Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

In after Baud. Damn.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Books are my comfort food!

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

“But what about the lurkers?”

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

You are here: Home / Politics / Activist Judges! / Barrett Hearings II (Open Thread)

Reader Interactions

156Comments

  1. 1.

    VeniceRiley

    I think Drudge is down. heh. He had a link to a poll with Biden up +17 so he probably came under attack.
    At work, so missing the sh*tshow hearings.
    All good because I have an expensive 65″ LG OLED.
    I’m going to miss that TV like a pet when I move. I hope it sells to a good home.

  2. 2.

    cain

    Everything I am reading about her on twitter shows her as a person who is absolutely outside the norms of society. With acceptance of gay marriage over 70% having a SCOTUS appointee that doesn’t believe in gay marriage and thinks it should be illegal is just horrifying.

    Secondly, there was a decision she made where calling a black man the n word does not contribute to a hostile work environment. WTF?

  4. 4.

    Betty Cracker

    Whitehouse is calling out the groups behind nominees like Barrett, including how nominees advance (Federalist Society and Judicial Crisis Network) and how court cases conveniently come up for review.

  5. 5.

    trnc

    @oatler.: Yup, it’s pretty amazing to watch. I wish there was at least one republican senator who cared.

    ETA: I assume Fox and OAN are busy writing their pieces for tonight’s broadcast which will feature the word “conspiracy” quite a bit.

  8. 8.

    cain

    @trnc:

    I understand even Durbin is getting his digs in. The smell of desperation is in the air.

    I hope they realize that if they turn back ACA, gay marriage, hell it seems even marrying between races is on the table that it will absolutely galvanize the entire country. It will be a pyrrhic victory.

  9. 9.

    germy

    More nervous throat clearing from Barrett as Whitehouse gives his talk.

    Will he ask her to comment on any of this? I hope.

  10. 10.

    patroclus

    @cain: Her use of “sexual preference” rather than “sexual orientation” is a real tell.  Obergefell is in real trouble with her (in addition to Roe and Sebelius).

  11. 11.

    cain

    @Betty Cracker:

    I wonder if women realizes that one could also take it a step further and say that sexual harassment does not contribute to a hostile work environment – using the exact same reasoning.

  13. 13.

    germy

    Barrett’s watching Whitehouse with an expression like “Gee, I didn’t know about any of this!”

  14. 14.

    Chyron HR

    @cain:

    The ones who understand already oppose her and the ones who don’t already think that “hostile work environment” is the politically correct term for a proper Christian workplace.

  16. 16.

    trnc

    I said a week or so ago that, regardless of how shady the republicans are and how much I dislike Barrett’s judicial philosophy, I didn’t blame her for accepting the nomination because she shouldn’t be held responsible for republicans being assholes.

    That was before Whitehouse got a chance to point out how she got to where she is.

  17. 17.

    cain

    @patroclus:

    The religious right will be attacking every cherished norm in this country next year regardless who is in power.

    If we lose – there won’t be any Dems to fix things – the system will truly utterly be fucked. So far, this country has been able to move forward because Democrats get in power for a short time enough to fix things only to start the cycle again as obstruction from Republicans cause the American people to switch sides. But if they win..  that cycle will end.

  19. 19.

    germy

    I wonder if a single nanosecond of Whitehouse’s testimony will show up tonight on either the ABC, NBC or CBS news?

    I’m guessing they’ll show Diane Feinstein talking about the kids.

  20. 20.

    cain

    @Chyron HR: The ones who understand already oppose her and the ones who don’t already think that “hostile work environment” is the politically correct term for a proper Christian workplace.

    How ironic that a woman will lead the charge for white male patriarchy.

  24. 24.

    geg6

    @cain:

    Hell, that’s who started that modern version of which Judge Covid Barrett is the ultimate outcome.  A woman you may have heard of, a certain Mrs. Phyllis Schlafly.

  25. 25.

    Leto

    @cain: well it fits right in with her religious beliefs, which we’re told will totally not affect her decision making process. Riiight.

  26. 26.

    A Ghost to Most

    Holy shit. WaPo keeps graphs on its front page of the states with the worst daily Covid case rates per 100k population. SoDak and NoDak had been jousting at 72 and 74, the highest rates I’d seen. SoDak jumped to 110 today.

  27. 27.

