Merrick Garland is an outstanding judge, but Obama "didn't have the Senate," and "Mitch didn't want to do that," but "we have the Senate," so "there's a difference" - when you have the Senate, "you can sort of do what you want."
When you have the Senate, you can do what you want.
This is a recipe for destroying the legitimacy of the Court.
A group of moderates needs to emerge to make a deal here. That kind of thing used to happen. It happened under GHW Bush. Seems to me that ending the lifetime appointment of justices should be on the table - that would make these fights less life-or-death.