UPDATE at 9:54 PM:
We now have actual video and the transcript below it after the page jump:
Transcript after the jump:
Four simple words are engraved above the doors to the Supreme Court: Equal Justice Under Law. That’s supposed to be the basic promise of our legal system: that our laws are just, and that everyone — everyone — will be held equally accountable if they break those laws.
We haven’t always fulfilled that promise — but it is the absolute standard to which we hold ourselves even when we fall short.
A vital part of that struggle is the fight for a truly professional, independent, and impartial judiciary. A place governed not by politics, not by money, not by power — but by those four simple words: equal justice under law.
I talked pretty bluntly about how we are losing the fight over whether our courts will remain a neutral forum, faithfully interpreting the law and dispensing fair and impartial justice, or whether rich and powerful interests will completely capture our judicial branch.
I talked about how year after year, for more than thirty years, powerful interests have worked to rewrite the law and tilt the courts to favor billionaires and giant corporations. Cases that protected giant businesses from accountability. Cases that made it harder for individuals to get into court. Cases that gutted longstanding laws protecting consumers from being cheated. And cases like Citizens United, which unleashed an avalanche of billionaire SuperPAC dollars and secret corporate money in a mad dash to tilt the rest of the government in favor of the wealthy.
Today, I’m here to update that warning. Because what we’ve seen over the past three years — accelerating over the past three months, and even the past three weeks — is alarming. Powerful interests are now launching a full-scale assault on the integrity of the federal judiciary and its judges.
This assault has two major elements. First, tearing down our centuries-old process for appointing judges. Second, viciously attacking judicial nominees, potential nominees, and even sitting federal judges, at the first sign that they might put the rule of law above devotion to the rich and powerful.
Earlier this week, I released a comprehensive report on the Republican campaign of obstruction against President Obama’s nominees. It details how Senate Republicans have delayed or blocked votes on key nominations throughout the entire Obama Presidency. The purpose of this obstruction is to hold open federal positions for as long as possible. The purpose is to hamstring the President’s ability to protect consumers and workers, to hold large corporations accountable, and to promote equality. In other words, to undermine the fundamental principle of Equal Justice Under Law.
The centerpiece of that strategy has been a blockade of federal judicial appointments — and it’s much bigger than just the Supreme Court.
From the day President Obama was sworn in, Senate Republicans have used every procedural tool at their disposal to slow down his nominees. They spent months abusing the filibuster in a naked effort to preserve a right wing majority on the D.C. Circuit. After capturing the Senate in 2015, they haveslowed judicial confirmations to a trickle.
Judicial emergencies multiply. Cases pile up. Courts are starved for help. And now the Supreme Court of the United States sits paralyzed, unable to deal with its most challenging cases. All because extremist Republicans who reject the legitimacy of President Obama are determined to make certain our courts advance only the agenda of the wealthy and the powerful.
It is outrageous — and it is up to us to fight back.
Senate Republicans, do your job. Give District Court nominees their votes.
Do your job. Give Circuit Court nominees their votes.
Do your job. Give Merrick Garland his vote!
The nominations blockade is the first part of this assault on the judiciary. But there is a second, even uglier line of attack — intimidation.
Justice demands a judiciary made up of independent lawyers who can provide insight and expertise from every corner of the profession. But Senate Republicans and their big business allies don’t like nominees whose resumes reflect insufficient devotion to the interests of the rich and powerful — so they smear them. Defense lawyers, public interest lawyers, plaintiff’s attorneys — nominees with these professional experiences are regularly slandered. Their integrity is questioned. And scores of Republicans line up to oppose them.
Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama has attacked the integrity of several of President Obama’s nominees for having some association with the American Civil Liberties Union. Apparently being connected to with an organization whose central purpose is to defend rights guaranteed by the Constitution is an automatic disqualification. Sessions vowed that the nominations process would become “a more contentious matter if we keep seeing the ACLU chromosome as part of this process” — and he meant it.
During her confirmation hearing to be a District Court judge this year,Senator Sessions insulted Paula Xinis, a former federal public defender and civil rights lawyer who worked on cases of police abuse. He asked if she could “assure the police officers … that might be brought before your court that they’ll get a fair day in court, and that your history would not impact your decision-making.” I’ll let you guess how many times Senator Sessions has questioned a fancy corporate defense lawyer, asking if they would assure victims of fraud or people poisoned by toxic wastes or people injured by shoddy products or employees fired illegally because they tried to form a union — if they would get a fair day in court. Judge Xinis was rated unanimously well-qualified by the American Bar Association.[2] Yet she wasbarely confirmed, with nearly three dozen Republican Senators voting no.
This approach is corrosive to the legal profession. It is corrosive to our courts. It is corrosive to the rule of law. It is the responsibility of every lawyer — no matter who their clients are — to stand up and fight back.
The attacks around the current Supreme Court vacancy have been even uglier. At one point, Senator John Cornyn of Texas — the #2 Republican in the Senate — announced that any nominee — ANY NOMINEE — put forward by the President would be beaten like “a piñata.” And his right-wing billionaire and big business allies have made good on that threat.
When rumors circulated that Jane Kelly, a highly respected federal judge, might — might — be under consideration, the Judicial Crisis Network — a shadowy right-wing group financed with dark money from the billionaire Koch brothers — ran television ads attacking her for her service to the nation as a federal public defender.
The President eventually nominated Merrick Garland — a judge so revered for his professionalism that days before he was announced, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch called him a “fine man” who the President could “easily name” to fill the vacancy. And what happened?
Scores of Republican Senators refused to even meet with him. The Judicial Crisis Network started spending millions of dollars on television adsdemeaning him.
The NFIB — a right-wing Washington lobbying group that claims to speak for small businesses but is swimming in cash from conservative billionaires — announced that it would oppose Garland’s nomination because “[i]n cases involving federal agencies, the Judge ruled in their favor 77 percent of the time.” Every lawyer in this room knows that federal law requires judges defer to most agency actions. But apparently, it doesn’t matter anymore whether Judge Garland follows the law — what matters is that he doesn’t bend the law to suit giant corporations.
Judge Garland is not a politician. He is a judge with an unimpeachable record of putting the law first. And for that sin, he faces a nonstop, national campaign of slime. He faces historic disrespect from the Republicans who control Senate. It is despicable. It must end. We must end it.
The goal is to tilt the game, and it’s working — 86% of President Obama’s judicial nominees have worked as a corporate attorney, a prosecutor, or both, while less than 4% have worked as lawyers at public interest organizations. Professional diversity is missing from the federal bench — and justice suffers for it.
But even disqualifying judges based on their professional background isn’t enough for Donald Trump.
Trump tells everyone who will listen that he’s a great businessman, but let’s be honest — he’s just a guy who inherited a fortune and kept it rolling along by cheating people.
When that’s your business model, sooner or later you’re probably going to run into legal trouble. And Donald Trump has run into a lot of legal trouble. Ah, yes — Trump University, which his own former employees refer to as one big “fraudulent scheme.”
Many of the Trump University victims ended up deep in debt — sometimestens of thousands of dollars with no way to pay it off. Trump’s employee playbook said to look for people with financial problems — because they make good targets. He even encouraged his salesforce to go after elderly people who were trying to create a little financial security.
I taught law for more than 30 years. Ask any lawyer in America and they’ll tell you that sounds like fraud. And that’s exactly what Donald Trump is being sued for — fraud, and worse, for targeting the most vulnerable people he could find, lying to them, taking all their money and leaving them in debt.
Some of those people are fighting back. Because in America, we have the rule of law — and that means that no matter how rich you are, no matter how loud you are, no matter how famous you are, if you break the law, you can be held accountable. Even when your name is Donald Trump.
But Trump doesn’t think those rules apply to him. So at a political rally two weeks ago, and almost daily since then, the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States has savagely attacked Gonzalo Curiel, the federal judge presiding over his case.
“We are in front of a very hostile judge,” Trump said. “Frankly, he should recuse himself. He has given us ruling after ruling, negative, negative, negative.”