    Yarrow

    I saw a commercial for Barret on the Today Show this morning a bit before they broke in for the start of the hearings. The commercial asked people to call their Senators and tell them to confirm her. Why does she need a commercial supporting her? Is her confirmation at risk? In any case, it’s a good reminder for everyone to call their Senators and register their objections to her confirmation. Get your friends and family to call. Keep up the pressure.

  28. 28.

    Calouste

    @cain: I’m wondering if someone should call her a b1tch, and when she gets upset say “Why? You ruled that these kind of words don’t constitute a hostile environment.”

  30. 30.

    Kay

    @patrick II:

    It’s important to me that he’s doing this because I don’t think she and her backers should get away with this fraud on the public. They didn’t have to do it. Trump said years ago he was putting her on the court and she obviously doesn’t care about process or norms because here she is, and we all know every Republican will obediently back her. They deceived the public above and beyond what was even necessary to jam her onto the court. They presented a wholly invented narrative about this person and what got her here.

  31. 31.

    patrick II

    @A Ghost to Most:

    A single Smithfield Meat Packing plant sent them over the top:

    AP:

    The number of people testing positive for the coronavirus in South Dakota has surpassed 1,100, and more than half of those cases have some connection to the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker: If someone has video of Whitehouse, I would love to see it.

    I will never stop being grateful for his questioning of the rapist judge, and his promise to Christine Blasey Ford that he would pursue justice for her and would never forget.  (my recollection)

  34. 34.

    gene108

    A forum I used to regularly frequent before finding Balloon-Juice had a mix of conservative, liberal, and moderate as regular commenters.

    What I failed to realize is how far out there some of the conservatives were, but it did open my eyes to the fringe bits of right-wingdom, like our resident gun nut, who thought the NRA were liberal squishes and supported Gun Owners of America, one guy who wanted to repeal the 17th amendment and go back to state legislatures appointing Senators, and one lady who has anti-immigrant and a Fair Tax advocate. Some even ventured into wanting to overturn the 14th Amendment.

    One thing this did was get me to see what the really fringe bits of right-wingdom are trying to undermine the post-Civil War era changes to the government. Trump’s half-assed attempt to ban birthright citizenship led to think pieces that he was right, i.e. overturn 150 years of 14th Amendment related jurisprudence.

    The real prize for right-wingers is going after all the “equal protection under the law” cases decided by reference to the 14th amendment that put the kibosh on discrimination and other things.

    Edit: I do not think such a forum could exist today. The politics topics could get heated, but we were civil in non-politics topics. I do not think a mix of perspectives could even be civil anymore in non-political topics.

  35. 35.

    Salty Sam

    @westyny: Whitehouse is lifting the rock.  Wow.

    …and shining a very bright light on what’s underneath that rock.

    I am extremely impressed with his ability to lay out, logically and clearly, how the right wing donor network has been able to manipulate our democracy all these years.  We’ve all known they’ve been doing it, but getting this clear view of the “clockworks” of their mechanism is enlightening.

    ETA- and it destroys hers and Graham’s attempt to bullshit us with “oh, it is SO hard to overturn established law, y’all shouldn’t worry about THAT!”

  36. 36.

    MC

    Anybody that says the Supreme Court will just overturn the election is telling me not to vote. That’s all there is to it.

  38. 38.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Some useful reading on what remedies the Dems can apply when they sweep into power next year:

    Raining Fiery Constitutional Hell on the Supreme Court

    As I mentioned yesterday, there are many ways to play hardball in response and yes, that includes impeachment even tho it would be nigh on impossible to complete. And rebalance the judiciary, aka adding justices, federal court judges, etc.

  39. 39.

    Leto

    @patrick II: Maddow was covering meat packing plants and how they’ve been super spreaders in a few states. Remember that Trumpov signed an executive order keeping meat packing plants open back in April, so they’ve been working off that.

  40. 40.

    trollhattan

    @Salty Sam:

    ETA- and it destroys hers and Graham’s attempt to bullshit us with “oh, it is SO hard to overturn established law, y’all shouldn’t worry about THAT!”

    In this corner, Citizens United and catercorner, Shelby County. Talk about legislating from the bench.

  41. 41.

    patrick II

    Credit to the Washington Post for the story(s?) Whitehouse is citing as a source. Putting together a story like that takes resources, skill, and democratic intentions.

  42. 42.

    gene108

    @cain:

    I hope they realize that if they turn back ACA, gay marriage, hell it seems even marrying between races is on the table that it will absolutely galvanize the entire country. It will be a pyrrhic victory.

