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You are here: Home / Politics / Activist Judges! / Justice Delayed: What Happens Now?

Justice Delayed: What Happens Now?

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Since we’ve decided to go all Supreme Court all the time tonight, I want to take a slightly different tack, though related to Richard’s, in my thoughts on the passing of Associate Justice Scalia. Tom Goldstein at SCOTUSBlog confirms that any votes cast in cases by the Justices before the Supreme Court this term, which have not been publicly decided, are now void. This is very important because until his successor is approved and sworn in, the Supreme Court is now for all intents and purposes balanced with four Democratic appointees and four Republican ones. Or more crudely four left of center/liberal justices and four right of center/conservative justices. This simple accounting ignores that Associate Justice Kennedy, while normally considered part of the Supreme Court’s conservative wing is also, often, the swing vote. It is for this reason Charles P. Pierce of Esquire has dubbed him Weathervane.

So what are the cases impacted by Associate Justice Scalia’s passing? There are twenty-four cases heard through the end of the January session that have not yet been decided. These include the highly significant cases dealing with unions (Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association); race discrimination in death penalty sentencing (Foster v. Chatman); a class action case (Tyson Foods, Inc v. Bouaphakeo); Federal employment discrimination (Green v. Brennan); the Texas “one person, one vote” redistricting case (Evenwell v. Abbott); the affirmative action case regarding university admissions (Fisher v. Texas); and a redistricting case touching on preclearance for redistricting from the DOJ (Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission). There are another thirty cases scheduled to be heard beginning on 22 February. These include the seven related challenges to the Burwell decision regarding the prescription contraception requirements in the American Care Act in regard to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act; and the challenge to Texas’s abortion clinic regulations of Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt. Finally, there are another nineteen cases that have not even been scheduled for hearings yet.

Prior to Associate Justice Scalia’s death today many observers had predicted that unions; affirmative action; the contraceptive requirements of the ACA; what is left of preclearance requirements for redistricting; and the ability to operate a women’s health clinic/practice that administers abortion were all in significant jeopardy. Associate Justice Scalia’s death removes all of that informed estimation. All of these very important and consequential cases, and the issues they are dealing with, are now facing a deadlocked Supreme Court. While it is certainly possible that a justice or two on either side might move across the divide of judicial philosophy and ideology, there will be tremendous pressure from each side for conformity to the judicial block. The reality of judicial stalemate may make Associate Justice Kennedy less likely to be the swing vote. Conversely, being pressured to conform regardless of his actual interpretation of a given case and the Constitutional issues surrounding it, might push him into crossing the aisle in one or more decisions. Regardless, the big wins and big loses that have been predicted are now unlikely to happen. Associate Justice Scalia’s most enduring legacy may be that his death today prevented the Supreme Court from deciding at least eight major cases in line with his judicial philosophy and ideology. And that is significant.

Reader Interactions

282Comments

  1. 1.

    Cacti

    Associate Justice Scalia’s most enduring legacy may be that his death today prevented the Supreme Court from deciding at least eight major cases in line with his judicial philosophy and ideology. And that is significant.

    Thank you for your greatest act of service to the Republic, Tony.

    Dying.

  2. 2.

    Punchy

    So can the Senate really just bounce each O SCOTUS nommy until November? Do they have to give a reason for each bounce or just say “Nope!” and give the finger to the camera?

  4. 4.

    Cacti

    @Punchy:

    So can the Senate really just bounce each O SCOTUS nommy until November? Do they have to give a reason for each bounce or just say “Nope!” and give the finger to the camera?

    The second one.

  6. 6.

    lgerard

    I just hope someone remembers to drive the wooden stake into Nino’s heart

    we don’t want to take any chances

  7. 7.

    scottinnj

    That’s true if the decisions are 4-4 but note that a 4-4 decision is not considered a precedent. I don’t think Justice Roberts – one whom I think is very focussed on his legacy – could easily instead of living with a 4-4 tie find some very narrow ruling (say on unions) that enables them to rule 5-3 but kick a lot of the can down the road to a future court when a different case. In short the short run may be OK but that is just a narrow battle not the war.

  10. 10.

    Adam L Silverman

    @scottinnj: I don’t disagree on Chief Justice Roberts. He seems unusually preoccupied with legacy given his age and it often negatively intersects with his judicial philosophy.

  14. 14.

    Corner Stone

    @TaMara (BHF):

    Just who is this Adam L. Silverman?

    Contra other posters here at BJ, he’s someone I definitely do not want to be stuck in an elevator with.

  17. 17.

    scottinnj

    @Adam L Silverman: yes I think (rightly) one of Obama’s strengths was his willingness to play for the long game and I think that is equally true for Roberts. He is likely to be in the chair another 15+ years, easily covering the next 8 years of Hillary and the subsequent 8 years of Chelsea Mezvinsky.

  19. 19.

    Adam L Silverman

    @efgoldman: Not all of them. Fisher was back because they’d kicked it to the District Court, the District Court ruled the same way as the first time using the new guidance from the Supremes and it was then fast tracked for a 2nd review at the Supreme Court by Fisher’s attorneys who want the District Court ruling over turned. The union case is from the 9th Circuit in California and that circuit ruled in favor of the unions. So that one’s good too. The lead ACA/Burwell contraception challenge is from the Little Sisters of the Poor and that’s not the 5th Circuit either. So not as bad as first suspected.

  20. 20.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @TaMara (BHF): Someone who replied “I’m not sure how to answer that except thank you” when I wrote “Marry me?”

    Hence, a concise and sensible dude. What the hell is he doing on the front page here?

  24. 24.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @scottinnj: Robert’s power will be limited. He can only decide who writes the controlling decision if he votes in the majority. If he decides to stay with the fringe (Thomas, Scalito) he will be impotent.

  29. 29.

    Rocky

    Lindsay Graham:

    Jeb’s best debate. Smooth, steady hand who will guide the nation. Trump sounded like Michael Moore. The surge worked, Obama stabbed free Iraq in the back with troop withdrawal.

  33. 33.

    Cacti

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I don’t disagree on Chief Justice Roberts. He seems unusually preoccupied with legacy given his age and it often negatively intersects with his judicial philosophy.

    Also tend to agree.

    Unlike his fellow SCOTUS wingers, Roberts wants to be remembered kindly by history. Or at least remembered as not a complete ogre. I could see him joining some 5-3 decisions with concurring opinions from himself.

  38. 38.

    Mandalay

    The corpse is still warm and already they are lying…

    “The fact of the matter is that it’s been standard practice over the last 80 years to not confirm Supreme Court nominees during a presidential election year,” Grassley said….

    President Ronald Reagan nominated Anthony Kennedy to the court on Nov.30, 1987. He was confirmed in a 97-0 vote on Feb. 3, 1988. Grassley was one of the 97 votes in favor of Kennedy. Democrats held the majority in the chamber.

  39. 39.

    Rommie

    I wonder what would happen if CJ Roberts hinted at the Supreme Court doing a whole lot of nothing themselves until the 9th Justice was seated. That would add an interesting side to his legacy, yes?

    I really want to see who the President nominates, because it will show, once and for all, how many HARUMFs he has left to give. I want him to need a F*** Y** translator to interpret his nominee announcement.

  42. 42.

    Corner Stone

    Someone please give Perry Bacon breathing lessons, or maybe an oxy mask for in between hot takes.

  47. 47.

    Peale

    Is Bloomberg a lawyer by chance? If it looks like the republicans won’t approve anyone, why not float the name of Mr. Spoiler and let them savage him for awhile.

  50. 50.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    What if Scalia is not dead, but rather has joined the un-dead.

