U.S. Supreme Court: Post-Nino Edition

i'm not really sure what to do about garsuch. obviously he sucks, but there's no way to stop him from being confirmed, unless it comes out that he's a child molester or something. also, despite recent history, i do think i believe that presidents have the right to appoint judges who are qualified, and despite his shitty opinions, he is. the time to stop guys like this from being on the court was in november

I had no problem with Roberts and Alito's selection but times have changed. I would've agreed with you had the GOP not treated the Garland nomination w/such contempt. They don't believe Dems are legitimate.

the stiffening of Dem spines in recent weeks has been quite a turnaround though - remember how prior to a lot of this nonsense they were much more congenial about Trump's cabinet nominees. This is no different, no time to turn back now to failed strategies of the past.

xp

http://crooksandliars.com/2016/08/mitch-mcconnell-mitch-mcconnell-proud

will a president ever get their SC pick again if the Senate is held by the opposing party? I'm thinking probably not.

will a president ever get their SC pick again if the Senate is held by the opposing party? I'm thinking probably not.

Francis Fukuyama: right for the wrong reasons

lol, trained by Zing Touch to anticipate xposts, I now quote by instinct

this will no doubt be McConnell's most significant impact on the Senate, a massive shift. whether it's looked on as a disaster or a triumph for the institution is hard to say. in the end repealing the filibuster is probably a good thing - it's history is not pretty.

assuming gorsuch gets a hearing can they get an answer from his ass about 'advice and consent' and whether he thinks mcconnell played dirty pool? if the dude is such an originalist and textualist he should have a fucking answer.

surely the easy answer would be that's none of the court's business, the Senate gets to determine what it's advice/consent consist of

cuz no way does the SC get to meddle in how the Senate functions

Yep. Nino would've agreed.

NYT and WaPo op-ed pieces about how the Dems shouldn't filibuster Gorsuch because it's "futile" are rage-making, they don't get it.

The hearings should, however, present Democrats with an opportunity to probe Judge Gorsuch’s views.

you don't say

even chait gets it http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/make-republicans-nuke-the-filibuster-to-confirm-gorsuch.html

bonus: i'm not sure Trump really understands the filibuster, meaning that actually watch it play out is going to drive him absolutely (more) insane. totally expecting tweetstorms every day.

he sees it as an obstacle to getting what he wants so it obviously must be destroyed

Chait's analysis is correct

xp

Seriously. Fuck the GOP. They set the precedent, that's going to be how it is whether the Dems want it or not, so just embrace the cold civil war nihilism.

yea this is all such a bummer. my initial reaction to gorsuch was "oh wow he didn't appoint his own bag of shit lawyer michael cohen or some judge who wants to abolish the judicial branch, that's a win" but i can't really even think about this whole thing w/o feeling infuriated. mcconnell's "proudest moment." hypocrisy from the GOP right now is on another level. btw obama was kind of pussy about this last year, it was major major mistake not to push harder for garland

McConnell, a Senate colleague of Obama, understood Obama was an institutionalist. He knew his man.

And the Dems should know Trump is a chaos-fostering authoritarian demagogue, and that this will not get better.

the hrc pragmato-centrist lawyers i know are already well on the side of letting this one go in favor of 'the real fight' later

Seriously, ask them, what does that even mean when the GOP can just end the filibuster at any moment, and would?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3meQP6UoAABGqb.jpg:small

yes, also i am dying to know what hrc pragmato-centrist lawyers think is more "real" than the supreme court, and whether they talked about it like that during the last couple of presidential election cycles.

well one campaigns in prose and governs in gibberish

Yam just said he would say "Mitch, go nuclear" if filibustered

blow, winds

I'm sure McConnell relishes looking like Trump's lapdog. What else can we goad Trump into saying he would command Mitch to do

lapturtle

heh

It's legal to marry your lapturtle these days, doncha know.

https://twitter.com/domjoly/status/826888856108675072

Trump posture part Nixon, part Penguin.

the arm-yanking thing is so weird

Gorsuch all "don't touch me"

Gorsuch recoiled the way they do in the movies after they prod the Blob and it doesn't give them their hand back.

the arm-yanking thing

it's basic bully. you demonstrate your strength and dominance, but also your unpredictability. it says "don't EVER cross me; I own you".

yea it's a dominance thing

https://twitter.com/willmenaker/status/826836172458569731

I hope the "Notorious RGB" crowd realizes how fucking dumb it was of her not to retire when she had the chance

kind of agree

in 2008?

hmm no wait 2010-2012 would've been the safest time I guess

ah I was right the first time

breyer too tbh

get off the fucking court when you're that old and have the chance

even in 2013 would've been better

this is sorta pedantic/semantic but the thing that rubs me the wrong way about the Notorious RBG thing is that um Biggie died young, dude was not exactly a "survivor" (also his music sucked but that's a personal opinion I know most don't share)

The tragedy was Scalia not dying a year sooner tbh. Hell, at this point it'd be better if he were still alive since then he might have a chance of dying at a more opportune moment. Obv Mitch & Co. are the real evildoers here, but still.

this is sorta pedantic/semantic but the thing that rubs me the wrong way about the Notorious RBG thing is that um Biggie died young, dude was not exactly a "survivor" (also his music sucked but that's a personal opinion I know most don't share)

― Οὖτις, Thursday, February 2, 2017

but her opinions just hypnotize me!

He's a worm..

That could have been predicted based solely on a cursory glance at his political allies.