Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Found liable for massive fraud, is required to post a massive bond, gets a break, then files a *fraudulent* bond!

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Books are my comfort food!

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

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302Comments

  5. 5.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    So they figure the Dems take control of Congress next year so they can’t wait?

  7. 7.

    Jeffro

    Trumpov has already filed for re-election; therefore, a new justice cannot be nominated or voted on until after the November 2020 election. Also known as “The McConnell Rule”

  9. 9.

    MisterForkbeard

    Well, that’s awful. Way to go, Kennedy. Couldn’t even wait for Dems to get the Senate back.

  11. 11.

    Oklahomo

    I remember focus groups and interviews with young people bitching about being tired of being told they needed to vote to protect the Supreme Court. Oops.

  12. 12.

    d58826

    There truly is no g-d. Given the ages of some of the other Justices, Der Fuhrer could name a majority of the court by 2020. We will be lucky if the court rolls back to the 12 th century

  13. 13.

    dr. bloor

    A career mediocrity who could seldom be counted on to do the right thing, and given his advancing senility, would have been even less reliable going forward.

    Here’s to RBG’s continued health.

  14. 14.

    NotMax

    We’ve never had a Supreme Court justice named Ivanka before…

    (I assume Roy Moore is out of consideration by Dolt 45.)

  15. 15.

    Readily

    @Jeffro: We can think of all the procedural/rhetorical roadblocks we want.

    All that matters is whether Schumer would implement them. And I think you have your answer.

    Anyway, Toobin just tweeted that abortion will be illegal in multiple states within 18 months.

  17. 17.

    TenguPhule

    @germy: Now let’s see how much of this is bluster for branding and how much of this is actually about stopping any nominations.

    /Deeply Cynical

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    Come on Mueller.

    It is my hope that voting on a replacement can be delayed until after the midterms. It is only just, particularly as there is great question as to how legitimate our “POTUS” is, and how long his term will continue.

    Should Democrats state that they will vote to approve Merrick Garland. Period. Otherwise, nada. Nothing. Obstruction and — this is on us — massive street protests.

    Can the GOP move this through swiftly, with no Dem votes??

  20. 20.

    TenguPhule

    @Readily:

    All that matters is whether Schumer would implement them. And I think you have your answer.

    Fuck Chuck.

  22. 22.

    dr. bloor

    @MisterForkbeard: Anyone under the illusion that it would have occurred to Kennedy to wait until after the midterms has largely bought into the narrative of “honoraable, swing vote Kennedy.”

    See also, “Reasonable Republican Susan Collins,” and “Maverick John McCain.”

  24. 24.

    TenguPhule

    @Elizabelle:

    Can the GOP move this through swiftly, with no Dem votes??

    Depends. We have Manchin.

    And if McTurtle is willing to break the rules (again), they can force a vote through.

  25. 25.

    Soprano2

    Fuck you Susan Sarandon, Bernie Bros, and everyone who was too “pure” to vote for Hillary Clinton. Donald Fucking Trump shouldn’t get to appoint even one Supreme Court justice, let alone two.

  34. 34.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Elizabelle: Can the GOP move this through swiftly, with no Dem votes??

    I think so, he’s got fifty votes even without a McCain, and this vote will probably spook Donnelly and Heitcamp, maybe McCaskill and Nelson, too

  36. 36.

    jacy

    I’ve lost track and IANAL in any universe — are there any stops that can be pulled to stop this or are we fucked completely and totally?

  37. 37.

    CarolDuhart2

    I like to think Chuck gets the score now. He got nothing trying to coddle Trump, and he will get nothing now. If not sure, contact him and let him know that we’re on him to hold the line against any Trumper at least until the midterms.

  38. 38.

    Elizabelle

    @David Anderson: Jebus.

    Hold on. Long hot summer ahead. It’s 1968 again, with internet.

    Um, they don’t have McCain though, do they? This could get interesting. They have 51 Republicans, including McCain.

    Maybe it’s time for some of the retiring GOP, or those who are privately concerned about Trump’s direction — and you know they exist — to make life interesting.

  39. 39.

    jl

    @dr. bloor: I think Kennedy muttered out that he would wait until after the midterms. Maybe the primary returns spooked that miserable pixieled old white geezer.

    After the very corrupt Gorsuch stunt, the Senate Democrats need to fight like hell to delay a replacement, and need to make this a huge campaign issue where it would make a difference. If McConnell nukes Senate rules to force another corrupt appointment, then Democrats need to be equally ruthless if they take control after midterms.

  40. 40.

    jurassicpork

    I can just see it now- Trump will nominate the rotting corpse of Robert Bork and he’ll sail right out of committee.

    For those who haven’t been staying in touch with my blog, here’s the latest. On Sunday night, I was in a car accident serious enough to total my car. This comes at a really bad time as we don’t have the money for a new used one. Pictures are shown that I took at the scene of the accident. But any help would be deeply appreciated. Hey, at least I’m not asking for $65,000,000 for a brand new private jet like Creflo Dollar. But since Mrs. JP was recently diagnosed with congestive heart failure at the ER last week, I have no way of getting her to the cardiologist to whom the ER doctor had referred us.

  41. 41.

    d58826

    some of the retiring GOP, or those who are privately concerned about Trump’s direction

    They are long on talk and very short on backbone

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    Le sigh. I think this looks like a good day to stay off the internets. They all do, lately.

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Or, maybe it will put some steel in their spine. This is worth losing office over, and the Democrats just might find extra votes if they do not support a Trump justice.

    Mostly, this all makes me sick.

  43. 43.

    TenguPhule

    @jacy:

    I’ve lost track and IANAL in any universe — are there any stops that can be pulled to stop this or are we fucked completely and totally?

    WASF.

  44. 44.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @MisterForkbeard: Doesn’t Trump nominate the guy?
    The way Trump is going I can see Trump nominating someone just to be an ass and create a crises. After all since the all signs the GOP will lose in November Super Alpha Winner with Two Ice Cream scoops Trump needs to punish them for their weakness.

  45. 45.

    Brachiator

    @Oklahomo: RE: At least Bork is no longer around. I can see Trump nominating him.

    Judge Roy Bean is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.

  47. 47.

    Shakti

    WASF.

    Ugh. What measures can the Democrats take to make sure the court doesn’t get another justice who can vote on any cases until a new non-Republican takes office? I think if ever, times call for creative measures. But I’ve got no ideas. Plus the lower courts are being packed. ://

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    @d58826: So far. But this is big enough to maybe surprise us.

    It would not hurt to write some courteous letters on the matter. And demonstrate, too.

    History is going to judge them, no matter when they retire.

    We have no idea what GOP senators are saying to each other, privately. Some of them may be gloating, some of them may see they are re-enacting a horrible historical precedent, unless they step up.

  49. 49.

    donnah

    Right to Lifers will be sending up all of their challenges. I’m sure my home state of Ohio has a cartload all ready to go after Roe v Wade. Kennedy was a swing vote in the past and held firm against making abortions illegal, but you can bet the new Judge will be bought and paid for.

    Yes, Kennedy was a conservative Republican who voted with the Right most times, but you can bet the next one will be way to the right. And the democratic Judges are probably going to remain a minority for years to come.

  50. 50.

    TenguPhule

    @Shakti:

    What measures can the Democrats take to make sure the court doesn’t get another justice who can vote on any cases until a new non-Republican takes office? I think if ever, times call for creative measures.

    Thomas, Roberts, Alito or Gorsuch could commit suicide.

  51. 51.

    jl

    Dangerous crap like this is why I am glad some very aggressive and bold new people are winning primaries and have a good chance to win in November. The SCOTUS decisions have been so corrupt, so bad by any rational measure, that drastic actions may need to be taken. Congress has the power to impeach and convict, to strip SCOTUS of jurisdiction, to stop everything if corrupt appointments are being made. People like HRC and even BS would be reluctant to go there. I think some of the new people would go there. It may be necessary for democracy to survive in this country.