    This could complicate appointing a successor.

  51. 51.

    Adam L Silverman

    @TaMara (BHF): I was always partial to Captain Marvel/Shazam myself. Specifically Alex Ross’s take on the character. Both visually and conceptually.

    Also, The Question – minus the objectivism stuff.

  54. 54.

    p.a.

    Scapegoat posted a pic of his newborn at the bottom of the last thread. Head back to convey your oohs and aahs.

  59. 59.

    amk

    Scalia died on President’s Day weekend. In Black History Month. In an election year. God’s sense of humor is darker than Louis CK’s.

  60. 60.

    NotMax

    The media’s insistence that Scalia was the longest-serving justice was unadulterated bunk

    BTW, for those who may have never heard it, Bette Davis (paraphrasing):

    “My mother taught me to say only something good about the dead. Joan Crawford is dead. Good.” .

  62. 62.

    divF

    @p.a.: Unspeakably cute ! Congratulations to all !

    ETA: If you are into cute newborn pictures, this one is highly recommended.

  64. 64.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Gravenstone: Okay, I’ll go back and edit it that Senator Graham needs to learn how to read a calendar. I’m a bit sensitive on this one as I did a series of papers for the Army, while in country, on how the botched negotiations on the SOFA, leading to the Security Agreement, combined with the botched planning on the provincial elections for 2009, had seriously derailed theater strategy and was causing tremendous problems at the operational and tactical levels. And keeping operational and tactical successes from being consolidated into theater strategic success.

  68. 68.

    Aleta

    I read that if a vote is deadlocked in the SC, the ruling of the lower court stands. Does that mean that the SC would be unlikely to consider a similar case in the future, because it had already ruled ? And that the ruling is then considered precedent?

  69. 69.

    Seebach

    That debate was so satisfying. Trump, as a NYer, seemed genuinely pissed about 9/11. Seeing him go nukular on Jeb’s whiny ass was fantastic.

    I do wonder if Trump’s demo considers Bush to be a saint, though. Will it hurt him? Or is this more telling the necessary truth that PC prevents saying?

  71. 71.

    TaMara (BHF)

    @Adam L Silverman: Since I clearly have nothing of substance to add to this thread tonight, I will just mention that I lived in the sublet LA apartment of Shazam (70’s television version) and then say goodnight.

    The newsworthy events of the day have caused a serious delay of my To-Do list and I must now attend to it.

  72. 72.

    Steve in the ATL

    I read that if a vote is deadlocked in the SC, the ruling of the lower court stands. Does that mean that the SC would be unlikely to consider a similar case in the future, because it had already ruled ?

    Hell no

    And that the ruling is then considered precedent?

    Regular no

  73. 73.

    EZSmirkzz

    @Adam L Silverman: My bad. Don’t blame you on that other point either. Just as insightful here as there.

    Of course the “A Silverman Award” has a nice ring to it, IMHO.

    Thanks for the insight on the SCOTUS.

  74. 74.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Aleta: Hopefully Omnes or Steve in ATL will chime in on this. I know enough to teach the system, as well as how the judiciary fits into the criminal justice system and how judges are appointed and approved, and enough to poke out the post above, but this is not my area of expertise.

  75. 75.

    NotMax

    @Adam L. Silverman

    Ross was good (if often too painterly for sequential art), but nothing holds a candle to the whimsy of the original, C. C. Beck. More fun, less grit. Ditto for Mac Raboy’s art on Jr.

    The Question, of course (for those who don’t know), was a creation of diehard Randian Steve Ditko.

  76. 76.

    Cacti

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I think they were reporting, or trying to, that he was the longest of the currently serving justices on the current Supreme Court.

    Depressingly, Clarence Thomas has pretty decent shot at being #1 by the time he’s finished. Currently sits at 27th and will only turn 69 this year.

  78. 78.

    rk

    Associate Justice Scalia’s most enduring legacy may be that his death today prevented the Supreme Court from deciding at least eight major cases in line with his judicial philosophy and ideology.

    A part of me feels guilty that I’m so relieved at the death of someone. But yes the country caught a break today.

  81. 81.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: I like Ross’s art. That what he was drawing could step off the page and look real is, to my eye, amazing. And yes I liked the classic CC Beck too.

    As for Ditko and The Question, I’m tracking. If I remember correctly he had an earlier attempt at a similar character called Mr. A after the objectivist statement: A=A.

  83. 83.

    NotMax

    @Steve in ATL

    No. Such standing decisions can revisited by the Supreme Court should challenge(s) to them be accepted.

    They also have a narrower scope and application than do affirmed or rejected decisions.

  86. 86.

    Adam L Silverman

    @EZSmirkzz: It is what it is. And I didn’t think you were trying to stir the pot. As far as I know the Old Man hasn’t written anything about it, and I have no reason to either. I worry about him and wish him well and can never repay the debt of his training and mentorship.

  87. 87.

    Cacti

    With the death of Scalia, one more moldering finger of zombie Reagan is pried from our national politics.

  88. 88.

    Steve in the ATL

    @NotMax:

    No. Such standing decisions can revisited by the Supreme Court should challenge(s) to them be accepted.

    That’s the same thing I said

  92. 92.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: I get that they’re reporting it incorrectly, what I saw briefly online earlier this evening had it correct. Other than managing my DVR, I have no control over TV.

  94. 94.

    Renie

    Reince Priebus Verified account
    ‏@Reince
    Our well-qualified & experienced candidates continue to put forth serious solutions to restore prosperity & strength to America #GOPDebate

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA What debate was he watching?

  97. 97.

    Cacti

    Early prediction:

    Whoever the POTUS nominates, candidate Sanders will call it outrageous and a betrayal.

  100. 100.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    South Carolina Poll — ARG — February 12-13

    Whites

    Clinton………….54%
    Sanders………..35%

    Blacks

    Clinton………….74%
    Sanders………..19%

    Overall

    Clinton………….65%
    Sanders………..27%

    Online Sandernistas like to attack and harass blacks and women, but Sanders is losing whites by nearly 20 points. They’re going to have to come up with new class enemies of the proletariat. Maybe there’s some kulaks in SC.

  101. 101.

    Corner Stone

    “Barack Obama is president of the United States until January 17. Whether Republicans like it or not, my friends!”
    /HRC

  103. 103.

    jl

    @NotMax:

    ‘ Bette Davis (paraphrasing):

    “My mother taught me to say only something good about the dead. Joan Crawford is dead. Good.” . ‘

    I try not to think or speak ill of the recently deceased. I had a bit of moral luck today. I was out hiking with friends all day and learned about Scalia when we talked into a fast food joint that had the GOP debate on. So I learned about it listening to that toxic wreckage smearing Obama in order to justify leaving the SCOTUS a justice short for more than a year. So, all my bad thoughts were immediately drawn to them.

    Glad Obama is going to make a nomination at the appropriate time. Not sure best approach. Maybe line up some slam-dunk unquestionably qualified center-slightly-left moderate and the pound the hell out of the Senate. As soon as ceremonies for Scalia over, time to pound that wretch McConnell who immediately, by GOP standards, ‘politicized’ the nomination.

    Cruz was openly appealing for a conservative justice during the debate, at least during the bit I heard before we walked out.

    Edit: GOP obstruction of Obama SCOTUS nom will give Harry something to do for amusement during the rest of his term. I’m sure he can snark and counter-obstruct to make as big a fuss as possible.

  104. 104.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Yes, he did. It is, I think, part of the reason that Douglas held on just a little too long before retiring. He didn’t want to give Ford the satisfaction appointing his replacement.