Understand what this is. Trump is criticizing Judge Curiel for following the law, instead of bending it to suit the financial interests of one wealthy and oh-so-fragile defendant.
Trump also whined that he’s being been treated “unfairly” because “the judge … happens to be, we believe, Mexican.” And when he got called out, he doubled down by saying “I’m building a wall. It’s an inherent conflict of interest.” He’s personally directed his army of campaign surrogates to step up their own public attacks on Judge Curiel. He’s even condemned federal judges who are Muslim — on the disgusting theory that Trump’s own bigotry compromises the judges’ neutrality.
Like all federal judges, Judge Curiel is bound by the federal code of judicial ethics not to respond to these attacks. Trump is picking on someone who is ethically bound not to defend himself — exactly what you’d expect from a thin-skinned, racist bully.
Judge Curiel can’t respond — but we can. We can tell his story.
Gonzalo Curiel was born in Indiana — not Mexico — to immigrant parents who worked hard their entire lives and were handed nothing. He went to Indiana University for undergrad and then for law school.
For thirteen years, he worked as a federal prosecutor in Southern California, fighting the Mexican drug cartels as a leader of that region’s narcotics enforcement division. He collaborated with top Mexican officials to disrupt the culture of corruption between the Mexican government and the most powerful and deadly cocaine smugglers in North America.
The effort was impressive. On both sides of the border, money launderers, street gangs, and assassins were arrested and prosecuted.
But that success came at great cost. Witnesses were killed. Mexican officials were murdered. Judge Curiel himself was the target of an assassination plotand spent the better part of a year living officially in hiding, under the protection of U.S. Marshals.
Later, after his years of service as a prosecutor, Judge Curiel was appointed to the California state courts by a Republican governor who calls him an “American hero.” He was nominated to the federal bench by a Democratic president, and confirmed by a voice vote in the Senate.
That’s what kind of a man Judge Curiel is. What kind of a man is Donald Trump?
Donald Trump says “Judge Curiel should be ashamed of himself.”
No, Donald — you should be ashamed of yourself. Ashamed for using the megaphone of a Presidential campaign to attack a judge’s character and integrity simply because you think you have some God-given right to steal people’s money and get away with it. You shame yourself and you shame this great country.
Donald Trump says “[t]hey ought to look into Judge Curiel because what Judge Curiel is doing is a total disgrace.”
No, Donald — what you are doing is a total disgrace. Race-baiting a judge who spent years defending America from the terror of murderers and drug traffickers simply because long ago his family came to America from somewhere else. You, Donald Trump, are a total disgrace.
Judge Curiel is one of countless American patriots who has spent decades quietly serving his country, sometimes at great risk to his own life. Donald Trump is a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud who has never risked anything for anyone and serves nobody but himself. And that is just one of the many reasons why he will never be President of the United States.
And in spite of these shameful attacks, nobody doubts that Judge Curiel will continue to preside over Trump’s case as a fair and neutral judge. Because Judge Curiel is a lawyer with integrity — and that’s what lawyers with integrity do.
Judge Curiel has survived far worse than Donald Trump. He has survived actual assassination attempts. He’ll have no problem surviving Trump’s nasty temper tantrums.
When first asked if he would condemn Trump’s comments about Judge Curiel, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, said, well, gee, you know, “Donald Trump is certainly a different kind of candidate.”After days of pressure, McConnell finally said that attacking the judge is “stupid” and that Trump should “get on script.”
What script is that, exactly? And where do you suppose Donald Trump got the idea that he can personally attack judges, regardless of the law, whenever they don’t bend to the whims of billionaires and big business?
Trump isn’t a different kind of candidate. He’s a Mitch McConnell kind of candidate. Exactly the kind of candidate you’d expect from a Republican Party whose “script” for several years has been to execute a full-scale assault on the integrity of our courts. Blockading judicial appointments so Donald Trump can fill them. Smearing and intimidating nominees who do not pledge allegiance to the financial interests of the rich and the powerful.
Trump is also House Speaker Paul Ryan’s kind of candidate. Paul Ryan condemned Trump’s campaign for its attacks on Judge Curiel’s integrity.Great. Where’s Paul Ryan’s condemnation of the blockade, the intimidation, the smears, and the slime against the integrity of qualified judicial nominees and Judge Garland?
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell want Donald Trump to appoint the next generation of judges. They want those judges to tilt the law to favor big business and billionaires like Trump. They just want Donald to quit being so vulgar and obvious about it.
Donald Trump chose racism as his weapon, but his aim is exactly the same as the rest of the Republicans. Pound the courts into submission to the rich and powerful.
Senator McConnell recently said he’s “pretty calm” about Donald Trump because “what protects us in this country against big mistakes being made is the structure, the Constitution, the institutions.” That is 100% wrong. Our democracy does not sustain itself. Our Constitution does not sustain itself. The rule of law does not sustain itself.
There have always been those with money and power who think the rules shouldn’t apply to them. Those who would pervert our system of government to serve their own ends. They have tried it before and they are trying it now. All that is required for the rule of law and our independent judiciary to collapse is for good people to stand by, and do nothing.
Now is not the time to stand by. Now is the time to stand up. Now is the time to say no. No. Not here. Not in these United States of America.
We are not a nation that disqualifies lawyers and judges from public service because of race — or religion — or gender — or because they haven’t spent their entire careers representing the wealthy and the powerful.
We are the nation of John Adams — a lawyer who defended the British soldiers after the Boston Massacre, and went on to serve as President of these United States.
We are the nation of Abraham Lincoln — a lawyer who defended accused killers, and went on to serve as President of these United States.
We are the nation of Thurgood Marshall — a lawyer who fought for racial equality, and went on to serve on the Supreme Court of these United States.
We are the nation of Ruth Bader Ginsberg — a lawyer who fought for gender equality, and went on to serve on the Supreme Court of these United States.
That is who we are. And we will not allow a small, insecure, thin-skinned wannabe tyrant or his allies in the Senate to destroy the rule of law in the United States of America.
It’s time again to fight — as we have in every generation — for those four simple words that define the promise of our legal system. Equal justice under law.
Robin G.
Not that she wouldn’t be a great VP, but in 6-8 years I want to see her as Senate Majority Leader, cracking the whip and herding the cats. She’d make Harry Reid look like Chamberlain.
Corner Stone
Oh yeah! Now we’re cooking with gas!
Iowa Old Lady
I’ll repost what I just posted below.
The most brilliant part of that speech is that she not only ripped into Trump with vicious truth, but also she managed to tie together all the R screwing around with the judicial branch with Trump’s unhinged attack on Curiel.
Corner Stone
As I said earlier:
“Warren to Trump in her best Jack Reacher bored voice, “Remember, you asked for this.”
Adam L Silverman
@Iowa Old Lady: I saw bits of the prereleased transcript, so I’m waiting to see it now that I can watch the video.
Iowa Old Lady
@Adam L Silverman: Don’t forget your popcorn.
Corner Stone
@Iowa Old Lady: I’m not sure there is only one part of brilliance about that speech. That was amazeballs.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Iowa Old Lady:
view-source:https://twitter.com/savannah_lb/status/741057746338881536
Baud
Can’t see what Day 2 will be like.
Baud
@Iowa Old Lady: Hillary does that every time also.
Adam L Silverman
@Iowa Old Lady: Upsets my tummy. I had some plantain chips with dinner though!
Corner Stone
@Adam L Silverman: Watch her sink her teeth into him in realtime. It’s like she’s got a grip on his throat and is squeezing.
This was nuts. I can’t say enough about it. It’s like she just struck out 27 batters in a row, all with throwing the high gas.
MazeDancer
Sizzling Senator!
Many on Twitter suggested keynote for Senator Professor Warren. Sounds good.
MSNBC working off their Donald 24/7 live karma carrying the Senator’s speech and now, VPOTUS, live
Iowa Old Lady
@Corner Stone: @Baud: I am agog.
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Hee. I wish I were good enough with a computer to make stuff like that.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Corner Stone:
TRUTH BOMBS. All over Donald Trump’s ridiculous combover.
