My mother has truly produced the pumpkin of our era. pic.twitter.com/P6V4ixMRw7
— Alex Barnard (@avb_soc) October 19, 2020
A thoughtful window into the two candidates’ souls by @MonicaHesse
Perspective | Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and the politics of unconditional love https://t.co/eUE3CXqia5— John Wirenius (@JohnJwirenius) October 25, 2020
This is lovely and good — Monica Hesse on “Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and the politics of unconditional love”:
… It’s not hard to imagine what the president thought he was doing when he first dredged up Hunter’s drug use and stilted military career: that Joe Biden would be embarrassed of his son. And maybe that voters would think less of them as a family. Trump’s older brother, Fred, died of alcoholism in 1981. Friends of the family told The Washington Post last year that it was like “a dark family secret,” causing “shame” for the Trump family, for whom — as Fred Trump’s daughter, Mary, later put it — “weakness was the greatest sin.”
How strange for the president, then, to lay out all of Hunter Biden’s embarrassing failings, and to have Joe Biden’s response be: “I’m proud of him.”…
Is the goal of fatherhood to shape your offspring in your own image — the path you feel is worthiest and best — and to require respect and devotion? Or is the goal to love your son even in his lowest moments, to redefine your expectations, to take on the heavy load of unconditional parenting, even when it’s a lopsided deal?
It’s no stroke of brilliance to point out that these two philosophies mirror the relationship the two politicians have with the country. Trump, a man who loves America only if it is nice to him and loves him to his exacting specifications: “It’s a two-way street; they have to treat us well, also,” he said in March, hanging the promise of federal coronavirus relief on whether blue-state governors were appropriately deferential.
Biden, a man who loves America even though it’s sometimes self-destructive. Even though it’s beaten down, embittered, spiritually adrift, wild with anxiety. “I’m running as a proud Democrat, but I’m gonna be an American president,” he said at Thursday’s debate. “I don’t see red states and blue states. What I see is American United States. And folks, every single state out there finds themselves in trouble.”
After the first debate, several voters cited Biden’s openhearted defense of Hunter as a standout moment in the debate. It spoke to them as parents, who knew the pride and heartache of watching their children suffer and struggle through a challenge. I wonder if it also spoke to them as children, careening toward the end of 2020, longing for a reassuring presence to say they were going to make it — they had struggled, but they were all, every one of them, worthy of love.
Hunter Biden might not be the son America dreams of having. Joe Biden might be the dad.
On The Road – Steve from Mendocino – Shape Studies in Black and White 1 of 2
debbie
And last night, the local Fox affiliate spent the last 10 minutes of their newscast interviewing Republican Senators and Reps talking about all the Hunter Biden investigations they were planning.
A pox on all their houses.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
rikyrah
Filled out my mail ballot last night. Took a picture of it. Going to drop it off at the election authority before I go to work.?
rikyrah
Baud
Damn.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
NotMax
@debbie
Gonna be more than a tad difficult once they’re the minority in both chambers.
Baud
@debbie:
They’re doing no investigations because they won’t control the Senate.
rikyrah
rikyrah
evap
@rikyrah: Remember when everyone laughed at the Harriet Miers nomination since she was so obviously unqualified and out of her depth. Good times!
NotMax
Recently found: If you’re craving escaping for a stretch with a gentle feel-good movie, you could do a lot worse than The Basket, on Prime.
Moving on, make of these what you will.
1) The King adapts.
2) Nothing says old-time homey like filling the room with the scintillating, finger-lickin’ aroma of burning chemicals, eh?
Chyron HR
It’s strange that all the Republican moms who’s reaction to Boof Kavanaugh’s accusers was, “What if MY baby boy suffered consequences raping some little slut?” aren’t feeling any parental pangs of sympathy for Hunter Biden. So very strange indeed.
Betty Cracker
I get the point Hesse is making — Trump is a shitty person in every sense, and Biden is a better one, and yes, that matters a lot. But I’ve always found dragging voters into the parental framing irritating. I remember being annoyed by it almost 30 years ago when someone at a town hall used that context to ask Bill Clinton a question, calling the president our “symbolic father.”
I already have a dad. I voted for a presidential candidate and Dems down the ticket in the hope that they’ll do everything in their power to restore democracy.
debbie
@Baud:
Very sweet. Now, try imagining such an exchange between Trump and Eric or Don Jr.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Agree. I hope people can develop a more mature attitude toward political leadership.
debbie
@Baud:
Even so, five bucks they’ll set up some sort of “shadow” hearings.
Eural Joiner
Just in case you want to get your righteous anger on (even more!) check out John Oliver’s segment on immigration from his show this past Sunday.
These people are evil and they have got to pay a price for these four years – at the ballot box and in the criminal justice system. >:(
Baud
@debbie:
As long as they don’t have subpoena power.
