The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgiving

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/a-responsibility-i-take-seriously/.

That's laughable. He Filibustered Alito. Democrats always tie themselves into a corner by getting sucked into the GOP's vortex. Then the GOP still gets their way and they regret it later when they want to actually do something.

 

[unofan]

That's laughable. He Filibustered Alito. Democrats always tie themselves into a corner by getting sucked into the GOP's vortex. Then the GOP still gets their way and they regret it later when they want to actually do something.

And Alito got confirmed, didn't he?

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

And Alito got confirmed, didn't he?

Yeah, but every time the Dems go this far the Republicans go that far. Just watch.

 

[Kepler]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

Personally, if I controlled the Senate I wouldn't do it this way. I'd play the odds, figuring the chance of both a Republican Senate and Republican President come January is less than 50/50, and cut a deal on a moderate with Obama. Obama would love to have another appointment as his legacy, and would gladly throw his own party under the bus to get it.

I think you may see this if Trump really sweeps. It would also give the Republicans the chance to say they put the country above politics, which is really what voters actually want.

Obama might be itching to appoint what he considers to be a transformative justice -- not ideologically, but in terms of judicial theory. He fancies himself (and may be) a deep constitutional thinker and scholar, and such folks are raised on the heroic stories of John Marshall, Joseph Story, John Harlan, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Louis Brandeis. It's been a long time since the Court had a truly ennobling figure, and I'm sure Obama would be pleased to be remembered as the president who was able to put a "justice of the century" on the Court.

I have no idea who that would be. Likely somebody only the most learned Con Law professors know, and a sort of "if only" ideal candidate who everyone realizes would never have a chance under normal political circumstances because they completely defy the current political split.

BTW, I have a dream (sorry Martin) that Trump picks a similarly unelectable, brillaint, sensitive, amazingly cool person as his running mate, and on Inauguration Day takes the oath, then turns around and quits right there on the podium. That's the only way we'd ever get an American Vaclav Havel. Do it, Donald. Troll us all.

 

[joecct]

And Alito got confirmed, didn't he?

So did that noted Klansman, Hugo Black. Interestingly Black, a Southern Democrat, would be a fan of the late Justice Scalia.

The confirmation mess started with Robert Bork. You reap what you sow.

 

[Kepler]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

The confirmation mess started with Robert Bork. You reap what you sow.

Oh hardly. Sh-tcanning justices is a time-honored Senate game. The only thing that's changed is it happens in the light of day, now. It used to be something that happened in the cloakroom before the nominee was formally announced.

It's always been hyper political. My God, you can go back more than 200 years to Adams' midnight appointments. It has never been any better or worse. Nothing ever changes.

The GOP are doing what they're doing because they think it is to their advantage: they figured out how to make the next election about their voters' pathological hatred of Obama. And the Dems are responding in kind for the same motive: they want that seat to halt the Court's drift to the dark side.

Every word everybody says in public about this for the next 10 months will be calculated to try to create a firestorm backing one side or the other.

The principle here is power.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

Oh hardly. Sh-tcanning justices is a time-honored Senate game. The only thing that's changed is it happens in the light of day, now. It used to be something that happened in the cloakroom before the nominee was formally announced.

It's always been hyper political. My God, you can go back more than 200 years to Adams' midnight appointments. It has never been any better or worse. Nothing ever changes.

The GOP are doing what they're doing because they think it is to their advantage: they figured out how to make the next election about their voters' pathological hatred of Obama. And the Dems are responding in kind for the same motive: they want that seat to halt the Court's drift to the dark side.

Every word everybody says in public about this for the next 10 months will be calculated to try to create a firestorm backing one side or the other.

The principle here is power.

Hell, look at what FDR tried to pull in his terms. That was crazy.

 

[unofan]

So did that noted Klansman, Hugo Black. Interestingly Black, a Southern Democrat, would be a fan of the late Justice Scalia.

The confirmation mess started with Robert Bork. You reap what you sow.

I love people who cite pre-Southern Strategy politics as though they are relevant to today's political alignments.

 

[joecct]

Oh hardly. Sh-tcanning justices is a time-honored Senate game. The only thing that's changed is it happens in the light of day, now. It used to be something that happened in the cloakroom before the nominee was formally announced.

It's always been hyper political. My God, you can go back more than 200 years to Adams' midnight appointments. It has never been any better or worse. Nothing ever changes.

The GOP are doing what they're doing because they think it is to their advantage: they figured out how to make the next election about their voters' pathological hatred of Obama. And the Dems are responding in kind for the same motive: they want that seat to halt the Court's drift to the dark side.

Every word everybody says in public about this for the next 10 months will be calculated to try to create a firestorm backing one side or the other.

The principle here is power.

In my lifetime I do not recall a nominee going through the nomination hell that Judge Bork went through. The left went after him with every resource they could muster to torpedo the nomination.

His legal opinions were and should be open for inspection. However his confirmation hearing was not business - it was personal.

Since then every nominee has been vague in their answers. We have no idea what their position is on the role of the SCOTUS.

We're worse off because of that hearing.

 

[theprofromdover]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

in my lifetime i do not recall a nominee going through the nomination hell that judge bork went through. The left went after him with every resource they could muster to torpedo the nomination.

His legal opinions were and should be open for inspection. However his confirmation hearing was not business - it was personal.

Since then every nominee has been vague in their answers. We have no idea what their position is on the role of the scotus.

