What happened to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)? She used to be rational when it came to Supreme Court nominations. In 2006, when Senate Democrats were mulling what to do with Judge Samuel Alito (now Justice Alito), the California Senator told Bob Schieffer, then-host of CBS’ Face The Nation, that a filibuster of Alito would be unlikely because you can’t just block a Supreme Court nominee just because you disagree with him or her.
BOB SCHIEFFER: “Are your concerns strong enough, Senator, then that you would support a filibuster to block him?”DIANNE FEINSTEIN: “I do not see the likelihood of a filibuster to be very candid with you. I don't see those kinds of egregious things emerging that would justify a filibuster. I think when it comes to filibustering a Supreme Court appointment; you really have to have something out there whether it's gross moral turpitude or something that comes to the surface. Now I mean, this is a man I might disagree with. That doesn't mean he shouldn't be on the court.”
Flash forward to 2017 and Feinstein is opposing Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch because…she doesn’t like him. And she wants to get the GOP back for gumming up the works for Merrick Garland, Obama’s initial nominee to fill the vacancy left by Antonin Scalia. I guess you could ask where did 2006 Feinstein go? This seems rational, unlike the Left's descent into madness post-2016. At the same time, for all her talk, Feinstein tried to stop Alito. One of her partners in crime in that effort was Barack Obama.
There is no good reason to oppose Gorsuch. He has the backing of jurists and legal scholars from across the political spectrum. His hearings were described as nothing short of a home run. Senate Republicans should nuke the rules and get him confirmed.