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You are here: Home / Politics / Activist Judges! / President Obama Pranks the GOP (SCOTUS/Sandoval Edition)

President Obama Pranks the GOP (SCOTUS/Sandoval Edition)

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Seems like there may be another Democrat besides Obama crossing goals off his “rhymes with bucket” list, and his name is Harry Reid…

From the Washington Post article:

The White House is considering picking the Republican governor from Nevada to fill the current vacancy on the Supreme Court, scrambling political calculations in what is expected to be a contentious confirmation battle in which Senate Republicans have pledged to play the role of roadblock…

White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday he would not comment specifically on whether the administration was considering Sandoval because he did not want “to get into a rhythm of responding” to every report on a potential nominee. But he said that Obama was committed to finding “the best person to fill the vacancy at the Supreme Court,” regardless of party.

“The president’s focused on criteria that, frankly, is more important, and that is that individual’s qualifications, and their experience and their view of the law,” Earnest said. “That will take precedence over any sort of political consideration.”…

Cue the usual suspects:

Excellent visual there, Senator. Wonder if the makers of that new prescription laxative are looking for celebrity spokesmodels?

Nevada polical expert Jon Ralston, in the Reno Gazette-Journal:

… Sandoval has talked privately about going back on the bench, which he left six years ago to save the state from Jim Gibbons II. He is a judge at heart, a guy who likes to weigh many pieces of evidence before making a decision. As much as he loves being governor, his temperament is more suited to a black robe. Will he ever have a better chance to reach the judicial pinnacle than this moment?

Would President Obama nominate him? The president might get blowback from some Democrats who want someone else. But he could make a strong case, politically, I suppose, that Sandoval could get confirmed.

But could Sandoval get through, especially after Republicans say they won’t hold hearings? This is where Prince Harry comes in. How delicious for him in his legacy year to get a Nevadan appointed to the high court by putting the Republicans in the position of trying to deny it to one of their own, and a Hispanic to boot? Peak Prince Harry…

Didn’t take long for the Washington Post — reminder: Company paper in the town whose monopoly industry is national politics — to spot the theatrical possibilities…

Is floating Brian Sandoval’s name for SCOTUS just an elaborate troll of Senate Republicans?
… Sandoval’s name out in the ether — a Hispanic Republican who is widely liked within his state and the broader GOP — makes it very hard for Republicans up in 2016 in blue/swing-y states to hold the line. For people like Sens. Mark Kirk (Ill.), Ron Johnson (Wis.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) and Rob Portman (Ohio), there is real electoral danger in being seen as part of a too-radical or too-obstructionist Republican party in Washington. By floating a pick from Republican ranks, Obama/Reid back these GOP senators into a rhetorical corner. Trying to explain why you are flatly rejecting the possibility of a sitting Republican governor being appointed to the Supreme Court by a Democratic president is not any easy thing for even the most adept politician…

Always nice to share a win-win political story!

Reader Interactions

125Comments

  1. 1.

    BlueDWarrior

    The world will be a poorer place politically when Prince Harry shuffles off to that Casino in the Sky.

    I have never seen anyone just crank, pull, and twist the wheels, levels, and dials of power like him.

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    This will all be consigned to the back burner once Trump announces George Zimmerman as his running mate.

    ;)

  4. 4.

    Marc

    I love the cudgel the Senate (R)’s have handed the Democrats. Now, if they would only effectively use it so we can have adults running the Senate, and maybe get a better grip on the House while a (D) takes the White House. Used properly, there could be some long coattails come November.

  5. 5.

    Zinsky

    Yes, that picture of Turtlehead McConnell and team looks like a gathering of the local Morticians Guild or something. What a grim, pathetic looking lot. Yuck!

    Definite NCAA material (No Class At All). Why would anyone vote for sad old white men like this, other than rigid, unthinking tribal loyalty? Sad.

  6. 6.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    I hope this is just a ploy to humiliate the GOP. That would be the very best troll of PBOs term. If, pasta foerfend!, this is seriously who he plans to nominate I will vote for Jill Stein in the fall because Sandavol would give us another generation of bad decisions so I would be hoping for a quick end rather than dragging it out.

  7. 7.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Reid is just the greatest.

    last year he did an “exit” interview with CNN and they were wringing their hands over Reid taking down Romney over his tax returns.

