Why I vote for imperfect Democrats in my deep red state even though they don’t tickle the fancy of the Jacobin staff:
Compare him to California’s Feinstein, where her right wing bullshit is inexcusable. The man is not perfect, but he stands up when it counts, and it will probably be a string of right wingers after he retires.
craigie
If it stiffens spines enough to punch back, then it’s a long term good thing. If not, we are fucked.
syphonblue
When push comes to shove will he actually DO something about it, though?
Chetan Murthy
Is there any higher VAR Dem Senator today? Any? Idunno. Kinda doubt it.
Chetan Murthy
@syphonblue: From what I’ve seen, when push comes to shove, if hs vote is needed, and will produce a Dem-favored outcome, Manchin delivers. But he doesn’t vote as a performative game. So yeah, I think he will.
guachi
@syphonblue: The bit about “working together across party lines” tells me he’s the kind of Senator who is happy to never have anything voted on.
*Except emergency budgets passed with no input by Senators because otherwise the country shuts down. Manchin is for governing by panic voting.
topclimber
I also think Manchin is more progressive than we can rightly expect. But I worry about his implication that changing Senate rules only increases the partisan divide. We need his vote to kill the filibuster. I hope he understands that the only way to stop the partisan see-saw is make the rules fair so that Dems and responsible Conservatives can pass actual compromises in the Senate with 51 votes, making bipartisanship possible again.
MisterForkbeard
I don’t know.
This is good for NOW, but what he’s saying is that changing the rules is terrible. I don’t see him supporting court reform. Though Joe Bidens’s approach here of “get a bunch of scholars together to reform the court” and solve the hash they’ve made of things.
PsiFighter37
I am curious what people like Sinema and Tester are saying. We will need their votes if we are going to change how courts work in this country, but our senators in red/swing states are more attuned to political concerns than GOP senators in a similar situation – just look at every Republican senator who fucking sealed their fate in the election tonight (except Collins, who thinks her fucking bag of magic beans moderation will somehow work). I also hope that any vacancy in the federal system has been identified so that Democrats, assuming we regain control, do what McConnell has done the past 4 years and start ramming in judges with a working brain instead of right-wing ideologues.
guachi
@topclimber: Exactly. Forcing 60 votes for everything doesn’t result in bipartisan compromise. It results in nothing.
Want compromise? End the filibuster. Now the minority can either work with the majority or get nothing they want. With the filibuster we just get nothing. Forever.
And I think that’s what Manchin wants. Nothing. Forever.
Richard Fox
This Supreme Court appointment was politically hugely idiotic and I expect it to be first order of business to attend to in the Biden administration. In my view Biden is also being quite savvy in how he dampened down speculation on what he’ll do. This will bite the republicans hugely next year as I think everyone is beyond angry and ready to do something unthinkable till only recently.
mali muso
So has anyone started the Fire Murkowski fund yet? I am ready to donate to her future opponent right this minute.
janesays
I’m tremendously grateful that he took that stand and I readily acknowledge he’s the best we’re ever gonna get out of West Virginia, but the next critical question is this…
Senator, will you stand in the way of legislation to expand the size of the Supreme Court to correct for the Republican theft?
PsiFighter37
I guess the question here is – what is the best way to maximally motivate Dems and their leaners to get out in the next week? At this point, throwing money at ActBlue likely has some diminished effect. I think it’s gotta be massive amounts of door-knocking (where possible), texting, any kind of GOTV effort to lock in votes early. And given the ruling for Wisconsin, telling people that if they have an absentee, to go vote in person. Roberts has shown his hand, IMO – now that a right-wing court is a foregone conclusion, that fucker is going to go all-in on that party. He wants to be the Roger Taney of our times.
sdhays
@guachi: That’s unfair, actually. Manchin, along with Toomey, introduced some real gun safety legislation after Sandy Hook. Sure, it didn’t go as far as the bill I would impose on everyone if I were emperor, but it was a serious bill and it would have been a step in the right direction. I think he genuinely wanted to pass something, and his bi-partisan bill was never given a chance.
The thing about “changing the rules” bothers me a bit, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
MaryLou
Lay off the Feinstein bullshit. She’s a MUCH more reliable Dem vote than Joe Manchin, and was never in doubt re: Coney Barrett. At her age, she doesn’t know how to be anything except courteous and gracious, so what’s the problem? She’s not a cranky old lady, and I for one respect her for it.