Chyron HR
@Eural Joiner:
Heads on pikes on Pennsylvania Ave. It’s the only way they’ll learn.
debbie
@rikyrah:
What a horrowshow. I take some solace in knowing Kavanaugh will be cringing every time he hears Barrett’s voice. I think her voice sounds exactly like Christine Blasey Ford, his accuser. Karma.
Baud
NotMax
@Chyron HR
Job creation as well, what with needing to extend Pennsylvania Avenue to accommodate them all.
//
Baud
Kay
That photograph you saw where Trump and Barrett appear on the balcony at the Trump campaign event at the White House last night was just one part of Barrett’s campaigning for Trump last night. They have a whole campaign-ad style video they’re using where she strides alongside Trump through the White House. If you didn’t know better you would think he replaced Pence with her.
I think it’s good in a way. She and her supporters denied the public any information about her work, so now all we have to evaluate her is that fact that she’s willingly and enthusiastically going along with this corrupt spectacle. You’ll know more about Barrett’s character and integrity in the 40 seconds it takes to watch the Trump campaign video she’s starring in than anything that happened at that fake hearing.
Baud
NYT link.
OzarkHillbilly
My youngest got busted with some dope at school and was put on probation It was to say the least, a really hard time for him. He was very depressed, dealing with stuff no 14/15 year old should have to and his mother wasn’t helping any. The court had ordered one on one counseling for him, group counseling for him, family counseling for everyone, and group family counseling. My ex made it all as difficult as possible, not only not participating but actively trying to sabotage it. At one group family counseling session, he finally let it all out. I don’t remember exactly what he said but it was something along the lines of how everything was my fault, how I should have fixed it all, how much he hated me, how much he just wanted me to go away…
When he finally got done raging at me I said something like,
“C, I know you hate me, I know you just want me to go away. I’m not. I am not ever going away. No matter how much you hate me, I love you more and I can take the hate. You are my son and I have always been there for you, and no matter how much you hate me, I always will be there for you. I will never abandon you and no matter how hard you try, you can’t make me go away.”
I never have.
NotMax
@Baud
When does he start dragging people on stage to do a laying on of small hands?
“Bam! You’re immune! Pay the usher before leaving.”
Matt McIrvin
@rikyrah: If people can hand-deliver their ballots in person, they shouldn’t mail them at all, at this point.
Baud
It should be and is, but the NYT has proven incapable or unwilling to do so.
Baud
@NotMax:
Never. If you notice, he never gets physically close to his fans. Even before the pandemic.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: I imagine a presidential/judicial coup reversing a landslide loss followed by revolution/civil war wouldn’t be particularly good for markets.
Kay
The USPS recommends you mail your ballots today to ensure timely delivery.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Good for you. One of my brothers went through the same thing with his daughter and duplicitous, sabotaging ex. Trying to set her shit aside and focus on the daughter was my brother’s first and most difficult battle.
Baud
Good. Normalize this.
One thing we need to learn from the GOP is that constant pressure is good even if it doesn’t lead to immediate results.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Wait, does that mean we support or oppose a coup and civil war?
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: I once walked onto a job and during the mandatory safety briefing this young gun started in with some feel good corporate BS about how “we’re all family here.” I replied, “I already have a family. You’re not in it.” He said something about how that made him feel bad.
“Oh, You want to talk about feelings? You want me to tell you how I feel?”
Turned out he didn’t.
prostratedragon
@rikyrah: Gotta say, I know just how he feels. Running low on charity toward some stuff these days.
Kay
@Baud:
I think if they covered it as a “using the family name” story, which is what it is, that brings up a whole bunch of problems because a lot of people are using a lot of family names. This is going to be a very long story and it would necessarily involve a lot of media people, who also used or use family names and connections.
It’s going to be hard to draw a bright line, which is why I didn’t and don’t think it can be covered under rules. Once they determined that Joe Biden wasn’t involved we’re then into territory that threatens a lot of people.
Geminid
An article on Democrat Cameron Webb’s race in the 5th VA Congressional District described him dropping by Jim Riggleman’s vodka distillery for a chat. Riggleman is the current Congressman who was edged out in a June convention by “Biblical Conservative” Bob Good. Riggleman has pointedly not endorsed Good. There were also Webb-friendly quotes by a republican who had met Webb at a private skeet-shooting event in Bedford county. Skeet-shooting seems to be a way to assuage purple district fears of “gun grabbing;” I saw that Xochitl Torres-Small (D-NM) did a tv ad showing her blasting away at clay pigeons. I wouldn’t be surprised if the DCCC has an introductory skeet shooting program for candidates. DCCC head Cherie Bustos (D-IL) is a canny woman.
SFAW
@NotMax:
Forward-thinking like this is why Cole pays you the big $$
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
I always say, when a business tell you “we’re family,” you are the child.