  52. 52.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Elizabelle: “No McCain” gets them exactly the amount of votes they need. I suppose it’s possible they could peal off some other republican (Corker/Flake/Collins) but that’s super reaching. Those people are all talk, no action.

    “I’ve spoken with Trump’s nominee David Duke, and while I have some concerns over his past actions he has assured me that he will vote in precedent and fairly adjudicate the law. I’m changing my vote to Yes.”

  53. 53.

    CarolDuhart2

    Remember a lot of stuff can also be done at the state level. Abortion was legal in New York an (maybe California) before Roe v.Wade. There are state versions of Civil Rights Laws as well. Taking back state houses can do a lot to mitigate this. This was the strategy that was needed post 1964 as a firewall against backlash, and it’s needed now.
    Conservadems like Heitkamp who are spooked by this need to remember Republicans never and are never going to reward them for being spooked and voting against their interests.

  56. 56.

    Ohio Mom

    I’m having a busy day and just stopped in for some diversion between appointments. If I had known this was going to greet me, I would have stuck to my decorating sites.

  58. 58.

    david

    @TenguPhule: Republicans got 51. Plus the Veep. It’s a done deal.

    Don’t be surprised if Thomas doesn’t also retire, just to complete the youth movement.

    As for Dems, their only hope:
    a) RGB makes it to 2021,
    b) they win WH AND Senate AND House in 2020,
    c) they expand court from 9 to 11 (good luck getting that one if Schumer is Senate Leader).

    Otherwise, the court is conservative for a generation or longer.

  59. 59.

    zhena gogolia

    @Ohio Mom:

    I saw the thing about Gillibrand earlier and I thought, “Hmm, what does she know that I don’t?”

    F–k everyone who didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton.

    So sick of having to enter my nym every time.

  62. 62.

    Mary G

    This is very bad. Roberts probably twisted his arm to go before the midterms, because there is a greater than zero chance that they lose the Senate in November. I am having a hard time not wishing a long, painful death on Anthony Kennedy.

    ETA: Since Twitler and McConnell have broken so many norms, I hope the Democrats will fight back hard when they have power, by impeaching Gorsuch, for example.

    ETA 2: Surprised that Sessions’ DOJ just filed 28 counts of federal hate crimes against the guy who plowed into the crowd in Charlottesville and killed Heather Heyer.

  63. 63.

    Ridnik Chrome

    @Readily:

    Anyway, Toobin just tweeted that abortion will be illegal in multiple states within 18 months.

    Toobin is being optimistic. If the Republicans can hold Congress, the plan is to make it illegal at the federal level.

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @TenguPhule: Do they need Pence in a 50-49 vote?

    @jl: I think Kennedy muttered out that he would wait until after the midterms.

    a double gift to Rs, if true, they get to campaign on the Court without having to defend a specific person with rulings and positions.

    The Thomas nomination helped bring down Poppy Bush, if “the Left” can get their shit together, maybe this can be turned into a positive, but damned if I know how to get people riled up about the judiciary

  65. 65.

    Steeplejack

    In open-thread news, I just discovered today that my neighbor across the hall is moving out on Saturday. Nice guy, 30-ish, good neighbor. Had a somewhat barky dog for a short while, but I think he was tending it while a (girl?)friend was out of town. And the brick building muffles a lot of noise. No complaints, really.

    So now I’m inevitably wondering about who will be moving in. My building is of a type common around here—three stories, two units on each floor around a central hall/​stairway—and it has been very peaceable during my residence. Hope that trend continues.

  66. 66.

    TenguPhule

    @david:

    Otherwise, the court is conservative for a generation or longer.

    i don’t expect rule of law will last that long.

    The last four decisions with Kennedy already made clear that the GOP are just making shit up as they go along.

  67. 67.

    Elizabelle

    It’s been said above, but fuck Anthony Kennedy. He could have retired after the new Senate was sworn in. He did not.

    I hope he gets the restaurant treatment too. For the rest of his ridiculous life.

  69. 69.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @jl: That’s what I am thinking – we had the political grandson of MLK with Obama, and in all seriousness, it is a damn pity that didn’t work. But if nice isn’t going to work, it’s some for the political grandson of Malcom X.

  70. 70.

    d58826

    @zhena gogolia:

    F–k everyone who didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton.

    she won the popular vote by 3 million+ votes. F**K the founding fathers who gave us the electoral college and Der Fuhrer

  71. 71.

    jl

    @david: As I said, I think people like Ocasio-Cortez, and Beto O’Rourke, maybe DeLeon, will be far bolder than people like HRC, BS, or Feinstein if we reach an extreme and dangerous situation for democracy. That is why I am glad those people will be in the race in November.

  72. 72.

    TenguPhule

    @Mary G:

    I am having a hard time not wishing a long, painful death on Anthony Kennedy.

    Don’t fight it. Come on over. We have cookies.

  73. 73.

    HeleninEire

    Is LAO here? My poor 83 year old Dad is losing it. He said “I have never been more depressed.” I wrote back “Don’t be. You are fine and so are your children. It is your grandchildren who are screwed, but they are all starting their adult lives way ahead of where I and certainly you did. They have money, no debt and they will inherit enough to survive.

  74. 74.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @MisterForkbeard: I suppose it’s possible they could peal off some other republican (Corker/Flake/Collins)

    Flake is hard core rightie, Corker is a rich Southern Republican and Collins might as well be

    @Bobby Thomson: and while we’re at it, fuck Schumer.

    Because he hasn’t invented the magic extra-constitutional roadblock to undo that last two Senate cycles?

  75. 75.

    Duane

    If there was ever any question about Kennedy’s love for this country, all doubt has been removed. Traitorous bastard. Go join Scalia in hell.

  77. 77.

    TenguPhule

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Because he hasn’t invented the magic extra-constitutional roadblock to undo that last two Senate cycles?

    He could at least be fucking uncivil to McConnell and his fellow GOP fuckfaces.

    The rules of the game have changed. Chuck hasn’t been keeping up.

  79. 79.

    TenguPhule

    @NotMax:

    Jackal paws crossed it won’t be a professional bagpipe player.

    i think you mean accordian player.

  81. 81.

    jacy

    Seriously, at what point does the fabric of our society become so frayed that it no longer holds?

    When they reinstitute Jim Crow laws and it’s approved 5-4 by the Supreme Court? BECAUSE THAT DOESN’T CURRENTLY SEEM OUT OF THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY.

    I need a lorazapam.

  82. 82.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    THIS. Exactly this is why I got my arse out of the United States after Trump was elected. I feel for you who have to stay, but I do not regret my decision one bit.

  83. 83.

    guachi

    Obama got two nominees in eight years. Trump will have two in less than two. Could have been a 6-3 Democratic edge for years to come.

    The only real hope is for Democrats to make this a huge campaign issue and get lucky enough to take the Senate. Then claim that since Trump is already running for reelection that no nominees will be considered.

  84. 84.

    TenguPhule

    “These same people live in gated communities, many of them, and are featured at events where you have to have an ID to even come in and hear them speak,” Sessions said in remarks before the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Los Angeles “They like a little security around themselves, and if you try to scale the fence, believe me, they’ll be even too happy to have you arrested and separated from your children.”

    Sessions looked up from his notes and grinned. Laughs and applause rose from the audience.

    Via Wapo.

    In case anyone missed the “Where the WMD at?” moment of this clusterfuck of Nazis.

  85. 85.

    Fair Economist

    @Readily:

    All that matters is whether Schumer would implement them. And I think you have your answer.

    Schumer has 49 Senators. McConnell has 50. If McConnell calls for a parliamentary ruling that there will be an immediate vote on William Pryor or whomever, it happens.

  86. 86.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    What a fucking disaster. We’ll have to impeach Gorsuch and the new fuckness.

  87. 87.

    TenguPhule

    @jacy:

    Seriously, at what point does the fabric of our society become so frayed that it no longer holds?

    Looks like we all get to find out in real time.

  89. 89.