    He refused to apologized and instead coldly mocked Romney as a loser. Of course rubbing salt into the would only made the gop lovin Beltway apoplectic.

    I won’t spoil his closing biting remark – you have to savor it yourself. (video)

  9. 9.

    Splitting Image

    Unforced error #69,105 by the Republicans.

    All they had to do was decline comment until Obama put his money where his mouth was and actually nominated Sandoval to the position. Then they could get away with saying that their initial refusal to consider a nominee was because they never thought Obama would pick someone like him.

    This way they look like the crazed obstructionists which they are, and they may not be able to avoid getting called out for it.

    I’ll put some quatloos down on Obama getting a nominee confirmed. It’ll be a Breyer rather than a Ginsburg, but a significant upgrade from Scalia. But I’ll also guess it won’t happen until the primary season is over and the at-risk Senators are safe from a Tea Party challenger. It’ll also depend on how many Republican Senators are running behind in the polls come summer.

  10. 10.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    @raven:
    I have liked her show the few times I ever saw it but I decided A few years back to just never watch the talking heads because at some point even the ones I like become irritating.

    Her reaction is exactly what I would want it to be if I were trolling. This has to be making Republicans head’s spin; they can’t agree this guy would be OK by them and they look like fools not saying it.

  16. 16.

    Cermet

    For democrats a very mixed bag if President Obama is serious and does nominate Gov. Sandoval (and sitting, no less!) He is good on Woman’s rights and to choose; the environment and will most likely support ACA but he is a corporate sell out/whore … well, have to compromise on some aspects if a group of thrugs can ever be shamed enough to do what the Constitution demands – it is a total violation of their oaths(!) to refuse to do the very job the Constitution demands that they perform – advise and consent on a nominee. No one is pointing the absolute fact that they are legally REQUIRED to perform their job – the Constitution does NOT say they can refuse to review (the advise) nor avoid the consent (vote.) This is a gross violation of Constitutional mandated procedures that NO WERE allows them to avoid following the clearly stated procedure. They can vote the person down but they MUST, by law, give the nominee a review and then a vote – period. Anything else is breaking their oath of Office!

  17. 17.

    Randy P

    Has anyone’s coworkers / relatives trotted out the “we need to let the American people decide” line yet? My teeth gnash on the line every time I read it, and I swear if I hear it in person I’m going to start actually chewing on things, people, etc.

    Fortunately that theory hasn’t been put to the test yet. Haven’t heard it in person yet.

  20. 20.

    Mike J

    Privately, however, the campaign is more blunt. “Brian Sandoval is a total piece of toxic waste. His endorsement would literally be wasted,” said one Cruz adviser closely familiar with the campaign’s strategy in Nevada. “Sandoval would be the kiss of death for any conservative.”

  24. 24.

    Major Major Major Major

    I wrote a song.

    A long long time ago
    I can still remember
    How the finance system used to work

    And I knew if I had my chance
    I could make those hedge funds dance
    And maybe I’d be happy, but a jerk

    But September made me shiver
    With all the pink slips I’d deliver
    Bad news to the poor fuck
    I couldn’t give not one more fuck

    I can’t remember if I cried
    When I read about his widowed bride
    Nothing touched me deep inside
    The day the proletariat died
    So

    Bye, bye miss American Pie
    Drove my Chevy to Detroit but it couldn’t get fixed
    And the good ‘ol boys were drinking lead and shit and singing
    This’ll be the day that I die
    This’ll be the day that I die

    Did you write the book of love
    And do you have faith in god above
    If the bible tells you so?
    Do you believe in normal governance?
    Can process save your self from seriously fuck that shit?
    And can you teach me to dance like somebody who doesn’t care about it?

    Well, I know you’re in hate with him
    Cuz I saw you dancing near the gym (you’re fat)
    You kicked off your shoes
    Ever actually heard rhythm and blues?

    I was a lonely Boomer broncin’ buck
    With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
    But I knew I was out of luck
    The day
    Scalia
    Died
    I started singing

    Bye, bye miss American Pie
    Drove my Chevy to Detroit but it couldn’t get fixed
    And the good ‘ol boys were drinking lead and shit and singing
    This’ll be the day that I die
    This’ll be the day that I die

    Now for 30 years we’ve been on our own
    Like shit accumulates on a stone
    But that’s not how it used to be

    When the Jester sang for Babs and George
    In a coat I borrowed from (if there’s anybody who can rhyme George with George it’s St. Scalia) George
    And a voice that mostly came from Sandra Day O’Conner (it doesn’t have to rhyme, I’m Scalia’s ghost)

    And while the electorate was voting for Nader
    The Court was looking a little later
    The courtroom was adjourned
    And Bush v. Gore was returned

    And we sang dirges in the dark
    The day the election died
    We were singing

    Nothing

    Because organize and canvass and phone bank and I don’t care who you vote for just fucking vote.