JPL
Biden seems low energy after Warren, just sayin
Of course, the President would seem low energy after Warren’s speech.
MazeDancer
Adam, comments won’t allow a link to MSNBC. (I went to moderation, feel free to delete as it will be stale).
MSNBC is monitoring Biden’s speech waiting for him to stop his long intro stuff. But they’re standing by to cut to him when he hits the real.
But he has to do that before Rachel has Senator Professor Warren back live to endorse Hillary.
guachi
Better or worse than Clinton’s depantsing of Trump?
Iowa Old Lady
I hope Warren has tasters for her food.
Adam L Silverman
@Corner Stone: She’s working over the Senate GOP where I’m at so far.
celticdragonchick
Biden seems…a bit low key.
Corner Stone
@guachi: I thoroughly enjoyed HRC’s recent beatdown of Trump. But this…this was something else. Some kind of Species type event of a speech. HRC exposed Donald well and plenty but Warren ripped him into halves, quarters and then itty bitty bits. And relished it. Absolutely delicious rage on her face as she kept going after Donald and the R leadership for their buffoonery and cowardice.
It was magnificent. I’m going to need a popsicle or something here pretty soon before I overheat.
Adam L Silverman
@MazeDancer: I just cleared it. I have no idea what is up with comments and moderation. Its been a mess for the past couple of days with no rhyme or reason. I’ve emailed Alain.
Adam L Silverman
She’s taking the KKK’s favorite leprechaun to the woodshed right now!
Corner Stone
@MazeDancer:
Not a bad idea but I personally want to see Inebriated Jennifer Granholm again. She was magnificent.
guachi
@Corner Stone: I’m watching from the beginning so I’m a bit behind. Still in intros right now.
Looking forward to the speech!
Mary G
I read some of the excerpts this morning and I wasn’t going to watch, but you all convinced me so I’m going to watch it now. I didn’t know she was a teacher before going to law school. No wonder she is so good at explaining stuff.
guachi
Lady who speaks right before Warren is pretty good! If you haven’t watched the speech, give the intro speaker (the second one) a chance.
LAC
@Adam L Silverman: wow… That sucks. Considering that trolls and alcoholic PUMAs slide right in.
Iowa Old Lady
@celticdragonchick: If I were Biden and watched Warren go on ahead of me, I’d be low key too. Following that speech is a challenge.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Mary G:
She doesn’t have the gravitas of Obama, but that’s his job since he’s the president, and not hers. She’s the warm up act though, for NFLTG Obama next week with Hillzilla. GAME.ON.
gf120581
Is this going to be a regular Thursday thing of Democrats giving a Trump-savaging speech? Because I’m all for that series.
Adam L Silverman
@LAC: I can’t keep the thing cleared out. At one point I’d clear it, click back to the dashboard, and it needed to be emptied again. Rinse and repeat!
hovercraft
@Corner Stone:
So she’s Mariano Rivera ?
Adam L Silverman
I’ve gotten to the Trump focused portion of the speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qYbVQu7YAQ
lamh36
VP Biden speech less “inflamed” than Liz Warren…but no less draggin of Trump
slag
“Trump isn’t a ‘different’ kind of candidate; he’s a Mitch McConnell kind of candidate.”
Corner Stone
@hovercraft: No, she’s even more juiced up Roger Clemens throwing that Satan inspired split finger* along with the rising 97mph four seam gasball.
*I’ve seen that splitter in person on more than one occasion and never seen anything more unhittable when it’s on. Then that chin music at almost 100mph? Shit, that was Warren tonight.
LAC
@Adam L Silverman: hang in there. Your comments are welcomed.
Iowa Old Lady
@gf120581: We could call it Game of Political Thrones, all the blood sport but none of the sex.
smith
Wow — that was probably the most fired up political speech I’ve ever heard.
Adam L Silverman
This speech looks a bit like a rhetorical version of what happens when you’re on the receiving end of one of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u4mApFJ95M
raven
@Adam L Silverman: We called it the three minute motherfucker.
slag
I love the audience laugh at: “Ladies and gentlemen, our program will resume momentarily.” Apparently, this program’s over. Liz burned it down.
Corner Stone
“When Bill Clinton is number four on your depth chart…”
/CPPierce
Adam L Silverman
@LAC: Its not my comments going into moderation. Its everyone else’s.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: Yep. This is always an awesome sight:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/600×315/89/fe/59/89fe59a75aa51c4d91086fdcd4656809.jpg
D58826
But how does she REALLY REALLY feel about ‘old little hands’ :-) :-)
raven
@Adam L Silverman: That was in opening credits of the very (IMHO) tepid “The Night Manager”.
Corner Stone
@D58826: I could be wrong but I get the distinct impression she’s not overly fond of Donald.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: Haven’t seen the movie. (its a movie, right?)
hovercraft
First we had Michelle at City College slap him around without ever mentioning his name, using a light touch because she is first lady. Then last week came Hillary with the gloves off, hitting him where it hurts. Now here comes Elizabeth with a straight up beatdown. I almost feel sorry for him, the poor man already has a problem with women, when he keeps lashing out at them it will get worse. He is incapable of taking criticizm especially from strong women. This is gonna get really ugly.
LAC
@Adam L Silverman: well not everyone unfortunately.
jnfr
Rolling the whole team out against Trump makes me very happy. And I am a sad Bernie voter today, but still happy. It’s a messy thing.
raven
@Adam L Silverman: It’s a six part tv mini-series. It was on AMC and I suspect they’ll replay it. Many people here liked it but I thought it was just ok at best.
http://www.amc.com/shows/the-night-manager
Adam L Silverman
@LAC: I’m clearing as fast I see em in there.
slag
@hovercraft: Obama was doing same at Rutgers:
Adam L Silverman
@raven: Okay.
LAO
@Corner Stone: She was very subtle. lol
guachi
Huh. Finished Warren’s speech and it wasn’t nearly as good as I’d hoped. It ended up being a stream of insults of Trump.
FlipYrWhig
Holy shit that was breathtaking. She took the bark off him.
debbie
“She may well be the Trumpiest.” LOL
Mary G
@Adam L Silverman: Thanks for keeping the ball rolling. The other day I had a comment disappear three times!
Zinsky
God, I love this woman! I wish Elizabeth Warren were the Democratic Party nominee – not Hillary. Sorry.
LAO
@guachi: I’m curious. What were you hoping for?
slag
@guachi: I found it a cohesive argument against the Republican approach to government, the judiciary especially, now manifested in Donald Trump. Not sure what speech you were watching.
JPL
@guachi: lol
Yes it was..
FlipYrWhig
@Zinsky: Except that we don’t know anything about what she thinks about, well, most anything other than bankers (not a fan!) and Republicans (same).
Corner Stone
@guachi: Did you mistakenly click on a link for a Dr. Suess story about the damned Lorax?
Honestly, anyone who saw that speech and did not come away pumped needs to see a doctor. They may lack a pulse.
hovercraft
@slag:
Absolutely as mentioned above our line up is nice and deep. But Trump is especially sensitive to women being mean to him. I think a shrink should weigh in as to why. But I say just keep the hits flowing and he will implode.
guachi
The speech started off as an argument about Republicans and the judiciary and when it got to Trump/Curiel it was just Warren repeatedly insulting him. It was like watching a 65 year old second grader. And then I turned it off.
Smiling Mortician
@Zinsky: People have different skills. Warren’s are oratory and legislation. She belongs in the senate (I’ll take Senate Majority Leader, please) and on the campaign trail of anyone who deserves her. Clinton’s skills truly are executive and managerial. She gets people together to solve problems and then decides, pretty well, what to do.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: Sorry about that. If I’m at the computer I usually have the dashboard up even if I’m not on the site, so I try to clear them out as I find them.