We're worse off because of that nomination.

fyp.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

Thank you NY Times for pointing out exactly what I said. That what the Republicans are doing this time is unprecedented.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/o...ourt-seat.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0

Third, it is preposterous to accuse Mr. Obama of causing a “bitter struggle” by nominating someone who will not be confirmed. The only reason a nominee would not be confirmed is because the Senate has preemptively decided to block any nomination sight unseen. Mr. Obama is once again the only adult in the room, carrying out his constitutional obligation while Senate Republicans scramble to dig up examples of Democrats trying to block nominees. But those examples show only that Democratic senators have pushed hard for Republican presidents to pick ideologically moderate nominees. Until today, neither party has ever vowed to shut down the nomination process entirely, even before it has begun.

 

[LynahFan]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

"Same old, same old" isn't much of a headline.

 

[Kepler]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

Pretty good piece by the usually good Josh Marshall about the GOP "3 no" strategy and its pitfalls.

Money shot:

As I noted earlier, the necessity of the "three nos" is tied to a very evident slippery slope Republicans are desperately trying to avoid. If you meet with a nominee and then get asked how it went, what do you say? "It was a good meeting, a very qualified individual. But we definitely won't hold a confirmation hearing?" That doesn't make sense. The whole thing doesn't make a lot of sense. But that's okay if you (put) the whole story to bed in February or March. There's a big difference between just announcing it and getting past it and having a death of a thousand messaging cuts over the course of an election year. As the people managing the opposition on the Republican side have made clear, they need to (do) everything they can to avoid any discussion which focuses on the qualifications of the nominee - an amazingly cynical statement but accurate in terms of strategy.

As I said, partisans on both sides are immovable on this. And loosely affiliated or swing voters, by definition, aren't terribly knowledgeable or concerned about the differences over judicial philosophy which undergird this fight. But these voters are extremely focused on gridlock, doing your job or not doing your job, people who refuse to do their job or just do what makes sense for seemingly arbitrary reasons. What is more, there's no ideological commitment required in this case. The issue is readily understandable. This is your job. Do your job. Especially if you're asking to be hired again!

 

[bronconick]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

Let's say by April, it becomes obvious that we're facing a Trump vs. Clinton election. Does the Senate want to keep driving the "Next President decides" bus? They're either getting crushed in November or a **** crazy SOB who doesn't care about the Republican leadership thinks.

 

[Kepler]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

Let's say by April, it becomes obvious that we're facing a Trump vs. Clinton election. Does the Senate want to keep driving the "Next President decides" bus? They're either getting crushed in November or a **** crazy SOB who doesn't care about the Republican leadership thinks.

The problem is they are now limiting their ability to backtrack with their voters. All the operatic posturing means that those Senate Republicans who finally do vote to hold hearings and confirm an Obama nominee will be tarred by the Tea Partiers as Dolchstoßlegende! and get primaried out of existence.

No tears for them; they brought it on themselves. The tough part of riding the tiger is the dismount.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

The problem is they are now limiting their ability to backtrack with their voters. All the operatic posturing means that those Senate Republicans who finally do vote to hold hearings and confirm an Obama nominee will be tarred by the Tea Partiers as Dolchstoßlegende! and get primaried out of existence.

No tears for them; they brought it on themselves. The tough part of riding the tiger is the dismount.

Well, they can't. You have elections coming up this November. There is no way in hell anything gets out of committee before the election. It ain't going to happen.

 

[Rover]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

Rumor has it WH has vetted Nevada GOP Gov Sandoval.

I don't know a ton about the guy. I'm not disqualifying him because he's a Gooper. Former Mass Gov Bill Weld was also a Republican and I would have been happy to see him as a SCOTUS pick. However, IF they do choose him and IF he accepts, what does the Senate do? You've already said no hearing and nobody will be considered, but do you do that to one of your own freakin' elected officials? How does that play in Nevada in the general election since I believe this guy is popular? And Hispanic I believe.

 

[Kepler]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

Well, they can't. You have elections coming up this November. There is no way in hell anything gets out of committee before the election. It ain't going to happen.

It can, but I doubt it will. Obama should have his nominee announced by mid-March. McConnell et. al. will start squealing and both sides' sycophants and surrogates will start carpet bombing media and message boards with the Party Line. The GOP will have a choice: do they capitulate quickly and take their lumps, and then get raked by talk radio all summer, or do they fight the Battle of the Somme and bleed out moderates and actual conservative constitutionalists all summer long?

It was already a tough choice, but they've made it so much worse. The GOP really doesn't understand how politics is done anymore. This can only be the result of their two midterm wave elections which brought knuckledragging ideologues with zero political experience or instincts into the GOP war room. Now the party turns to those guys... and they don't have a clue what to do.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: The Power of the SCOTUS VIII - I am certiorari we'll be arguing until Thanksgivin

It can, but I doubt it will. Obama should have his nominee announced by mid-March. McConnell et. al. will start squealing and both sides' sycophants and surrogates will start carpet bombing media and message boards with the Party Line. The GOP will have a choice: do they capitulate quickly and take their lumps, and then get raked by talk radio all summer, or do they fight the Battle of the Somme and bleed out moderates and actual conservative constitutionalists all summer long?

It was already a tough choice, but they've made it so much worse. The GOP really doesn't understand how politics is done anymore. This can only be the result of their two midterm wave elections which brought knuckledragging ideologues with zero political experience or instincts into the GOP war room. Now the party turns to those guys... and they don't have a clue what to do.

Did you read the article from the NY Times yesterday? Did you read the letter? They can't backtrack now. They'll get crucified. That letter is basically EXACTLY what their leading nominee for President told them to do during the debate in South Carolina.

Nothing is coming out of that committee.

EDIT: This is the #2 Republican in the Senate from yesterday.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican and a member of the Judiciary Committee, concurred. “I don’t see the point of going through the motions if we know what the outcome is going to be,” he said.

 

[unofan]

EDIT: This is the #2 Republican in the Senate from yesterday.

That's hilarious coming from the party that has voted to abolish the ACA what, 50 times now?