    The Truffle

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Dems will hopefully take back the Senate and gum up the works.

    Payback time. Adding justices would also be good, and hopefully more progressive Dems can be elected to office who can at least stand up to establishment types like Schumer and Pelosi. (Love Pelosi, but she’s establishment.)

    @david:

    I’m calling Schumer on this. He’s my Senator. Maybe at least he can step down and give the job to Durbin.

    I have said this before, but I really think the country is headed for divorce. There are two Americas who frankly can’t stand each other and the early 21st century has made this clear. I thought Obama at least could unify people, but he couldn’t. And if he couldn’t, it can’t be done. (Speaking of Obama, his election is the only moment in my lifetime when I really felt proud to be American.)

    Please don’t tell me we’re all in this together no matter what. I don’t believe it, and IMO, it’s a dangerous opinion at this point.

  90. 90.

    Mai naem mobile

    What a piece of shit Kennedy is. Motherfucker knows Trumpov is a compromised moron. He knows the Merrick Garland stuff was fucked up. It’s not like he could t have retired next year and still gotten a right wing judge. It’s not a slow moving coup. Seems pretty fast to me. Fuck him with a long sharp rusty pole.

  92. 92.

    TenguPhule

    @Fair Economist:

    If McConnell calls for a parliamentary ruling that there will be an immediate vote on William Pryor or whomever, it happens.

    Schumer could at least beat McConnell unconscious with a cane first.

    There’s precedent for that.

  93. 93.

    JaneSays

    @Mary G: Even if they win back the majority, they won’t be able to actually remove Gorsuch from the bench since that would require the support of 67 senators. Which is never gonna happen.

  95. 95.

    Brickley Paiste

    As I noted some time ago, Republicans do a much better job of timing the retirements to keep conservative Supreme Court seats under control.

    Kennedy is making this decision about halfway through the Trump term, which gives plenty of time to have a Republican replacement, regardless of any stalling by Democrats.

    There’s a lesson here for Democratic Supreme Court appointees, but it’s probably too late for some of them who will likely die before Trump leaves office.

  97. 97.

    TenguPhule

    @jacy:

    Goddammit, I just got my kid into college — I need the world not to fall completely apart for the next four years.

    Sorry, there is no god.

  98. 98.

    HeleninEire

    @HeleninEire: continued…someone tapped me on the shoulder and I hit post.

    I continued on “and they are all white and (nominally) christian. Please don’t be depressed. America has fought bigger bullies than Trump.” He then answered “I hope Mueller can come through before the midterms” I then explained about the DOJ rule that says that you can’t indict before a election.

    So to my first question. Is LAO here? Is there an actual time frame in the rules? One month before? Two?

  100. 100.

    d58826

    @Fair Economist: and not going to have 60 to overcome a GOP fillibuster to expand the court. And the very very popular FDR didn’t have a lot of luck on that front either.

  101. 101.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    @chrislhayes

    Even if turns out that Trump himself was texting w Putin during the campaign to coordinate, and the pee tape is real, and POTUS and everyone in his family and campaign ends up behind bars, it will still all have been worth it for McConnell, the Mercers, Adelson and the GOP.

  102. 102.

    laura

    Yeah, the phones are already ringing with Members demanding to drop their membership.
    Double yeah, I went to McGeorge Law School, home of Kennedy.
    Third generation proud union member, Union Business Agent for twenty years.
    I’m watching my professional life flame the fuck out. Not happy at all.
    I expect that repeal of minimum wage will come next and the return to Lochner Era is coming hard and fast.
    Sinclar Lewis is instructive with both “It cant happen here” and “The Jungle.”

  103. 103.

    Elizabelle

    @Mary G: Do you really think Roberts would do that?

    I think he realizes he is great danger of being grouped with Roger B. Taney (Dred Scott) and James Clark McReynolds (FDR foe; also anti-semite, bigot, and misogynist — quite the trifecta there).

    The Five Worst Supreme Court Justices In American History, Ranked

    Yes. Clarence Thomas has already distinguished himself onto this ranking.

    Think Progress link, article by Ian Milheiser, who wrote a 2015 book on the subject.

    Today is the official release date for my book, Injustices: The Supreme Court’s History of Comforting the Comforted and Afflicting the Afflicted. As you might guess from the title, it is not particularly complimentary of the Supreme Court as an institution.

    Milheiser’s Court o’ Horrors are (as of this moment in history, mind you):

    (1) Justice Stephen Johnson Field, 1880s and thereabouts. Nevah heard of him. But he was a bad one.

    (2) come on down, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney

    Any list of terrible Supreme Court justices that does not begin with Chief Justice Roger Taney will inherently be controversial. Taney authored what is widely viewed as the worst single decision in the Supreme Court’s history, the pro-slavery decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford. Though Taney was far more moderate on the issue of slavery as a young man — he once referred to slavery as a “blot on our national character” and he emancipated his own slaves — his views hardened in his old age. In 1857, the same year as Dred Scott, Taney labeled the abolitionist movement “northern aggression.”

    Taney ranks second on this list solely due to the egregiousness of Field’s efforts to manipulate the Constitution.

    (3) Justice James Clark McReynolds

    … And, above all, Justice McReynolds was a bigot. He refused to speak to Justice Louis Brandeis for Brandeis’s first three years on the Court because Brandeis was Jewish, and he forbade contact between his staff and the Jewish Justices Brandeis and Benjamin Cardozo. There is no official photograph of the justices for 1924 because the Court’s seniority-based seating chart required McReynolds to sit next to Brandeis, and McReynolds simply refused to be photographed next to his Jewish colleague. When Brandeis offered his views in conferences, McReynolds would simply stand up and leave.

    On the rare occasions when a woman argued a case before McReynolds’s Court, the justice would exclaim “I see the female is here” and walk out of the Courtroom. When Charles Hamilton Houston, the Harvard-educated black attorney who mentored future Justice Thurgood Marshall as Dean of the Howard Law School, argued before the Supreme Court in 1938, McReynolds turned his back on the Courtroom to signal his disapproval. McReynolds once warned one of his law clerks, who had grown close with Harry Parker, that the clerk “seem[ed] to forget that [Parker] is a negro.” He advised the clerk to “think of my wishes in this matter in your future relations with the darkies.”

    Yes. McReynolds was a Southerner.

    (4) Chief Justice Melville Fuller

    If it were up to Melville Fuller, Abraham Lincoln would never have been president. …

    (5) Justice Clarence Thomas

    Who looks like a peach, in comparison.

  105. 105.

    TenguPhule

    @Brickley Paiste:

    There’s a lesson here for Democratic Supreme Court appointees

    Did you miss the part of McConnell not letting President Obama’s nominee come up for a vote? Or the shitstorm that his two prior nominees had to go through to replace two sane justices?

  106. 106.

    J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford

    If it wasn’t for the Bernie or Bust naval gazers we would be into the 10th year of economic expansion under Democratic stewardship and we’d have a 6-3 margin on the court with a young replacement for Ginsburg all lined up.

    The Bernie Busters were so naive – and obnoxious about their naivete – and ate up the Russian aided anti Hillary crap. I will never forgive them.

  107. 107.

    Another Scott

    @dr. bloor: +1.

    I’m all for using this to inspire our side, but it really doesn’t change anything. Kennedy was far too “conservative” for the country’s good. His replacement won’t be much of a change – it will still be 5:4 – that is if Donnie is able to seat anyone.

    Everyone, [blink]We’re not doomed[/blink]. We can change the SCOTUS. As we know, there’s nothing in the Constitution that says the SCOTUS has to have 9 Justices, or that other changes can’t be made (the SCOTUS hears too few cases, and (it seems to me) too many cases that have to do with economics rather than what really matters).

    History.com:

    The Judiciary Act of 1789 set the number at six: a chief justice and five associate justices. In 1807, Congress increased the number of justices to seven; in 1837, the number was bumped up to nine; and in 1863, it rose to 10. In 1866, Congress passed the Judicial Circuits Act, which shrank the number of justices back down to seven and prevented President Andrew Johnson from appointing anyone new to the court. Three years later, in 1869, Congress raised the number of justices to nine, where it has stood ever since.