  105. 105.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Renie: I believe that Reince has taken to dropping acid prior to GOP debates.

    ETA: If you were RNC chair, wouldn’t you as well?

  107. 107.

    Steve in the ATL

    @BillinGlendaleCA: You know, I thought about reposting my comment from the last thread, “Did he take the brown acid by mistake? Because there was a PA announcement about that.” but was concerned it was too obscure a reference. Though I would expect a Californian with a 30-year old VW to get it!

  108. 108.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Cacti: Why? If President Obama or a Democratic President elected in November nominates a liberal Justice, why couldn’t a case involving CU be decided the right way?

  109. 109.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jl: Senator Grassley is up for reelection this year. I think it is too late for him to garner a primary challenger, but he was clearly scared of Tea Party challenges to his right in 2010. His entire professional demeanor in the Senate, as well as his committee work/behavior and voting record became far more strident in 2009 going into his 2010 reelection bid. He is going to be under a lot of pressure from Senator McConnell, the GOP caucus, other Republicans and conservatives to not even hold a hearing. At the same time he’s going to get a quiet talking to by Senator Leahy about the appropriate behavior of the Senate Judiciary Committee. And if he does try to block any and all nominations it will become a major issue used by his Democratic challenger. He is going to be a most uncomfortable Senator for the next several months.

  111. 111.

    jl

    IANAL

    As I understand it, thing about Scalia, is that he is not the worst on the Court. I think he was actually good on some issues, like Fourth Amendment and search and seizure, and some privacy issues where his sex hang-ups did not derange him. The GOP has gotten so thuggish, that maybe Scalia’s type of hackery was considered too principled and unreliable towards the end. it was not efficient at producing poltiically-reliable-judicial policy product.

    I haven’t read Greenwald in years, but he did give good advice once, that even non-lawyers should read some of the SCOTUS opinions and try to understand them. So, I have read me some Scalia. And frankly, I don’t get the ‘brilliance’ stuff. He was smart, but so many of his opinions seemed like a mess to IANAL me. I couldn’t see any legal reasoning, any reasoning at all really in them. Some word games to put some ‘textualist’ or ‘orginalist’ sheen on the verbiage that was supposed to be an argument. Some of his national security decisions devolved into rants by a scared old man shitting his pants, IMH IANAL O.

    But from interviews, Scalia certainly seemed to think he was a genius. I read stuff where he mused quizzically on the mystery of exactly what his judicial philosophy was. As if he were Archimedes Newton and Einstein all rolled into one trying to describe the evolution of his genius. And I thought it was sad, since I thought his philosophy and guiding principles were a hopeless confused and wrong hash of nonsense, which was one reason it was actually hard to describe. He was right about that, but didn’t understand why.

    /IANAL

    Edit: which is a problem of non-reactionaries. If the GOP can dictate Scalia’s replacement, we will very probably get something worse.

  112. 112.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Patricia Kayden: It takes years for cases to wend their way through the courts all the way up to SCOTUS. That’s one of the reasons that SCOTUS opinions are frequently a generation behind the current zeitgeist.

  114. 114.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Patricia Kayden: A case would have to rise to the level of the Supreme Court’s attention and then it would have to be granted cert. As far as I know there aren’t any Citizen’s United related cases working through the system right now.

  115. 115.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Cacti: And continue to tick off President Obama’s supporters — the very ones he needs to beat Secretary Clinton.

  116. 116.

    Steve in the ATL

    @jl:

    Some of his national security decisions devolved into rants by a scared old man shitting his pants, IMH IANAL O.

    That is pretty much how every non-GOP hack lawyer feels as well. So you are now an honorary member of the bar! Dues invoice to come.

  119. 119.

    Patricia Kayden

    Alright. I get that it takes time for cases to wind their way up to SCOTUS. Republicans got several cases attacking the ACA to SCOTUS pretty quickly though.

  120. 120.

    Kent

    Well, I hope Obama has someone in mind that will make the Republicans look especially venal this election season. Perhaps a popular Hispanic judge from a swing state or something strategic like that, if one such person exists.

    Unless I miss my guess though, if the Republicans truly decide to run out the clock I can’t imagine them even scheduling confirmation hearings in the first place and all the circus that would entail. Grassley just refuses to even schedule the hearing and then he’s the only one who really has the heat. Of course that would keep Cruz out of the limelight of the confirmation hearing. I can’t imagine what that kind of circus would look like.

  121. 121.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jl: I tried to find the quote online, but I once read somewhere that someone who knows Iowa politics had remarked that Senator Grassley was the finest county commissioner in the US Senate.

  123. 123.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Patricia Kayden: Yes, those are cases specifically designed to get to SCOTUS to change a law in favor of rightwing radicals. Dems don’t seem to play that game; we still believe in bringing knives to gun fights.

  124. 124.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Patricia Kayden: Honestly, to overturn a fairly recent precedent, one really needs to have the perfect fact pattern. Expecting it to happen quickly is likely to lead to dashed hopes.

  125. 125.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Patricia Kayden: There’s a small handful of very wealthy patrons that have been ready to sue over everything the President does. So they bankroll the search for plaintiffs and then they bankroll the litigation all the way. There is a group of attorneys, some affiliated with CATO and other think tanks, some at law schools, who are minarcho-libertarians and anarcho-lbertarians, and they sign on to handle the case work. This is how King V Burwell wound up before the court, even though all five of the plaintiffs actually didn’t have standing to sue. The same donor (sugar daddy?) is bankrolling both the Fisher and Evenwall cases currently before the court. There is nothing similar on the Democratic or left of center or liberal or progressive side of politics in the US.

  129. 129.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Anoniminous:
    Then Sanders is still losing badly. He’s run a damn fine campaign and got closer than anyone would have thought, and probably done great things for the national conversation. But the only hope I could see for him to win was some kind of ‘Sanders is a winner’ narrative influencing polls before Super Tuesday. This poll suggests that’s not happening.

  130. 130.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Why would we have bothered with the Reagan court?

    No sense in pushing for a Supreme Court precedent that fucks you over. Better no decision than the wrong one in many cases.

  131. 131.

    seaboogie

    @TaMara (BHF):

    Just who is this Adam L. Silverman?

    I’m with you on this. What I don’t know about comic book super heroes is everything, but your question makes me think of Adam as sort of a Jewish Batman. And his Bat signal is a noodle kugel, which looks kind of brainy.

    Adam – how did Cole find you?

  132. 132.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: And even then, such as the ongoing working themselves into a tizzy tonight because the 2nd Amendment is in peril crowd, overturning the case may not change much. In the case of Heller, if a future Supreme Court reverses it, all that happens is it goes back to the status quo pre Heller: there is no explicit right to keep and bear arms outside of the militia context, but there is an implicit one. And the Federal, state, and local government all have the right to reasonably regulate firearms. To the 2nd Amendment maximalists/absolutists this is a tremendously horrible possible outcome, but by and large all it does is, at the Federal level, go back to how things were in 2008. So concealed carry in DC probably goes back off the table, not that DC is actually complying with Heller anyway, and has to be relitigated. And the attempts to get shall issue recognized in California with the two cases before the 9th Circuit probably result in shall issue is on the books, but may issue is how its interpreted. This is what it is now anyway. I would expect that this would wipe out the McDonald ruling as well. For most Americans, even gun owners, these reversals won’t make any difference. If you’re a DC or Chicago resident or a resident in one of the counties in California where the sheriff uses may issue, and you’ve tried to get a permit and can’t, then its going to suck. But its not the end of the Republic.