Ruckus
Did Feinstein do something recently, other than seem overly friendly with republicans?
Has she voted with them in the last 4 yrs?
I’m not a fan, but I’d like to know why I’m supposed to hate her
Nicole
Hoarse Whisperer had a couple of tweets up last week speculating that Coney Barrett with end up being a huge tactical error for the GOP. If they’d left well enough alone, they’d still have had 5-4, and there would be no appetite for judicial reform, but because they were greedy and went for 6-3 in the most blatant of ways, Americans are stirred up. They made me feel better.
And this piece on Slate today did NOT make me feel better until the very last paragraph, which is important to remember over the next 8 days and the 2 months of hell after that, and the 2 years of hell McConnell is going to try to create after that.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/minority-rule-exhaustion-powerless.html
mad citizen
Ha! Only slight off topic but I was just rage-responding to several of the orange shitstain’s tweets with simple F bomb variations, and now my twitter account has had its features cutoff for 13 hours (abusive, etc.). Only my followers (who I’m sure are 10 or less, I never check my fake name account) can see my tweets right now. I wonder if they restore them after the 12 hours.
Part of the reason I send replies is I figure the twitter machine will be part of his official WH records.
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: You mean, besides fucking hugging the person running the show at the sham of a hearing for Covid Barret? Adding legitimacy to a wholly illegitimate process?
Kay
Yeah! Got the Donald J. Trump judge in right under the wire. I’m awed by this show of judicial independence and respect for The Rule of Law, I must say. All that’s missing is blaring YMCA and yelling “lock her up!”
Chetan Murthy
I know we’re only a comments in, but I have a (semi-)OT question that maybe some here could answer. In a previous thread, I suggested to another commenter that they should act so that, on next Wed morning, they would have no regrets. Well, I want to do the same, and I have the feeling I should dump some more money to people who can use it effectively. At this point, it seems like the right place is to send it to the most precarious swing states that really need it, and to GOTV organizations?
Right now, I have Souls to the Polls in Milwaukee — Maybe @Omnes, do you think they still need money? Or are there other orgs that might need it more?
And I wonder if there’s a good GOTV org in Georgia?
I already dumped a ton on Texas.
Does anybody have good suggestions for where I might send some love (so I don’t wake up with regrets, eight days from now)?
Brachiator
@topclimber:
There ain’t no such thing as making the rules fair. McConnell and the GOP interpret the rules in whatever way favors them, or ignores the rules.
There only seem to be a mere handful of moderate Republicans. The right wingers smell blood. If they don’t win, they are counting on the right wing judges they have installed as providing a backstop until they can get into power again.
I can’t say how the Democrats should govern, should they win in November. I just know that they cannot trust the Republicans.
guachi
@sdhays: Who cares what legislation he’s introduced? With needing 60 votes it’s totally a show. It’s meaningless. I might as well claim I have a plan to flap my arms and fly to the moon.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay:
I remember when things got chippy during the Kavanaugh debate, she sat still in the chamber, her eyes closed, until someone asked what she was doing , “Praying for our country”. I wonder if she thinks someone is filming her biopic in real time.
Villago Delenda Est
Di-Fi is well past her expiration date. California, send her and her equity management parasite hubby to well deserved oblivion.
Starfish
@Ruckus: Telling people it was a great hearing. HUGGING IT OUT IN THE MEETING WITH BARRETT.
Elizabelle
@Kay: Any ideas on why Lisa Murkowski voted for Coney Barrett?
All I can think of is Mitch threatening any committee assignments she values.
Shame on her. What a disappointment.
Omnes Omnibus
Manchin has been there when we need him. I have no complaints. And as far as DiFi, has she ever voted against the party when it mattered? Ignore some of the performative shit.
Kay
I love all this reading of faces we all must do with these cowardly senators. See her FACE? She’s concerned. Absolutely ridiculous.
She should have stood at cheered at this Trump rally like all the others. In for a dime, in for a dollar, senator.
schrodingers_cat
@MaryLou: Agreed. I am uncomfortable with how the online left is particularly nasty towards older women. I mean they were kvetching about the ice-cream in Pelosi’s freezer for weeks.
But not a peep about their messiah’s third home.
Home costs $$ >> Fridge/Freezer $
WaterGirl
@Chetan Murthy: Alaska is supposed to be a really good bang for the buck because money goes a lot farther and the candidate has a really good shot.
