A full-on freak-out began as soon as the announcement of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death was made. Democrats from the east coast to the west coast hit the publish button way too quickly on social media as they couldn’t contain themselves. Inciting violence and doxing public officials is the order of the day. 2020 will not let up.

Kamala Harris tweeted out her agreement with Joe Biden that a replacement for Ginsburg should not be done until after the presidential election. That’s no surprise. As Ed so aptly said in his post today, everyone should just admit that the Supreme Court nomination process has devolved into a coarse grab for power. So, let’s just be honest and say that this year is different than the last time we went through a SCOTUS nomination in an election year. Will it change much in the approaching election? We don’t have that answer yet.

In 2016, Obama and the Democrats had control of the White House while Republicans controlled the Senate. So, Mitch McConnell was able to slow the process and didn’t bring Merrick Garland up for a vote. In 2020, though, Republicans have the White House and the Senate. There is time for President Trump to make his third appointment to the Supreme Court. He can and he should act immediately. He owes that to all the Republican and Independent voters who put judicial appointments, including the Supreme Court, as a priority when casting their vote for him in 2016. As you may remember, Trump released his list of whom he would consider for SCOTUS nominations before the election to soothe voters who were concerned about his conservative cred.

One thing Republicans have to be grateful for is that Mitch McConnell is running the Senate. He is a master of process and is experienced in this kind of game. He pledges that Trump’s nominee will get a vote in the Senate.

McConnell argued on Friday that the Republican-controlled Senate could confirm a Republican president’s nominee without facing charges of hypocrisy.

“Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year,” McConnell said.

“By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary. Once again, we will keep our promise. President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

The Senate and the nation mourn the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the conclusion of her extraordinary American life.

My full statement: pic.twitter.com/NOwYLhDxIk

— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) September 19, 2020

Those fearful of McConnell’s record of success in navigating the process in the Senate responded accordingly. One leftist was happy to tweet out directions to McConnell’s house for protesters. Fortunately, McConnell was not home.

https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/1307153283014955008

Biden has not put forth a list of names, as Trump did in 2016 and again just days ago. Kamala and Biden are not the deciders here on how to move forward. Even if Biden wins the election, Trump has time to nominate someone on his list, preferably one already vetted to save time now, and the Senate Judiciary Committee can get to work. A vote can be taken after the election, in the lame-duck session, if necessary. Does anyone think the Democrats would do anything different, given the chance? Chuck Schumer, now saying the nomination must wait, has a tweet from the past that acknowledges the ability of the president and the Senate to get the job done.

https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/1307343720946298880

Ginsburg’s granddaughter released a statement with one of her grandmother’s last wishes – she didn’t want to be replaced until after the new president is in office. She assumed that Biden will win. This is a disappointing statement from a Supreme Court justice, but as I wrote in an earlier post, she was a political activist until the end of her life and began to politicize the Supreme Court in her later years. Democrats celebrate her for that.

Legal minds who know about policy and process say there is time for the job to get done.

Back in 1993, I was lead staffer for Senator Hatch, senior Republican on Senate Judiciary Committee, for confirmation of RBG. Only 42 days from submission of nomination to floor vote. PLENTY OF TIME. RBG had 14 years of D.C. Circuit opinions and prior ACLU litigation career.

— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) September 19, 2020

Kamala sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee and should recuse herself now. Not only is she a vice-presidential candidate but the way she conducted herself during the Brett Kavanaugh hearing tells us how she will act now. It’s unacceptable to allow that to happen.

“Tonight we mourn, we honor, and we pray for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her family. But we also recommit to fight for her legacy,” Harris wrote on Friday night.

“In some of her final moments with her family, she shared her fervent wish to ‘not be replaced until a new President is installed.’ We will honor that wish,” Harris said.

This morning Kamala posted a new tweet that speaks to the importance of the election, including the SCOTUS nomination.

Justice Ginsburg was a titan—a relentless defender of justice and a legal mind for the ages.

The stakes of this election couldn’t be higher. Millions of Americans are counting on us to win and protect the Supreme Court—for their health, for their families, and for their rights. pic.twitter.com/RjlQ6ZwPET

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 19, 2020

Democrats are inciting violence on social media. While ironic, some point to the fact that riots will break out if Trump and McConnell go forward. Have they not seen the news lately and the riots already going on? Take, for example, a tweet from a former CNN host:

If they even TRY to replace RBG we burn the entire fucking thing down.

— Dr. Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) September 19, 2020

Crazy leftist Cher says Trump is a cancerous growth that must be excised “at all costs”.

WE MUST FIGHT‼️I HAVE
ASTHMA,& AM 74,BUT AM THINKING OF MARCHING ON WASHINGTON.I HOPE EVERY VOTER UNDERSTANDS THE SEVERITY OF HER DEATH..HER DEATH MAY BE MOST IMPORTANT DEATH OF MY LIFETIME.THE DEATH OF 🇺🇸FUTURE. DONALD TRUMP IS CANCEROUS TUMOR WHICH
MUST BE EXCISED AT ALL COSTS

— Cher (@cher) September 19, 2020

Barack Obama said her last wish must be respected, as Kamala did. Ginsburg may have “left instructions” but that doesn’t hold water with the other side of the aisle. You remember how often Obama liked to say, “Elections have consequences. I won”, right?

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought to the end, through her cancer, with unwavering faith in our democracy and its ideals. That’s how we remember her. But she also left instructions for how she wanted her legacy to be honored. My statement: https://t.co/Wa6YcT5gDi

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 19, 2020

The latest poll from Quinnipiac shows Mitch McConnell up over his opponent, Amy McGrath, by double digits. Frantic fundraising efforts sprang up on Twitter for McGrath after McConnell announced he’d be doing his job, as the voters elected him to do.

Back in 2016, Hillary Clinton said Republicans calling on Scalia’s seat to remain vacant until after the election were “dishonoring our Constitution”. Now, of course, she feels differently.

Statement on the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia: pic.twitter.com/xazj9dDd5c

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 14, 2016

President Trump released a nice statement after his initial reaction to her death, which was also well done. Neither time did he touch on the politics of her death. He was speaking at a campaign rally when her death was announced. When he was told by reporters as he left he respectfully said he had not heard about her death. (You hear Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” in the background. It’s played at the end of all the Trump rallies according to reports.)

WATCH: Trump hears from a reporter that Justice Ginsburg has died.

"She just died? Wow. I didn't know that, you're telling me now for the first time."

"She led an amazing life. What else can you say? She was an amazing woman…I'm sad to hear that." pic.twitter.com/5Na3vHzP7f

— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) September 19, 2020

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1307146028555014145

I’ll end with one observation – Trump respectfully kept politics out of his remarks. Biden had to read his initial remarks to reporters and included politics. Then he left without taking questions because he was tired after “a long plane ride.” Remember that next time Biden’s alleged capacity for empathy is used against Trump.