  133. 133.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Frankensteinbeck: Because, as we’ve seen with the Roberts court, even dissents and simply footnotes get recycled and used to establish Constitutional principles in later cases.

  134. 134.

    jl

    @Anoniminous: After another very close race in NV, Sanders is going hit some rough patches in the South. I think he will stay in since he might get quite a few delegate in some big states like CA and NJ, and I think if he has enough delegates to push the Democratic platform and nominee his way, he will stay in through the convention.

    If Sanders gets a big setback on Super Tuesday, and that shoots down the Bloomberg BS, then no reason for him not to push HRC as far left as he can. Edit: and no reason for HRC not to let him do that if to her electoral advantage, if no Bloomberg.

  136. 136.

    Anoniminous

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Define “winning.” :-)

    Sanders has said many times he is in it for the long haul with his presidential run being the start of creating a mass political movement of the Center-Left. (That’s in my own words.) If the “win” is getting the nomination there was never a ghost of a chance of that. IF the “win” is creating the structure and membership of a national Center-Left organization he has been stunningly successful.

  138. 138.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jl: More seriously, I think this is another example of a tremendous asymmetry between the two parties and those right versus left of center. Just as has been observed about the seeming inability of the Democratic Party to turn out voters in midterms, let alone build the same kind of state and local party apparatus as the GOP has, we seem the same difference in the use of the courts. The parties, and the people the represent, have two very different visions not only of what the country is/should be and how it should be run, but also how to utilize and manipulate all the levers of power to achieve their policy goals.

  139. 139.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: This is often argued by the 2nd Amendment maximalists. That neither side on the court is willing to risk either a further loss (the left of center justices) or a reversal of recent wins like Heller and McDonald (the right of center justices) by taking a 2nd Amendment case that would place the outcome in the hands of Associate Justice Kennedy – who cannot be trusted. They also don’t trust Chief Justice Roberts. Some think he’s being blackmailed by President Obama, others think he’s just a progressive/socialist/communist/fascist plant.

  140. 140.

    Anoniminous

    @jl:

    See my comment at #143

    Sanders has no reason to stop running. Every state he goes to grows his organization.

  141. 141.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Some thin[k] he’s being blackmailed by President Obama, others think he’s just a progressive/socialist/communist/fascist plant.

    I’m assuming these are people who ingested too much lead as children?

  143. 143.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Anoniminous:

    He’s been a great protest candidate with a powerful message, but he’s a 74 year old guy who can’t do this without the Establishment’s help. That’s what it’s going to take to make true, real progress. We’ve got a tremendous opportunity here to solidify all the gains because of Obama’s hard work, then we need to all work together to take them further, and make them more permanent through legislation after we flip the House in 2020.. Obama basically can hand over a turnkey operation, to either Bernie or Hillary, but I think we need a wonk more than a shouty old white guy.

  146. 146.

    p.a.

    @Adam L Silverman: I don’t know how much union $ flowed to the Dems back in their heyday, but part of the reason for the right’s attack on unions wasn’t just philosophical, but the need to cut off a Dem $ source. The tactic is successful, but not complete. The Dems found other sources, most particularly financial institutions and ‘Wall St’. It’s why economically there has been a Republican economic policy opposed by a Republican-lite economic policy.

    NAFTA. CAFTA. TPP. The ‘reformed’ welfare system.

  147. 147.

    sharl

    Git em, Frank!

    John Whitehouse @existentialfish

    Frank Luntz: kids are using socialism to get sex

    ~
    The Youngs crave the kind of guidance and wisdom only YOU can provide, now that Justice Vaffanculo is no longer with us.

  148. 148.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Adam L Silverman: Rosa Parks was chosen for a reason. On another level, I was once contacted and interviewed a guy who was in prison and was given certain drugs to treat a condition he had. Because of the drugs, he was kind of out of it and was raped.* We declined the case because once he reported what happened the authorities moved him out general pop, and the problem ended, under Ohio law, there wasn’t a case. However, even if we had a shot, it wasn’t with this person. Guess why he was in prison. That’s right; he was convicted of rape. No chance of a jury win.

    *This was wrong. No one deserves that.

  150. 150.

    Steve in the ATL

    @p.a.: That is the same reason they push tort “reform”–trial lawyers give more money to Dems than unions. These guys are smart and devious and play a long game.

  151. 151.

    jl

    @Anoniminous: If HRC and Sanders keep it civil and issues-based, I think that is a good thing.

    I’m a Sanders supporter but lately have had misgivings about his approach. I think he has gotten most of the people he will get in his stump-speech mode and should move into more explaining and persuading mode to reach more conservative Democratic populations. But if, as he says. his political revolution is just as important as his presidential ambitions, his approach makes more sense.

    I’m too cynical about politics to take any pol at face value. But, assuming that Sanders is not a standard egomaniac A-hole consumed with ambition (and I mean that in just the very best way, for the Democratic ones), then he as figured out a nice win-win deal for himself, if events favor the Democrats.

    Win nomination and then elected President, or go back to Dem majority Senate leading a large popular movement. He has repeated ad nauseam that if a politician can build a mass poltiical movement, it should be maintained, grown larger as much as possible, and used like a brickbat to achieve political goals.

    So, I think he will take this very far into the primary, probably into the convention, and beyond if he can keep it going.

  153. 153.

    Adam L Silverman

    @seaboogie: I found Cole. Sometime back in 2007 or so I found a link here and started reading off and on. When I was in Iraq in 2008, I was working off the Forward Operating Base down with our Armor Battalion (1/35 Armor; Task Force Iron Knights) out of Combat Outpost (COP) Cashe South. I was over there doing engagements and interviews with sheikhs and imams, doing some work with the Civil Affairs team assigned to Knights, and assisting the Battalion folks. One evening after I was done for the day, back on base, showered, and fed I was crashing in my quarters and surfing the Internet. I swung by here and saw a post by Cole where he linked to a WSJ article that had just published a profile of a junior NCO in Aggressor Company 1/35 Armor. He was the company pay master in dealing with contracting funds for local reconstruction projects. As such he always went off base in a sterile uniform (no name strip or rank insignia) and a mask. As the money guy he was a natural target. The WSJ article had a description of what he did – being the money guy, with a picture of him and his full rank and name. I immediately took a screenshot to my laptop’s desktop, went running out of my hooch, and into the tactical ops center and grabbed the XO. We then had to get on the horn to the brigade folks, and as this NCO, his company, the Battalion Commander, as well as several other companies and the Brigade Commander had gone on a named op to clear out some bad guys (that turned out not to be there) in another part of Multinational Division-Central, word had to be reached to get to this guy and safeguard him. And to get the reporter, yank his country clearance, and get him out of the operating environment (OE) and the country.

    Cole, and my reading his post, allowed us to make sure this Soldier was safe. And since I’m the one who the reporter was supposedly coming to interview and embed with my team, I felt responsible. He was a friend of the Director of Social Science at my higher headquarters. She had approached me about having him embed as she knew an embed with my team would lead to a positive, or at least not a negative story. We helped get him in and to the brigade. We set up several away missions for him to ride along and observe. As soon as he got to the FOB and found out about the named operation, he upped stakes and convinced the PAO to allow him to cover that. So I was partially responsible for setting the events in motion that put this Soldier at risk. And Cole’s post was responsible for tipping me off that the WSJ reporter had screwed up, abused his hospitality, and put a Soldier in danger with his reporting. I emailed Cole and let him know that Balloon Juice helped protect a US Soldier in Iraq. And that was our first contact.

  154. 154.

    Mike J

    Jake Flores ‏@feraljokes 9h9 hours ago
    i’m starting to think that this is the last season of America and the writers are just going nuts

  155. 155.

