Merrick Garland Is Helping Obama Hide His Extremist Agenda From the American People

President Obama has nominated aging white male Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, and so far the kabuki is playing out as expected. I’ll leave commenting on that to others. Here’s what I’m curious about: assuming that we ever get to the point of arguing about Garland on the merits, what will be the primary attack from Republicans?

The reason I ask is that I’ve been impressed in the past with their ability to come up with inventive smears that never would have occurred to me. Here’s my best shot at a conspiracy-theory-friendly attack aimed at firing up the tea-party base:

AUGUST 30, 2013: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled today that records of visitors to the White House were off limits to requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)….In today’s ruling, Chief Judge Merrick Garland wrote that Congress, in drafting the FOIA law and Presidential Records Act, didn’t intend for records such as the president’s appointment calendar to be subject to disclosure.

….Garland wrote that making the records subject to FOIA would raise separation-of-powers concerns, because it would force the president to either give up his right to secrecy about his choice of visitors…. “Construing the term ‘agency records’ to extend to White House visitor logs—regardless of whether they are in the possession of the White House or the Secret Service—could substantially affect the President’s ability to meet confidentially with foreign leaders, agency officials, or members of the public,” he wrote.

The fix is in! Merrick Garland allows Obama to keep his appointment book secret, and Obama nominates him to the Supreme Court. Typical Chicago thuggery. Did you know Garland is from Chicago too? It figures, doesn’t it?

Release Obama’s appointment book! Don’t allow left-wing extremist Merrick Garland to hide Obama’s meetings with Bill Ayers and George Soros!