SiubhanDuinne
Just finished watching from JPL’s link in the thread downstairs (too late to catch the live feed, so hit “from the beginning”) and Holy Bill of Rights, Batman, I need a cigarette! I did catch myself thinking what a great VP candidate she’d be — and she would! — but I want her right where she is, gaining seniority, speaking noisy truth to power at every opportunity, and perhaps taking over as Majority Leader when the Dems retake the Senate and Schumer retires. Now I need to run find someplace where I can see, or at least hear, her on TRMS for the HRC endorsement.
Corner Stone
@guachi: What the fuck did you think she was going to do? An exegesis on real estate deals in, on or near the city of Manhattan since the Puritans?
Jeebus Cracker, B Crack’s lesser known brother that plays violin in the subway stations of DC.
JPL
@guachi: haha.. okie dokie
Omnes Omnibus
Damn. That was good.
For those unfamiliar with the group she was speaking to, here is some background. I tried linking to the ACS’s website, but it appears to be down right now.
JudyinSD
Another repost of a comment from below. ” I couldn’t be prouder to say I am a part of the sisterhood which includes both Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton. Women of a certain age who felt this time stirring in our souls for a long long time. Or as I remember a memorable fight with my ex-husband, as he sneeringly said to me, “look at you standing up for yourself!” and I replied “Yes and I think you had better get used to it!””
Corner Stone
@JPL: Honestly. What was this other person watching?
eta, Ha! “Lol. Yes it was.”
Mary G
@Adam L Silverman: I don’t think you were on duty at the time.
This speech is a barn burner. It’s nice to see an organization dedicated to the Constitution that’s not composed of gun-waving yahoos.
SiubhanDuinne
@Corner Stone:
and used what was left over as a toothpick.
geg6
@hovercraft:
He’s every MRA asshole who ever lived, wrapped up in an orange skin suit and the worst combover in history. Watching these women tear him limb from limb is better than sex.
slag
@guachi: Well. Then you missed some really good parts. The only “name” I recall her calling him was “thin-skinned”, which seemed pretty anodyne overall. Maybe “bully”, but I figure that was just a statement of fact.
LAO
@SiubhanDuinne:
As a New Yorker, I can attest that nothing short of an indictment and conviction will remove Schumer from the Senate.
SiubhanDuinne
@LAO:
Well then?
Jeffro
@SiubhanDuinne:
True enough…but boy did she ever take a bat to The Turtle and the Granny Starver. I’ve never heard a Dem take shots at any sitting GOP high muckety-mucks like that.
lamh36
I think that is the strategy…Liz as attack dog, Biden as conciliator for those poss GOP who just cant back Trump, Michelle O for her high regard with female voters (Black and White, but esp Black women, most consistent and loyal Dem voters, right)…
POTUS to throw punches and remind, defend, and just basically knock GOP over head with his accomplishments, plus I think he REALLY wants to be able to land punches on Trump that he couldn’t do during the height of the birther bullshit Trump was steering, both cause of just not “fighting down” as Prez, but also he had the 2012 re-election campaign to worry about. Now no elections, and NMFTG.
that leaves, the candidate herself, who probably, can’t get too down in gutter with Trump but who can still twist the knives that Warren, Biden and POTUS will leave in Trump’s side.
LAO
I agree with you. I want to see her stay in the Senate, where she has a greater voice and impact. I just can’t see anyone dislodging Schumer from the Senate or his leadership position.
Corner Stone
Warren is…GO!!!
hovercraft
@geg6:
It’s good but not that good.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
I have nothing in particular against Schumer, and I certainly don’t wish him ill. But I would so much rather have Dick Durbin going in as Dem leader after Reid leaves, and whatever position(s) Elizabeth Warren ends up with, I want to see her with actual power to back up her wonderful words.
ETA: Aaaaaand here’s Liz!
slag
@hovercraft: Yes. I look forward to seeing all my heroes get their teeth into him.
But I also suspect he’s none to fond of black men questioning his intelligence as well. We certainly know how he feels about “Mexicans” with some modicum of discretion over his affairs.
James E Powell
@raven:
Read the book when it came out & thought it was not one of le Carré’s better books. I remember thinking at the time “This reads like it’s supposed to be a movie” and here we are.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jeffro:
I know. That was beauty.
joel hanes
@guachi:
just Warren repeatedly
insultingaccurately describing [Trump]FTFY. HTH.
Corner Stone
@Jeffro:
She stuck them right out under the bright lights of the big tent circle spotlight. They’ll survive just fine but it was beautiful to see someone say Trump was just saying the same shit they think, but louder.
hovercraft
@lamh36:
I will need to pace myself I may take to smoking an entire pack of cigarettes during these speeches.
Again who are his surrogates ? I saw good ole crazy eyes on Tweety tonight.
joel hanes
@SiubhanDuinne:
I would so much rather have Dick Durbin going in as Dem leader after Reid leaves
When Durbin met with Sanders after the Nevada dustup, I saw speculation that this signified Durbin was likely the next D. Majority Leader. I hope that comes to pass.
Mary G
Wow. Susan Collins said thatit’s unlikely that that she’d vote for Hillary in November, but she doesn’t rule it out.
And she’s not even up for election this year.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
After watching that speech I want to have Elizabeth Warren’s tiny, angry babies. I need a cigarette and a drink.
lamh36
Really dude… really ..
Baud
@Sarah, Proud and Tall:
Good band name.
LAO
“Hillary knows how to throw a punch.” I love Warren!
hovercraft
@joel hanes:
That’s the beauty of Trump, they don’t even have to lie about him he’s that terrible. No need for a chyron calling you a liar.
JPL
Warren is on MSNBC now. Since I don’t have cable, I stream MSNBC International. link Warren said that you have to negotiate sometimes, but you have to be able to throw a punch at times. Hillary can throw a punch.
slag
@lamh36: I completely stopped listening to Tavis Smiley when, after so many years of berating Obama for not being liberal enough, he brought Piers Morgan on his show to collectively drool over Trump. Publicity trumps all to some people.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Seconded.
Adam L Silverman
@LAO: garlic? daylight? wooden stake?
SiubhanDuinne
@guachi:
Yes! I loved her, especially the bits of addressing a room full of high-powered lawyers as though they were fidgety sixth-graders.
And the “numbers” in our federal government (“One President, 100 Senators, 435 House Members, 9 Justices of the Supre…. Oh wait”).
And the hug!
JPL
@LAO: Obviously me too. That was a great line.
LAO
@Adam L Silverman: Not even that, I’m afraid.
@JPL: when I saw your post, I laughed …great minds and all that.
gf120581
@lamh36: Uyger wants attention, nothing more. Probably has a sympathetic eye for Trump as one blowhard to another.
Corner Stone
“He’s a Mitch McConnell kind of candidate. Yes.”
Origuy
I think we can add Al Franken to the team, although maybe on the second string. He’s not up for reelection, so he should have time to make some appearances. Even if it’s just the Upper Midwest, we need to hold onto Wisconsin and Michigan as well as Minnesota. He’s good enough, he’s smart enough, and doggone it, people like him.
slag
@JPL: Thank you! Again.
Corner Stone
How anyone saw this speech and thought it was “meh” is mind boggling to me.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Baud:
Baud/tiny angry babies 2016!
hovercraft
@lamh36:
He is gonna be the last man on the island, or maybe Jeffrey Sachs will be with him, oh and maybe, Susan Sarandon, oh and maybe oh never mind there are a whole bunch of them.
Jeffro
@Corner Stone:
Oh yeah she did. Called them out as the craven, utterly unprincipled cowards that they are…moar shrillness please, Dems, the GOP has no defense at being called out on their support of the indefensible.
amk
In addition to national surrogates/attack dogs, I hope dems have regional ones too in swing states to keep the deadbeat’s numbers down till Nov.
Chyron HR
@Corner Stone:
This is America, people are allowed to be wrong.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: I’ve emailed Alain and asked him to look into it.
Baud
@Chyron HR: It’s essentially a requirement for a job as a pundit.
redshirt
So, some stuff happened?
jnfr
@JudyinSD:
That is very true for me as well. And thanks for the ex- story. I loved it.