  26. 26.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    @Mustang Bobby: That area is where the rich folk in LA moved about the turn of the 20th century from Bunker Hill in DTLA. There are a couple of streets with a bunch of homes that have survived(partly because they’re historical landmarks).

  28. 28.

    Randy P

    @OzarkHillbilly: My neighborhood is one of many that sprang up outside Philly around 1890 when the trains came in, so it’s full of Victorian houses. We even have a stained glass window, which was apparently a thing back then.

    And it’s not a fashionable suburb, so they’re Victorians that actual humans can afford.

  29. 29.

    Mustang Bobby

    @BillinGlendaleCA: I grew up in a house outside Toledo that was built in 1872 in the Victorian Gothic cottage style, complete with stained glass in the front doors, gingerbread trim everywhere, and the windows made famous in the Grant Wood painting “American Gothic.” It was all the rage in the 1870’s in that part of the country. I wonder if the locals thought of them the way we think of “McMansions” today.

  32. 32.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Mustang Bobby: They started building there in 1886 and it was for the rich folk moving northwest from downtown proper. It was pretty much LA’s first suburb.

  34. 34.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Cermet: nope. He is on record as saying ACA is unconstitutional. Shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the Court. There’s no reason to think he’s materially better than Kennedy, which is the key issue.

  36. 36.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Randy P: I grew up in the Kirkwood, MO area west of STL. It too was an old suburb on the train line. There were a lot of old Victorian homes there. At the time Kirkwood was just another middle class suburb and those homes, some of them dating back to Civil War times, were real money sinks and one could buy them for a song.* Not so anymore. The Webster Groves/Kirkwood corridor is now definitely upscale (my parents house which was just your standard suburban ranch was sold for over $330 K and promptly torn down)(they put a real monstrosity on that 1/3 of an acre lot) and those old houses are untouchable for less than $750 K.

    *a slight exaggeration, but not by much.

  39. 39.

    gex

    @Mike J: there’s video of Sen. Franken saying the Constitution clearly grants this power to the president but if the GOP really wants it to be up to the people, they are welcome to pass a Constitutional amendment.

  40. 40.

    Sherparick

    @Randy P: Apparently, it depends on how you define the “American People.” Apparently it is the older, whiter, low turn out group (only 39% of eligible voters turned out in 2014) in off year elections, but not the group that voted twice with over 50% of the vote in the 2008 and 2012 elections that elected President Obama. It is the contempt, and the channeling of the contempt, that the Republican base feels our African-American President that sends my rage factor up to DEFCON 4.

    Sandoval as Bloomberg’s running mate? Bloomberg’s platform would kind of be the anti-white working class ticket: (pro-gun control, pro-choice on abortion, taxing sugar and tacky clothes with NASCAR labels, etc. and pro-TPP and TIPP like trade and investor protection agreements, “reforming’ (e.g. destroying) Social Security and Medicare to solve the “Deficit” problem, and repeal Dodd-Frank (since the 2007-09 crisis was all the fault of those poor people who took loans to buy houses they could not afford while the banks and their multimillionaire CEOs were just helpless victims, with a extra-measure of police authoritarianism and neo-con military interventionism for good measure).

    (I note that this would pretty much an anti-Black and Hispanic working class ticket as well, but gun loving, regulating the ladies’ private parts, and NASCAR are not such big things in those demograhics. But Bloomberg would sweep up in Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and the Washington Village Media.)

    My preferred nominee would be Reagan appointed Judge Richard Posner of the 7th Circuit. I would love to see that lead in every story “Republicans oppose Reagan appointed Judge without hearing, etc, etc.” Also, I would love to see mental gymnastics of the Both Siderist Ron Fournier and David Brooks on how Judge Posner or Brian Sandoval or similar brilliant, but centrist, appointment by Obama was an unacceptable affront to the Republicans and Joe Biden said something out context in 1992, also.

