The Week -- Don’t take it personally

IT'S ALL ABOUT PRINCIPLE --

So U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Hot Seat, says he will not hold hearings in his Judiciary Committee if President Barack Obama nominates Jane Kelly for a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Kelly lives in Cedar Rapids and had Grassley's strong backing for a seat on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, a position she won in 2013 on a unanimous Senate vote.

Now, it seems, she's being vetted for a shot at the big show. Grassley will make sure it doesn't happen.

But, hey, it's nothing personal.

'It's totally irrelevant,” Grassley told reporters asking whether a Kelly nomination would soften his no-hearings-ever stance. 'It's a matter of the principle and not the person.”

'It's about the principle of letting the American people speak,” Grassley said.

'Not the person” is a lot like 'nothing personal.” A common but curious American phrase.

Where did it come from?

Well, according to the Google, the saying, 'Nothing personal, it's just business,” was coined by Otto Berman, a mob accountant for gangster Dutch Schultz in the 1930s.

That's probably how a similar sentiment fit so well into 'The Godfather.”

'It's not personal, it's strictly business,” Michael Corleone says to Sonny Corleone while discussing the pluses and minuses of whacking Virgil Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey.

Now, take it easy, I'm not suggesting the good senator from Iowa is some sort of gangster. But I think it's easy to see this 'nothing personal” stuff is pretty much a paper-thin layer of verbal rationalization for doing something lousy to someone. A get-out-of-guilt free card.

Kelly, or any other highly qualified and accomplished nominee, is somehow supposed to feel better knowing Grassley and his pals are bulldozing her chance to work on the nation's highest court, make a difference and make history, as a matter of 'principle,” but not personal animus. That will be a great comfort, for sure, in these trying times.

Especially since the 'principle” in this case is a hollow ploy.

So Grassley wants the American people to speak before he'll consider a nominee. Swell. But what if they elect Bernie Sanders? I suppose that means Grassley and Senate Republicans will line up and support his nominee. After all, Americans, speaking, etc.

Of course they won't. Grassley, if he's re-elected, will insist the people of Iowa sent him back to block horrid liberal activist justices. Others will conveniently cite other wills of other people. And so on.

It will be a real battle of wills, Lord willing.

Grassley and his fellow Senate Republicans are simply gaming the system and playing pure power politics, hoping the good old electoral slot machine will come up cherries for Republicans in November. Shirking their constitutional duties, turning their back on a president twice elected, also by speaking Americans, and weakening the nation's most important court are small prices to pay for the chance at a big political jackpot. And you can't win if you don't delay.

Or maybe Trump wins, and floats a wacky nominee that makes Grassley wish he'd taken Kelly or some other sane Obama pick. Or perhaps Trump wins the GOP nomination and drags his party and its Senate majority into an electoral abyss. Grassley may be booting his lone chance as chairman to handle a Supreme Court nomination.

Principles? Heck, these are children refusing to do homework because they're sure a snowstorm will save them. They want their way, or no way, and are prepared to hold their breath as long as necessary.

Harsh? Perhaps, but, hey, it's nothing personal.

SUPPORTING THE NOMINEE --

Gov. Terry Branstad and U.S. Rep. Steve King each said this week they'd support Donald Trump if he wins the Republican nomination.

'I think it's important to respect the will of the people,” said Branstad, who unilaterally privatized Medicaid and closed down mental health facilities without public input.

That seems so sensible. After all, if you're a Republican, and Republican voters pick Trump, it only makes sense to rally around the nominee. For the good of the party.

Although, come to think of it, it would also seem sensible to withhold support from a bombastic, spiteful, vindictive charlatan who presides over campaign rallies where people are beaten and has no realistic policy plans. For the good of the country.

I don't envy anyone having to make these very, very tough calls.

POLLS OF THE WEEK – President Obama hit a three-year high in his Gallup weekly approval rating, hitting 50 percent. Congressional approval hit 13 percent.

A Public Policy Polling survey found Americans, by wide margins, don't want Trump or Ted Cruz nominating the next Supreme Court Justice. In fact, 47 percent said they'd rather have Tom Hanks pick the next justice than let Trump do it. The little known Celebrity Powers Act of 1967 actually gives Hanks that authority. Not widely known.

But 56 percent want the vacant seat filled this year by Obama, and 66 percent think his nominee should at least be considered by the Senate. That last number includes a majority of Republicans polled.

So clearly, obstruction remains a very smart play. Americans are behind this Congress all the way.