Alan Gross, Alaska Senate
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
Yes.
The symbolism sucks donkey balls for sure, but only her actual vote counts.
So while I can appreciate her being replaced as she’s been too old for a while now and I’d like an actual fighter in her place, I’m far more worried about her votes. And as far as I can tell she votes correctly and I’ve heard nothing different.
VFX Lurker
I used to buy into the scorn for Feinstein and (stupidly) vote against her in the primaries until I realized that online folks buried every bit of good she ever did and broadcast every single flaw.
In 2018, I evaluated her Democratic opponent and — despite his many good points — decided he had a real blind spot at best when it came to women. At worst, he didn’t care about women.
So, I voted for Feinstein in the general election. No regrets.
Chetan Murthy
@MaryLou:
But Feinstein’s -constituents- are far, far, far more anti-Trump than she is. Look at her Trumpscore: compare it to Manchin’s. Feinstein votes w/Trump 24% of the time (from Trump’s performance in CA, it should be 19%). Manchin votes with Trump 42% of the time (from Trump’s perf in WV, it should be 92% !!)
Feinstein’s VAR is abysmal — any garden-variety Dem could do a better job. Manchin? He’s probably the highest VAR of any sitting Dem Senator.
If she doesn’t want to represent the views of her constituents, she should retire. And goddammit, if she doesn’t represent our views, we’re going to make sure she and her fatcat husband hear about it. Goddammit.
ETA: I’m one of her constituents.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
Jeez, people, it’s West fucking Virginia. Manchin is as good as we’re going to get. Give him some credit when he says something like this. From a guy from West Virginia, this is a pretty big fucking deal.
John Revolta
I just saw a tweet at LGM from Kamala’s niece who said “Trump has now appointed ONE THIRD of the Supreme Court. This will harm generations to come.”
Jeez when you put it that way it seems even worse. Of all the the people in the world, DONALD TRUMP.
If this don’t get us to pack the Court I don’t know what will.
lamh36
Here we go:
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
So,s o sick of what phonies they are. Maybe they could spare us this one thing? Spare us the sanctimonious, self serving lectures. They’re not ethical enough to lecture me, or anyone else for that matter.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@lamh36:
Of course. Just a coincidence //
schrodingers_cat
@Ruckus: Because the online left hates women. They will turn on AOC too once she becomes old enough to run for President.
Kay
@lamh36:
Purely political actors. Working as hard as they can to re-elect their President.
It’s the Donald J Trump Court now. They should just hang a Trump 2020 banner out front.
MisterForkbeard
@lamh36: I don’t know. I think they’ll rule it down because it’s a really obvious violation of clear precedent, and then they’ll say that this shows the conservative court is totally reasonable guys! Democrats were just fear mongering!
And then they’ll fuck with laws in all sorts of ways while relying on that initial impression.
lamh36
@WaterGirl: not only that but didn’t she tell him something about how great a job he had done…like WTF DiFi.
And I personally still pissed at what she did to Kamala Harris at that police officer funeral back with Kamala was DA…there was no need for DiFi to do that shit other than to kneecap a younger possible political rival
Ruckus
@Starfish:
As I said above and will enlarge on, I’m appalled at that bit, I’m not overjoyed that she keeps running and getting elected but her last election the reality is that she ended up the best candidate. I mean 40 million people and she’s it? BUT. And that’s a huge massive but, she votes dem and I give a shit about that. The rest is window dressing. Vomit inducing window dressing for sure but symbolism is not the same as a vote.
WaterGirl
@lamh36: I hadn’t heard about Feinstein and Kamala. I would like Feinstein to be gone after her stunt with the Covid Barrett hearings.
Aleta
@lamh36: …
PsiFighter37
@Ruckus: Well, she certainly won’t win her next race. But she almost certainly will not run again, so get ready for Senator Porter. or Newsom, or Lieu…lots of great Democrats who have the option to run. I hope they sort it out ahead of time so they do not box each other out in the jungle primary.
Kay
Justice Kavanaugh is wrong:
You all know this is not true because you all follow elections. Kavanaugh invented a new rule that never existed.
mali muso
So. Much. Rage.
And apparently the Supreme Court just handed down a decision that basically fucks absentee ballots in Wisconsin because of course they did. If there are any groups organizing to GOTV in Wisconsin, that may be a good use of rage donations tonight.
Jeffro
@Villago Delenda Est: agree specifically about Feinstein and – once the dust has settled – on much of the extremely long-time leadership of the Dems.