  44. 44.

    Feudalism Now!

    Sandoval is a red herring leaked from Nevada, not D.C. Reid and PBO are poking Yertle and his skittish gang. Sandoval has come out saying he has not been contacted by the White House, but the GOP chicken-littles are already clucking and Grassley will now meet with PBO. This isn’t 11 dimensional chess, it is coin flipping and the repugs are outclassed, again.

  45. 45.

    Betty Cracker

    The national issue that seems to affect President Obama most personally every time it crops up is the epidemic of gun violence — particularly mass shootings. As he’s come before cameras time and again to make public statements after yet another round of senseless slaughter, we’ve watched him evolve from sorrow to anger. In January, President Obama said this in a NYT op-ed:

    Even as I continue to take every action possible as president, I will also take every action I can as a citizen. I will not campaign for, vote for or support any candidate, even in my own party, who does not support common-sense gun reform.

    In 2013, Governor Sandoval vetoed exactly the type of common-sense gun reform legislation President Obama has advocated:

    Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval on Thursday vetoed Democratic-backed legislation that would have strengthened gun-control rules by requiring background checks on customers in all gun sales in the state, including private transactions.

    So PBO won’t vote for a Democrat who is against common-sense measures like background checks, but he’s ready to nominate a Republican who actually vetoed background checks to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court? I’ll believe it when I see it. Until then, I’ll assume this talk of recommending Sandoval is trolling.

  47. 47.

    raven

    We had intense winds yesterday and it caused me to remember that I didn’t up our homeowners when our addition was built! I got on that quickly.

  51. 51.

    Sherparick

    On open thread, I think MSNBC and CNN have reconciled themselves to President Trump. I think they think it will be great for ratings! This is what happens when you take the script from 1976 movie “Network” and decide it is a business plan. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074958/

  52. 52.

    Patricia Kayden

    Good move, if Obama actually nominates Sandoval. The ball will then be in the Republican Senators’ court. Let’s see if Republicans will ignore their jobs for the remainder of this year and if it will damage their prospects in November if they do. I cannot imagine obstructing a SCOTUS nominee will look good on Republicans given that they claim to respect the Constitution so much. Even more so if the SCOTUS nominee is a qualified person of color.

  54. 54.

    Betty Cracker

    @Patricia Kayden: It won’t be a good move if the Republicans take the bait and we end up with an anti-gun control, anti-union, pro-big business Supreme Court justice for the next 20+ years. That’s why I don’t believe PBO will actually nominate Sandoval. I think he’s just making the Republicans look like unreasonable assholes for shooting down the trial balloon.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach describes itself as “one of the most highly regarded private clubs in the world,” and it is not just the very-well-to-do who want to get in.
    Since 2010, nearly 300 United States residents have applied or been referred for jobs as waiters, waitresses, cooks and housekeepers there. But according to federal records, only 17 have been hired.
    In all but a handful of cases, Mar-a-Lago sought to fill the jobs with hundreds of foreign guest workers from Romania and other countries.

    Finally, we’ll now start to get actual information on Donald Trump.

    Here’s the great friend of working people screwing over 500 maids and bartenders:

    The National Labor Relations Board gave hotel workers in Las Vegas a huge win as they sided with them, and against their hotel, regarding their right to unionize. Workers at this particular hotel are, on average, paid less than their counterparts at other Las Vegas hotels, and also aren’t unionized like other workers at other hotels. The kicker? This is Donald Trump’s signature hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.
    Trump keeps saying that he wants to “make America great again,” but he won’t even “clean his own house,” in Marisela Olvera’s words from December, when more than 500 workers voted to unionize. In trying to get the NLRB to dismiss the workers’ claims, the hotel’s management claimed that the Culinary Workers Union and the Bartenders Union coerced their employees to vote for them.

    I get that Republicans couldn’t raise any of this because they’d be going against their own donors and often their own ideology if they attacked Trump, but it will all eventually be uncovered. He’s really been protected as long as he’s in a field of exclusively Republicans. That changes if he wins. I hope Democrats move off the daily outrage over the stupid shit he says and start talking about what he does.

  58. 58.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    DALLAS (AP) — Antonin Scalia suffered from coronary artery disease, obesity and diabetes, among other ailments that probably contributed to the justice’s sudden death, according to a letter from the Supreme Court’s doctor.