NotMax
@Baud
Ivanka can do the touching part while he stands close behind with his hands around her waist to channel the bigly energies.
Baud
@Kay:
True, but I have confidence in their double standard.
SFAW
Which is ironic, since the Murderer-in-Chief is such a weak person in so many ways. A weak person who thinks using his unearned power to domineer/dominate makes him a strong person.
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: I was going to say that people in MI/WI/PA should consider showing up on Election Day instead of voting early, on the off chance that nearly all early votes will be thrown out.
But, honestly, we’re all in at this point. If nearly all early votes are thrown out, that will just award those states to Trump no matter what we do. So it’s probably better to flood the early vote to, I hate to say it, heighten the contradictions if they try it.
SFAW
@NotMax:
or thereabouts
Punchy
It is clear to me that Trump’s new strategy is to have the SCOTUS simply declare him Peesident, election results be damned. I’d be shocked if he doesnt flat-out admit this on the campaign trail in the next few days….
mrmoshpotato
Strange to refer to Biden and Harris as “two candidates” but ok.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: I hate that fake shit.
ETA: all that “Team” bullshit too.
Matt McIrvin
@Punchy: SCOTUS doesn’t have the constitutional power to just declare anyone President. Congress certifies electoral votes. There are also laws concerning what constitutes duly reported electoral votes. The more we make that clear to people, the stronger a position we have.
Betty Cracker
@Kay:
QFT. Shitty, corrupt Senator Marco Rubio tweeted some nonsense this morning about “legitimately” elected senators casting “legitimate” votes for a “legitimately” elected POTUS’s “highly qualified” nominee. I go back and forth on which is the worst of the two FL US senators — Rubio or Scott — but Rubio wins the “dumbest” contest hands down. He couldn’t have telegraphed his insecurity on the “legitimacy” of this farce more clearly if he tattooed it on his stupid forehead.
mrmoshpotato
@rikyrah: ? Make sure to stop by the “I Voted” thread.
SFAW
@Punchy:
“Balls and strikes, usually. But in this one case, which should not be considered a precedent, we’re declaring that a strikeout is a home run for Dear Leader.”
— Chief Justice Roberts
NotMax
Weird weather week in paradise. Up into the mid-90s during daytime last week on Maui, and this weekend Mauna Kea on the Big Island received its first snowfall of the season.
mrmoshpotato
@rikyrah: That thread is cathartic.
SFAW
@Matt McIrvin:
Shill Barr has been working on how to make that happen, which is why he’s been absent for a few weeks. I’m only half-joking; I think he’s been working out a “50-state plan” to fuck with the Biden votes. Whether he can succeed is questionable, of course.
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
Matt, I like you and I think your caution is a good check on irrational exuberance but I disagree with this.
All early votes aren’t going to be thrown out. Donald Trump isn’t the only person on the ballot. There are tens of thousands of races and tens of thousands of people on the ballot who are very invested in the votes being counted. The top law enforcement official in my county is on the ballot, and he’s in a very tight race. He needs the votes counted. Multiply that by “thousands”. Hell, there are GOP federal incumbents who are in tight races. You watched California in ’18. The vote totals were changing every day.
Justice Kavanaugh is dummy who doesn’t understand how elections work and he apparently hires dummies too because his work is riddled with factual errors- it’s garbage.
Because he doesn’t understand the first thing about US elections doesn’t mean we have to validate his ignorance.
Not just Trump. If they throw out ballots they’re going to be throwing GOP races too.
Betty Cracker
@OzarkHillbilly: Yep! It’s all a load of horse shit.
My kiddo is a young adult now, so it’s been interesting to see what life lessons we successfully conveyed as parents. It’s hit or miss, but one that definitely stuck is that no corporation EVER has your best interests at heart. :)
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Baud: I was disturbed by Barrett saying she’d treat the participants in a case as if they were her own children.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Double ditto for “associates.”
Punchy
@Matt McIrvin: Did you see what they did in 2000? He wants them to throw out “questionable” votes, which be anything from blue areas of swing states. Anything via mail. Any D vote south of Mas/Dix….
I cannot imagine SCOTUS doing this, as they will have destroyed their own standing, but thats what he’ll be banking on, IMO.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: That’s a really strange way to spell “serfs”.
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: Since his family is not running for office and is exceedingly unlikely to be taking on a senior policy position, then no. Joe Biden is on the ballot. His family is not.
SFAW
@Kay:
Are you sure it wasn’t intentional? I agree that he doesn’t have the intellect, but it might be just a case of intentionally “writing” a bogus “opinion” as a way of flipping the bird to liberals, Dems, and other rational persons (since he knew how he was going to vote before any evidence was presented).
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
That balcony scene she participated in is going to come back and bite her. That’s a career-defining photograph.
