By Mary Claire Kendall
Last week*, the White House, feigning accommodation with the GOP over President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, began vetting Nevada Republican Governor Brian Sandoval. Not surprisingly, Sandoval is liberal on immigration, the pivot of Obama's calculus. His amnesty proposal created a loophole for illegal immigrants to vote in November and if the Supreme Court gives it a pass, game over. (Sandoval has since pulled his name out of consideration.)
In the wake of Justice Scalia's untimely death on February 13 (or 12), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated forthrightly that President Obama need not nominate anyone because he will not schedule a Senate hearing or vote. The country is too divided, he said, and 'we the people' must first have our say in November on the next president.
Most Republican Senators went along with that.
Then came the second thoughts.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, though initially on board, said, according to Radio Iowa,
"I would wait until the nominee is made before I would make any
decisions."
Furthermore, Senator Thom Tillis said, "I think we
fall into the trap if just simply say sight unseen… " But, he said,
"If he puts forth someone… in the mold of President Obama's
vision for America, then we'll use every device available to block that
nomination." (He was speaking on the Tyler Cralle Show.)
Then Majority Leader McConnell's asserted he would not even meetwith
the nominee.
But the meeting with Obama solidified Senator Grassley's
stance. Waiting until the next president to fill the open seat, he said, is
"a fair and reasonable choice."
It's like watching a tennis match!
If the president is sincere about wanting to work with
Republicans, he should think seriously about nominating someone who was once on
President Ronald Reagan's short list for the Supreme Court, who also happens to
be a close friend of the late Justice Scalia.
When I spoke with Justice Scalia's grieving friend on
Sunday, February 14, he told me the late great justice was his "best
friend in the law" and that his death was "the worst thing for the
country" at this critical time, given his pre-eminent role in preserving
the values that made our country strong. There is no other, he said.
Well, almost no other.
His name is Judge Thomas J. Aquilino, Jr. He serves on the
United States Court of International Trade. Born in 1939 in Mount Kisko, New
York, he received his B.A. from Drew University and J.D. from Rutgers, before
serving in the Army, 1962-65. A former clerk to Judge John M. Cannella, he
worked in private practice in New York City and was an adjunct professor of law
at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
As Justice Scalia's legal soul mate and, at age 76, his
peer, he would, quite naturally, be the most logical and smart nominee.
The two men met while working on the "legislative
veto," which President Reagan appealed and won in
1982. Since then, their bond was unbreakable and it's safe to say, their
friendship was almost like that of brothers. (Scalia was an only child.)
Judge Aquilino holds firmly to the same principles of
conservative jurisprudence Justice Scalia fought for his whole
life. President Reagan had considered appointing him to the same Supreme
Court seat Justice Scalia ultimately filled for thirty years and subsequently
nominated him to serve as a Judge on the aforementioned court, which position
he held from April 1985 to December 2004, when he assumed "senior
status."
On a personal note, I met Judge Aquilino while working, in
2012-13, with many friends of Reagan to save the former
president's childhood home in Chicago. We were introduced by our
mutual friend, the late Redd Griffin, who had championed the cause. The two had
met in Germany while serving in Army intelligence. Judge Aquilino reached out
to his friend "Nino," who assured him, vis-à-vis persuading the
University of Chicago, where he taught law from 1977-1982, to preserve Reagan's
home, that his weighing in would have the exact opposite effect. We
did not save the home.
Now, more importantly, we need to save our Republic. Judge
Aquilino would play a vital role in this regard, stepping in to fill his
friend's seat, while the country takes a much-needed long, deep breath.
Mary
Claire Kendall, a Washington-based writer, is author of Oasis: Conversion
Stories of Hollywood Legends.
*Published in The Washington Examiner on March 3, 2016.