    Anoniminous

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    He’s not going to get the nomination. Clinton already has the Super Delegates locked and by the time she buzzes through the South and Inter-Mountain West she’ll have enough primary/caucus assigned delegates to do the job.

  157. 157.

    Kropadope

    @Anoniminous: From what I can see, he is arguing that this Revolution at the ballot box needs to happen, even if he’s not necessarily the one leading it. Simply put, people need to be engaged.

    What he said about Obama in that interview the other day, which he got slammed for but I think is very sensible, is that Obama ran on this theme in 2008 and while he made some progress getting people involved, it didn’t get us far enough and people need to be involved in a more sustained way. He said there needs to be leadership on this that isn’t present currently. Yes, that means Obama, but that also means much of the Democratic Party, and even Bernie himself.

  158. 158.

    David *Rafael* Koch

    I hope people realize it is Clinton who is pushing Sanders to the left on social issue.

    If he wasn’t for her, he would still be humping the NRA, shouting down black activists, denouncing immigration reform and planned parenthood and attacking President Obama (oh wait, he’s still doing the last one).

    Not lets make a saint out of the guy who joined Trump in 2012 in calling for the ouster of the first Black President.

  160. 160.

    Cacti

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Why? If President Obama or a Democratic President elected in November nominates a liberal Justice, why couldn’t a case involving CU be decided the right way?

    Actual case or controversy requirement. SCOTUS doesn’t issue advisory opinions or overturn existing precedent sua sponte (on its own motion).

    There will need to be new campaign finance legislation contrary to the Citizens United ruling, and legal challenges to it will have to wind their way up through the Federal Court system. The process of percolating from the District Court to the SCOTUS level typically takes years.

  161. 161.

    Adam L Silverman

    @p.a.: You are absolutely correct. Its why the attempt to shut down ACORN and now NAF and Planned Parenthood too. Destroy the supporters and their funding sources.

  162. 162.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m tracking. And that case sounds horrid, in more ways than one. But right now the only folks with a strategy to use the courts seems to be the right of center/conservatives/GOP. Though the NAF and PP have been very good in using the courts to respond to the Daleiden crap.

  163. 163.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Adam L Silverman: That seems to omit the 16th amendment (which expressly authorizes the federal income tax) and includes a whole lot of things that aren’t actually in the Constitution. Much like the Bible that right wingers use. I always tell people that you can’t be a Christian and a Republican and they look at me like I’m the lead victim because they can’t or won’t recognize the utter disconnect between what the Bible says to do and what the Republican party does. Why it’s almost made me cynical!

  165. 165.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    I hope people realize it is Clinton who is pushing Sanders to the left on social issue.

    If he wasn’t for her, he would still be humping the NRA, shouting down black activists, denouncing immigration reform and planned parenthood and attacking President Obama (oh wait, he’s still doing the last one).

    Not lets make a saint out of the guy who joined Trump in 2012 in calling for the ouster of the first Black President.

  168. 168.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Steve in the ATL: People believe what they want to believe. Ever notice that everyone that says god told them to do something, whatever it was, it was the thing they wanted to do anyway? God never tells them not to do it.

  170. 170.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Anoniminous:

    It seems so. I just hope that Sanders supporters understand that if Bernie had thought this through a little bit more, he’d have planned for this contingency, like Obama did to beat the Clintons. Obama gamed it all out ahead of time, and because he was a real Democrat, he had way more to bargain with,plus rock star charisma. Process and groundrules matter if you really want to win, but the most important thing is the network of Democrats who you can count on to show up at every meeting, convention, etc., They’re the ones that have had Obama’s back the whole time, like Nancy Pelosi. Remember when the Congress got things done? It was because there was a very small window in Obama’s first term that allowed those two Establishment figures to pass the most progressive legislation of our lifetimes, expanding the rights of women, minorities, same sex. We can’t let all that hard work just be torn up by the roots. The FDR all you progressives keep whining that you want is right under your nose, but you refuse to acknowledge it. I wonder why that is? Actually, no, I don’t.

  171. 171.

    Anoniminous

    @jl:

    I’ve never met the man so WTF do I know. People who I know who have known Senator Sanders for 30+ years tell me what you see is what you get.

    People who make a Big Deal out of his cranky white haired uncle persona don’t know where he came from. If they’d ever seen two conservative/orthodox Jews arguing Torah … all would become clear.

  172. 172.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Russell Drew ‏@RussOnPolitics

    Marco Rubio’s “I am more Latino than you cos you don’t speak Spanish” fight with @TedCruz was classic.

    Who Else? ‏@TheRoyalHe

    Does booing someone when they said that they lost friends during the Twin Towers on 9/11 earn you a special place in Hell?

    Bonfire Designs ‏@Bonfiredesigns

    Polls tonight show #GOPDebate that @JebBush major defeat. Maybe his Mom Should Run Instead

  173. 173.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Adam L Silverman: They have that strategy because they have a Court where they might win. In the 50s and 60s, we used it because we had a Court where we might win. N’est-ce pas?

  174. 174.

    jl

    @David *Rafael* Koch: Take some deep breaths, settle down.

    The old coot isn’t any saint, that is for sure.
    If I did the bad thing this time, my apologies for using ‘left’ in a stereotypical way without all the qualifiers, exceptions and explications. ‘Economic left’: how is that? Except neither of them are all that ‘left’ except in the current reactionary US political scene.

    Both Sanders and HRC have substantial problems, neither one of them matches Obama in political skill. One of them has to win the general election and the other stuff is trivial compared to that.

  175. 175.

    Adam L Silverman

    @amk: It is what it is. I honestly think that comment threads like those may actually be good. They serve as a catharsis for folks to get it out of their system instead of occupying wildlife refuges or something worse. And not everyone in that comment thread is way out there. Some are just expressing condolences and fears regarding the status of what they feel is the most important political issue in the US. And some of them are just nuts. There’s a guy that’s in there that winds up in all caps and frequently cites the manifesto he’s writing/written. That never ends well…

    I’ll give the publisher, his editors, and his writers credit though: other than obvious personal attacks and flames, they let the commenters comment. He did a post at the beginning of the week about Nugent posting the anti-Semitic material and at least half the comments were, themselves, anti-Semitic. Given that the publisher is Jewish and the child of Holocaust survivors, at least two of the editors/regular authors are Jewish, and two of the regular gun reviewers are also Jewish, they allowed a lot of ugly to be posted in the name of freedom of expression.

  177. 177.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Drudge Poll – Who won the debate?

    TRUMP…………..57.71%

    CRUZ…………….20.37%

    RUBIO……………11.80%

    KASICH……………4.63%

    ¿JEB?……………..2.96%◄ (Ooooof)

    CARSON………….2.52%

    Total Votes: 213,171

  178. 178.

    Kropadope

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    I just hope that Sanders supporters understand that if Bernie had thought this through a little bit more, he’d have planned for this contingency, like Obama did to beat the Clintons.

    Early in the 2008 race it seemed like Hillary had a prohibitive lead on superdelgates too. They can change their mind at any time and likely will if Bernie ultimately outperforms Hillary in the actual elections. the superdelegate things is way overblown by some partisans of both Bernie and Hillary.

  179. 179.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Ever notice that everyone that says god told them to do something, whatever it was, it was the thing they wanted to do anyway?

    I was pretty pumped when God told me to open another bottle of wine then look at pr0n for a few hours.

    I’m not very religious though, so I opened a bottle of wine and got on Balloon Juice instead. Please pray for my soul.