BillinGlendaleCA
Heeesss Baaacccckkk!
raven
Don’t bite.
Adam L Silverman
@Poll Watcher: You’re back, but you’re not staying after what you pulled the other night. Say goodnight Gracie!
JPL
@Poll Watcher: haha.. She has really nice hair, unlike the plugs the trump has.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman: Heh.
jnfr
@Jeffro:
And that was the hugely impressive part for me, once you get past her utter fearlessness. Everybody treats those guys with kid gloves and they deserve to be called out.
Jeffro
@Corner Stone:
Agreed. Minor point: there were two or three places where she quoted Trump to the effect of, “You say so-and-so should be ashamed, Donald? No, you should be ashamed!” O-kay, true, but not really the best put-down. Maybe something like, “No, Donald – a fake-university-promoting, non-bill-paying, ‘best words’-using, Palin-fawning, charity-donation-withholding scam artist should be ashamed!”
You know, kind of put it all together for folks like that. LOL
But yeah, other than that – what a grand slam! Let’s keep up the steady drumbeat, DemTeam!! I want to see 3 speeches like this per week minimum!
amk
@BillinGlendaleCA: Itsssss baaacckkk. When will bj admins learn of IP address thingy?
redshirt
@Adam L Silverman: Quickest re-ban ever?
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: Being an idiot or a purposeful troll is one thing. The comment the other night was over the line.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman:
Some say it’s the only thing.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: ??
PhoenixRising
@Mary G: Liz Warren taught my BFF at Rutgers-Newark Law School. 25 years ago.
She is really something. My friend is a native of Texas, in her 30th year in New Jersey. Liz Warren wasn’t quite that tough, she fled to Cambridge. But yes, she is a teacher.
cckids
@hovercraft:
I saw her too. You can just tell how detached from reality she is, and Trump’s the same way. All they see is the people who cheer for & love Trump; because he’s won the majority of the little slice of Republicans who vote in primaries, they apparently believe that the majority of the country feels the same way. Hopefully they are as delusional as they seem to be.
Baud
Uh oh. Ed Rendell better watch his balls.
Adam L Silverman
@amk: I block with nym, email, and IP address. And I record the IP address. The IP address on this most recent one wasn’t an exact match, but I’m pretty sure its the same person I blocked the other night.
BillinGlendaleCA
@amk: I think ‘it’ is changing their IP address.
LAO
Fucking Ed Rendell.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: I don’t know. I’m confident enough, even with a slightly different IP address, that we’re dealing with the same person to go ahead and not play games.
redshirt
@Adam L Silverman: The block on “nym” makes those words unmentionable, doesn’t it?
If so, and this continues, large parts of the dictionary might trigger the spam filter.
redshirt
@Adam L Silverman: Oh, that was him. You made the right call.
I’m looking forward to his future failed efforts to conceal himself better. But he won’t be able to do it. Too many talking points to cover!
BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: Oh, it’s the same person. It’s been around a while and shows up every 2 years.
@redshirt: You and your fast damn typing.
BruceFromOhio
Watching Dr. Maddow speaking with Senator Warren about Secretary of State Clinton and the endorsement of President Obama seems appropriate for what we need to get it swung back closer to true.
“We’re gonna put up our voices and our votes.”
Adam L Silverman
@LAO: what did he do now?
redshirt
How are our cadre of BernieBros holding up? Anyone check in on them? BiP OK?
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
Great speech. Thanks for the pointer.
I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Corner Stone
@Jeffro: I agree those couple lines weren’t impactful. But they did play in as a baseline to keep the other knife thrusts landing.
However, two mediocre bash lines did not diminish that barn burner of a beatdown.
redshirt
@BillinGlendaleCA: It’s a curse.
hovercraft
@efgoldman:
I remember that speech, it was awesome and she was so gleeful in her delivery. Gone too soon
LAO
@Adam L Silverman: That was one quick hammer ban. lol. Clearly, you aren’t kidding around tonight.
Cacti
GFY Cenk.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: I don’t know how that part works. I have three options: nym, email, and IP addresses. I hit all three.
LAO
@Adam L Silverman: Said Warren wasn’t ready to be President (so she wasn’t qualified to be Vice President). For the record, I’m paraphrasing,
BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: He said that Senator Warren isn’t qualified to step into being President if she was VP. Rachel covered that at the end of her interview.
Adam L Silverman
@LAO: same guy or gal that went way over the line Tuesday night. No point waiting it out this time.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Cacti:
+1.
redshirt
@Adam L Silverman: I think that’s how it works. It also explains a good deal of FYWP moments when a poster’s post gets eaten for no reason.
Adam L Silverman
@LAO: @BillinGlendaleCA: I’m watching hockey. As for Governor Rendell’s remarks, he’s incorrect and punching way over his weight class.
amk
@Adam L Silverman: Thanks for quick hammer there. In another fywp blog I visit, all newbies are automatically put on hold until the admin steps in.
redshirt
Just to confirm, yes, typing the banned users name makes your post disappear.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: when Alain gets back to me, I’ll check on it and see what kind of workaround can be created.
LAO
@Adam L Silverman: Wasn’t complaining. Just acknowledging your use of the hammer.
Adam L Silverman
@amk: I thought that was the case here too, but apparently not.
catclub
@Corner Stone:
Me too. I remember that!
amk
@BillinGlendaleCA: With
friendssurrogates like this, hillz doesn’t need any enemies. She needs to shut down that moron.dogwood
@Cacti:
Cenk is a former right winger. My guess has always been he couldn’t compete with the assholes on the right and switched sides to see if he could carve out some sort of niche for himself as a leftist.
PhoenixRising
@efgoldman: Thanks for finding that link. I was trying to explain to my 16yo daughter why mom got teary when we saw a short clip of Ann Richards in the film on Tuesday–she thinks that is Cecile Richards’ mom.
She and Molly Ivins are watching this from where they are…and betting on Texas. Which God willing is going to be in play in November. We will do what we can.
FlyingToaster
@amk: Two things these trolls keep doing:
Power down, wait an hour, power up, voila! new IP (but almost certainly the same block).
or
Proxy!
Though the R*****U***** troll seems to be all over the place on this. If I want to go trolling I’ll go to Charbucks or Panera. Or, FFS, MickeyDs. Target or Walmart. Next best thing to untraceable, unduplicatable, and wipe your history before you leave.
Alas, being a racist, misogynist troll is no longer the thrill it used to be, I suspect.
hovercraft
This Stephen King quote is spot on about who Trump is.
Read the whole thing at Rollin Stone
jl
@dogwood: Cenk probably thinks he can single handedly destroy Trump forever in one fateful interview. Get more subscribers. Won’t happen so let Cenk dream his dreams.
Edit: though if the interviewer and Trump were ever to duke it out, Trump versus Cenk at TYT would be the place. Cenk probably has enough self-discipline and knows enough law to egg Trump on so Trump lunges across the desk first. Would be fun to see. Trump tackles Cenk, Secret Service piles on, Interesting legal case ensues.
BillinGlendaleCA
@amk: He’ll change his tune to whatever tune Sec. Clinton sings.
Feebog
Warren was absolutely magnificent on Maddow tonight. Also, fuck you Ed Rendall.
BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman: I spent a few nights in Cambridge, but that was in the mid 80’s.
Adam L Silverman
@PhoenixRising: Ann Richards is Cecile Richards mother.
FlyingToaster
@efgoldman: You forgot the exploding manhole covers. And the Red Line. And that for its entire length, Cambridge borders {dun dun dun} Somerville!
BruceFromOhio
@FlyingToaster: If war-driving gets them off to post bullshit yakkety-yak, awesome. Please, spend your time doing that than anything remotely productive.
cckids
@LAO:
Yes. What a jackass. Hillary promptly smacked him down, saying that “of course” Warren is qualified. As though only a fucking moron would believe or say otherwise.
BillinGlendaleCA
@PhoenixRising:
Ann Richards was Cecile’s mom.
Corner Stone
@PhoenixRising:
I…uh…what?