    I believe part of the justification for the Obergefell decision is based on Loving.

    There’s so much we take for granted the far-right legal theorists want to up end.

  43. 43.

    hitless

    @MC:  I think  it would be more accurate to say the SC would be willing to overturn the vote. I expect that a couple of the conservative justices would be reticent to do so if the popular vote margin is enormous. If things are close, throwing out PA’s votes will seem a lot less problematic to them.

    You should vote.

  44. 44.

    Leto

    Sounds like we need new doors, frieze, and other items at the Supreme Court. Or conversely, I can’t wait to put Muslim/Satanic/Wiccan theological documents up at the SC. Right Cruz? Religious freedom and all. Eddie Haskell, werewolf looking smarmy fuck. Get a fucking haircut and shave you fucking hobo fuck.

    Edit: my apologies to hobos. They didn’t do anything and nobody deserves to have Fucknut Cruz associated with them. Except the Republican Party. They all belong together.

  45. 45.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Ted Cruz has an exceedingly ugly voice, although he himself loves the sound of it. Between him and Barrett, when those two have question period tomorrow (assuming he allows her to get a word in edgewise) my eardrums are going to start bleeding.

    OH GAWD and now he’s asking her about speaking French and playing the piano.

  46. 46.

    Betty Cracker

    A snippet of Whitehouse’s case:

    Can’t wait to hear his questioning.

  47. 47.

    germy

    Do you speak french? Do you play any instruments?

     

    This reminds me of when Kennedy asked Kavanaugh “Do you like sports?”

    After a long tirade about the ten commandments, Cruz now wants to know about hobbies.

    Contemptible.

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I feel sorry for those kids who have to sit there, as props, and listen to this drivel and demagoguery

  51. 51.

    Jinchi

    I really wish Biden would spend less time saying this:

    “I’ve already spoken on — I’m not a fan of court packing, but I don’t want to get off on that whole issue. I want to keep focused,”

    and more pointing out this:

    “The focus is why is he doing what he’s doing now? Why now with less than 24 days to go until the election?” he said. “That’s the court packing … the public should be focused on.”

    The Republicans have been packing the court for at least the last 6 years, refusing to seat nominees to the appeals and Supreme court when a Democrat is president, rapidly filling every available seat when a Republican is. When they thought Clinton would win in 2016, Republicans Senators were outright declaring that they would refuse to seat any nominee she put forward. In that reality we wouldn’t be talking about a 9-member court, we’d be looking at a 7-member one.

    Biden keeps reassuring them that they’ll pay no price for that. Republicans should at least pause in worry that Democrats will kick over the current system and they’ll lose all their ill-gotten gains.

  54. 54.

    cain

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    There number one agenda is to consolidate their hold on power. It does no good to do things for the people when the people will kick you out in two years. See every cycle we’ve had since Bush 2.

    They have to lock the senate and user laws on easy access to voting – and stop things like 12 hours of waiting in Georgia. Not even healthcare should come before that.

    Otherwise, like always the american people will just drunkenly move to republicans again. I’m sick of this cycle. Let’s change it. The Republicans have shown us that no rules need apply anymore.

  55. 55.

    MisterForkbeard

    NPR’s coverage is much better today: Noting that Barrett is refusing to give any answers, won’t talk about her beliefs or prior writings, and just generally isn’t taking the hearing seriously. Basically, not even filling the ‘pro forma’ part of the hearings, she’s just there to say she won’t answer questions.

  56. 56.

    gene108

    @Jinchi:

    Biden keeps reassuring them that they’ll pay no price for that. Republicans should at least pause in worry that Democrats will kick over the current system and they’ll lose all their ill-gotten gains.

    I’m not a fan of cleaning my house, but sometimes it has to be done. He may not want to get involved with expanding the courts, because it is going to be a very heated political issue that will suck the oxygen out of the room for everything else, but he has not ruled it out either.

    Biden’s ahead because he’s pulling in independents and disaffected Republicans. He needs to keep them onboard for 2022 and 2024. It’s a tough needle to thread.

    I think he’s answering it the best way he can.

  57. 57.

    Bill Arnold

    @MC:

    Anybody that says the Supreme Court will just overturn the election is telling me not to vote. That’s all there is to it.

    Yep. Treat anyone saying this as the enemy, as objectively ProFa.
    (And Marbury v Madison is a norm. :-)

  59. 59.

    cain

    @germy: This reminds me of when Kennedy asked Kavanaugh “Do you like sports?”