  180. 180.

    sharl

    @lgerard:

    Jesus, that is stupid, even for Luntz

    ~
    It is stupid, but it might just work to rile up some of the Faux News-watching base, especially the Olds. Those of us laughing at him about this aren’t his target audience for that sex…..socialism nonsense. People who are already ignorant, afraid and angry – they’re the marks.

  182. 182.

    Cacti

    Speaking of the late Justice Scalia…

    It brings me satisfaction that he died knowing that his efforts to keep homosexuals as second class citizens had failed completely.

  183. 183.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Renie: I have a friend from aikido in New York. I outrank him by a couple, he’s a top economics/business reporter at WSJ. Real good guy. When I got back I told him what happened. He didn’t want to speak ill of a colleague, which I respect, and sort of shrugged it off as reporters are going to follow what they think is the biggest story. He thought I was upset that the story on my team didn’t get written. I explained to him that the problem wasn’t that, though I would’ve liked my teammates to have gotten some good press (and we did in a couple of other articles done by others), but that he put a Soldier’s life at risk. To drive the point home I detailed for him what I wanted to do to this other reporter if I ever saw him again and I asked him to inform the reporter that if he ever sees me he needs to move very quickly in a different direction.

  184. 184.

    jl

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    ” Bernie had thought this through a little bit more ”

    He says he did think it through and did not want to go that direction. He wants to lead his own grass roots movement, for better or worse. I don’t see the problem with it. He’s done unprecedented things in grass roots fundraising. So far I think the Democratic primary has been beneficial for the general.

    Instead of HRCers and Sandersites shitting all over each other, why not look at the positives, and hope that things keep going in a good direction.

    I only saw the first foul minutes of the GOP, but I read at least two GOPers, Trump and Carson(?) where blasting away inside a GOP debate, slamming W for his incompetence and malfeasance before 9/11 and the Iraq invasion.

    I would rather be us right now.

  190. 190.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steve in the ATL: Wine: good decision. Balloon Juice v. Pr0n? I am not sure you made the right choice.*

    *Not being judgmental. Balloon Juice can be, well, less than sucky (in a non-pr0nny sense).

  191. 191.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Kropadope:

    Exactly, but the default position is always always always going to be that Hillary just has to be cheating when actually what she’s doing is playing a better hand. And she’s just as devoted to making things better as Bernie. We have an historic opportunity here. Let’s figure this out.

  192. 192.

    jl

    Josh Marshall on GOP obstructing an Obama SCOTUS nomination for rest of his term:

    Thoughts on Justice Scalia’s Passing

    ” That would be wildly out bounds of all precedent and past practice. ”

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/thoughts-on-justice-scalia-s-passing

    I tend to trust Marshall on the history stuff, since I think his PhD is in US history.

    Edit: I suppose the media will bug Democrats about why their are so intent on being totalitarian a-holes by wanting Obama’s nominee to be considered rather than just sit there while the GOP obstructs and smears them. Why are the Dems being so uncivil?

  194. 194.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Kropadope: I agree with those aims; however Democrats only seem to be attracted to shinny personalities at the Presidential level, where Republicans seem to be attracted to shinny issues. This focus on shinny issues allows Republicans to GOTV in midterms as well as providing a bench(while crazy but large in quantity) at lower levels of government.

    ETA: Also, I think Republicans concentrate on a smaller set of issues than do Democrats. I think this narrowing helps quite a bit.

  195. 195.

    Anoniminous

    @Kropadope:

    There’s a YouTube with really good summary of Sanders defining what he means by “political revolution.” Thought I had it bookmarked but didn’t and now I can’t find the damn thing. IIRC, what he said was it was an active and mass movement for political change such as getting people out to vote in the midterms and making sure they had someone worth voting for running in the midterms.

    I don’t know what Sanders is going to be doing 11/3/16. My hope is he will follow through and ‘flip’ Sanders For President into a permanent organization. Goddess knows we need something to push back against the looting of our country and the world by the 1%.

  196. 196.

    Adam L Silverman

    @amk: sure, that too. In the specific case a lot of comments completely devolved into Zionist conspiracy, the Holocaust was a hoax, the Talmudic conspiracy, Cultural Marxism and the Frankfurt School, German Jews brought it on themselves for being disarmed, things like that. Can’t imagine the son of Holocaust survivor enjoyed any of that in his comments.
    http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2016/02/robert-farago/incendiary-image-of-the-day-ted-nuggets-anti-semitic-facebook-post-edition/

  198. 198.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jl: They worked the refs when President Obama tried to fill the vacancies on the DC Court of Appeals. The argument is that filling long open vacancies was actually packing the court above the number of justices it needed. This was actually taken seriously by news reporters and pundits. And all despite Chief Justice Roberts routinely and repeatedly calling for the Senate to move on the unfilled judicial vacancies that were slowing the entire system down.

  200. 200.

    jl

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: I think Sanders is going to get thumped in some upcoming medium and larger state primaries. The upside is that it will put the garbage about ‘HRC campaign in crisis’ to sleep for awhile. We will also begin to find out what Sanders is really up to.

    Again, looking on the bright side, we do seem to have two competent politicians and leaders running this time. Unlike another party I could mention.

    I’m not sure comparing primary turnout is easy, since there is the Trump Factor. Trump, like Obama, is a political and media phenomenon that brings out new people in the primary. But that is about the only way Trump is like Obama at all, so not sure how much it means for the general election.

    Maybe that old coot Sanders should think of some ways to get more free media. Not sure what he could do to get that, since I think clear the media would prefer to avoid many of the issues he raises.

  203. 203.

    Adam L Silverman

    @seaboogie: You’re welcome. Probably embarrassed Cole if he’s paying attention. But that’s how I first contacted him. I’d email him occasionally if something posted was way off dealing with Iraq or something, which ultimately led to him asking me to adapt the email to a guest post. This eventually led to the invite to the front page.

  204. 204.

    Steve in the ATL

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I think Republicans concentrate on a smaller set of issues than do Democrats. I think this narrowing helps quite a bit.

    Republicans are also a lot stupider, and that helps quite a bit.

  205. 205.

    jl

    @Adam L Silverman: I know. I heard McConnel,l and the slimeballs during the first few minutes of the GOP debate, working the refs, and by their own standard, ‘politicizing’ the death of one of their beloved heroes before his body was cold today. Disgusting, laughable, and disturbing.

    Edit: also disturbing is that open smears of Obama seem to be quite A-OK, if a GOPer presidential candidate does it. And it doesn’t seem to awaken any of he media jackasses’ usual concern about ‘civility’. The supposed moderate Kasich joined Rubio in smearing Obama.

  208. 208.

    seaboogie

    @Omnes Omnibus: Non, je l’ai ecrit, plus tot. Mais c’est un plaisir de faire un peu de “parlez-vous-ing” parmi ceux ici qui “sprechen sie Deutch” pour la plupart. Bonne Nuit!

  210. 210.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    On an emotional level, I can see Trump’s appeal.

    Watching him tear Dubya apart tonight, calling him a liar, saying he should have been impeached for the war — that fires off all my synapses.

  211. 211.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Adam L Silverman:

    My French is largely Wallonian.

    Oh wow I don’t know how many French-speaking Belgians we have here at BJ, but they are all pissed at you now. Walloon is not French, mon frere. I was told that many times that summer I spent in Brussels studying EEC (or CEE!) law at EEC (or CEE!) HQ. Not sure why they thought it was important to tell me that since I spoke no Walloon and was not from NE Wisconsin.