Her choices. Her ethics and character. She chose to campaign with him and she did it as her first public act as a justice. The Donald J Trump justice.
Dopey-o
I believe the quickest way to negate Amy Covid Barrett’s elevation is not to commence on the lengthy and controversial decompressing SCOTUS, but to take a good look at Kavanaugh’s finances and legal writings. And call Christine Blasey Ford and other Kavanaugh victims back for a second round in the Dem-led Senate.
And if impeachment seems the appropriate remedy, let the chips fall where they may.
And if Anita Hill is looking for a new career, perhaps she’d like to sit next to Clarence Thomas on that august bench. Or I’d settle for Merrick Garland. Or Obama. I’m not picky.
SFAW
@OzarkHillbilly:
Thanks for that story, good way to start the day. Well, “start” in a figurative sense.
Kay
@SFAW:
It’s just rushed, garbage work. His far Right theory of elections is wrong- not how US elections work- but the “facts” his clerks used to support his views are incorrect. They just churn out garbage.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax:
No delish. What Burger King is having to do sounds like dystopian hell.
2. No jokes about KFC logs. Oops.
SFAW
@Punchy:
That’s not what they did in 2000, but I guess Fat Nino and Sandy’s (may they both burn in Hell( decision had the same effect.
ETA: Yes, I know Sandy’s not dead yet. Fuck her anyway.
germy
There was the briefest of moments during her hearing when I caught a glimpse of the real Barrett. It was during Kamala Harris’s questioning. Harris pointed out that Barrett had sided with corporations against labor 85% of the time. Barrett smirked when she heard this. It was the only time I saw her make this face.
Unfortunately, Harris was rushed for time and moved on to some other topics. I would have loved to hear Barrett explain her overwhelming preference for the boss over the employee. The expression on her face was chilling, though. It was a combination of “Tee hee, I’m caught!” and “Whaddya gonna do about it, bish?”
SFAW
@Kay:
Understood. I saw it as a “Fuck the Dems, write whatever garbage you want, with lots of cites, who cares if it makes sense, I’d actually prefer if it didn’t.”
mrmoshpotato
@debbie:
Stop trying to break our brains. We have baseball to watch tonight. Go Rays!
Elizabelle
Good morning jackals.
Do not mean to use a triggering word, but I woke up this morning feeling “raped” over the Republicans — and only Republicans — forcing AC Barrett onto the Supreme Court. I bet a lot of women (and men who love and respect women) felt that way.
Let’s make this the most pyrrhic of pyrrhic victories for Mitch McConnell and the (almost all, plus white) boys.
WRT Lisa Murkowski: I think she may have been forced to vote for confirmation, even though she may have preferred not to. She should have stood her ground, and will be interested in any reporting you all see on what was up with that.
Brewing coffee, I wonder if Murkowski might eventually leave the GOP over this — become an “Angus King” Senator. Who, perhaps, stays an actual independent. Or who caucuses with the Democrats.
I bet she is feeling rather terrible this morning, too. There go her principles, unless her prevailing one is “party over country, and all the women in it.”
Proud to be a Democrat. Proud of Joe Manchin, and all our Democrats who stood firm.
Kay
Editor at the National Review, watching Barrett campaign for Trump on the White House balcony.
They invited the Fox News personalities, who now apparently have higher standing than any elected official with the exception of Dear Leader.
Barrett headlined a Trump campaign event. Her first public act as a justice. Go back and look at all the people who vouched for her “integrity” and know they are lousy judges of character or self interested.
No one should consider this person credible. This was a choice she made.
germy
SFAW
@Elizabelle:
You give her far too much credit. She’s no better than Collins. Well, her brows might furrow less (or more?), but that’s it.
mrmoshpotato
@Chyron HR:
@NotMax: INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK! MONTH? YEAR?
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Yuck. I missed that.
Gin & Tonic
@Elizabelle:
Fuck her feelings.
Kay
@SFAW:
The common pleas judges here, ordinary county judges, wouldn’t appear with county commissioners for a photo op about them cracking down on drugs because they thought it would look like they were crooked and couldn’t hear drug cases fairly.
But this justice at the Supreme Court eagerly participated in a Trump campaign event 7 days prior to an election., including a campaign-style video the President’s campaign is blasting out.
These are the ethical choices she makes. You don’t have to know anything else about her.
WereBear
@OzarkHillbilly: You are a good dad. Because they are happy boys now, I understand :)
If Dante knew what it was like to raise children with a crayzee Ex, THAT would be the lowest pit of hell.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: LMAO! Ugh.
Elizabelle
For anybody who wants to do a long read, our Forever President Barack Obama. Lengthy excerpt in The New Yorker this week. From his upcoming memoirs (first volume out soon).
A President Looks Back on His Toughest Fight
The story behind the Obama Administration’s most enduring—and most contested—legacy: reforming American health care.