    The country has been changing rather quickly over the past few decades. The SCOTUS won’t be a permanent impediment to progress.

    132 days to go…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  108. 108.

    TenguPhule

    @Mary G:

    Surprised that Sessions’ DOJ just filed 28 counts of federal hate crimes against the guy who plowed into the crowd in Charlottesville and killed Heather Heyer.

    Not like they could deny the video showing it happened.

  109. 109.

    Marcopolo

    Boy do we have a lot of work to do!

    And apparently it will take a lot longer to accomplish than all of us would like.

    Anyways, looks like things are gonna get worse before they get better so let’s get to it.

    No time for despair.

  110. 110.

    jacy

    @HeleninEire:

    I have heard two completely different schools of thought on that from very experienced lawyers. Half of them say there nothing to it — Mueller can do what he wants, because Trump is not on the ballot, and it’s just a convention anyway. The other half says that Mueller will have an abundance of caution and pause a certain number days just to be nice. So who the hell knows. I personally don’t think Mueller gives a fuck about being nice.

  112. 112.

    d58826

    I think we just have to get used to the idea the G-d is a republican. Jerry Falwell has been telling us that for years.

  113. 113.

    Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ

    I honestly don’t know how much more bad news I can take. FFS, why couldn’t Kennedy wait 6 more months!!!

    Only thing I think we can do is stall the nomination somehow, protest like crazy and maybe try to start an impeachment of Justice Thomas (based on his lying under oath back during the Anita Hill debacle). Is it grasping at straws? Yes. Ask me if I care.

  114. 114.

    JPL

    Not sure if it’s been mentioned but the evangelicals aren’t worried about overturning Roe, they are going after Griswold.
    What’s sad is that it doesn’t reduce abortion rates, it ends safe abortion. People will die.

    also this is the place where noone remembers my nym.

  116. 116.

    jl

    @Mai naem mobile: Kennedy is a very tribalist “right, high-minded well-intentioned paternalistic” type sexist and bigot old conservative white man. That’s been known for a long time. That is his true loyalty, not constitutional or legal principles or integrity or democracy.

    I wonder if wild and terrrifyinjg stuff like the Ocasio-Cortez win scared the shit out of him, so he set the date and made the decision asap. Interesting timing. But that is wild speculation mainly made for purposes of bitter snark.

  117. 117.

    Cacti

    @JaneSays:

    Even if they win back the majority, they won’t be able to actually remove Gorsuch from the bench since that would require the support of 67 senators. Which is never gonna happen.

    The easier route would be to amend the Judiciary Act, which sets the number of SCOTUS Justices, and only requires a simple majority to change.

  119. 119.

    mali muso

    Well, I just took the “do you qualify for express entry to Canada” online tool and apparently we probably would. Seriously thinking to go ahead and take the language tests, get my education credentials equivalencies done and submit the paperwork just to have a back up plan. I have a 1.5 year old mixed-race daughter. I no longer see a future for her here.

  121. 121.

    HeleninEire

    @jacy: I’m actually worried that Mueller is too straight. He’s gonna go high when Comey went low. And then we are royally screwed.

  122. 122.

    Cacti

    Sadly, I don’t have much faith that Chuck Schumer is willing to play hardball to stop this.

    That would be impolite.

  123. 123.

    jacy

    @Another Scott:

    That’s the one thing that does give me hope. We’re in uncharted territory now. Yes, terrible things are happening, things that were not imaginable. But that runs both ways. Just because we’ve never expanded the Supreme Court before doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Or something else will happen. If things go off the rails badly enough, there will be a course correction. That’s the way history works. The pendulum swings. It just sucks that we’re right in the middle of it right now.

  125. 125.

    Elizabelle

    @Marcopolo:

    Anyways, looks like things are gonna get worse before they get better so let’s get to it.

    No time for despair.

    Agreed. Thank you.

  128. 128.

    TenguPhule

    @jacy:

    If things go off the rails badly enough, there will be a course correction. That’s the way history works. The pendulum swings.

    The problem is that sometimes it swings laterally.

  130. 130.

    jl

    @Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ: why couldn’t Kennedy wait 6 more months!!!

    A lot more brown and women type people might be heading for Congress. Kennedy is doing it for their own good, he’ll gladly old rich white man splain it to you. They just aren’t quite ready to govern themselves, certainly not ready to lord it over decent rich white people in an uppity fashion. Better to let some miserable corrupt old male white farts on the Supreme Court ease the way.

    Seriously, that is what an old ass like Kennedy is thinking. Never mind that Trump is a malicious fool who could cause WWIII because his afternoon McDonald’s run was bad. Should we have a future history, Kennedy will go down as a miserable scoundrel.

    Edit: full disclosure, I am a middle aged white man, and I am censoring myself in order to remain civil. Kennedy was some combination of legal scum, and sad deluded bigotry of all descriptions (fact that I think he is in some, but only some, ways more deluded than consciously maliscious, saves his reputation from complete disaster)

  134. 134.

    TenguPhule

    @mali muso: Have survival kit in case events on the ground move too fast to keep up. Food, water, medical supplies. And a full tank of gas.

  135. 135.

    Fair Economist

    @d58826:

    and not going to have 60 to overcome a GOP fillibuster to expand the court. And the very very popular FDR didn’t have a lot of luck on that front either.

    The filibuster will probably be gone in 2021 if we have a Democratic trifecta.

  136. 136.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Another Scott: Easy there and don’t give into despair – this Transaction Donny we’re talking about , Trump is going nominate someone who kissed his behind, not someone like Sessions whose Trump is peeved with or some kid Trump doesn’t know

  137. 137.

    B.B.A.

    30 states will ban abortion before the year is out. Which mean Planned Parenthood will have to become the nation’s biggest travel agency.

  139. 139.

    Steeplejack

    @Steeplejack:

    My apologies to all. This may have been the worst “open” thread of the year in which to natter about personal trivia.

    Anyway . . . just got off the phone with my media-connected insider friend. MCF thinks Kennedy’s retirement now is a move to help hold the Senate for the Republicans in November. The Democrats will become “shrill” and “radical”—that impression amplified by the media—and the “moderate” Republicans will be given cover to close ranks with their far-right colleagues. And some possibly wavering GOP voters troubled about Trump will have their spines stiffened to beat back the godless commie Democrat hordes.

  141. 141.

    HeleninEire

    LOL, looking for a sunny silver lining here since I am about to burst out crying in public. Remember a few months ago when I sarcastically opened the proposal process here at BJ for marrying me and getting Irish citizenship? Well damn looks like the price just went WAY up!!

  142. 142.

    Elizabelle

    @Cheryl Rofer: I wonder if this will get Mueller to issue some indictments a bit faster than he would have been planning to. To make that point.

    It is not far-fetched.

    And Trump is not popular, and he scares people. Really, he does.

  143. 143.

    Brickley Paiste

    @TenguPhule: of course I didn’t miss it. But your tortured attempts to score a gotcha merely reveals your own failure to grasp what’s important here

    Kennedy is leaving with years left in Trumps term and even before the midterm. That leaves years to get his replacement seated. That is the way intelligent people game the system

    I do hope that RBG survives until the next democrat is in the White House, but she’s already at the outer edge of life expectancy given the type of cancer she had.

  144. 144.

    Cacti

    @jl:

    A lot more brown and women type people might be heading for Congress. Kennedy is doing it for their own good, he’ll gladly old rich white man splain it to you.

    It’s not paternalistic concern.

    Kennedy is a Republican partisan and confirmed as much in Bush v. Gore.

  145. 145.

    Fair Economist

    @Cacti:

    Deny them quorum. But again, impolite and insufficiently defeatist.