They have done well, but it is time to turn over the keys to the next generation. We have a strong bench, it’s a big party, we’ll be fine.
Kay
If you don’t know that election results have never been completely tabulated and certified on election night should you be ruling on election law at all?
He doesn’t know the basic facts on election administration yet he’s eagerly grabbing these cases and churning out decisions. Maybe he could read something first.
Ruckus
OK – EVERYBODY!
I’m going to spell it out. I do not like DiFi.
But, I voted for her last time as her opponent was not as good as she is in many ways. And she has been a decent senator if never great. Can we in CA do better? It seem quite possible we should be able to. Have we been able to? No. A lot of people ran in her last primary and I didn’t see one of them better. Hell I considered running against her because I think I could be lots better. But I got over that concept in less than 30 seconds because she, good or bad seems to own this office. I wish it wasn’t so, but she votes a decent party line. That she’s what a 150 yrs old is a problem sure. But she votes dem when it counts. Manchin doesn’t always do that.
I’m only giving her a pass because she votes dem when it counts, like this time.
lamh36
@Kay: fuq Lisa. When Barret does what we all know she’ll do to Roe vs Wade…hope it eats a Lisa’s soul and Alaska kicks her azz to the curb in 2022
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay: “what goes around, comes around”
WaterGirl
@mali muso: All the Milwaukee organizations I linked to in the post a couple of weeks ago would be good.
Hopefully they can get the word out and people will drop off their ballots in person.
Ruckus
@PsiFighter37:
I agree with you, I don’t think she’ll run again and I think the state will not only survive but do better.
Emma from FL
@mali muso: My understanding is that they decided ballots received after election day would not be counted? If you haven’t mailed yet, you are too late. Walk it to the dropbox or turn it in on election day.
Spiffy McBang
This is all well and good, and I’m not trying to downplay the fact he said it, but it also sounds very much like he would shoot down an attempt to kill the filibuster. That’s going to hurt more than this helps.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The Donald J Trump court is really churning out Trump decisions now- they just invalidated thousands of Wisconsin voter’s ballots too.
Justice Kavanaugh is under the mistaken belief that all votes are tallied and certified on election night, which is incorrect. They can’t even get the basic facts right. There are poll workers who work harder at understanding this.
WaterGirl
Wisconsin
Texting and phone calls can be done remotely from across the country.
https://wisdems.org/get-involved/volunteer/
Ben Wickler and others.
Voces de la Frontera
Voces de la Frontera is a membership-based community organization led by low-wage workers, immigrants and youth whose mission is to protect and expand civil rights and workers’ rights through leadership development, community organizing and empowerment.
BLOC (Black Leaders Organizing Communities)
We are uniters, working to lift up the Black citizens, leaders, and businesses of our community. We are transparent in our work to ensure the community we advocate for can hold us accountable.
Souls to the Polls
Souls to the Polls is an organization that unites ministers and their congregations in Milwaukee’s central city to strengthen the voting power of the Black community. An alliance of churches committed to building an army of 100,000 voters.
Lyrebird
@guachi:
I’m gonna respectfully very much disagree. Him getting Toomey to do the only non-destructive thing I know of – that’s as a thankfully former constituent – and moving gun safety forward is no small thing.
Manchin has come out with some powerful pro ACA messages as well, at times when they were needed.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
Signal boosting from downstairs:
Amy Coney Barrett’s First Votes Could Throw the Election to Trump: A sinister argument from Bush v. Gore returns with a vengeance
We have to get every vote out. It can’t be close. They will pull this bullshit
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Right. Remember when he screamed at us that he would get revenge on everyone who questioned his absolute right to that seat?
Forget “packing”. I say rotate them off in 18 year terms. They’re out of control. You can’t give lifetime tenure to authoritarian political operatives.
lamh36
Lordt Lincoln Project up with an ad frightening enough for Halloween! https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1320909635692285953?s=20
mali muso
@Emma from FL: Yeah, that’s what the decision was. I’m in Virginia and already early voted, but I’m furious about this. Overturning election law in the middle of a pandemic. They are trying to steal the election in broad daylight. Evil evil fuckers.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
He fucking knows better, Kay. They’re not stupid. They know exactly what they’re doing. “Justice” McRapey is trying to set expectations through relentless lying. This is what it’s like to live under minority rule. The ruling party doesn’t have to tell the truth
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I’m actually surprised they’re being this aggressively political and pro-Trump. I thought they’d have more respect for the court than that, if only because the court lends them legitimacy. It’s prestigious. I thought they would protect that because it adds to their prestige.