    Suddenly reminded of that scene from Airplane! “Do you like movies about gladiators? Have you ever seen a grown man naked?”, “Have you ever hung around a gymnasium?”

  60. 60.

    Leto

    Amy K doing a fine job pointing out how Barrett’s previous writing is clearly showing how she’ll move in the future. Barrett can argue that academic writing is totes different from judicial writing, but considering we have 15 years of her legal writing which tracks how she’s conducted herself as a judge (for 3 whole years), I mean… Amy K drawing a parallel between how she grew up hunting, how her parents taught her to “follow the tracks”, and that’s what’s she doing here. Follow the tracks.

  62. 62.

    JoyceH

    Just popping in to say that I was lurking on yesterday’s thread, and just bought the Instant Pot 3-quart. Are there dues for the cult?

  65. 65.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Rafael “Ted” “Calgary” Cruz has an exceedingly ugly voice is an exceptionally ugly, soulless, person.

    Fixed.  Although yeah, he has an ugly voice.

  67. 67.

    Jinchi

    @gene108: I understand Joe’s motivations.

    But every time he’s asked the question “Are you in favor of Democrats packing the court”, he simply needs to hammer home the point – “The Republicans are packing the Court right now.”

    Otherwise you get articles with titles like this:

    ‘I’m not a fan of court packing’: Biden responds after Trump, GOP attacks

    Which implies that the Democrats are the ones acting outrageously here.

  70. 70.

    Eljai

    I thought I heard some pundits say this woman was brilliant — well, I’m not seeing it.  Smart, devious sure, but brilliant?  Fuck no

    ETA:  Klobuchar is doing a great job!

  71. 71.

    mrmoshpotato

    Seconded. Fuck this bullshit hearing, and fuck the Rethuglican party.

    Someone message me if Amy Coney Barrett tearfully tells us how much she likes beer.— The Rude Pundit (@rudepundit) October 13, 2020

  73. 73.

    ET

    I was reading this Washington Post article today 10/12 that looks at authoritarian tendencies of tRump supporters and looked at Authoritarian Nightmare by Bob Altemeyer and John W. Dean and it feels very appropriate to tRump supporters:

    They also find shockingly high levels of anti-democratic beliefs and prejudicial attitudes among Trump backers, especially those who support the president strongly. And regardless of what happens in 2020, the authors say, Trump supporters will be a potent pro-authoritarian voting bloc in the years to come.

    Altemeyer and Dean define authoritarianism as what happens “when followers submit too much to the authorities in their lives.” They measure it using a tool Altemeyer developed in the early 1980s, called the right-wing authoritarian (RWA) scale.

    The “right-wing” label refers not to left and right political leanings as they’re popularly understood today, they write, but rather to a more legalistic sense of “lawful, proper, and correct.” It’s used to identify authoritarian tendencies among people of any political persuasion — supporters of the Communist Party in the former Soviet Union, for instance, would have scored high on the scale despite having decidedly leftist economic and political views. The scale remains one of the most widely used measures of authoritarianism to this day.

    …

    They found a striking linear relationship between support for Trump and an authoritarian mind-set: The stronger a person supported Trump, the higher he or she scored on the RWA scale. People saying they strongly disapproved of Trump, for instance, had an average RWA score of 54. Those indicating complete support of the president, on the other hand, had an average score of 119, more than twice as authoritarian as Trump opponents.

    Many fervent Trump supporters, Altemeyer and Dean write, “are submissive, fearful, and longing for a mighty leader who will protect them from life’s threats. They divide the world into friend and foe, with the latter greatly outnumbering the former.”

  75. 75.

    JaySinWA

    @JoyceH: Congrats,

    Since most of the recipes online assume a 6 quart or better, you 3 quarters (half pots?) might need to get together and create scaled recipes and where to find utensils that fit.

    Of course there probably is such a place already. A sub cult of the cult?

  76. 76.

    Leto

    If we can’t get her opinions on things, we’re not allowed to question her thought process via her academic writing… what’s the point? Just, what’s the point? I’m glad we had Sen Whitehouse’s visual aid brief laying out the dark money trail, but I just don’t see the point in having this. Just fucking get it over with, put her on the court, and lets move on. Not trying to be defeatist but it’s just kabuki at this point. It’s the Kavanaugh hearings again, just this time with less screaming, beer, and sex references.

  78. 78.