    You could slow votes down, but all 50 Republican Senators are a quorum – because if there is no Democrat there, there’s nobody to ask for a quorum call, and if there is, there are 51. McConnell only needs one vote, and there’s no way to stop that for six months.

  148. 148.

    Origuy

    @Elie: litlebritdifrnt is a subject of Her Majesty’s and a former sailor in the Royal Navy. IIRC she never got American citizenship.

  150. 150.

    James E Powell

    I guarantee that the press/media, led by the NYT, will go all out against the Democrats as Evil Obstructionists if they oppose Trump’s appointed justice on Merrick Garland grounds. This is just another huge victory for the right wingers that was more or less inevitable when people who should know better decided that they could not countenance President Hillary Clinton.

    Today, other than the nearly all of the people who comment here, I hate everybody.

  151. 151.

    jl

    @Cacti: Contact his office, and Feinstein’s, and other offices, whether constituent or not, and demand that they defend democracy in this country, and stop the dangerous influence of Trumpism. Tell them that there will be very severe consequences for them, or any of their political allies if they do not go to the mat. That is what I will do.

    If you call another district or state, think of who you will vote for or against in any upcoming primaries, who you will conttribute to, that will get their attention.

  152. 152.

    Jeffro

    Despite the hypocrisy here by the GOP, this is not the end of the world. Kennedy had become a pretty reliable right-wing vote these past several years.

    McConnell’s hypocrisy and rushed time frame will likely motivate our already-motivated side even more than theirs.

    Keep the faith! ?

  155. 155.

    JPL

    @Cheryl Rofer: They said that Trump is not the target. You and I both know that could change with the flip of a coin, but the repubs will not budge.

    Democratic candidates need to run on the fact that abortion won’t end, just back alley fake docs will endanger lives. Pro-life they are not.
    They are also going after Griswold which set up the original ruling. Good luck using certain forms of birth control.

  156. 156.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    Government working as designed by the rich Virginians who owned slaves.

  157. 157.

    Another Scott

    @El Caganer: He hates Sessions. It won’t be him.

    It might be someone like Kris Kobach. He’d love to stick it to the judge who beat up on poor widdle Kris… :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  158. 158.

    TenguPhule

    @Jeffro:

    Despite the hypocrisy here by the GOP, this is not the end of the world. Kennedy had become a pretty reliable right-wing vote these past several years.

    Abortion. Gay Rights.

    Kennedy was the single swing vote on those.

    Bad is an understatement at this point.

  159. 159.

    jacy

    @Steeplejack:

    My gut feeling is that this energizes the left far more than it energizes the right. They have nothing to lose. We do. It isn’t like they won’t get somebody confirmed in the next two years if they don’t in the next 2 months. We’re fucked either way, but we won’t go out without a fight.

  161. 161.

    jl

    @Cacti: I wasn’t describing the facts, I was describing what rationalizing BS goes down in Kennedy’s mind, and when he’s not even worthy of that much credit, how he wraps up his bigotry sexism and classism for public consumption. Sorry if I was not clear.

  163. 163.

    The Truffle

    Mueller needs to come out with that October surprise. That and maybe someone will reveal Donald paid for a mistress to have an abortion.

    @Jeffro: You’re probably right. I hope Dems learned their lesson. There is definitely more energy on our side.

    @raven: This is an open thread, remember?

  164. 164.

    Bruce K

    I’m not going to say “screw Anthony Kennedy” or words to that effect. The sentiment is simply not sufficient.

    I’m at “die in agony and burn in hell, Anthony Kennedy” right now. He may as well have handed over the country to the goddamn fascists, and I hope his name lives in infamy in the history books written by future generations who analyze the fall of the United States of America.

  166. 166.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @jl: The timing’s not that unusual, retirements are common at the end of the term. It gives time for the President to appoint and the Senate to confirm ahead of the next term.

  167. 167.

    germy

    I remember when Sessions was giving testimony at his hearings. Kamala Harris would ask him a question, and he’d … talk … real … slow … and use … lots … of … words … to not answer her question.

    We don’t have the votes, but maybe Democrats can develop drawls and talk real slow at the SCOTUS confirmation hearings.

  168. 168.

    rikyrah

    My statement on the retirement of Justice Kennedy.

    “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new Congress.”

    — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 27, 2018

  170. 170.

    jl

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks to my personal BJ correction police. The check is not in the mail. But in this case, I remember Kennedy saying he planned to retire after the midterms, so we do have evidence in this specific case.

  171. 171.

    HeleninEire

    @Elie: @Origuy: Everyone be a bit careful here. A few weeks ago some asshole named Sab (who? Yeah I dunno either) tried to kick my ass for calling America “my country.” What Sab (who? Yeah I dunno either) didn’t know was about me or my background and my reasons for moving to Ireland. And many people here came to my defense. Because my reason for moving had NOTHING to do with politics.

    Also too, Thank You my BJ defense friends!

  173. 173.

    Mary G

    @rikyrah: This. I don’t know anybody who voted for Jill Stein, or didn’t vote because “Hillary is just as bad as Trump,” but if I ever meet one, I will be hard pressed not to slap them silly at best, and yelling will definitely be involved. It is unforgivable.

  176. 176.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Elizabelle: I think we’re all feeling a bit panicked right now. But the interpretation that this is good for the Republicans in the fall has some holes in it. The trend in elections, as we saw yesterday, is not being recognized by much of the conventional media. That’s not to say that we can sit back and enjoy. Far from it.

    The argument that Trump is under criminal investigation may be something Democrats in Congress can use to slow things down. It certainly is a good message to get out for the election.

    I think that Mueller is trying very hard to remain focused on putting together the very best legal case. He can’t be immune to the politics, of course, but given Comey’s blunder, he has to stick with the legal. OTOH, he seems committed to a democratic (small d) society, so I think that will not be entirely absent from his calculations. He’s seemed to be coming to some sort of completion anyway.

    I agree with you, though, that now is the time for demonstrations. How about meeting those 25 on Trump’s list for the Supreme Court when they’re eating at restaurants? Very nicely, politely, remind them of McConnell’s requirement they not be seated until after the next presidential election, that there is such a thing as stare decisis, or just say hello with your Planned Parenthood hat on.

    Now is the time for demonstrations, and it will be until Trump is out of office.

  178. 178.

    CarolDuhart2

    @jacy: Also none of the likely prospects are running for anything. The convention (and that’s what it is) is for politicians running for office. Also since none of them are President, there’s no reason to not indict when the case is ready. Everybody else is just another citizen.

    Think Manafort’s trial date in September. Barring a plea of some kind, the trial is likely to go into October, with a jury verdict possibly in late October, and sentencing whenever. Manafort is barely known outside of the political world, and nobody will base their vote on the outcome of the case.

  179. 179.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @jl:

    Thanks to my personal BJ correction police.

    You’re welcome, I live to serve.

    The check is not in the mail.

    You’ve been reading “The Art of the Deal”, haven’t you?

  180. 180.

    Nelle

    Just arrived at this thread. At the risk of repeating earlier, unread so far comments, F Bernie, F his sycophantic acolytes, F Jill Stein, F the “both sides” crowd, F James Coney, FTfNYT, and so on and so forth. Amen and verily I say amen.

  182. 182.

    TenguPhule

    Once Kennedy is replaced, what stops the GOP from doing whatever the fuck they want? 5 SC justices who will literally make shit up to justify anything means no court decision can be trusted to stop the arsonists.

    The third pillar is being doused in kerosene.

  184. 184.

    germy

    A cable network that is monomaniacally devoted to faithfully serving the agenda of Party leaders and uncritically disseminating their talking points is obviously going to miss – or deliberately suppress – any challenges to those Party dictates. That's what happened there.— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 27, 2018

    (He’s talking about MSNBC)

    Probably wrote it while on his way to another Tucker Carlson interview.

  185. 185.

    TenguPhule

    @Bruce K:

    and I hope his name lives in infamy in the history books written by future generations who analyze the fall of the United States of America.

    You’re optimistic that there will be survivors and that they’ll still be literate.