J R in WV
Can someone post a link to a transcript of Sen. Warren’s speech?
OT: My paternal grandmother was a Warren. Wonder if? Maybe we’re cousins?
Warrens have been around a very long time…
FlyingToaster
@BruceFromOhio: Definitely!
hovercraft
@dogwood:
What is it with the converts, they all become holier than thou, with the exception of our blogmaster. Ed Schultz is the same way, he was out there in 2010 telling democrats not to vote, I wouldn’t be suprised to find out he’s a Bernie or bust asshole.
Schlemazel Khan
@Adam L Silverman:
I am sort of sad I missed the performance that got him hammered. AFter putting up with his shit 4 years ago and in far and away too many threads this spring I can’t imagine what he did to finally get what he richly deserved.
Baud
@hovercraft: Whatever happened to Schultz.
Villago Delenda Est
Equal Justice Under Law
Anathema to the Rethuglican Party.
amk
@Baud: lost his mind, lost his show. the end.
Corner Stone
I love this ad by American Bareback they keep running on MSNBC switching back and forth between old WJC and recent HRC.
BillinGlendaleCA
@hovercraft: That’s usually the case, religion or politics.
Baud
@amk: Ah. The usual.
jl
I’m wondering whether Sanders will ever formally drop out or concede the race in public. That would be rude and ungracious of course, and produce much bitter muttering about how he is awful nasty person here at BJ.
But maybe putting out a press release at 11:59 PM some Friday night formally suspending his campaign is that way to go.
Then he can smoothly seque into campaigning for Democrats, if he proves to be serious about doing that.
People have short attention spans, and might be quickest way to move on.
Might lead to some interesting interviews.
“When you are you going to drop out?”
“Waddar you tawlking about. I’ve been campaigning against Trump for the last ten days, he would be yuuuuge disaster for the country.”
Anyway, I’ve been feeling foolish and making predictions lately. I predict that the Sanders drop out will be very low profile and his campaign will fade away with as little public notice as he can manage. A few weeks from now, if he is serious about not going home a sulking (not willing to bet much on that either way), he will gradually appear to the public as a movement leader, not a candidate.
Wonder if that approach would make HRC adoption of Sanders positions advantageous to her campaign easier?
hovercraft
@Baud:
He was cancelled by msnbc, now he’s got some kind of podcast there’s an ad for it at Rawstory. Never wasted my time checking it out.
lamh36
@lamh36:
Notice I didn’t mention Bill C in my comment. Of course Bill C will be used in the campaign, but I suspect and hope that HRC camp is WAYYY more strategic and focused on how an when they use Bill C as surrogate, moreso than they did before.
I think they def did more of that this primary season and I’d hope they continue to do so for the general.
I believe someone said, that part and parcel of Trumps strategy against HRC will be to wrap Bill C’s presidency even closer around HRC that he’s currently doing.
By relying heavily on PBO and PBO adminstration associates & allies, Trump will have to be smart enough or have smart enough folks around him to someone how be able to attack on at least 2 different fronts… Obama and Bill C…at this point, I don’t think Trump has it in him.
And literally as I was writing this, I saw a SuperPAC ad on MSNBC that interspersed Bill C… “I did not” have sexual relations footage with HRC footage talking about her email as SOS.
guachi
k
Adam L Silverman
@J R in WV: I found it. Its up top now in an update. As is in an embedded video. So no needing to click through to C-Span anymore. You can play it here.
Applejinx
Wow, hooray! I’m glad Warren has made up her mind: that tells me that Obama wasn’t wrong either.
What blows my mind is Warren not ruling out being Veep. That’s audacious. It means several things:
one, she trusts Hillary to keep up the pressure she would have kept on the bankers (might also be a sign that they have a role for Bernie doing that: he’d love it, and the banksters so totally deserve that)
two: can you say ‘President Warren’? That would be a damn good way to prepare for not 8 but 16 years of Democratic liberal woman governance. Also, it guarantees that if anything happens to Hillary we would still have a smart strong liberal woman warrior in there.
This makes me happy. I had no idea Warren was going to not rebuff Veep suggestions. MAN. It goes beyond peeling off bernie-or-busters. Anybody could tell them ‘how much closer can you get to having had Warren run this whole time? how much better preparation could you have for having Warren prepared to do a term or two as President?’.
Amazing. Even just the endorsement is a powerfully stabilizing, reassuring step, but WOW.
hovercraft
@Baud: @BillinGlendaleCA: @amk:
Now that I think about it he was the original Bernie bro, his show at the end became the virtual run Bernie run show, he had him on at least a couple times a week to bitch about the TPP, the post office and the coming Clinton apocalypse
Corner Stone
@guachi: Shine on, you crazy diamond.
dogwood
@J R in WV:
You can go to CSPAN and watch it online.
jl
@Baud: Why is Baud! 2916! not stepping in to save everything? Now is your chance, dammit.
You could at least challenge Trump to a debate. Everyone else has.
Adam L Silverman
@Schlemazel Khan: He used a slur for a transgendered person to either the African American woman who sang the National Anthem before Secretary Clinton’s speech Tuesday night or the different African American woman who came out after the National Anthem and before the Secretary’s speech to do final lectern prep – placement of notes, water bottles, etc. Either way, that was what I needed to be able to ban him/her under Cole’s enumerated policy.
PhoenixRising
@Corner Stone: Yes, she was Cecile’s mom–and that is one of her legacies. Recovering alcoholic, governor, and member of the TX utility commission that actually runs that state…and widely known for her wit.
Ann was a lot more than the mom of someone today’s teens know as a leader on reproductive rights. Is all I’m getting at.
Baud
@jl: I was working on a concession speech. But it was hard and I got bored.
JPL
@guachi: I couldn’t disagree with you more. Trump deserves nothing but insults.
BillinGlendaleCA
@hovercraft: I used to watch him before MSNBC cancelled his show(he went on vacation and didn’t have a show when he got back), I’ve not seen him since and I don’t think I’ve missed anything.
BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: I Baud! would have wear pants, so it’s a non-starter.
dogwood
@hovercraft:
What’s with the converts? I take it you weren’t raised Catholic.
David in NY
How about on the Supreme Court? Justice E. Warren has a certain ring.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA: Meh. That’s never stopped me before.
Adam L Silverman
@dogwood: You can just go up top of the post. Someone did a youtube vid of her speech, so I’ve embedded it in an update.
BruceFromOhio
OK, so trash the dumpster fire, then move down-ticket: compete everywhere, every house seat, every senate race, every state house and senate seat, run, run, run. Bernie lit the tinder, throw some fuel on that fire and GOTV. People are pissed off? Good, they should be. Do something about it. Change doesn’t happen by sitting at home bitching about it.
@David in NY: Good Gaia, man, not in front of the kids. It’s a school night.
Felonius Monk
Don’t know if someone has already mentioned this, but the Clinton campaign has opened up a website for Rethugs who want to jump ship.
Applejinx
@David in NY: Is she a judge? I’d rather see her be President, and a real liberal judge or six appointed. Imagine who Warren would pick. We’d be good for generations. <3
amk
@David in NY: Get the WH. Get the senate. Then get all the supremes you want.
jl
@Baud:
” I was working on a concession speech. But it was hard and I got bored.”
More the reason to debate. You can see into Trump’s mind and understand him like no one else. Not even Cenk (believe it or not).
If you love your country, you will debate Trump. If not, I guess I’ll see you collecting soda cans at the usual places for the Baud! 2016! campaign war chest next week.
BillinGlendaleCA
@BruceFromOhio: To paraphrase the President, don’t be pissed off, Vote.
redshirt
@Applejinx: And replace a strong Democratic Senator with another Republican? Why?
I don’t get why anyone would recommend Warren as VP if they know anything about politics.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: I would guess that he’s run a few names through the system.
Corner Stone
@PhoenixRising:
I’m not going to claim the mantle of Ann Richards. But with a big *but* there, I am going to go out on a small limb and say she would be damned proud to be known as Cecile’s mom to anyone who cared to think of her.