Didn’t predict just going straight to Trump 2020 campaigning. A new low.
mali muso
@WaterGirl: Thanks for the links! I hit up the Wisconsin Dem Party via the BJ thermometer. Now going to donate to Souls to the Polls.
Jeffro
@Kay: 9 year terms, or 11, something like that. If the GOP is going to put up 21-year-olds who have never heard an appeal, they need to be up there for the shortest time possible.
Chetan Murthy
@WaterGirl: Thank you, Watergirl. I sent some love to Souls to the Polls. I’d already sent a bunch of $$ to a bunch of different senatorial candidates, including Dr. Gross, GOTV was what I was looking for.
WaterGirl
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Where did you decide to put in your time volunteering?
lamh36
@Kay:
@MisterForkbeard:
Barely 1 hour later…smh
Zinsky
The Democrats really have no choice but to expand the Supreme Court now, or this kangaroo court will strike down or set aside every decision that will be favorable to Democratic/Liberal causes for the next 30 years. They need to spin it as “unpacking the Court”, borrowing the penchant for reframing issues from the vile GOP. The only thing about Democrats doing this is that it gives the Republicans a strong issue for taking back either the White House or Senate in 2024. A powerful Truth and Reconciliation Commission that put seditious criminals like Ron Johnson and Jim Jordan in prison for the way they behaved when Trump was in office might go a long ways towards stopping that from happening!
Puddinhead
@Kay: to be fair, Kavanaugh is usually so drunk by midnight, there’s no way he’d know what is going on with the votes on Election Day.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
I admit I didn’t either. I assumed they would care more about their own institutional power. But I guess they assume nothing will ever happen to them. After all, as long they’re good little right-wing ideologues who do the bidding of the Party and the oligarchs they’ll be safe, right? So they think, anyway
Jeffro
Btw – have to believe that the elbow-throwing Biden/Harris campaign will be making hay all.effing.week that ol’ Mitch adjourned the Senate until Nov 9th.
Meaning, no COVID relief package before the election. (Which, naturally, means there will be none after the election either). Sorry, America, you’re on your own until Inauguration Day!
I hope Biden takes the oath, goes straight to the Resolute Desk, and just fucking signs Democratic bills and executive orders all day for the rest of that week (with breaks for lunch). Undo everything this malicious gang of goons did by Friday Jan 22nd 5pm and then go have a beer with Hillary.
Jan 25th: “Okay…now that we undid all that shit, this week, we’ll be passing and signing everything in the Democratic Party platform…”. =)
Kay
@lamh36:
Here’s a photo of the new Donald J Trump judge headlining his campaign rally:
She went along with this.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@WaterGirl:
I donated some money to Senate candidates through ActBlue last night
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’m at a point now when I see certain names in my in-box (Gary Peters, Elissa Slotkin) I have to stop and think, are these people I know, or people who want my money?
Ruckus
@mali muso:
I really, really do not think this will go well for them if they steal or even attempt to steal this election.
I think it would be the end of this country. It might even piss off a lot of republicans, especially ones who broke ranks because of trump. I have no idea what might transpire and won’t in any way speculate but I see this as extremely bad, and I know I’m not alone, not in any way, shape or form.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay: she has let him know at every possible stage, she’s all in
were the other justices there?
Kay
They don’t care if it looks bad. They’ll tank the legitimacy of that court with the same gleeful arrogance they’ve tanked the legitimacy of every other American institution.
Trump destroys everything he touches but never forget how many of our shitty, low quality “elites” assisted him every step of the way. This was a group effort. He could not have done it without them.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@Nicole: thanks for posting this. I think it’s dead on
WaterGirl
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): As much as you are worrying, you should be making calls or texting to help get out the vote! I guarantee that it will help you feel better and not feel helpless.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay: as Chris Hayes, they traded everything, our institutions, the separation of powers, our standing in the world, our economy, and probably more than a hundred thousand lives, for Amy Covid Barrett. She will sleep well, believing she was worth the price.
Steeplejack
@Kay:
True on Kavanaugh, but that NPR tweet is specifically referring to a tweet from Trump.
cain
@Ruckus:
My objection to her is that as she has shown with her whole performative art that when it comes down to doing things like court expanding she is going to be against it. I think she still believes in the comity of the senate and the rules. I think she can’t wrap her head around how everything has changed.