  186. 186.

    Elizabelle

    @Cheryl Rofer: We can use the blog as a clearinghouse for demonstrations and action. Better to be out, being counted, and doing something.

  190. 190.

    jl

    @TenguPhule: I think we should support candidates who will take bolder action than the likes of HRC, BS or Feinstein. People who will vote to impeach corrupt judges, and convict them at trial, strip SCOTUS of jurisdiction where allowed in the Constitution, call people out into the streets, halt every damn thing in Congress to stop corrupt judicial appointments.

    This kind of crap is how 30 to 40 percent of the population can impose authoritarian rule on the majority, and it has to stop. We need to vote for people who will fight harder than Schumer and his bunch have in the past. That is my opinion.

  191. 191.

    Adria McDowell

    @mali muso: I have a six year old. We’re a Latino family. My kid looks A LOT like that little girl Jessica from the Maddow video.

    I’ve done two tours of Iraq. My husband has, too. We’ve seen up close what war/civil war does to kids.

    I am ready to bail for the safety and well being of my child. I’ll vote in November, assuming we can, but I’ll leave at the drop of a hat.

  192. 192.

    TenguPhule

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    that there is such a thing as stare decisis

    Alito just pissed on it, dumped a bucket of gasoline on it and set stare decisis on fire.

  193. 193.

    Steeplejack

    @mali muso:

    It will be interesting to hear what my brother thinks about this. He and his husband (Brazilian but now a U.S. citizen) have a mixed-race daughter (and a Whitey McWhiterson son). They could be targeted by worsening Trump/​Republican policies six ways from Sunday. (I guess abortion is off the table as an issue for them, so there’s that.)

    Bro’ Man has occasionally talked about taking early retirement in 2019 and moving to England. He is a confirmed Anglophile, and he has dual citizenship because of the fluke of being born there when my father was in the Air Force.

  198. 198.

    TenguPhule

    @Elizabelle:

    Today’s a really hard day for a lot of people. Must you?

    If I don’t release via bad black humor I will fucking explode. Sorry.

  199. 199.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah: And he’s exactly right. 237 days out, Obama nominated Garland and that was too close for McConnell. He won’t care of course, but 132 days out is, um, even closer to the election this time.

    All we can do is point out the hypocrisy and double standards, and USE IT to motivate every last voter we can.

    (and it costs nothing to hope for a little “F.U. TRUMPOV!” from McCain, Flake, and Corker here…not being delusional, it’s just a non-zero chance that they tweak both Mitch and Putin’s rent boy by insisting on the same standard ;)

  200. 200.

    Elizabelle

    @TenguPhule: Do you ever consider what it does to your audience?

    I sometimes type up a response, and then just don’t post it.

  201. 201.

    jl

    @TenguPhule: stare decisis means you can over rule precedent on a case by case basis, but then rubber stamp a sentence in at the end that you are not overturning it (just in case the old decision might come in handy if you want to rule the other way for your political party later). And just keep doing that. Presto! All the advantages of stare decisis and non of he drawbacks. Progress!

  202. 202.

    TenguPhule

    @jl:

    People who will vote to impeach corrupt judges, and convict them at trial, strip SCOTUS of jurisdiction where allowed in the Constitution, call people out into the streets, halt every damn thing in Congress to stop corrupt judicial appointments.

    We needed that last year. Events have already moved past this point and what we have now in Congress is all we have to work with now.

    Emergency survival kits should be mandatory for all US based BJers. This is not a joke.

  204. 204.

    Elizabelle

    @Cheryl Rofer: We shall overcome.

    And I think this could be what strengthens us, in the long run. Maybe even the short run. No taking anything for granted.

    As horrible as he is, Trump is also a spotlight on what is valuable about American life. People are watching.

  206. 206.

    TenguPhule

    @Elizabelle:

    Do you ever consider what it does to your audience?

    I sometimes type up a response, and then just don’t post it.

    Believe it or not, I am actually holding back quite a bit.

  207. 207.

    jacy

    @Adria McDowell:

    I have an adopted son who is Salvadoran. His little girl looks just like that little girl. He’s a Marine, but I don’t think that makes a difference at this point. At this point, I would leave the country if I could, but I would legally have to leave my children. So I’m stuck.

  208. 208.

    Cheryl Rofer

    This is a very good thread.


    And there’s more.

  213. 213.

    JPL

    @HeleninEire: I think some tweets are out of frustration, and I was shocked that someone questioned your love of country. I just wish I had two countries to love.
    Derby VT looks interesting, because they share a library with Canada.

  214. 214.

    HeleninEire

    @Elizabelle: Agreed. We are all mortified and looking for something good. See me at 141. And in my other posts trying to convince my 83 year old dad that his grandchildren are OK cuz they are white and Christian. What liberal says that? One who is trying to stop her Dad from being “The most depressed I’ve ever been.”

  217. 217.

    Steeplejack

    @jacy:

    My gut feeling is that this energizes the left far more than it energizes the right.

    We’ll see if an “energized” left is a voting left. Hasn’t always worked out that way in the past.

  218. 218.

    Kay

    @James E Powell:

    Today, other than the nearly all of the people who comment here, I hate everybody.

    me too! :)

    I feel like I was vindicated on Kennedy though. He was terrible on voting rights so I always loathed him. Voting rights is a good solid measure of a person on a whole range of issues- authoritarian tendencies, racism, dislike of poor people, basic fairness, awareness of history, familiarity with basic state systems and penchant for practicality…it’s a “tell” You could tell he was an asshole.

    I knew it would get bad when they started clamping down on voting, and it did, because it’s not just “voting”, it’s a way of thinking.

  220. 220.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Elizabelle: As I wrote at the end of that horrible thread, you have been a valued commenter. Sorry to see you go down this road. I felt rather cheap-shot at too. I’ll hold tongue and move on. Peace.

  221. 221.

    Elizabelle

    @HeleninEire: I am so “shall I stay or shall I go?” Partly, a lot actually, it’s important to stay and fight. Part of me says, flee while you can.

    Fight of our lives, and most of us are into midlife and beyond.

  222. 222.

    Steve in the STL

    @Steeplejack: We’ll see how many on the left are allowed to vote, whether or not in a gerrymandered district.

    We are so fucked.

  224. 224.

    jl

    @Steve in the STL: Tell everyone you know to vote this November, Might be their last chance. Something to tell the grandkids about (if we are allowed to, depends on whether you trust your grandkids not to turn you in, maybe)

  225. 225.

    JPL

    Trump has been attacking fake media, so one has to wonder how safe freedom of the press is.

  227. 227.

    jacy

    @Steeplejack:

    I think the left has been very complacent. Life has been too easy the past 40 years, and a lot of people who did not live through any of the more fractious periods did not have a real sense that their comfort could be jeopardized, let alone their existence. From what I see, people are alarmed now. And it’s people that are invisible to the powers that be: women, youngs, people of color. They’re sick of this shit, and they’re sick of just hoping it’ll either leave them unscathed or end without their assistance. I think that the wave is out there, relatively undetected. Our job is to do everything in our power to make sure it arrives.

  228. 228.

    Elizabelle

    I have not heard back from Voteriders about volunteering. Will follow up with them again today. Have any of you dealt with them lately?

    I wonder if they’ve been swamped. Or maybe it’s a volunteer data processing issue (more FYWP writ large)?

    Biggest thing is getting out the vote, and getting out the word.

  229. 229.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    I feel like I was vindicated on Kennedy though. He was terrible on voting rights so I always loathed him. Voting rights is a good solid measure of a person on a whole range of issues- authoritarian tendencies, racism, dislike of poor people, basic fairness, awareness of history, familiarity with basic state systems and penchant for practicality…it’s a “tell” You could tell he was an asshole.

    You had him nailed, Kay.

    Always.

  231. 231.

    The Truffle

    @Kay: Kennedy was always a rightie, not a moderate.

    I’m glad that Dems are winning more special and local elections and maybe the election of Trump will be a Pyrrhic victory for the GOP.

