Fight or note, there is no possible way he could have appointed Garland. Obama hardly reached out to work with the democrat controlled senate, and his disdain for republicans (or anyone) who didn't see things exactly the way he did was legendary. The republicans held a solid majority with even moderates supporting the idea of holding off until the election was over. Elections have consequences, Obama lost the senate because of his BS and lack of being a team player off a presidential election cycle. Had he been, perhaps republicans wouldn't have edged out the dems in the senate or even been able to convince a couple republicans to push him over the slim majority. But again, there is an unspoken rule that both sides generally support a split court of unelected judges that they can have on the back burner to settle controversial issue like Obamacare, abortion, gay rights, etc. so they can say "hey we tried, but failed"
"In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway." T Durden
"In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway." T Durden