    ***
    Ponton had a copy of the letter from Rear Adm. Brian P. Monahan, the attending physician for members of Congress and the Supreme Court

    Just great. Scalia made $244,400 a year as a justice and still used Big Gumbit healthcare that he wanted to deny to the rest of the country instead of “free market” doctors.

  60. 60.

    Weaselone

    @Kay:

    The Democrats will hit him with this if he actually wins the nomination. The question is whether the voting public will care.

  62. 62.

    bemused

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor):

    I’ve just come to expect that it is inevitable that when cable news channels or any msm corporate media gives liberals or lefties their own shows or a lot of regular airtime, there will be deterioration in the content eventually. The owners and producers can’t and won’t let them stray very far off the business plan.

  63. 63.

    Sherparick

    @Betty Cracker: First, what Sandoval did was a political decision as a Republican in Neveda. Certainly it was not a “profile” in courage moment, but if he wanted to keep political viability alive in Republican circles. Second, the President has never been as anti-gun as the NRA and the gun-lovers on the right like to portray him (the ultimate boogyman so to speak) or that his supporters imagine him to be (after all about the only gun safety laws he has proposed is expanding back-ground checks to Gun shows and magazine restrictions – none of which would really solve the problem of having about 400 million firearms available to 315 million people, some small % of which will go nuts with gun in any given year – what solves that problem is bans on personal ownership of firearms that Australia and the UK have imposed and which would be very difficult as long as the 2d Amendment is in the Constitution.) Obama actually praised Scalia’s decision in Heller. http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0608/Obama_careful_on_Heller.html

  66. 66.

    sigaba

    @Betty Cracker: Everybody thought Earl Warren would be a reliable conservative vote too. People do funny things when they know they don’t have to run for office anymore.

    (Not that I think it’s assured that Sandoval would flip on any particular issue, but…)

  67. 67.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah: Good morning back atcha.

    So Brian Sandoval is getting the Jon Huntsman treatment, without the actual appointment? That’s good.

    Was distressed to see this trial balloon at first. You do NOT want to teach the GOP they can get a Republican Supreme Court nominee if they threaten to not do their jobs. Completely the wrong message to send, and demoralizing to Democrats and other moderates.

  68. 68.

    Kay

    @Weaselone:

    Democrats don’t have to wait. It doesn’t have to be the D candidates. Republicans don’t go after him because they can’t- Mitt Romney is not going to go after Trump for cheap labor and either is Marco Rubio. Democrats can. He’s built that lavish personal lifestyle on bankruptcy and cheap labor. His clothing line isn’t even made here- it’s made in Mexico and China.

  69. 69.

    Betty Cracker

    @Sherparick: I realize PBO isn’t the gun grabbing boogeyman the right has made him out to be, but I don’t believe he’ll actually nominate someone who vetoed background checks to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court. I have too much respect for the president to believe it’s anything but trolling.

  70. 70.

    rikyrah

    since the beginning, there’s been something fishy.

    sounds right out of a Grisham novel.

    …………………..

    Scalia’s Death Gets More Intriguing
    by BooMan
    Wed Feb 24th, 2016 at 11:53:33 PM EST

    Nothing makes people more suspicious than secret orders and secret societies. I remember reading a lot about how both George W. Bush and John Kerry had belonged to Skull & Bones at Yale. That was supposed to be proof that the game was rigged, as the Bonesmen were going to control the White House either way the 2004 election turned out. Going back a little further, I remember some people freaking out about how many Reaganites belonged to the secretive Bohemian Grove club in San Francisco.

    Now, I had never heard of The International Order of St. Hubertus, which was apparently established at the 1966 summer retreat of the Bohemian Grove. Actually, that’s not quite right. The society’s U.S. chapter was launched in 1966, but the organization itself was founded in 1695 by the Habsburg Count, Franz Anton von Sporck.

    Members of the worldwide, male-only society wear dark-green robes emblazoned with a large cross and the motto “Deum Diligite Animalia Diligentes,” which means “Honoring God by honoring His creatures,” according to the group’s website. Some hold titles, such as Grand Master, Prior and Knight Grand Officer. The Order’s name is in honor of Hubert, the patron saint of hunters and fishermen.

    I’m not sure why a secret hunting society has a website, but what do I know?