    I just want to live in a country that I’m not ashamed of.

  233. 233.

    Ab_Normal (at work)

    @HeleninEire: Twenty-five. :D I already offered her all of my $$ if she wanted to emigrate after the 2016 election; she turned me down then, but I’m willing to give it another shot.

  234. 234.

    Mary G

    @Cheryl Rofer: Wow. She is just what I needed today, thanks.

    IF WE MUST DIE, WE SHOULD DIE ON OUR FEET RATHER THAN LIVE ON OUR KNEESRemember that kid was drawing pictures of Zapata from detention? We must remember Zapata's words. Maybe we'll lose but we're going to make this fucking tough as nails for them.— Dr. T’Chanda Prescod-Weinstein??‍♀️ ?? (@IBJIYONGI) June 27, 2018

  235. 235.

    Calouste

    @Cheryl Rofer: “This is a very good thread”.

    No it isn’t. Chattel slavery is over ( for the moment at least) because 600,000 people got killed. Skipping over that kills her whole argument. People on the side of slavery were willing to fight to the death to preserve it.

  237. 237.

    HeleninEire

    Is she still in school? Or does she want to be? College is great here and mega cheap (well as opposed to America) and she can get in pretty easily as a student. The path to citizenship is easier if you are a foreign student here.

  238. 238.

    schrodingers_cat

    All I keep reading is what the Rs plan to do and how they want to kill us all. Yes they do. But what are we going to do about it. How are we going to fight is what I am interested in knowing. Are we going to let them win without even putting up a fight?

  240. 240.

    d58826

    Not an expert on Senate rules but isn’t an unanimous consent resolution required in order to conduct business? If Schumer refuses to go along can bring Senate to it’s knees.

  242. 242.

    jacy

    @Calouste:

    That’s kind of the point. It’s time to put up or shut up. We’re at an inflection point in history, whether we like it or not. We can rise up to meet it or die trying, because the other option is not worth thinking about.

  243. 243.

    TenguPhule

    @Calouste:

    People on the side of slavery were willing to fight to the death to preserve it.

    And their descendants are determined to die on the hill of white Republican privilege.

  244. 244.

    Jeffro

    man this site is a mess…on my Mac and Macbook it keeps showing me about 100 fewer comments on this thread…my phone shows it accurately…none of them will ‘hold’ my name and email.

    Grr…

  246. 246.

    TenguPhule

    @schrodingers_cat:

    How are we going to fight is what I am interested in knowing. Are we going to let them win without even putting up a fight?

    Plan A: Vote Ds in, Rs out.

    Plan B: …..still working on it

    .
    .
    .
    .

    Plan XYZ: GOP up against the wall when the revolution comes.

  247. 247.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Calouste: I’ll disagree that it kills her argument. She recognizes the Civil War. I’ve been thinking, too, that the 1840s and 1850s are a good time to take lessons from. We’re far from a civil war now. There are many roads to take to deal with our situation. I know what we’re seeing now is upsetting. But we can still win.

  248. 248.

    TenguPhule

    @d58826:

    Not an expert on Senate rules but isn’t an unanimous consent resolution required in order to conduct business?

    Sadly no. Mitch McConnell.

  250. 250.

    Steve in the STL

    @TenguPhule:

    Once Kennedy is replaced, what stops the GOP from doing whatever the fuck they want? 5 SC justices who will literally make shit up to justify anything means no court decision can be trusted to stop the arsonists.

    The third pillar is being doused in kerosene.

    Late to the thread. Is that what people are mad at you for saying? Because it strikes me as accurate. And horrible.

  251. 251.

    Ab_Normal (at work)

    @HeleninEire: She’s got an undergrad degree in linguistics and is working for a dot-com while contemplating grad school. I’ll talk to her about contemplating harder.

    Edit to add: hrm, seasonal affective disorder drove her out of Seattle, not sure if Ireland would be any better… boo bad brain inherited from my family.

  253. 253.

    J R in WV

    Grrrrr. I’ve been really pissed since November, 2016. Especially as we learned about Comey’s breaking DOJ protocol to discuss his shitty investigation of innocent Hillary, while concealing his even more shitty investigation of Putin’s catamite, Trump. And learned more about Trump’s treason.

    This is no surprise, really. We should all have expected a fierce attempt to take the Supreme Court for years to come.

    One good thing is that if these bastards are correct about there being a God and a Hell, why, they are in it already and just haven’t noticed yet.

  254. 254.

    John

    Famed Supreme Court Justices:
    John Marshall – Established judicial review in Marbury v Madison.
    Earl Warren – Ended “Separate but Equal” in Brown v Board of Ed
    Anthony Kennedy – Shit the bed and moved out of the house.

  255. 255.

    jl

    @d58826: People need to contact Schumer’s office, whether they live in NY or not, and tell him that if the GOP tries to ram through another corrupt appointment, the nation demands that he do everything, absolutely everything, in his power to stop it. Remind his office that he took an oath the Constitution, and in that sense we are all his constituents and we demand that he do his duty in the face of lawless authoritarian rule, that is happening right now, in this country.

    The time for Democrats bringing sporks to a knife fight has been over for a while.
    Edit: and that includes calling people out into the streets to protest a corrupt GOP Senate.

  257. 257.

    Mary G

    They are already starting the fascism. Tweet from LA Times reporter trying to cover a public court hearing:

    I'm attempting to observe immigration court at Port Isabel detention center courtroom – which is public – but have been turned away twice by guards because reporters must have ICE approval— Molly Hennessy-Fiske (@mollyhf) June 27, 2018

  258. 258.

    Spanky

    @Elizabelle:

    Partly, a lot actually, it’s important to stay and fight. Part of me says, flee while you can.

    Fight of our lives, and most of us are into midlife and beyond.

    There’s nowhere I could go that I wouldn’t hear about what’s happening in the US of A. And if we fall, who will stop the tide? Better to stay and fight. It’s for all we have.

    Boy, that sounds melodramatic! Kennedy was always an asshole, and he was going to go sometime before 2020, we knew it. We’re knocked back on our heels today, but at least now we know what’s coming out of this.

  259. 259.

    JPL

    @Jeffro: Last night I had to use John’s twitter feed in order to access updates. Shut BJ down, go to twitter feed open post, rinse and repeat. Today’s better except for the nym. I’m on Windows 7.

  260. 260.

    jl

    @Mary G: Looks like ICE will be the new brownshirts. National security. SCOUTS as constituted now will say it’s all good because the magic words were used.

  261. 261.

    Lalophobia

    I’m going to keep saying this: if we get back congress and Trump ever gets poisonous enough we need to push for his picks to be impeached from the Supreme Court or that they should resign.

    I know, I know, I know. I’m not fucking stupid. But listen, the investigations relating to Trump could turn up some really, really bad things. Like, even your average person who avoids news like the plague would be horrified to hear things. (And that’ll be on top of everything that’s happened so far.) If Dems have dropped civility by the time this happens, not even entirely but just by a significant enough amount (revelations about Trump can help with that and please God let the worm be turning on that one) we can try to push a narrative that we can’t trust his picks because he was the pawn of a foreign power. Or worse.

    We in all likelihood will never get the opportunity to do this, but in all likelihood there shouldn’t be an orange mold growing in the walls of the White House. Start sowing seeds now among people you know. Write Congressmen. And if the tide of public opinion starts turning, if you can, push, push, push. Sometimes the reason we don’t get things done is because we lack the audacity of the right.

    In the mean time, protest, vote, and try to stay sane.

  262. 262.

    JMG

    The only consolation is, no matter what happens, Susan Collins’ career is over. She votes no on Trump’s nominee, she’s primaried out. She votes yes, she goes into her 2020 campaign as the vote that ended Roe v. Wade.

  266. 266.

    HeleninEire

    @Ab_Normal (at work): LOL you would think so. But tomorrow is gonna be the hottest day on record 86 degrees!!!