As far as I’m concerned, they’ve declared war. They will also try to rub our faces in the whole nomination.
mrmoshpotato
Pulled up from downstairs:
GOOD JOB, MOTHERFUCKERS! WE STILL HAVE 8 DAYS LEFT OF SETTING FIRE TO YOUR FASCIST SHITPILE THAT YOU CALL A POLITICAL PARTY IN A DEMOCRACY!
lamh36
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Thomas.
I saw a tweet that said Barrett asked for Thomas to swear her in?
Valerie Jarrett’s tweet here is so right:
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
This obscene campaign rally for far Right elites contrasted with covid rampaging and hospitals overflowing is just absolutely repellent.
It’s like a caricature of an out of touch, unresponsive, permanent upper class. I don’t know man, these people seem to be begging for a revolution. They can’t help themselves.
Omnes Omnibus
@mali muso: Let me start by saying it was not a good decision.* That being said, it is not the disaster that some are suggesting. It merely leaves long time WI law in place. WI has always required that absentee ballots be received on or before Election Day. The decision has dropped soon enough that most people who have not been able to mail in their ballots yet will be able to to drop them off before or on Election Day.
*Some people will be disenfranchised by this and that is simply wrong.
J R in WV
@Spiffy McBang:
Folks, the filibuster is DEAD and rotted away. That’s why this nomination sailed through 52-47. Can no one count to 60 here?
Ruckus
@Kay:
I bet that every state that has mail in balloting has similar rules to CA. Your ballot has to be postmarked by 8pm on Nov 3. It will be counted until end of the day Nov 20. Now it used to be 3 days but because of the mail debacle they changed it to 17 days. Not every or most states will go that far but it has been, as you point out never end of day Nov 3, even for votes at a polling place on Nov 3. And if there is a recount, then what.
Slimy bastards, I hope this bites them on the ass badly because if that becomes the rule and a lot of repubs vote on the 3rd…….
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Do you have a take on that Slate article I linked to at 62?
Chetan Murthy
@J R in WV: I believe people are referring to the *legislative* filibuster, not the filibuster for SCOTUS appointments.
Omnes Omnibus
@J R in WV: It is dead for some things. Like judicial appointments. A 60 vote supermajority is still needed for cloture on regular legislation.
Mousebumples
@Chetan Murthy: WisDems is asking for money. And they’ve got a bunch of good fundraising events coming up if Rocky Horror or SuperBad is to your taste.
GOTV, education about the latest Supreme Court decision, etc. Ben Wikler’s Twitter has more details.
Kay
I’m somewhat heartened that most of the traditional media are no longer stubbornly insisting “our institutions” are holding.
They’re not. It’s time to face up to that. You don’t have to do anything about it! But you should stop lying about it. That court is yet another collapsing institution. One more bites the dust. We will never get thru this if we continue to pretend it isn’t happening.
Dopeyo
I think there’s a easier order of business for the new Dem Senate and the increased Dem House. Don’t waste time de-compressing the Court.
Let’s take a good hard look Brett Kavanaugh. $240,000 in mysterious gifts? 93,000 pages of hidden legal writings? Less-than-truthful testimony in his confirmation hearings?
I’m not saying “Impeach,” but Kavanaugh was certainly pugnacious and confrontational. He started a fight which I am sure Nancy Pelosi can finish.
Omnes Omnibus
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): No. Remember where the term Slate Pitch came from.
Win by enough that it doesn’t matter.
Ian
@Elizabelle:
She has got one eye on what is happening to Susan Collins, and another looking over her shoulder at an Alaskan Republican party that would enjoy eating her lunch.
I’m sure she thinks these Supreme Court nomination fights are terrifying. If I were her, I would pray during them too.
Kay
They don’t care about legitimacy or credibility. That’s the only real check on them with lifetime tenure, and it’s gone.
mali muso
Well the ActBlue ticker is spinning as fast as I can recall seeing it. $1million in the last 30 minutes. Let’s channel our rage and beat the GOP into oblivion. I want them to go the way of the Whig party.
Kay
Another factual error. This dunce signed an opinion that is riddled with errors on basic facts.
topclimber
@J R in WV: If I recall correctly, there is an exception to the filibuster for supreme court justices, passed a few years ago. Also one Obama and Reid agreed to to finally get some lower court appointments made, which Mitch in turn weaponized to get Trump judges confirmed.