From the “Dear Readers” email from New Yorker editor David Remnick:
debbie
@Gin & Tonic:
Seconded.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: Hmmm. That’s an interesting investment.
Ian
@Baud: I read this article and all I could think of was Moral Politics by George Lakoff.
Starfish
@Dopey-o: They can start impeaching the last few justices, but if the press frames that as unprecedented incivility, then it would harm them.
Baud
@Ian:
Reminds me of when Kirk was split by the transporter and neither half could effectively function without the other.
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: If they’re Republicans, wouldn’t throwing out all the early votes likely help them too? Of course, they’d still have to deal with the local blowback.
That said, the alternate-elector scheme people are talking about means effectively throwing out those ballots (really, throwing out all ballots) for the purpose of the Presidential election, while still counting them for other races. It’d require a kind of doublethink on the part of Republican state legislators, treating certain votes as legitimate and illegitimate simultaneously (not to mention completely ignoring quite explicitly written state and federal law), but some of them can probably pull it off.
What I do disagree with is that some people, especially on Twitter, are treating this scheme as some sort of magic legal Kryptonite that is technically valid, when in fact it’s not; it’d be massively, blatantly illegal. But that doesn’t stop Republicans in other contexts.
MazeDancer
@OzarkHillbilly: You are an excellent Dad
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: It could well bear fruit in Texas.
jonas
The new SCOTUS position on elections will be that Republican-controlled states can do whatever the fuck they want to disenfranchise anyone they want, discard ballots, stop counting, etc., and it’s a states rights issue, so that’s that. If you want more equitable voting laws, you’ll have to elect legislators who will…oh, wait.
Ian
@Matt McIrvin:
Can you provide some proof for the assertion
The WI thing sucked, but that is most certainly not the case you describe here.
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
“Hi kids! Halloween is almost here! Do you like creepy-ass Supreme Court nominees?!”
Just beyond creepy, insulting, patronizing and disgusting.
A Ghost to Most
@Punchy: they’ve already destroyed their standing, and they don’t care.
They’ll do anything. The christian fascist coup demands it.
Matt McIrvin
@Ian: Right. I’m not talking about the actual WI ruling we got, I’m talking about a putative future ruling invalidating all early votes received but not processed by the end of Election Night, by an extension of Kavanaugh’s reasoning.
Baud
@Ian:
People all over are speculating that if right-wing justices do X, they will take the next step and do Y.
Throwing out as many votes as they would need to throw out would end the court, and would probably be unsuccessful if the Dems control Congress after the election.
It would also lead to mass violence. And that scares all the people on Twitter who like to talk all the time about how much they like to fight.
NotMax
@Baud
Not only did the transporter turn itself on and operate unattended, the AI was smart enough to alter the room lighting to Ominous when bad Kirk materialized.
:)
germy
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
Well, no. Half the local races aren’t even identified as to Party and nationally we’re already seeing that there’s less of a tight fit between Party and early vote than was predicted.
Just make Trump the right size. He’s not all-powerful. He’s a threat! But there’s no need to make him the only moving part. It’s not true.
Geeno
I’m waiting for Amy Covid Barrett to join the court and take out Thomas and Alito with Covid.
Baud
@Kay:
Honestly, people have been making him all-powerful since election night 2016. It’s not going to stop now.
Baud
@Geeno: Justice 0.
Kay
@germy:
Well, it’s nice of him to weigh in but I think Barrett made that clear herself last night. She’s Trump’s justice. It’s the Donald J Trump seat.
I respect her enough to hold her accountable for her actions, like I would any other adult. These are ethical decisions she made.
Elizabelle
@SFAW: Could be. Time will tell.
@Gin & Tonic: LOL.
May the GOP lose even more Senators over this one.
Baud
My hope is that the anger sustains itself at least to 2022, because I believe we have a good Senate map that year.
LurkerNoLonger
In a way, I’m glad that this whole confirmation process was so rushed and obviously illegitimate. When the republicans whine and cry when Democrats expand the court, they just have to point to this and say “see what you made us do.” Now onto November 3rd and let’s win this thing.
Elizabelle
@Kay: I wish Barrett could be forced to recuse, as should Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, on any matters involving Donald J. Trump.
They owe their elevation to a Supreme Court solely to him, and he engineered their elevation on the basis of voting in his favor when his many legal issues end up at the Supreme Court.
They have no decency, but recuse, recuse, recuse.
taumaturgo
@rikyrah: Interesting twist blaming and shaming the voters, not the politicians.
Bluegirlfromwyo
@SFAW: Didn’t Kavanaugh just use the last presidential not precedent voting case as precedent in the WI maldecision?
germy
Burkman and Wohl booking photos:
Steeplejack (phone)
Funny thread here:
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
Simple question- if you’re an incumbent R in a vulnerable seat and you’re down do you want 1. all the votes counted or 2. only the votes Justice Kavanaugh deems legitimate counted?