  71. 71.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    Actually, I’m starting to wonder what will ultimately happen to John Roberts in all this. Will he remain a right wing toolbag, or does the name Roger Taney scare him so much that he becomes “Mr. 5-3 Liberal Majority” so he can control opinions?

    It isn’t far fetched.

  72. 72.

    rikyrah

    I’m here to do my job,’ says senator who isn’t doing his job
    02/25/16 08:00 AM—UPDATED 02/25/16 08:45 AM
    By Steve Benen

    After some vacillating that left his intentions unclear, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has made up his mind. When it comes to dealing with the Supreme Court vacancy, the far-right Iowan won’t hold a hearing on President Obama’s unnamed nominee; he will not support a vote on the nominee; and he’s not even sure whether or not he’ll accept a White House invitation to have a conversation about the nominee.

    The ridiculous posture leaves Grassley in the unenviable position of becoming a laughingstock for the ages. As of yesterday, however, the Republican senator said he just doesn’t care about history’s judgment.

    “Do you think I spend my days wondering about how Chuck Grassley will go down in history?” he told reporters on Wednesday, according to The Des Moines Register.

    “I don’t care if I ever go down in history,” added Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I’m here to do my job.”

    Those six words – “I’m here to do my job” – may be the most interesting Grassley has uttered in quite some time, because it suggests the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has grown confused about what his job actually is.

    If Grassley were there to do his job, he’d fulfill his duties, honor the constitutional process, and start preparation for confirmation hearings. Not to put too fine a point on this, but on the modest list of responsibilities given to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s chairman, this ranks at the top.

  75. 75.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah: Nothing like shooting a bird released from a box to honor God’s creatures.

    Got to say, this is even loopier than any of us would have guessed. A WaPost reader commented that add a pentagram, and Dan Brown has his next novel.

  76. 76.

    Gin & Tonic

    @rikyrah: Hey, I used to belong to a secret club, too. I think I was about 12, and I can’t exactly remember its name any more, but it was mostly me and my friend Andy. But then we grew up.

  77. 77.

    beltane

    @rikyrah: It sounds like that secret mens’ society in Eyes Wide Shut. No wonder Scalia died from cardiac arrest.

    I do like the name of the founder, Franz Anton Von Sporck. Perhaps he was named by Mel Brooks.

  78. 78.

    Weaselone

    @Kay:

    Why would they go after Trump now? There are two likely scenarios.

    1. The attack would impact his standing sufficiently with blue collar Republicans to cost him the nomination. That gives us Cruz, Rubio, or Kasich as the Republican nominee. None of these options would be any more palatable as President and they don’t have the same glaring issue to use as a crowbar to pry off blue collar voters in the general.
    2. The attack either ineffective, or insufficient to cost Trump the primary. He becomes the candidate and these attacks become old news and thereby less effective when they get pulled out against him in the general.

  80. 80.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    A few years ago the thought did cross my mind, very briefly, but it did cross my mind that Harry Reid and DougJ were the same person.

  81. 81.

    beltane

    @Weaselone: I just read that Rubio is now going after Trump over his insufficient loyalty to Israel. The Republicans are not going to attack him over insufficient loyalty to American workers.

  83. 83.

    rikyrah

    Rubio endorser struggles to name Rubio accomplishments
    By NICK GASS 02/24/16 12:01 PM EST

    One of Marco Rubio’s newest congressional endorsers struggled to point to one specific thing he has seen over the course of the last year from the Florida senator that, as MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts asked, “demonstrates presidential character.” Not only that, but he also called some of the Rubio’s past actions “frustrating.”
    At the end of his interview, freshman Rep. Cresent Hardy (R-Nev.) was asked the question about what he has seen from Rubio over the course of his last year in Congress. Hardy took office in January 2015, a little more than three months before Rubio announced his candidacy.
    “On the Hill, I have not seen that. He’s been running for a presidential race most of this year,” Hardy said. “As far as his policies in the past, I know that he’s done some things that even have been a little frustrating for an individual like myself at times.”

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: Whoa! I’ll bet you did take action on that pretty fast. I think I might have left a message in the middle of the night if that’s when I had thought of it.

  89. 89.

    GregB

    The great thing about this is it also ruins Sandoval’s chances to get the VP slot. Just having Obama or the Democrats associating his name as someone they trust, admire etc. will make him toxic for 80% of the mouth breathers.