For most legislation (and cabinet appointments?), the filibuster is very much alive. It will be used to block all Dem legislation, saving the court the job.
I see OO got there first.
Fair Economist
The red state Dem Senators get way too much flak. Since Lieberman and Nelson-NE left, they support us when it counts. Sometimes they may go rogue for state industries, like Manchin and coal, but *all* Senators do that. They talk “bipartisan” and “working across the aisle” and “Republicans have some good ideas” but that’s because they have to to get elected there. That’s why McCaskill sounds so much better now that she’s out of office – she doesn’t have to put out the mealymouthed blather anymore, so she doesn’t.
Eljai
David Nir at DailyKos put up an ActBlue link to raise funds to help flip Republican seats held by senators who voted for Barrett. It targets 7 Republicans up for re-election in 2022, including Lisa Murkowski. I am definitely not going to forget this.
Aleta
Mark Joseph Stern @mjs_DC
Holy shit—Brett Kavanaugh just endorsed Rehnquist’s concurrence in Bush v. Gore, which was too extreme for Kennedy or O’Connor. This is a red alert. I can’t believe he put it in a footnote. This is terrifying. https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7276432/10-26-20-DNC-v-Wisconsin-SCOTUS-Order.pdf
The headline news here is that, by a 5–3 vote, SCOTUS made it harder for Wisconsin residents to cast a ballot and make sure it’s counted. But arguably the bigger news is that Brett Kavanaugh endorsed a theory so radical that the court refused to adopt it in Bush v. Gore. My God.
This is VERY BAD NEWS for voting rights. Appallingly bad. Brett Kavanaugh used a footnote to throw his support behind an extreme theory that would severely limit state courts’ ability to protect voting rights. It’s the revenge of Bush. v. Gore. Actually, it’s much worse.
How radical is Kavanaugh’s theory? John Roberts felt compelled to reject it in a separate opinion, correctly noting that federal courts should keep their noses out of a state court’s interpretation of its own state’s election laws. Roberts is now the moderate on voting rights.
Gorsuch also endorsed Rehnquist’s position in Bush v. Gore. And Kavanaugh joined his opinion. Both want to prevent governors, state courts, and state agencies from expanding voting rights—and have federal courts decide what how the legislature *really* wanted elections to be run.
As fate would have it, I wrote about this exact issue in an article [Slate] that published minutes before SCOTUS handed down this order. I urge you to read it, because this is the next fight. It’s already here. We’re staring down the barrel of Bush v. Gore II.
We should be extremely worried that Kavanaugh would use this Trumpian rhetoric to describe counting ballots that arrive after Election Day. 18 states and DC count these ballots. Does Kav
With Barrett’s vote, the Supreme Court is poised to become a Supreme Board of Elections with freewheeling power to stomp on state courts that try to protect voting rights. What Kavanaugh and Gorsuch did tonight is a five-alarm fire for democracy.
It’s genuinely terrifying that Kavanaugh wrote this passage. He is abetting Trump’s efforts to delegitimize mail ballots that arrive after Election Day, which are counted in at least 18 states and D.C. It is an ideological and partisan attack on the integrity of the election.
L85NJGT
The sex police are out there on the streets
Make sure the pass laws are not broken
The race militia has got itchy fingers
All the way from New York back to Africa
Cuddle up baby – Keep it all out of sight
Cuddle up baby – Sleep with all out of sight
Cuddle up baby – Keep it all out of sight
Undercover, Undercover, Undercover,
Keep it all out of sight, Undercover of the night……
janesays
She’s represents freaking California, which is so reliably blue that her last general election pitted her against another Democrat, no Republican even on the ballot. Being a reliable Dem vote when you represent a state that wants you to vote with the Democrats on literally every single measure that you have to vote on is doing the bare minimum.
You don’t get bravery points for doing the right thing in a state where there is no political downside to doing the right thing.
mali muso
@Eljai: Thanks for the link! Donated. Now I have to try to find a way to stop doomscrolling and go to bed.
Ruckus
@mali muso:
ActBlue has gone up 10 million in the 5 hrs since I last posted this afternoon. It isn’t slowing down at all.
Omnes Omnibus
@Aleta: Legally speaking, a footnote in a concurring opinion doesn’t really carry a lot of weight.