    Calouste

    @Leto: The point of the hearings at the moment is to get the GOP Senators to infect each other with COVID so they can’t vote next week.

  80. 80.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Leto: On the other hand, there’s probably election and PR value in getting video of obsequious Republicans and truth-telling Democrats. If you can’t stop it, you can at least educate on what they’re doing and use it to justify reforms later.

  82. 82.

    CaseyL

    @germy: Means McConnell has the votes without them.  There is a pattern of GOP Senators giving meaningless “nay” votes, to show their voters how independent they are.

    The one time their no votes might have some effect is getting the nom out of committee, because with the Democratic Senators that would kill the nomination.  But they won’t vote no on that.

  83. 83.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @germy:

    Moscow Mitch is letting them do that because he knows he has the votes.  Doesn’t need theirs.

    As Harry Reid put it:

    “Susan Collins: Always there with the vote I don’t need!”

  86. 86.

    Eljai

    Ben Sasse must think we’re all a bunch of mouth-breathing dumbasses to fall for this 6th grade Supreme Court for Dummies presentation.  No disrespect to sixth-graders.

  87. 87.

    Kay

    @germy:

    Judge Barrett isn’t even pretending any of this matters

    Oh, yes, she’s making it clear she’s above all this icky politics. She’s a phony. Her whole ascension was carefully planned for years, and it’s wholly political.

  90. 90.

    brantl

    @germy: I’ll believe that Collins will vote against the Republicans, the 1st time that she actually freaking does it. She really hasn’t yet done that ONCE.

  91. 91.

    balconesfault

    Anyone wishing Al Franken were still on the Judiciary Committee?

    And isn’t it about time to swap out DiFi with Katie Porter?

  92. 92.

    Jeffro

    @Eljai: He and his lies should serve as an object lesson for Democrats everywhere: we are nowhere near ending trumpism and all of its attendant, blatant lying.  Sasse differs not one bit from trumpov in this regard.

    They will never return to any sort of ‘norms’ unless they are smacked down, hard and repeatedly.

  93. 93.

    Betty Cracker

    I thought Klobuchar did a good job of revealing what a blank phony Barrett is. She had the right tone of exasperated incredulousness, or at least the one that resonated with me.

    Sasse is like a handler at a dog show, parading his charge around and showing all the angles that tick the breed standard boxes. Gross.

  94. 94.

    Jeffro

    @balconesfault: we could swap DiFi out for most any breathing Democrat and we’d be better off.

    What’s that baseball term – ‘above replacement value’?  She is beeeeee-low replacement value.

  95. 95.

    Sister Golden Bear

    The only people who use “sexual preference” these days are anti-LGBTQ folks. It’s a clear dog whistle.

    Because if it’s a “preference,” being LGBTQ can be “cured” by conversion therapy torture. And if it’s a “preference” there’s no reason to have laws prohibiting anti-LGBTQ discrimination because it’s not an immutable characteristic. ‘Course I’ve never gotten a coherent answer when I point out neither is religion and we consider that worthy of constitutional protections.

    Oh, and just a reminder that the bible humpers have a literal five-point plan to eradicate trans people from public existence:

    1. States and the federal government should not allow legal gender marker changes.

    2. Transgender people should not have any legal protections against discrimination, nor should anyone be forced to respect their identity.

    3. Transgender people should not be legally allowed to use facilities in accordance with their gender identity.

    4. Medical coverage related to transition should not be provided by the government, or any other entity.

    5. Transgender people should not be allowed to serve in the military.

    We’re the canaries in the coal mine.

  96. 96.

    balconesfault

    @brantl: I predict that were enough GOP Senators got Covidy that her vote matters … Susan Collins would have to rethink her position because argle bargle majority fairness …

  97. 97.

    Kay

    I think jamming her onto the court ahead of voters is wrong, so I would always oppose her, but I would dislike her less if she would just be what she is- a far Right wing ideologue who always aspired to this seat. We’re stuck with her for the next 30 years. The least she owed us was an honest representation of who and what she is instead of this carefully crafted persona.

    True to form for the Trump Presidency, the defining characteristic is dishonesty.

  100. 100.

    Jeffro

    @gene108:Hillary underestimated the vast right conspiracy in the 1990’s. We all did.

    Every household in America needs a copy of Brock’s “The Republican Noise Machine” and Mayer’s “Dark Money”.

  101. 101.

    Kay

    @germy:

    No notes, no papers, blank notebook.Arrogant.