  90. 90.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    I’ll say this about the canned hunt aspect to this hunt club – it’s despicable, unsportsmanlike, pathetic bullshit, just like trophy hunting.

    I used to hunt, but anymore, I don’t find the flavor of wild game to be appealing for the most part. So I no longer hunt. That said, some people like to hunt for game, and I tip my hat to them – they’re getting outdoors and fully process what they kill. The hunt is respectful and quick, and the meat is used and appreciated.

    It would fit Scalia’s loathesome personality that he’d go to a place where canned hunts were the daily activity, and that people who would welcome his company would lazily do a canned hunt. They probably ride from cage to cage on ATVs, maybe even golf carts, lumber off, shoot their birds or deer, then climb back on while stroking tiny, buried in fat dicks.

  91. 91.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    This was brilliant as a troll of Senate Republicans but I’m anti Sandoval as a nominee unless Reid/Obama know he’s on the right side of the issue of unlimited money in politics and voting rights. Megadonors and suppressing the vote are the only two things keeping the current version of the Republican party on life support, and if we can get a liberal majority on the SC to reverse those decisions then the R’s will have to become a sane, functioning party again or spend decades in the wilderness. I really can’t believe the McConnell was stupid enough to take the bait on this but he apparently was. Republicans won’t have hearing on Republican nominee…there’s no way to spin that as anything other than spiteful obstructionism.

  92. 92.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    I’ve been following Sandoval for a little while because I thought he might run for POTUS or at least be a Veep. He would be a formidable POTUS nominee and hes a true moderate Repub not a Kasich. Obama could do much worse than giving this guy a spot on the court and killing Sandovals future political career a la Huntsman.

  94. 94.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WaterGirl: Sorry, I’ve been up drinking coffee and reading the news including all the latest Republican pretzel logic since 4. There is nothing they can not justify if it fits their world view.

  96. 96.

    SenyorDave

    abortion, guns, money in politics. IMO, these are the three main issues for SCOTUS. Got to be on the right side of these three issues.

  97. 97.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: You are right about that. I wonder if it’s worth mentioning the insurance issue to your contractor? They could make a note to mention that to clients as soon as the contracts are signed or as soon as the work is started. Details like that can make a good reputation even better.

    I SO wish I could have USAA insurance. It seems head and shoulders better than the rest of them.

  100. 100.

    Kay

    @Weaselone:

    Oh, I think it would be great. The Democratic base would love it and Clinton is doing it anyway, she’s just focusing on his anti-immigration rhetoric instead of his actual claim to fame, which is “businessman”.

    Democrats can’t control the GOP primary. The GOP can’t even control the GOP primary. Acting as if they can passively “pick” the GOP nominee by doing nothing is too defensive- it’s what Republicans just finished doing, and they failed at it. People love the person who stands up to the bully and it’s a nice contrast, since Republicans are afraid of him. It’d be great to have Hillary Clinton going after their front runner while Marco Rubio pins his hopes on beating Trump with this kind of passive aggressive silent treatment, or whatever he’s doing. It’s almost two birds with one stone. Trump is full of shit and Marco Rubio is weak.

  102. 102.

    Paul in KY

    @rikyrah: Little known fact: That aristocrat Habsburg Count, Franz Anton von Sporck unified 2 houses when he married the daughter of his longtime rival Grand Duke Lionel August Von Fpoon.

  103. 103.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Sandoval will not be nominated. Sandoval isn’t even under consideration. This is Reid knifing him. Reid is remarkably under-appreciated.

  104. 104.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    ——————————————————————–.

    Gallup Presidential Approval Ratings:

    Barack Obama? (Feb 20, 2016)

    Approve………….50%
    Disapprove…….46%

    George W. Bush ?(Feb 20, 2008)

    Approve………….31%
    Disapprove…….65%

    NBC/WSJ Poll – Trump Ratings — Feb 14 thur 16

    Approve……..….28%
    Disapprove…….59% ☠

    Please Proceed, Donald?

  105. 105.

    Cermet

    @Mai.naem.mobile: LOL! He is pro-choice = zero chance to run for POTUS or VP. Also, says gay marriage is a settled issue AND supports environmental actions; to add fuel to the fire, he accepted ACA for Nevada. He’d have to denounce all he supports and even then, no thug would trust him as nothing less than a RINO or worse. Pleaseeeee.