Ruckus
@janesays:
Her dem opponent was not worth a vote. Remember it’s a jungle vote here in CA, the top 2 end up on the ballot.
janesays
@Ruckus: What was wrong with Kevin de León?
Honest question, I’m not at all familiar with his policy stances on anything.
Kay
This is what I object to. She can lie to herself is she wants to, but why lie to the public? I don’t have any obligation to help her shore up her credibility. I have nothing vested in the Donald J Trump Court. It’s his.
Omnes Omnibus
@Kay: Yeah, she has the gig, but she got it in a way that diminishes its prestige and she went along with that demeaning process every step of the way.
Kay
@Omnes Omnibus:
The recklessness just amazes me. They simply don’t care what they destroy. The credibility of that court didn’t come from her and it wasn’t hers to give away. She inherited it. Another bankrupt who blows through what she didn’t earn.
Sally
@lamh36: Can we, should we do to Lisa what we did to Susan after the Barf vote? Fund raise for any Dem opponent. The two year campaign against Susie upset her and may well get rid of her. Two years against Lisa after her aunt Amy vote will surely have an impact on her both personally and politically. We don’t just oppose them, as Lindsey says, we hate their guts. Like they hate. Lindsey’s tears are nectar.
Kay
Is it? Because I just saw the new justice appearing as the headliner at a Donald J Trump campaign event.
I think it’s a new low for the country. I think she’s blown the credibility of that court in her first 5 minutes on the job which may be a new record for a Trump hire.
Sab
@Kay: Where were his clerks to protect him by feeding him good info? Oh yeah. They came out of the same pampered pipeline.
Bobby Thomson
@Kay: That court hasn’t had any credibility in years. What tattered shreds survived Bush v. Gore and Citizens United were pulverized by Shelby County. The business of the Roberts Court is overt white supremacy. The conservative six have all the integrity of Roger Taney and should be publicly spat upon wherever they appear.
Matt McIrvin
@Aleta:
What concerns me isn’t so much that.
It’s that they’re going to delegitimize mail ballots that arrived BEFORE Election Day, but aren’t processed until after Election Day. In PA, MI and WI, that could be most of the votes in the state, and nearly all of the Democratic votes! They’d basically be throwing out the whole vote and just awarding those states to Trump.
Bill Arnold
@Aleta:
Doesn’t matter unless a statewide election is close.
FWIW, here’s the relevant part of Kavanaugh’s footnote:
If he can get 4 other Justices to agree (Thomas already did, Gorsuch perhaps??) then there are the votes in place for what would be a big attempted power grab by the Supreme Court. Well, a second grab, Bush v Gore being the first instance.
RaflW
Goin’ to bed in a few minutes. But I got some rage-donating done tonight. The ActBlue all-time tote board should click over $7.5 billion in the overnight hours (sooner rather than later, at the clip it’s been going).
Tomorrow is another day to fight these fuckers.
And, as a gay person who sees ACB and a 6-3 Court as a real threat, I echo this (via someone’s twitter):
“If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
~Abigail Adams
Milos Mitchell
@Ruckus: You were very precise … I’m not a fan either)
Matt McIrvin
@Bill Arnold:
If they throw out votes received but not processed after Election Day, in PA, MI and WI they could reverse a landslide. All those early votes just dropped in the shredder.
lowtechcyclist
Yeah, that’s the question. And the “each time a Senate majority – regardless of party – changes the rules, we reduce the incentive to work together across party lines” part points rather strongly to ‘NO.’
Working together across party lines would be nice, but it would have to be with a GOP borrowed from some distant era, or from an Aaron Sorkin tv show. Obama tried, over and over again, to work across party lines with the GOP. The ACA only passed because for a few months, the Dems had 60 votes in the U.S. Senate, even after numerous modifications had been made to it to accommodate GOP objections. And they’ve only gotten worse since then.
The GOP we have is busily engaging in a coup via our democratic institutions, as Kavanaugh all but said out loud in his opinion yesterday, and Congressional Democrats (and Joe Biden) need to recognize this and respond accordingly. There is no point in reasoning with them.
The Dems – if we get through this election in one piece – need to be ready to wield the power they have to benefit the American people, Senate rules and traditions and comity be damned.
lowtechcyclist
Which they’re all but saying the state legislatures have the authority to do anyway.
It’s starting to look like the only way the American people get to decide this election is by winning too massively for even the Supreme Court to have room to steal it.