You need votes. You don’t know who they’re for. Count the remaining or throw them in the trash?
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: One of the reasons to at least talk about it a little is to keep them from being able to spring it as a surprise fait accompli, shock and awe. Make it clear in advance that there will be a cost.
Geminid
Ted Cruz was interviewed by Axios’s Johnathon Swann. They got into the Hunter Biden story. Asked by Swann about the story’s impact on voters, Cruz “grimaced” and replied, “I don’t think it will move a single voter.”
germy
PST
I’m getting ready for my first shift on the Ohio Voter Protection Hotline. I don’t know why I feel nervous. In 2016 my wife and I went to our childhood home of Toledo for a little door knocking and poll watching, but we didn’t want to risk it this time. We have yet to find a hotel that has the guts to enforce its mask rules when those who defy them walk in.
Kay
@Elizabelle:
I want them to have limited terms. They’re out of control both in believing they’re entitled to seats and then thinking they own them when they get them. It’s fucked up and it’s out of whack. They all need to be taken down a peg. 18 year terms. Check them. They rotate out after 18.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
That I agree with. But you have to admit, a lot of the commentary has the tone of “OMG WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!”, which isn’t helpful.
mrmoshpotato
@germy:
Poster Shitstains for Punchable Face Magazine.
Baud
@germy: Exactly.
Baud
@Kay: That would be the best long term solution IMHO.
mrmoshpotato
@Geminid:
In your disgusting face, you smarmy, punchable, Canadian shitpile!
germy
Aged like fine wine.
Kay
@Elizabelle:
The hero worship should end too. Lawyers started it because lawyers like nothing better than elevating their own profession and there’s a whole elite cohort of them who are ass kissers and have been simpering, go along to get along ass kissers their whole lives.
They’re judges. Supposedly public servants. They’re not the smartest people ever to roam the earth and they shouldn’t be treated like celebrities. There’s a lot of really smart people.
NotMax
@mroshpotato
Really, really lousy remake of Laverne and Shirley.
:)
Baud
@Kay:
If there’s a silver lining to the current court, it forces people to value their elected representatives more, and take democracy more seriously.
germy
TS (the original)
@Elizabelle:
Why? She is not up for re-election & even if she was, she will never be in danger of losing an election for the Senator from Alaska.
germy
@NotMax:
It’s an Odd Couple reboot.
One leaves his fly open during a press conference, the other is a dapper little fascist.
Kay
@Baud:
I think it’s beautiful and obvious. The lifetime term was intended to insulate them from political actors but instead they have taken advantage of it and used it to insulate themselves from accountability.
18 years is plenty and it’s predictable and orderly and if it’s gamed the gaming will harm or benefit both sides almost randomly. I only wish we could make it retroactive.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: C’mon! Have some respect for Penny Marshall’s memory.
germy
NotMax
@germy
Hm. I can see Jared and Ivanka as the Pigeon sisters.
:)
TS (the original)
@germy:
I think it’s probably the opposite. Now that she is confirmed there is no incentive for people to vote republican to get her confirmed.
germy
thread:
Baud
@Kay:
Term limits doesn’t prevent strategic retirements (or deaths) but it does go a long way of reducing incentives for manipulation.
mrmoshpotato
@germy:
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: Well, we are.
NotMax
@Baud
Realistically, would require a Constitutional amendment to abrogate legal challenges so D.O.A. for a bushel of reasons.
topclimber
@Kay: You might want to tweak it to allow justices to finish out a Supreme Court term where they have presided over a case.
But hell yes, limit terms to 18 years. The founders could not have anticipated a time when all court members could plausibly serve into their 90s and beyond, given what has happened to life expectancy and medical science. The key point is to protect justices from threat of losing tenure during the consideration of cases they have heard.
TS (the original)
@topclimber:
Far as I understand – this needs a constitutional amendment. And that isn’t going to happen any time soon.
Geminid
@mrmoshpotato: Cruz can force a feral smile from time to time, although he usually just grimaces. But I thought he gave an accurate appraisal of that story’s impact.
NotMax
@topclimber
All? Perhaps not. Some? Undoubtedly. Encountering people in their 70s, 80s and further was not beyond their ken (e.g., Ben Franklin). You may be conflating life expectancy at birth with life expectancy of those who made it to middle age, two different animals.
Justice Duvall (appointed by Madison) died at 82. Roger Taney (appointed by Jackson) at 87.
WaterGirl
@SFAW: No kidding. No one can make you vote in a way that you disagree with. And with so much on the line!
ZERO sympathy for her. ZERO. I’m pissed.
JPL
@Kay: One would think that would cause her to recuse herself on all election matters before the court. One would be wrong though.