  215. 215.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jl: Senator McConnell is a good bureaucratic and institutional fighter, but in a heads up match against Senator Reid, I’ll take the latter. He’s demonstrated time and again that he’s already slid the knife in before anyone even knew it had been drawn. Compared to Senator Reid, Senator McConnell is loud, clumsy, and obvious. And, remember, because of the Senate’s own internal rules it is always easier to obstruct in the minority than govern in the majority. Senator Reid can hold the entire chamber hostage – no vacations, no going home to campaign, no adjournments, nothing. And that’s just the obvious stuff. Senator McConnell will posture, but in the end, unless he intends to not only create an actual Constitutional crisis, but also break the Senate for good, there will be movement on a nomination. I could be wrong, and I may well be, but now all we can do is wait and see what happens.

  216. 216.

    Steve in the ATL

    @seaboogie: When I was living in France, everyone told me “va-te faire foutre!” I think that means “have a nice day, American friend!”

  217. 217.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: My original aikido senseis were from just outside Brussells. I’d travel over from Scotland on my between term holidays, stay with them for three or four weeks, do aikido, use their place as a base to travel from, etc. So I picked up a bit of Belgian/Walloonian French while doing that.

  218. 218.

    GregB

    Adam. That gun lover blog had some feller writing that barring evidence to the contrary, Scalia’s death should be treated as a murder.

  219. 219.

    jl

    @BillinGlendaleCA: I’m afraid to attend one. They are usually at restaurants or bars. Maybe if I could be assured there would be no knives or lethally heavy beer mugs within reach. No telling when things will get out of control.

  221. 221.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Adam L Silverman:

    because of the Senate’s own internal rules it is always easier to obstruct in the minority than govern in the majority

    You always offer great insight

  224. 224.

    Adam L Silverman

    @amk: The comment threads over there are an interesting set of related, and occasionally not so related, subcultures. There a microcosm of different components of right of center American politics, religious, social, and economic views.

  227. 227.

    seaboogie

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Probably embarrassed Cole if he’s paying attention

    Doubt it. And Cole seems to have a special genius for throwing a party at his house while he repairs to the den with the critters and does his own thing – both literally (once that he posted) and figuratively, via the blog.

    Also, I would add that there is a strong thread of analysis, accountability, and integrity that you and Cole both share – tho’ Cole is a righteous ranty civilian now. Helps me to understand why our military is so strong.

  229. 229.

    Adam L Silverman

    @GregB: They had several. I would guess that a lot of Conservative websites and blogs and forums have similar postings. I’m also sure that someone on talk radio will suggest it sometime over the next week.

  230. 230.

    jl

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks. I don’t follow Senate and don’t understand the arcane procedure enough to know for sure.

    I do think McConnell is an empty husk of cynicism and love-of-power and doesn’t really give a shit as long as he can get by and keep his pile neat and in order. Reid has some actual principles, I think, and will take some risks to get something done.

    Seems to me Obama has two choices (I assume that Obama has sufficient self-respect to nominate someone objectively very qualified and with right philosophy). Knowingly nominate someone who is too ‘ideal’, though still ideologically and professionally unobjectionable to have a chance, and use GOP obstruction as a tool to gin up Democratic furor for the election. Or nominate someone who is just enough acceptable to GOP to get through if Reid and Obama make things difficult enough. Maybe someone just barely acceptable to McConnell on corporate finance or power issues.

    I’m betting that McConnell doesn’t really give a shit about much, really, other than his own nest for the next few years, and if Obama can give him something that will allow that to be feathered, McConnell will figure out a way to fight his way tenaciously to defeat (like he has, sometimes notoriously, before).

  234. 234.

    Adam L Silverman

    @seaboogie: Thanks, though I’m a civilian and always have been. First I was a contractor because the program that sent me to Iraq was a proof of concept/experiment and could only bring people on as contractors and then as a term limited Army civilian under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act. Though one of the best compliments I’ve ever received was from a Corps Commander (3 star general) I was serving as cultural advisor (temporary assigned control). At an award ceremony, as he was giving me my award, he remarked that I embodied the Army values and was a consummate professional.

  235. 235.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Adam L Silverman:

    At an award ceremony, as he was giving me my award, he remarked that I embodied the Army values and was a consummate professional.

    I can’t top that, but a well known musician in the southeast once called me a “righteous cat.”

  237. 237.

    Adam L Silverman

    @amk: @jl: There was and is a lot of that in that comment thread. But there was also a lot of people jumping in and calling people out on it. It is what it is. These are our neighbors and fellow citizens. Some of them are our friends. We can either try to find a way to at least tolerate what they believe or we can decide that they aren’t really American and their views are anti-American. I see a lot of that directed at others in those comments threads and I’m not sure that’s something to be emulated.

  238. 238.

    jl

    @Adam L Silverman:

    ” embodied the Army values and was a consummate professional. ”

    Nice to work in a field where that is a compliment. My second job after BA and before grad school, I worked in corporate financial consulting. There, similar language would be considered some kind of double entendre snark, and if boss addressed me that way, I would watch my back. Maybe get my resume out and around.

  239. 239.

    seaboogie

    @Adam L Silverman: I learn, and I learn more. Your method of communication and the context felt military to me, and I learn that there are layers and more layers. Arigato, Sensei….

  240. 240.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Steve in the ATL: When I was an undergrad at Emory I worked with two of the guys in the Sleepwalkers. Jeremy Richman (who’s dad was a German professor at Emory) and Ruben Anderson. Since I had a van, and a lot of muscle, I became the road manager for the band. I got to see some great gigs for free. It was a fun couple of years. At some point I need to get the demo tape with the dozen or so songs on it and convert it to a CD (of course I’ve got to get it out of storage…).

  244. 244.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Adam L Silverman: Very cool. When we have that Atlanta area BJ meet up, I’ll tell you about the times I represented Queen Latifah’s entourage and the drummer from Lynyrd Skynrd.

    Actually, the name drops are more interesting than the stories….

  245. 245.

    Adam L Silverman

    Damen und Herren,

    You’ve been lovely, but its time for me to rack out. I can see in the dashboard that Anne Laurie is busy preparing your next thread, so I will bid you all a good night and leave you in her capable hands.

  246. 246.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Steve in the ATL: I very casually know the Indigo Girls. As Emory grads they would come into Jaggers (not sure what its called now) where I worked to get wings every now and then. And by casually as in someone introduced me as a current Emory student to them, I said hello and nodded, and then went back to work.

  247. 247.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Adam L Silverman: Some of the Belgian comments are quite accurate–they did invent French fries and their beer is excellent. But then I see this stuff and I think no way is that a real language. That is a drunk housecat walking on a keyboard.

    Inderdaad. Het zal een hoop bestuurlijke chaos oplossen. Vlaanderen torst nu bovendien het gewicht van het (naar mijn mening) arme, zelfs onderontwikkelde Wallonië mee. Maar ik vraag me af of de Walen (Walloniërs? Wallonen? Geen idee) het zelf wel redden. Dat is mijn enige twijfel.

    Wat te doen met Brussel? Dat zou misschien Europees grondgebied kunnen worden.

  252. 252.

    trollhattan

    @GregB:
    Authorities are already holding two suspects for questioning–Age and Obesity–and have issued a warrant for General Assholery.

    They’ll get to the bottom of this Scalia “killing”–it’s Texas, y’all.

  253. 253.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    NYT is so thoroughly cowed. They express shock this President would do what every prior President has done with an open seat.

    If he did the opposite and said he would let the seat remain open for a year and allow the court to become dysfunctional with endless ties, they would attack him.

    Obama to Nominate Scalia Replacement Over Republicans’ Objections
    By MARK LANDLER 9:22 PM ET

    With Democrats and the independents who caucus with them holding 46 seats in the Senate, President Obama faces a challenge in getting to the simple majority needed to confirm a nominee.