Ann Richards was a badass. I somehow don’t think it’s diminishing in any way to say Cecile Richards is a formidable person in her own right, and a strong force for what her mom believed in, and fought for.
I may have read the original comment wrong, but it seemed weird to me. IMO.
LAO
@David in NY: lol. A second Warren court? Republican heads would explode!
jl
@redshirt: I think special election has to be held relatively quickly in MA. Depends on how confident they can hold seat. If they are confident, then the issue is how close do they think Senate will be, and technicalities of what composition of Senate is when they pass the rules for the next session. I imagine Senate procedure technogeeks are playing the scenarios carefully.
I’d prefer Warren stay in majoirty Senate, as I would Sanders. But if Warren makes a very strong ticket for what might be a close race. that is a very important consideration.
hovercraft
@dogwood:
Even more frightening I was raised Seventh Day Adventist.
hovercraft
@Applejinx:
No law professor
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: I know nothink!
Corner Stone
@David in NY:
All respect to her, she’s too old.
dogwood
@Applejinx:
Do you know Warren’s views on foreign policy, energy policy, environmental policy? Because I sure as hell don’t. But if you think she knows more than Barack Obama about the job, and Hillary Clinton’s potential, then roll with it I guess, if it makes you feel better.
some guy
sorry to go all off topic, but my daughter, Elizabeth, is progressing to the 3rd grade. was painting the house when mom and kids got home, last day of school, report cards proffered. There, in big BOLD letters at the bottom of the end of year report card, was the news she would be moving to the 3rd grade. I cried as I hugged her, picked her up and swung her around. Hooray. her younger brother is moving on to the 4th grade (he got his Math grade up to a C, everything else an A) but she did it, she is moving on up, to the big time.
sorry, but this is as important to me as Warren kicking Trumpenfuhrer in the nuts. go Elizabeth, go !
hovercraft
@redshirt:
I believe that MA law says that a special election must be held for any vacancy within 90 days. That is why Reid is now okay with her being selected for VP. But he says no to Sherrod Brown.
Omnes Omnibus
@David in NY: Jesus, why can’t we just leave her where she is? She’s doing a great job.
BruceFromOhio
@redshirt: This “Warren for VP!” stuff torques me. Why would you take your best pitcher and make her a manager five months before the series? Yes, OF COURSE she is ready. So who is sitting in that senate seat from MA when the nominees for Supreme Court come rolling through? Some toe-the-line yutz who still has to ask directions to the restroom? Or the firebrand liberal who can make Mitch McConnell squeal like nails on a chalkboard using the Senate rules, and who can also get the so-called-librul-media to focus for more than a commercial break on what really fucking matters? Gaia slay me, my dream is Sanders and Warren staging filibusters on Republican horseshit to demand Senate votes on judges, and pointing out how conservatives are sabotaging America and the rule of law Republicans so dearly claim to love. Run up the score, Senators!
No, Senator Warren is exceptionally effective where she is now, doing what she does now: responsible to her constituents, untethered from the trappings of the Executive Branch, and making hay in the Senate to keep the government awake with real jolts of adrenaline.
Corner Stone
@some guy: Nice! Congrats!
redshirt
@hovercraft: I thought there was some odd footnote on that.
I’d like confirmation there’d be an election and not an appointment if anyone can find it.
Mike J
@Baud: Iiiiiit’s the ooooooooone thing.
hovercraft
@some guy:
Good for her, and you are right it is important. Tonight that is the most important thing that happened in you family and should be celebrated.
Adam L Silverman
@some guy: Congratulations!
hovercraft
@redshirt:
There is an appoiontment, but it would only be for three months, so Reid and Schumer would be willing to live with that.
J R in WV
@Adam L Silverman:
Thanks! You da Man!!
redshirt
@jl: And furthermore, while I’ll like Warren a lot, I don’t see what she adds to the Clinton ticket in a major way. She won’t deliver any states, she’s not really too different than Clinton so there’s no different demographic to tap into it. I don’t get why people would think this would work, except for the fact that Warren is awesome.
hovercraft
@hovercraft: I agree that she should stay wher she is.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
trollhattan
@some guy:
I know how you feel–the tiny victories can be the sweetest. Enjoy each and every one.
My little one (okay, little just a few weeks ago) promotes from eighth grade next week. I have a high-schooler? How did this happen?
Adam L Silverman
@hovercraft: actually if they time it right, so she resigns the day after the election, the special election would be held within a month of the inauguration and the seating of the new Congress. So it would only be an issue for a few weeks. That said: I think she’s best where she’s at.
hovercraft
@redshirt:
here a link
Adam L Silverman
@J R in WV: You’re welcome. I honestly expected the American Constitution Society to stream it on its youtube page. But for whatever reason it didn’t.
trollhattan
Thanks for the transcript, Adam. The tablet singed my fingers reading it.
Does Donny know he has five months of being a human shuttlecock ahead?
Matt McIrvin
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: If she were on the ticket she couldn’t do this.
trollhattan
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
That’s a Fox poll? Zounds.
Adam L Silverman
@trollhattan: He told someone last week he isn’t thin skinned, so he should be okay.
BruceFromOhio
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: First time in many years I clicked on a Fox link, and it was totally worth the wait. Thanks for sharing!
Suffragete City elftx
Holy shit she sliced and diced.
dogwood
@BruceFromOhio:
Your’re wasting your time. People who want Warren as Veep don’t really care about that stuff. They want a rant and raver in the White House because it entertains them. It’s want they always wanted from Obama. I thought Warren had some self-awareness, and hopefully this talk about her wanting the job is just cable and Internet claptrap.
Corner Stone
@Suffragete City elftx: Nah. She was more like a 2nd grader doing something something mumble.
redshirt
@hovercraft: Thanks. Here’s a better link:
So yeah, it might be possible. It doesn’t sound like anyone fully understands how it would/could play out.
I remain in the position that there are better places for Warren then VP, however.
chopper
@redshirt:
so he’s gonna come back with the name “the”, get banned again and destroy the blog.
cckids
@some guy: Congrats to you and your daughter! Always celebrate these supreme moments. Have a wonderful summer and great next school year.
dogwood
@Adam L Silverman:
I’m sure Scott Brown is hoping she becomes Veep. Because we all know how much enthusiasm there is in the country for special elections. Turnout is amazing.
Matt McIrvin
@Corner Stone: Hey, The Lorax really pissed people off.
BruceFromOhio
@dogwood: I get it, really, I do. What I want is a pit bull on a steamroller firing an Uzi in one paw and a flamethrower in the other. If you’ve got the WH covered, where is the power for real change? How about another pitbull on a steamroller there?
People can be smart AND passionate about the leadership.
ETA: Our leaders are not dogs with weapons and construction equipment. I use these terms as an analogy to attempt to make a point.
Matt McIrvin
@redshirt: There’s a temporary appointment and then a special election.
But these special elections are risky, even in Massachusetts: Scott Brown got in with one before Warren kicked his ass in the next regular election. On the other hand he was running against Martha Coakley, maybe the worst campaigner in Massachusetts history.
Irony Abounds
Sigh, why oh why is HRC the candidate and not Ms. Warren? Great fiery speech. What will be telling is that I doubt Trump responds. He has run out of insults for her and he won’t keep a Twitter war up when he clearly can’t win.
BruceFromOhio
@Irony Abounds: Sigh, why oh why is HRC the candidate and not Ms. Warren?
Senator Warren decided not to run. Seems like a personal decision.
redshirt
@Matt McIrvin: I lived that election. It was terrible, and really hurt Obama. Not that anything could have been done about, because, you know, death. But bad memories, man.
Matt McIrvin
…And after losing Ted Kennedy to death and John Kerry to the State Department, I’m getting kind of tired of those special elections. At least the second one turned out OK.
Matt McIrvin
@redshirt: We ultimately got Senator Warren out of it. But at the time it really seemed like Brown was the death blow to the ACA, which was the really galling thing.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@jl:
Bernie has come up small. I don’t think he’s coherent now himself about what he’s doing or what he really wants. He lost the plot many weeks ago.