  106. 106.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Paul in KY:

    Little known fact: That aristocrat Habsburg Count, Franz Anton von Sporck unified 2 houses when he married the daughter of his longtime rival Grand Duke Lionel August Von Fpoon.

    Nice! Gin and Tacosesque

  107. 107.

    Steve in the ATL

    My Democratic primary ballot shows four candidates: Clinton, Sanders, O’Malley, and some guy named Michael Steinberg. Who the hell is that?

  109. 109.

    Betty Cracker

    @Omnes Omnibus: Reid is a savvy old coot, it is true. I used to get so exasperated with him back in the day when he would fail to curb-stomp an ass like Lieberman or seem to acquiesce to some outrageous demand or action by his batshit crazy colleagues across the aisle, but 99% percent of the time, it would become clear Reid was playing the hand he was dealt with uncommon deftness. He will be missed. It’s depressing to think of a glib jackass like Schumer occupying his role.

  110. 110.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Betty Cracker: In the early 2000s I thought of Reid as the poster boy for Democratic fecklessness. I don’t know if he was radicalized or if he was just playing some kind of deeper game all along.

  113. 113.

    smintheus

    We voted for a Dem president so that he’d nominate a Republican for SCOTUS? No way that’s acceptable. It says to voters that a vote for a Democrat will never mean that they can be certain they’ll get a Democrat.

  114. 114.

    Fair Economist

    @Matt McIrvin:

    In the early 2000s I thought of Reid as the poster boy for Democratic fecklessness. I don’t know if he was radicalized or if he was just playing some kind of deeper game all along.

    Both, I’m pretty sure. The events of the past 10 years have radicalized a lot of people and Reid possibly more than anybody, as he’s the one who spent 14 hours a day for six years dealing with the most outrageous obstructionism from the Republicans. But it’s also true that the Dem caucus is far more liberal than it was then; in the 00’s it had Baucus, Lieberman, Nelson-FL, Lincoln, Landrieu, Pryor, and many more – IIRC there were about 15 Blue Doggy types back then. We still have some but not as many, and those that remain don’t get publicly in the face of standard Dem positions very often anymore.

  115. 115.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    @Cermet: I figure at some point the fever will break with the GOP and Sandoval will be a great candidate being Mexican American. I personally think Sandoval chose the GOP so that he could be a big fish instead of a small fish with the Dems,kind of what Arlen Specter did when he started. Right now Obama gets to shame the GOP and humiliate Sandoval, and make a point to Hispanics and Independents.

  116. 116.

    Dennis

    @Betty Cracker: Sure hope you are right about that. If he actually does nominate him, then the best case is no confirmation. This is how the Court moves ever rightward–Republican Presidents nominate (and we confirm) wingnuts; Democrats are only allowed to nominate Proud Centrists, preferably Republican, because somebody has to give…oh, vey.

    And, at the end of it, Democrats are celebrating the Glorious Victory that Obama won in getting his nominee through when they said he couldn’t!

  117. 117.

    Rob in CT

    @smintheus:

    If voters had showed the fuck up in 2010 and 2014 and voted for Democrats, this (trolling, IMO) wouldn’t be necessary. But you may recall that the GOP has a Senate majority.

  118. 118.

    VincentN

    Yeah, I don’t think Sandoval will be nominated or if he is there’s no real expectation that he will actually be confirmed. The Obama administration did not spend years defending the ACA to pick a Justice that will provide an extra vote for the Court to knock down his signature achievement.

    Yes, Sandoval accepted the ACA as Governor of Nevada once it was upheld by the Supreme Court. He might feel differently if he was actually sitting on the Court. If Obama really wanted to pick a Republican it seems like there are less risky options.

  119. 119.

    WaterGirl

    @VincentN: I’m with Betty Cracker. No way does Obama consider Sandoval a serious candidate for the SC based on his gun control record alone.

  120. 120.

    Betty Cracker

    @Dennis: Exactly right. I won’t be celebrating it, but there are sycophants who would twist themselves into a pretzel to justify it if PBO nominated Dick Cheney. Luckily, the president is a better man than many of his supporters. I’ll be very surprised if this turns out to be more than trolling.

  122. 122.

    Aleta

    @Dennis: I’m guessing Sandoval would not get a hearing, because the Senate R’s can’t afford to even open an argument over a R nominee who’s supported abortion rights. What you say about

    This is how the Court moves ever rightward–

    is Right On.

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