In the previous world we lived in, there would have been tributes and memorials for the most beloved conservative Supreme Court Justice. In this current toxic political world that wasn't possible. Literally one hour after it was announced that Scalia was dead, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that Scalia wasn't going to be replaced as long as President Obama was in office. One hour after the death announcement.
That sparked a nasty political debate with Republicans in one corner saying it was unprecendented to nominate a justice in a president's last year in office (which, of course, is untrue. It has happened 14 times), and Democrats in the other corner claiming that is is unprecedented to take away a president's constitutional responsibility with a full year to go in his term (which is ironic in this case because Scalia was a constitutional purist who never would have questioned the president's right to fulfill his constitutional obligations--but he's not around to "help" them anymore).
Meanwhile, one of the icons of the conservative cause is dead, and everyone is so busy arguing, that virtually no one is paying tribute to him for his many many contributions to the conservative cause. That doesn't seem right to me.
UPDATE: It's actually worse than I thought. There are now conspiracy theories that he was killed. That about sums up America 2016, doesn't it?