    Yeah, well, maybe she should have brought notes. She got the ACA lawsuit wrong.

  102. 102.

    Kay

    @Betty:

    wonddring if the kids used to call her Phony Cony.

    I don’t know- all we got were ass-kissing testimonials from her colleagues who see the clear career advantage to her ascension. Nothing like hearing exclusively from self-interested witnesses. Aren’t these people supposed to be law professors? Why would they imagine they’re credible or relevant?

  103. 103.

    germy

    Asked by Sen. Klobuchar if it is illegal to intimidate voters at the polls, Justice Barrett refused to answer. She said cannot characterize the facts in a hypothetical situation. In response, Klobuchar cites U.S. law barring voter intimidation.

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 13, 2020

  104. 104.

    germy

    Republican candidates are increasingly worried about Trump's unpopularity and the drag it might have on down ballot races.

    "Democrats are on fire," Mitch McConnell told lobbyists, referring to the massive fundraising advantage Democratic campaigns have. https://t.co/ldpRj5N8R7

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 13, 2020

  105. 105.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @JoyceH: no, but the first thing you should make is beef or chicken stock (so you can freeze it in small batches to use in everything else you make)

  106. 106.

    Kay

    National GE:
    Biden 57% (+17)
    Trump 40%

    I teased one of you last week for saying you needed a +15 to feel good about the election, thinking you wouldn’t get that.

    Okay, I apologize :)

  108. 108.

    Betty Cracker

    Coons is subtly effective in deflating Barrett’s ivory tower bullshit too re: the ACA.

  109. 109.

    germy

    “I have no hostility towards the ACA.”

    And my cat has no hostility towards the chipmunk in our yard.

  110. 110.

    balconesfault

    WaPo poll on Roe v Wade just came out.

    62% of Americans favor retaining it.

    24% say overturn.

  111. 111.

    Eljai

    @Betty Cracker: She keeps deflecting by insisting that she didn’t impugn the Chief Justice’s character (nobody said you did, lady!), because she won’t admit she’s lying about her written record on the mandate.

  112. 112.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @gene108: Actually, I didn’t. I knew some of those people. They weren’t subtle about it. In fact, part of their success was based on being so brazen that it was just unbelievable that they were doing it.

    This is similar to the mooks who are convinced, to this day, that the Republicans aren’t working tooth and nail to kill the ACA and all protections for pre-existing conditions. They just don’t believe that anyone would be that evil.

    Fucking morons.

  115. 115.

    Baud

    @balconesfault:

    A majority of people shit on Obamacare until the GOP was on the verge of taking it away.   Until people stop taking Democratic values for granted, the GOP will continue to say “too bad, so sad.”

  117. 117.

    taumaturgo

    Senator Whitehouse finally exposing the right-wing dark money that has corrupted not only Congress but the Courts. Eighty cases brought to the Supreme Court mainly by right-wing groups propped by over $250 million of dark money to buy eighty favorable 5 – 4 decisions in each and every one of them. 80 – 0 bias in favor of unlimited dark money, a diminishing of civil juries, a weakening of regulatory power and independence of regulatory agencies, and a reversal of voting rights protections of minorities unleashing a tsunami of voter suppression reminiscing of the Jim Crow era. Remember the 80-0 bias of the 5-4 conservative cabal because it’s soon to become 6 – 3.

  118. 118.

    balconesfault

    @Baud: But Hillary wasn’t likeable, y’know…  And she actually talked to Wall Street types.  She had to go down.

  120. 120.

    Betty Cracker

    JFC, she actually asserted her integrity in an answer about deciding the 2020 election. A Trump nominee — asserting integrity!

  121. 121.

    balconesfault

    @taumaturgo: I’ve always felt that Roberts sees his role as (a) keeping up a charade (the other Conservative justices don’t have any fucks to give with respect to looking unbiased) … and (b) protecting Corporate wealth (thus his ACA vote, which was more about maintaining a money stream for big Insurance and big Pharma than about taxes v penalties or protecting people’s healthcare).

  124. 124.

    Eljai

    The fascist-curious (h/t Josh Marshall) Hawley is lying his ass off again.  He’s trump, but smarter and with better manners.

  125. 125.

    germy

    @prostratedragon:

    I suspect, as Whitehouse does, the big money is coming from polluters.

    I don’t think they care about abortion or healthcare.  They just want no regulations on their businesses.  The “culture wars” stuff is just cake icing or meat for their base.

