job done ahead of schedule and under budget. That’s worthy of praise.

Though not, I think, undying gratitude or public declarations of thanks, with regrets and respect to my dear friends who feel otherwise. To alter what Chris Rock famously said: “Politicians always want credit for some stuff they supposed to do. A politician will brag about some stuff a normal man would just do. You’re supposed to do it, you dumb politician! What kind of ignorant stuff is that? ‘I didn’t once nominate a raging liberal to the Supreme Court!’ What do you want, a cookie?! You’re not supposed to nominate one, you low-expectation-having politician!”

Or to put it in my own words. “Good job, President Trump. This was the one area where even your most loyal fans may have deserted you had you not come through. You made a good, solid, smart choice the left will have a very tough time arguing against. It’s what I was hoping for, a pick worthy of Ted Cruz, and I’m glad that you came through for America. Your Tuesday performance review is on record as ‘Performed Above Expectations.’”

…

Okay fine. “Also, thanks and whatever.”

Are you happy now? Yeesh.

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