  256. 256.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Amir Khalid:

    That’s a Germanic language for sure, very much like Dutch. Is it Flemish?

    Hell if I know! I thought it was Dutch, but it could be Flemish or some other off-brand language they use in the low countries. That was about the point where I’d ask if they spoke English or French. And in that area, they would much rather speak in English than French!

  257. 257.

    redshirt

    @amk: I wonder if they had a “death board” with a matrix of Judges and their likelihood of dying, with possible replacements and political issues.

  266. 266.

    EZSmirkzz

    @Adam L Silverman: Sorry for the delay, but early to bed, early to rise has become easier with the years. Healthy, wealthy and wise, not so much. I am in the position of thanking you and him along with a dozen others for the high value work you provide to the public at no cost to us. A low information voter in these times really is the hallmark of lazy mind.

  267. 267.

    infovore

    @Steve in the ATL: Flemish is a dialect of Dutch. The quoted comment is probably by a Flemish speaker. But I base that judgement on minor stylistic quirks, and it is perfectly understandable by someone who speaks Dutch (or rather, who reads it, in this case).

    A preference for English over French when talking to people who don’t speak Flemish is not unusual in some areas of Flanders: there’s history and politics behind that, of course.

  268. 268.

    Applejinx

    @srv: Yep! That’s my prescription, and I see I’m not alone in it.

    Also note that this is an argument for pushing hard for liberalism, not triangulating. We let OBAMA be the ‘reasonable’ one and force the Republicans to nominate his pick or get stuck with radical muslims all the way down :)

  269. 269.

    Applejinx

    @srv: Wow, you’re not kidding. The Republicans literally could not do better than this guy but it’d force them to take a Justice who’ll be sworn in on a Hindu holy book. He did do pro bono work for Al Gore. I’d have preferred him to be arguing AGAINST Skilling, but lawyers gotta lawyer I guess.

    We live in very, very interesting times.

    Last chance to nominate a justice that ever argued in favor of a thing like Enron, for generations and generations, Republicans! Come and get it if you know what’s good for you, this is the only deal you’re ever likely to get!

  270. 270.

    Applejinx

    @Cacti: GOOD. Let him. The point is that the Republicans should confirm Obama’s appointment because they’re afraid either Hillary or Bernie would nominate someone even worse (for them), so both Bernie and Hillary should make noise that they want someone more liberal, and vow that they’ll push for a still more liberal Justice than Obama’s putting forth.

    They (one of ’em) may yet get a chance to appoint another Justice, so this is go-for-broke time and the point is to get a reasonable but non-wingnut Justice in there now while we can have Obama doing it.

  271. 271.

    Applejinx

    @jl: Absolutely. If Bernie cannot succeed against the DNC and their superdelegates and all that sort of thing, those of us who worked for him expect him to maintain us as an organization.

    We can coordinate to win things like midterms which the DNC obviously is not interested in caring about, and we will communicate to voters. I would humbly suggest that the people setting out to do this should BECOME the DNC and set the direction much like the RNC is itself being reinvented through grassroots politics, but you don’t get to have us go away.

    Depending on how things go, I think it might be a damn good thing that Bernie (by the accounts of Clinton supporters) is not dumping money and energy into party-line Dem races. Firstly, this isn’t going to be a machine election. Secondly, if we win but especially if we lose the primary, we’re gonna need that money.

    ‘cos we won’t be done. The DNC always fails midterms and everything other than celebrity politics. That is just plain not acceptable anymore as things stand.

  272. 272.

    Applejinx

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: That would be great. I foresee a sort of weird coalition: win or lose, Bernie’s people have become a distinct group on the hard left. If so many people in Iowa of all places wanted to call themselves Socialists, I have no objection to holding that banner: our turn to define what it means.

    From everything I’ve seen, I think a DNC and Democratic Party can count on total, committed, activist-grassroots support from this new Socialist Party… just as long as they don’t completely screw things up and tack hard right in search of some corporate-friendly ‘center’ that’s just money talking.

    And all their promises are that they’re listening and would never do that, so we’re all on the same page unless the DNC, Debbie Wasserman Schulz etc. are just lying. All they have to do is not lie and do what their constituency actually wants, and the coalition is unstoppable. This is just politics, might not always be easy but it’s very very simple.

    It does look as though there will be no subsuming of the Sanders bloc into the Democrats to become ‘business as usual’, though. If anything, it’s the Dems who are likely to go to sleep on mattresses of lobbyist cash as soon as the election is over.

    That is much less good than Sanders winning, but it will motivate us to stay connected and focussed, because to the DNC we will have done our lever-pulling job and become beneath notice again. The way will be clear for more grassroots organizing, and we all know we have to do better than the Dems in midterms.

  273. 273.

    Applejinx

    @jl: This! Both camps are incredibly competent in their own ways. That gives me hope for the future. I’d like to see the future of America become a wrangle between centrist (and socially liberal) and left. We can work with that, and it’s representative of the country so it’s fair that there should be a wrangle. Screw the right wing, it’s taken them decades of brainwashing to get to where they are, and the truth hurts.

  274. 274.

    Frans

    @infovore: As a native Dutch speaker I tentatively identified the quote as Dutch as spoken in the Netherlands. This can be difficult, since Flemish has adopted de grammar and spelling rules of Dutch, and therefore is Dutch, and not a dialect. The tell is that a Vlaming would know what to call a Waal. And if you look at the Youtube comments more carefully you can see that the quoted commenter indeed self-identified as Dutch in another comment.

  275. 275.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @MomSense:

    When your mission is to remain pure from any taint of compromise of principles or morals, then getting things done means others have to do the dirty work, leaving you free to continue to sneer at the unclean.

  276. 276.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Frans: @infovore

    Did not know all that, except for the part about speaking English over French being a cultural and political choice. people were not subtle about that.

    Is there any topic in the world on which BJ does not have a resident expert or two? It’s like the anti-Red State!

  277. 277.

    J R in WV

    @Adam L Silverman:

    You were pretty lucky with your email to Cole… he doesn’t read all of them.

    I guess with your .mil addr you probably popped to the top of his to-read list, all a good thing.

    Thanks for accepting Cole’s offer of a front-page position! It’s so great to see a blog started by a WV country boy gain real deep understanding of complex issues, and sharing that deep understanding with all of us humble bloggosphere commenters.

  278. 278.

    J R in WV

    @GregB:

    It is logically and formally impossible to prove a negative. This is why we have the presumption of innocence in the constitution, the founding fathers most all knew formal logic from a study of philosophy.

    So for a “People of the Gun” loon to require proof that Fat Tony was NOT murdered shows his lack of understanding of American founding documents, a lack of knowledge of the American legal system, and general ignorance of important things about reality.

    It is impossible to prove that Tony was NOT murdered, you can only show that there is substantial evidence that his death was from natural causes, and that there is no evidence that someone murdered him. None of that proves he wasn’t murdered.

    I know I’m posting to a dead thread, but so what…

  281. 281.

    Matt

    The Democrat nominee should promise to nominate Obama for Supreme Court should the seat still be vacant. Would be great for turnout, I bet.

  282. 282.

    Bill Arnold

    @Adam L Silverman:

    …it starts with comment #1 and just keeps going

    Oy. Some of them can’t handle the Truth. :-) That sometimes, old hearts just stop, for no obviously apparent reason. That this was in a bunker (hunting resort) in enemy territory (Texas) for liberals.
    They will need to concoct their own conspiracy theories though; won’t do that for them.

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