  127. 127.

    Salty Sam

    @JaySinWA: And of course there is at least one I found. There must be an Instant Pot equivalent to Rule 34.

    Don’t ask what is “Insta-Potting”

  128. 128.

    taumaturgo

    @balconesfault: Yes indeed. I also feel bad for the Democrats that as far as I can tell don’t have a similar organized effort to prepare recruit and confirm judges that would truly defend the constitution. Shame on our side for being cavalier and gullible to believe that institutional norms apply to both sides and should never change. Ha!

  129. 129.

    Eljai

    @germy: That’s my fear and that’s why we have to crush the republican party now.

    Jeebus, he’s spending all his time pretending that Coney-Barrett was attacked for her religion and nobody did that!  Next, he’s going to ask her what’s her favorite Bible story.

  131. 131.

    germy

    @taumaturgo:

    Sheldon Whitehouse was on “Firing Line” last week, and Margaret Hoover mentioned some progressive organizations.  She was trying to “both sides” Whitehouse when he spoke about the conservative dark money groups.

    I don’t remember the name of the group Hoover mentioned, though.

  133. 133.

    brantl

    I would like the chance to sock Hawley in the eye, for being as smarmily disingenuous as he is.

  135. 135.

    prostratedragon

    @germy:  It would make sense from their perspective, since they’ve put so much into subverting the regulatory process. They would want to make that subversion as hard for Democrats to reverse as possible, and SCOTUS decisions certainly slow things down.

     

    Looking now at the video you put up, the one I put up is the last 9 or 10 minutes. Anyone who can find the time should watch the whole thing, he really pulls together a lot of information and makes a case that no one should hesitate to call these guys conspirators.

  136. 136.

    Betty Cracker

    @germy: I’ll have to look that program up. Marsha Marsha Marsha Blackburn’s crackerjack meme staff photoshopped Soros’ face on one of Whitehouse’s charts, so they’ve got that going for them. The structural disadvantage Democrats have is that progressive legislation doesn’t generally benefit donors, so there’s not a huge incentive to put together dark money groups and fake civic societies to advance progressive judges. Maybe Steyer could get on that?

  137. 137.

    taumaturgo

    @germy: You got to give to the Neocons. They made the transformation of the judiciary a priority and it was more than talk to the tune of raising $250 million. Judging the results, Democrats are in another Galaxy playing with a 1980 playbook that’s neither transformative nor bold. I have little hope Democrats will make a serious push to bring in liberal lawyers for nomination to the bench. We most likely see a few liberals jurist and a majority of centrist corporate lawyers that would receive bipartisan approval. It would be shocking if this is not the case.

  138. 138.

    balconesfault

    @taumaturgo: It’s not just the money.

    It’s that too many F-ing Democrats won’t get off their asses to go vote for a Democrat who agrees with them on only 80% of their agenda.

    Meanwhile Republicans will show up to vote for whoever has an (R) next to their name.  And they internalized the importance of the courts in defending their positions long ago.

    The money is only enough because of self-inflicted wounds.

  141. 141.

    Betty Cracker

    @taumaturgo: It will be pretty sweet if that years-long, multimillion dollar wingnut project gets blown out of the water by court expansion, though.

  143. 143.

    Quaker in a Basement

    @germy: Interesting. Klobuchar didn’t ask if the law is Constitutuional. She asked if intimidating voters is illegal–which is clearly is. That’s quite a tell for someone who claims to believe courts should not set policy.

  146. 146.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @cain: Remember Phyllis Schafly?  The first time I realized not all (even smart) women were liberals, sadly amazing though I found that fact.

  150. 150.

    Bill Arnold

    @prostratedragon:

    And here’s a shorter one of the part where Sen. Whitehouse breaks down the money behind the SCOTUS gambit.

    That was very well done by the Senator. (I do not recall better.)

  151. 151.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @taumaturgo: if only voters had listened when Bernie and his passionate, blessed “young people” had warned us about the importance of the courts in 16

  154. 154.

    J R in WV

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Rafael “Ted” “Calgary” Cruz has an exceedingly ugly voice is an exceptionally ugly, soulless, person.

    Fixed.  Although yeah, he has an ugly voice.

    Actually, his name is Rafael Eduardo “Calgary” Cruz. There is no Ted in his name at all. I personally think he should be required to use his full name as it appears on his birth certificate, including the location of his birth. But I am weird like that.

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