    As far as SAD goes, here it is real. And I think it has a lot to do with the sun. Right now end of June the sun is up at 4:15am and down at 10:15 pm. YAY. BUT in the winter the sun is up at 8:15am and down at 4:15.

    But we have fake lights for that. ;)

  268. 268.

    JPL

    @MomSense: I’ve been trying to come up with a nonsensical word, because my thirty something year old has been giving me the evil eye. numbnuts just doesn’ t cut it.

  270. 270.

    The Truffle

    Schumer is my senator. I just called his office and told them that Schumer should not allow any nominees to be rammed through. Nor should he allow it until a new Congress is voted in.

    @JMG: Susan Collins is the wooooooorst. I am hoping she retires and just goes back to Maine. She’s one of the good Germans in the GOP.

    @Cheryl Rofer: That’s a great thread. Please note that the divisions in this country never really healed. They’re still there 150 years later.

  271. 271.

    Elizabelle

    @Spanky: Yeah. That’s what I think, too.

    Europe has more recent experience with this. Americans kind of got spared, they were fighting fascism “over there.”

    It’s licking its lips here, now.

  272. 272.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Fair Economist: You could slow votes down, but all 50 Republican Senators are a quorum –

    Yup. We went through this a couple of weeks ago. IIRC we would need two Republicans to agree to stay away, because at least one Dem would have to vote present to challenge the quorum

    There are no magic bullets, platinum coins or Obama speeches. The only possibility is that Murkowski and Collins hold firm on choice, maybe Heller gets scared and throws a hail mary, and I very much doubt they will. The only answer is, as Marco Polo said above, the hard, slow, boring work of winning upcoming elections.

  273. 273.

    Kay

    Maggie Haberman
    ‏
    Verified account

    @maggieNYT
    Follow Follow @maggieNYT
    More
    Statement from Leonard Leo, outside adviser to Trump re judges, on Kennedy retirement:
    “I expect the nominee to be like Justice Gorsuch, to demonstrate excellence in every respect, and to earn widespread support from the American people, and bipartisan support for confirmation..”

    The bullshit is already knee deep out there, and it hasn’t even been a day. We’ll be drowning in it in by November, when they crown the new Trump court.

    I figure abortion is outlawed first, followed closely by voting by non-whites, then they’ll hold harmless all white collar criminals.

  274. 274.

    TenguPhule

    @JMG:

    The only consolation is, no matter what happens, Susan Collins’ career is over.

    Sorry, I’ll only believe that when I see it happen.

    Republicans always come home.

  276. 276.

    TenguPhule

    @Kay:

    I figure abortion is outlawed first, followed closely by voting by non-whites, then they’ll hold harmless all white collar criminals.

    Gay marriage first, Voting Rights Second, Women as Chattel third. For maximum GOP vote turnout. Bank on it.

  278. 278.

    Kay

    ‏

    @HotlineJosh
    2h2 hours ago
    More
    Timing of Kennedy’s vacancy also ideal for Trump.
    Will be lots of pressure back home for Manchin + Heitkamp (if not other red-state Ds) to back Trump on SCOTUS. No-win situation for them.

    More celebratory crowing by political media. Gross. Just gross. They LOVE Trump. He’s the best thing that ever happened to them. The authoritarian male leader they all crave. They may make him President for Life if we don’t start pushing back.

  279. 279.

    oldgold

    Timing and Time.

    Bobby Three Stripes, if you have it, bring it!

    Of course, having every i dotted, every t crossed would be the preferrred procedure. BUT, in this instance, the circumstances do not allow for this. We face an imminent existential threat to our Republic.

    Timing and Time.

  281. 281.

    TriassicSands

    @Mary G:

    I am having a hard time not wishing a long, painful death on Anthony Kennedy.

    Kennedy is history now. If you’re going to send bad thoughts, direct them at the even worse justices Gorsuch, Alito, and lunatic Thomas.

    @JMG:

    The only consolation is, no matter what happens, Susan Collins’ career is over. She votes no on Trump’s nominee, she’s primaried out. She votes yes, she goes into her 2020 campaign as the vote that ended Roe v. Wade.

    Don’t count on it. After all, Maine elected Paul LePage.

  283. 283.

    gvg

    Several have wished Kennedy ill health, but I wonder if that’s exactly what he has got. Timing seems surprising to me.

  284. 284.

    Elizabelle

    @Kay: I really hope that Trump’s eventual implosion — and please let us make it happen — takes out the courtier press too. Not all of the press, but the sycophants and the lazy ass access ones.

    There will always be a market for accurate news. As you’ve pointed out, our problem is that the current media elites are rewarding the wrong kind of behavior. Is a puzzle.

  285. 285.

    J R in WV

    And as others have said….Kennedy has never been a liberal, even though he has been an unexpected swing vote once in a great while. So this could be a lot worse.

    I’m hoping really hard that Mueller’s investigation paints “bishop” Dence Pence as fairly black as it does TRumpelstiltskin. I don’t think Pence would be any improvement over Trumpelstiltskin.

  286. 286.

    Jeffro

    @gvg: he’s getting out so that they can nominate and seat someone new before the election, much less January.

  287. 287.

    MomSense

    @JPL:

    I’ve got a bunch of them.

    Comatoast
    Exhaustipated
    Ignoranus

    My son’s teacher had a Shakespearean insult generator poster on the classroom wall. It was brill.

  289. 289.

    Elizabelle

    @J R in WV: My fingers are crossed for that too. Pence was on his way to getting pantsed in Indiana.

    And was Manafort’s choice. Although maybe just because Pence is such a dull, stupid, malleable stooge. Wouldn’t steal Trump’s thunder. He stood out for stupidity within the GOP caucus. And now he’s next in line for POTUS. Jebus.

    But maybe he does have some awful stuff that could come out and take him out of the line of succession …

  293. 293.

    MomSense

    @Elizabelle:

    The poster my son’s teacher has is great because you make your own by taking one word or phrase from each of three columns.

  296. 296.

    Citizen Alan

    @mali muso:

    In 2004, I could have easily obtained Canadian citizenship. But I was guilt tripped by my family — “It will just kill your daddy” — and now at 48, there’s no way. I swear, I sometimes wish my parents had been actually abusive so I could have just cut them off instead of just passive-aggressive parochial assholes.

  298. 298.

    Neldob

    Maybe Muller will save us. I hope, I hope. Now a big glass of wine and send $ to to dems.

  299. 299.

    Dan B

    @Steeplejack: Sorry to hear about your brother’s family. We have friends who are a mixed race gay couple with 5 year olds who are very white. They love their kids and the kids love their dads but there’s constant fear they’ll be stopped and put through the ICE nightmare. It’s been a waking nightmare since 11/8/16.

  300. 300.

    Dan B

    @HeleninEire: How much for a 40 yo gay couple, mixed race, with two very white 5 year olds, very cute kids? Do you need pics? One dad is a big rugby player latino / filipino / native american who’s afraid he’ll be stopped for suspicion of kidnapping his own kids.

    They’re fun to be around when not stressed.

  301. 301.

    Raven Onthill

    As far as I can see the rule of law at the Federal level is over for at least a decade to come. We are now governed by the whims of the wealthy and powerful. It will be important to remember this: Federal law is now a matter of whim.

    The full extent of this failure will be felt in all aspects of our lives. Civil rights, women’s rights, labor rights, yes, but also such fundamentals as enforcement of contracts against wealthy institutions. We had a foretaste of that in the failure to respond effectively to massive fraud in the real estate market. It will spread to other markets. Steady employment will probably become a thing of the past.

    I don’t see how our current economy will be able to survive in such a legal regime and our very lives will be in danger.

    (reposted, as usual, from my own blog: http://adviceunasked.blogspot.com/2018/06/taney-court-ii-consequences-of-failure.html)

  302. 302.

    No One You Know

    @mali muso: Good luck.I fell short by 3 points. Should’ve taken French, not Spanish.

    Can’t move now. So, survival plans are hand-in-hand with resistance plans.

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