WASHINGTON Theres a surreal aspect to this weeks Senate confirmation fight over Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch : The more reasons Republicans give for why he deserves a vote, the more they reinforce how badly they treated President Barack Obama s pick for the court, Merrick Garland .

GOP senators spent most of 2016 preventing Garland from getting a vote. Obama nominated him in March, and Republicans, who controlled the Senate, ignored him. They denied Garland a hearing. Some wouldnt even meet with him. He was a moderate pick whom many Republicans actually liked, and a respected judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. They just didnt want Obama to fill the empty court seat.

Yet, now that President Donald Trump s nominee is scheduled for a key vote on Thursday and Democrats plan to filibuster him (which wont stop him from being confirmed), Republicans are outraged that Democrats would treat a Supreme Court nominee this way.

Their arguments for why Gorsuch deserves a vote sound, well, familiar.

When you win the White House, you have the ability to appoint people to the Supreme Court, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday. Im not going to be part of a Senate where Democrats get their judges and Republicans can never get theirs.

Im very disappointed in my colleagues to politicize this the way they have, scolded Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on Monday.

All they can come up with are facts that have absolutely nothing to do with his qualifications as a jurist, said Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

These are all points being made, without irony, by the same senators who opposed even giving a hearing to Obamas Supreme Court nominee. Democrats made these exact arguments last year to explain why Garland deserved a vote. Its easy enough to imagine; just swap in Garland for Gorsuch as GOP senators explain why Trumps nominee deserves fair treatment.

We are simply asking for a fair vote. A vote! Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said Wednesday. Let us move past these political games.

The president has nominated an exceptionally qualified judge to take Justice Scalias seat, said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who chairs the Judiciary Committee and refused to schedule a hearing for Garland all year. We dont conduct partisan filibusters of Supreme Court nominees.

I do not believe Judge Gorsuch is getting a fair shake in todays Senate, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Wednesday.