Almost immediately after the tragic passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who was truly a giant of the court, Republicans and Democrats were scrambling to play politics with the situation. And for some reason, the media is acting like that’s unusual.

Democrats are clearly frustrated by the fact their historic midterm losses during the Obama presidency put them in a situation where they have little power to push through a liberal nominee on partisan lines.

To be fair, both parties have been putting forward some misleading statements.  While Republicans have claimed the precedent to not confirm a nominee in an election year goes back 80 years.  The real number appears to be closer to 76 years.  That is also discounting Justice Kennedy who was confirmed in early 1988 although he was nominated the previous year.  Regardless, Republicans can make a solid argument that this kind of situation doesn’t happen a…