Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Let there be snark.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Please don’t feed the bears.

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

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

This really is a full service blog.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

It’s a doggy dog world.

Democrats have delivered the Square Deal, the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and now… the Big Joe Biden Deal.

In my day, never was longer.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

You are here: Home / Open Threads / UPDATE: Congratulations Ketanji Brown Jackson Vote This Afternoon: Live Feed

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151Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Breyer is not my favorite lib justice, and I don’t believe for a minute he cared that online liberals were screaming at him to step down, but he did step down and allowed this to happen, so a shout out to him.

  2. 2.

    StringOnAStick

    @Baud:  Agreed. I figured he wasn’t going to step down because he was sure sounding like he wasn’t going to until he died on the bench.

  3. 3.

    Peale

    Thank god. I was wondering when this was going to finished. Based on the number of people attending that Gridiron Dinner, we need to get this done before some Senator calls in sick and then they all decide to go on their long summer break, where their constituents are going to spook them out.

  4. 4.

    Spanky

    Since it’s an Open Thread, I just want to note this WaPo headline

    Biden at war: Inside a deliberate yet impulsive Ukraine strategy

    And assume that it’s the headline writer’s cry for help, or signaling that “Ashley Parker is still a hack”.

    Or possibly both.

  6. 6.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Spanky:

    Okay, the blatantly contradictory wording there made me realize how to explain something that I’ve had trouble making clear to people here for years.  Like, ‘all the way back to Obama’ years.

    You know how everyone was like “How can conservatives claim that Obama is lazy and weak while simultaneously a dictator?”  This was not actually a contradiction.  Look at Trump.  Lazy, weak, acted like an autocrat but thankfully was too incompetent to pull it off 90% of the time.  They saw Obama the way we see Trump.  There is no legitimacy to that equivalency, but as the saying goes, racism is a hell of a drug.

  21. 21.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Turned on sound. Heard my senator Toomey (spit) vote no. Turned off sound.

  24. 24.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @SpaceUnit: Her daughter I think. Photographers caught her giving that admiring look from behind Mom during questioning by the Senate

  35. 35.

    Brachiator

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    You know how everyone was like “How can conservatives claim that Obama is lazy and weak while simultaneously a dictator?” This was not actually a contradiction.

    A typically racist contradiction. As a black man, Obama was lazy and weak to racists. As a black man with power, he was perceived as a dictator by insecure racist whites.

    Same with the insane claim that Obama was elitist.

  38. 38.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I’m confused. There appears to be a shot clock counting down which is now at 0:21.

    Does the Senate lose possession when that reaches 0?

  39. 39.

    BC in Illinois

    For those who had complaint about Schumer’s admittedly too-long tribute to Judge Jackson and to the moment . . .

    . . . it was a response to McConnell’s contemptible and infuriating speech.

    I can barely imagine anyone hearing McConnell and wanting to be part of his party.

  44. 44.

    Alison Rose ???

    Man, fuck these guys:

    Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, is the only senator who has not voted — the chamber is waiting for him to arrive before gaveling.
    Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma voted from the GOP cloakroom because they weren’t wearing ties as is required by Senate rules on the floor.
    Graham was in a quarter zip and a blazer. He turned his thumb down and receded back into the cloakroom.

    Obligatory.

  52. 52.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Tell me Rand Paul can’t filibuster this thing by just not showing up.

    NVM, he voted.

    And she’s in! Holy crap, she’s in!

  54. 54.

    Baud

    @Alison Rose ???:

    Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma voted from the GOP cloakroom because they weren’t wearing ties as is required by Senate rules on the floor.

    LOL.  It’s the GOP cloakroom.  Ties wasn’t all they weren’t wearing.

  64. 64.

    schrodingers_cat

    Congratulations Justice Jackson!

    Let’s see if this generates as many Front Page posts and comments  as the topic of Dick Durbin being insufficiently mean to posturing Republicans on the Judiciary Committee.

  70. 70.

    ian

    they weren’t wearing ties as is required by Senate rules on the floor.

    Golly jee, wouldn’t want these guys doing their jobs without ties!  They can vote for terrible things or against great legislation, but they by god better be wearing ties.

    This institution is so broken.

  74. 74.

    Fair Economist

    So happy to see Justice Jackson’s confirmation official! So well deserved.

  76. 76.

    narya

    I clicked to the FYNYT and saw the huge headline, and it suddenly got extremely dusty in here. I mean, damn.

  77. 77.

    JCJ

    @Spanky:

    On my daughter’s third birthday we went to Chef Mickey’s Restaurant in the Disney Village Marketplace (I think the area is now called Downtown Disney).  There weren’t many people there and Mickey Mouse came and sat with my daughter.  My wife took a picture where my daughter has absolute adoration in her face as she is looking at Mickey.

    I asked my wife why she never looks at me like that.  Her reply was “Never!”

  78. 78.

    Peale

    @ian: I look at this as another example of “And yet, whenever the GOP is back in charge, they go on and on about how “dignity” has been restored to the office because they’ve kicked out those kids in chinos and boys with earrings and put in a proper dress code”.

  80. 80.

    Alison Rose ???

    Not sure if it’s just me, but the tweet added to the post isn’t showing up. Just the outline and the bird logo. Tried on two browsers and same thing.

    But anyway, check out the NYT homepage :)

  82. 82.