Elizabelle
@TS (the original): Possibly Senate Committee assignments. Mitch may have promised to make life hell for her.
If she voted for this wholeheartedly (and it seems she did not), foo on her.
Gin & Tonic
@Elizabelle: A reluctant vote counts exactly the same as an enthusiastic one. Not sure why you’re making excuses for her.
Geminid
@Kay: “Trump’s not all powerful”? But that’s not crazy talk!
Omnes Omnibus
@Matt McIrvin: Stop it. You are fearmongering at this point. Throwing out all mail-in ballots is not on the table anywhere.
Elizabelle
@Kay: I am all for limited terms. No more demographic bingo.
And foo on those who scoff it cannot be done. It can, indeed. Just takes patience. If it takes votes and support, we can build that.
snoey
@Elizabelle: Murkowski voted against cloture, which was the vote that mattered.
bluefoot
@Chyron HR: The more these sociopaths do, the closer I get to thinking this is the only long-term viable solution to saving lives and saving the country. And saving the planet (i.e. doing something about climate change). That scares me, actually, that that’s where my thinking is heading. The Rs won’t stop until anyone not like them is dead, disenfranchised or essentially a serf/enslaved. And they’ve strip-mined the country for money, resources, and anything else not nailed down (literally and figuratively).
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: Even if she didn’t vote for Amy COVID Barrett wholeheartedly, she still took the vote, She took an oath of office and if she voted for Barrett because of political pressure, that’s even worse than voting for Barrett because she thought she would be good.
There is no excuse for taking a vote like that if you don’t believe in it. Threats? That’s when you stand up and show what you are made of.
So now we know for certain what she is made of, and it’s not pretty.
germy
@Elizabelle:
Nicole
Thank you for the WaPo article, Anne Laurie. That was balm for my soul this morning.
I agree that we should not look at politicians as parental figures, but I do think a lot of the modern GOP is due to their parents being absolute shit at raising children. Especially the fathers.
topclimber
@NotMax: Not confused at all. That’s why I mentioned advances in medical science, which look to continue not just in terms of physical health but in cognitive ability (e.g. Alzheimer’s).
sanjeevs
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/27/politics/e-jean-carroll-defamation-lawsuit-trump/index.html
Elizabelle
@Gin & Tonic: It surprised me Murkowski voted that way. She’s often way better on “women’s issues,” and Barrett is a dagger aimed at that.
Not making excuses so much as surprised and very, very disappointed.
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: Yeah. Have to agree with you there.
germy
hueyplong
@Elizabelle: As far as I’m concerned, that Alaska senator just went from “best of a bad lot” to “rot in hell.” I see no other way to characterize it.
mali muso
The GOS has an ActBlue fund where you can donate to the Democratic challengers for the GOP Senate seats that will be up in 2022. Made me feel a tiny bit better last night to put some $ towards making Murkowski et al pay for what they enabled.
Immanentize
@sanjeevs: That’s gonna leave a mark
debbie
@Kay:
That’s the GOP’s MO: Twist, warp, and distort as much of the Constitution as possible.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Not mention it’s quite clear Trump himself is a druggie, a coward, wears high heels and tries to hide he is bald.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
OT.
Any chance of a media thread later this week for suggestions or recommendations or reminiscences of cinema/TV/literature/music related (however tenuously) to things Halloweeny?
Peale
@Kay: What I’m wondering is if this new found power of the state legislature to decide presidential elections will also be extended to decide all those other elections. Let the legislatures appoint the congressmen and mayors if the vote is “inconclusive”, which it always will be. That said, eventually, we’ll have to use some kind of way to decide who the legislators are and since we can never trust the vote, those will need to be appoint by, IDK, jousts on horseback or something.
TS (the original)
@Elizabelle:
Mitch isn’t going to be there for much longer and she has the strength to stand up for what is right. Voting is yes/no – there are no maybes, no perhaps.
Sold her soul for a senate committee assignment – that’s way below the level of a Faustian bargain.
yellowdog
@Matt McIrvin: As it stands now there are more Rep delegations (so the shitgibbon is crowned) and we we would need several strategic house seats overturned to change that.
TS (the original)
@Elizabelle:
So you scoff at the idea that it needs a constitutional amendment? The constitution says judges “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour.”
How do you turn that into a term limit?
germy
He sounds like every Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame nominee, except he has no musical talent.
mad citizen
@germy: “There was the briefest of moments during her hearing when I caught a glimpse of the real Barrett. It was during Kamala Harris’s questioning. Harris pointed out that Barrett had sided with corporations against labor 85% of the time. Barrett smirked when she heard this. It was the only time I saw her make this face.”
