Our institutions are failing us. The Senate leadership has dismissed, out of hand, any presidential nominee as unacceptable. This, despite a closely divided court which is suffering from low evaluations from the public, and a Congress perceived as being incapable of governing in the general interest. On the left, the tasteless, shrill howls of glee over Scalia’s demise only deadens moderate ears to the legitimate complaint that conservative lawmakers have abandoned their larger mission of governing.

And, Scalia’s passing at 79 becomes, immediately, a defining debate point for the presidential campaign. Unfortunately, this campaign is lacking anyone of sufficient statesmanlike quality to articulate with any legitimacy either the importance of Scalia as a jurist, or the need for the constitutional order to act accordingly to fill his seat consistent with the needs of these times.

We are failing because there is no desire to place governing ahead of tactical politics. America functions, barely, without a legislature capable of governing. It defies the reconstitution of a court which will be shaped by the combined legitimacy of a Senate of one party, chosen by the people, and a president who has twice commanded the majority of the electorate and who retains relatively strong approval ratings for a seventh year in office.