Omnes Omnibus
@Irony Abounds: She didn’t run. She isn’t going to run. She can do what she did tonight because she is not the candidate. She is basically Senator for Life is she chooses to be. She can go NFTG. A presidential candidate cannot.
japa21
@Irony Abounds: To be honest, I wouldn’t want Warren as President or VP. She is best at what she is currently doing and I don’t think she would be a very good President.
She has great ideas but has a limited skill set, just like Sanders. One can like both of them and their ideas and realize they don’t belong in the Oval Office.
dogwood
@BruceFromOhio:
When you become President or Vice President you are the leader of the entire country. It’s not a place for pit bulls and flame throwers. She gave a good speech today, but there was nothing presidential about it. Someday Democrats are really going to appreciate Barack Obama. He never once embarrassed the country, the party or his family. He was dignified and authentic.
SFAW
To all of you helpful commenters putting Sen. Warren on the ticket as VP: sod off. We are quite happy with our senior Senator remaining as our senior Senator. And, although we appreciate the kind thoughts and all that other crap, we don’t want to have to find a replacement AGAIN. [And with Maggie Hassan unable to overtake Kelly Ayotte (so far), flipping the Senate would get that much harder.]
Now, I realize that Martha Coakley is tanned, rested, and unready to take up the mantle/baton/whatever, so I guess I shouldn’t complain. But on the off-chance — ridiculous, I know — that she might lose, who would we get? Come to think of it, even if she doesn’t run, there doesn’t appear to be a deep bench in MA, despite it being among the bluest in the Union. Mike Capuano would probably be good, but I don’t think he’s interested.
Anyway: just let her continue to do her current job. You’ll be glad(der) you did.
And, Adam? Thanks for banning Racist Hump yet again. The world is a better place for it.
SFAW
@dogwood:
You do realize that one of the “responsibilities” of the VP candidate during the General is to be the attack dog that the Presidential candidate can’t afford to be, right? It’s been that way since Time Remorial.
Jeffro
@efgoldman: Ok – there is an exception to every rule, clearly Ms. Richards is that exception (and how).
SFAW
@dogwood:
Scottie moved to NH, primarily to establish residency to be able to run against Shaheen, I believe, and people in MA noticed his “justification” for doing so. But maybe Jack E. Robinson is available.
pseudonymous in nc
@LAO:
You can be a leader in the Senate without being a Leader. You can be a committee chair like Biden was and have a platform from that, or make people answer tough questions at hearings.
But you can’t be a committee chair in the Senate without seniority and relationships cultivated over time. And pulling potentially fantastic senators out to seek positions that now tend to end in retirement from electoral political life is a waste of talent. Six-year terms, remember. Half as long again as a vice president’s. Lots of space between election campaigns.
Suffragete City elftx
@Corner Stone:
Nah it was more like a Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am
Jeffro
@efgoldman:
Ok, ok, I hear you, but what else would EW do – say nothing? That certainly doesn’t help get Garland to SCOTUS or all these other judges into place. You have to punch ’em in the eye; you might get punched back or nothing might happen, but it’s at least as likely that they start to back down, or they back down next time, or someone in the crowd comes over to your side. It’s worth taking a swing at them.
pseudonymous in nc
@Adam L Silverman: nym match is probably just for the nym field, not the comment field. If it looks like an identifiable small range, then YouKnowWho is probably hard-renewing its DHCP lease to get a new IP. IP-blocking is not ideal in all situations, because it’ll affect people behind NAT gateways, but I tend to use GeoIP lookup to verify whether a Persistent Fuckwit is persistently fuckwitting from the same location.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@dogwood:
He’s never said a careless thing or acted thoughtlessly in his role as president. He’s been respectful of everyone. Most times, he’s been the only adult in the room. He’s been next level presidential.
dogwood
@SFAW:
You do realize that being the attack dog candidate only lasts for a few months don’t you?
Jeffro
@Corner Stone:
I’m trying to figure out who they think they’re reaching with this ad (people who are 40+ for starters, maybe even older?)
Are there a whole lot of MSNBC watchers open to persuasion that maybe Bill’s “crimes” led to Hillary’s email problems?
It’s just weird. Keep spending that dough though, PAC-boys.
pseudonymous in nc
@redshirt:
Arguably “deliver a state” has faded in importance (Cheney / Wyoming; Biden / Delaware) given how the state map has hardened so much since 2000. The idea that Clinton / Gore was an Democratic Arkansas / Tennessee ticket seems like another world today, and it honestly is another world in political terms.
Demographics are tricky too. Clinton could pick, say, an ex-governor in a very white very rural red state — Brian Schweitzer or Steve Beshear — and then there’d be the ongoing “what about guns? what about coal? what about mining/fracking?” for weeks through the campaign.
The answer we’d like is ‘Biden: VP forever’, but the guy deserves some time to drive his cars and enjoy his family.
pseudonymous in nc
@Jeffro:
Maybe the cable company said ‘if you want it on CNN at $X/per, then you also need to pay for it on MSNBC as well.’
Omnes Omnibus
@pseudonymous in nc: Warren is too valuable where she is. End of story.
karen marie
@gf120581: Yes, please!
redshirt
@pseudonymous in nc: A Hispanic Dem from Texas might help increase Latino voting rates in Texas. And Latinos voting in Texas is how we kill the Republican Party. Without Texas in the Electoral College, they’ll never win the Presidency again.
karen marie
@slag: Everyone had to go outside for a cigarette.
Corner Stone
@karen marie: Except for guachi. Who just thought it was meh. Meh! I say. Meh!
SFAW
@dogwood:
So? Doesn’t change the fact that being the team’s attack dog is a VP-candidate thing, and has been for a fairly long time.
Omnes Omnibus
@SFAW: Do you want to limit Warren to that role, or should we leave her where she is to do what she does and let her work her way into a Committee Chair? I know what I want.
dogwood
@SFAW:
So you’d take her out of the Senate to use as an attack dog and then install her in the Naval Observatory until the next election. Yeah, that’s a good use of her skill set. You do know there is no evidence that vice presidential picks have any effect on elections don’t you?
SFAW
@dogwood:
@Omnes Omnibus:
Please read my comment at 280. That might answer your questions.
ETA: I was originally going to be my usual snarky self, but realized that this string is up to 300 comments, and plenty get overlooked, etc., etc.
dogwood
@redshirt:
I can’t wait until this is all over. Hillary will pick a qualified running mate and it will all be fine. Why do people stress out over the things that don’t really effect election outcomes all that much? We don’t have to buy into the Village narrative about how important some of this stuff is, when data shows us otherwise.
pseudonymous in nc
@Omnes Omnibus: no disagreement there. There’s this tendency to treat the Senate as a stepping stone for political talent, when the current judicial fuckwittery shows that the Dems need people who’ll stick around. You’re not sacrificing ambition if you want to be a really fucking good senator.
@redshirt:
Chicken and egg, though. Is there a Hispanic Dem from Texas who’s got enough of a resume to take over the presidency? That’s the sine qua non of Veepdom, even if the job itself isn’t traditionally worth a bucket of piss. There ought to be Hispanic Dems from the SW who are qualified, but not enough of them have got a high-enough profile yet. Maybe this year, with so many long-term permanent residents filing their N-400s, we’ll get to see what opportunities exist for the near future.
redshirt
@dogwood: I’m actually totallly chill.
redshirt
@pseudonymous in nc: Julian Castro: You know you want to.
Applejinx
@dogwood: I’m close to a one issue voter, economics. Add climate change and racial/gender justice and I’m covered. I trust Warren and I’m increasingly impressed with Clinton, and if Warren ran as Veep it would be a giant committment in the one area I find it hard to trust Clinton on (fracking aside I think Clinton is already solid on climate change, fracking is more ‘American business exported abroad’ and that’s why she’s been supporting it, and Clinton is already solid on racial/gender justice)
It depends on how bad Clinton wants a landslide. I have already seen real hardcore dead-enders shaken by the Warren endorsement.