Just wanted to say I enjoyed your take on this. I have not viewed it, but when I do watch these things sometimes these little moments stick out to me as well. I will try to go back and watch it. I haven’t watched nearly enough Kamala video as I should, although I thought she was a bit too light with Norah O Donnell the other night, at least in the first segment. I didn’t watch the second segment, although yesterday saw a reference to where Kamala listed 4 episodes of Trump’s racism.
NotMax
@yellowdog
Not in any way expecting it will come to such a case, but the prevailing procedure is:
Note that this is the new Congress as seated on January 3rd, so if a D majority in the Senate the situation is considerably less dire.
Matt McIrvin
@yellowdog: No, you’re confusing two different things.
The certification of electors does not happen by states. It’s a straight vote that happens separately in the House and in the Senate, and both houses need to reject an elector for that vote to be decertified. This would be the relevant vote if crazy stuff happens with states submitting alternate slates of electors.
The voting by states happens in a contingent election, if there is no 270-vote Electoral College majority. That is what happens next if the first process deadlocks.
germy
@mad citizen:
The suspicious and skeptical narrow-eyed stare Norah O Donnell gives to Democrats while they answer her questions is almost funny. She even turns her head slightly to one side, like a cat being coaxed into a carrier for a vet visit.
Kay
Weird how they’re working so hard to legitimize the Trump judge. Can’t we decide ourselves, or is this another direct order?
I watched her Trump political rally last night and saw the campaign video this morning. I’ll draw my own conclusions, thanks. Behavior has consequences. You have to earn credibility. Nope. None earned.
Kay
I loved this essay:
But you have some information now. You all saw the Barrett/Trump rally last night. That’s the information you were denied in order to secure the seat for her. Now you know her character.
Soprano2
One thing that has irked me during this whole process is that the press never mentions is that in the “modern era” until Trump, Supreme Court nominees had to pass the 60-vote threshold, because they had to get through a potential filibuster. Only with Trump has it been true that they only needed 50 votes, with Pence to break a tie. That makes it possible to nominate much more radical partisans. This seems like a relevant fact they should talk about.
laura
Amy Covid Trump is who she is – for all to see. No character – hollow as McConnell’s soul, an empty vessel to fill with the passing interest and whims of the powerful men who own her, incurious of intellect, willing to be used with little inconvenience to the user.
I’m pissed. About this and about the Senate shutting down with no stimulus and about the runaway virus. Fuck these fucking fuckers and their fuckery.
piratedan
@Kay: and that is a bald-faced lie because neither McSally or Loeffler were elected, they were appointed by their respective governors…. Ducey of Az and Kemp of Ga.
mad citizen
@germy: Ha! My “normie” wife was getting pissed at Norah O’Donnell’s looks to Biden/Harris. Part of the reason I turned away at the commercial break. My wife thought O’Donnell to be biased against the Dem ticket.
mad citizen
@Kay: I tried not to see any of it–but ABC ran a Special Report crawl at the bottom of Dancing with the Stars; and later I saw a couple seconds of it from the Rose Garden, I guess. Later I was thinking it had so much of a “stealing something at night” vibe; like how criminals wait until the cover of darkness to do their work.
J R in WV
@Kay:
These are decisions she made in an ethical arena, but the decisions she made are actually very unethical, in my book.
These actions would stand alone as justification for impeachment for cause for a newly seated justice to participate in any sort of political campaigning in my book.
And wouldn’t that be a big surprise for her first term on the court to be her last? Immoral to the bone, that’s our Any Covid!
WaterGirl
@NotMax:
Yeah, we can do that. Maybe Wednesday?
Ian
@TS (the original): She lost a Republican primary before, only to come back and win as an independent.
She could lose again.
J R in WV
@TS (the original):
How about by defining good Behaviour to eliminate certain bad behaviors… like a failure to recuse one’s self from hearing cases involving the person who appointed a justice to their position, for a single example relevant tuo this discussion. Or cases involving the Justice’s family, like Clarence dealing with issues he wife works on.
The constitution does NOT define “good behaviour” so only the legislature can do so. Obviously we need some well defined rules about good and bad behaviour~!!!~
ETA: Obviously I would want Justices to be required to avoid being part of political campaign activities, which would move Amy Covid right off her bench seat! Hatch Act violation anyone?
something fabulous
@taumaturgo: Nope, pretty straightforward, actually. Voters have the one job/responsibility: VOTE ON THE PEOPLE ON THE BALLOT. By the time they are on the ballot, the baggage/agenda comes along with them to parse. By the time they were on the ballot, voting for Hillary BY DEFINITION meant voting for the people and issues she’d support and center, and not voting for her in whichever way that manifested meant we’d get… this. All the ground work and off-election time work is when the voters are CITIZENS, and then there is no blame accruing to them. When the politicians are running in primaries, and after they are elected? Hold their feet to the fire all the time. But when it is time to actually VOTE? That is the time that is by definition the voters’ only job. Sure as shit, blame those voters.