    Old School

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Let’s see if this generates as many Front Page posts and comments  as the topic of Dick Durbin being insufficiently mean to posturing Republicans on the Judiciary Committee.

    OK, I’ll bite.

    How many Front Page posts on that do you think there were?  I count one, so I believe KBJ’s confirmation has already met that threshold.

  85. 85.

    Brachiator

    @The Moar You Know:

    Nice try but not really an excuse. Even my workplace has spare ties in case we need to spiff up quickly. You mean to tell me there’s no spares in the cloakroom? Horseshit, says I.

    They were looking for their white hoods.

  86. 86.

    Peale

    @The Moar You Know: Years ago when I was a youngster junior clerky type in DC, I got invited to a big person meal at a stogy place for a lunch meeting.  I didn’t wear a jacket in the office because I was was never let out, so I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. I just bought a tie on the street (they used to sell them 3/$10 all over the place in DC). But little did I know…I ended up having to wear the a restaurant lent jacket, which was about 3 inches too short at the wrists and 2 inches too snug at the waist. So maybe the ties they keep in the cloak room are for humiliation purposes only.

  87. 87.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Moving day for me, so I didn’t get a chance to see the voting, unfortunately. Hope I can find it later, as I had really wanted to watch and feel part of this exciting, historic moment.

    Congratulations to Justice-designate KBJ, and fuck Turtle, Graham, and that lot. Today only, I’ll spare Susie, Lisa, and Mitt the indignities of rusty farm implements.

  88. 88.

    Martin

    @JCJ: My daughter was (still kindof is) terrified of anyone in a costume. Even when Snow White came over for a photos she freaked out and cried.

    I once had to throw her on my shoulders and duck around the back of an outbuilding at Disneyland to keep Winnie the Pooh away from her.

  90. 90.

    Peale

    @Martin: Well with Winne, you never know which side of his personality is going to show up: The bear side, or the pooh side.

  92. 92.

    Steve in the ATL

    First black woman confirmed to SCOTUS and Masters tees off—nice juxtaposition….

  95. 95.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Biden and Brown holding hands as they cross the bridge to break the barrier (photo)​

  96. 96.

    Gravenstone

    @Spanky: Probably off pouting once it became clear they wouldn’t be able to block her confirmation. He’d already done his drama queen schtick for the committee, after all.

  98. 98.

    lowtechcyclist

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Let’s see if this generates as many Front Page posts and comments  as the topic of Dick Durbin being insufficiently mean to posturing Republicans on the Judiciary Committee.

    Thanks for the laugh!

  99. 99.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Baud: he is. -1 after 13.  Couple of birdies, but bogied a par 5, something he NEVER used to do.  Apparently we aren’t the only ones getting old!

  100. 100.

    Baud

    All three Dem justices will be women, and as much as I wish Barrett weren’t on the court, it’s good that nearly half are women.

  101. 101.

    patrick II

    @StringOnAStick:

    I thought he played his retirement about right.  To keep appearances of an independent decision to keep the judiciary above the stain of politics he did not resign five minutes after Biden took office in spite of calls for him to do so.  Instead, he held off for a while at least and made the decision look as much as possible independent of politics.  It wasn’t, but I appreciate him trying.

  102. 102.

    Tony Jay

    Well that’s good news. Congratulations to she who will forthwith be known as The Supreme Jackson.

    Now do Thomas!

  104. 104.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    There are, or soon will be, four female Justices. Bony Carrot is just one of them, the other three are all Dems. ETA: Sorry, for some reason I missed that you had specified Dems in your comment.)

    Now I’m holding out for two more things I’d like to see on the Court: A true female majority, and a woman as Chief Justice. Both nominated by a Dem POTUS, of course. Don’t know when either of those things will happen, but I’m confident they will happen, and possibly a lot sooner than any of us can imagine.

  106. 106.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Can someone explain this vote (on the Dem side)? I’m beginning to think that when someone shows you who they are, we should believe them.

    413-9. The House members who voted against the bill to ban Russian oil, coal and natural gas.

    GOP: Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tom Massie, Matt Gaetz, Dan Bishop, Andy Biggs, Chip Roy, Paul Gosar

    DEM: Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush

  109. 109.

    Captain C

    @VeniceRiley:

    Both liberals and conservatives failed them, says Ross Douthat.

    Apparently, there are a ton of people in media these days who haven’t figured out that there is no obligation to kiss the asses of people in order to get them to do the right thing, especially when they’ve made it clear that they’re not going to do so no matter what (and that they’re doing the wrong thing just to stick it to you).

    “Well, I died a painful death and screwed my family because all I left them was debt, but hey, at least I got to stick it to the libs.  Also, it’s their fault I didn’t listen to them.  GLRHHG!”

  111. 111.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Geminid:

    Thanks very much. I hope so too. Back at my old place now to throw odds and ends in bags, clear out the fridge, etc., but all the boxes are finally moved thanks to a dear friend with a Jeep and muscles ?

  112. 112.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Alison Rose ???:

    Fucking ties.

    Really? May as well be wigs.

    When I’m dictator of America, I’m enacting a special tie tax.

  115. 115.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Baud: But isn’t Biden releasing American oil reserves? Plus, as I recall, the US doesn’t actually buy much fossil fuel from Russia, so there wouldn’t be a significant increase in Saudi purchases anyway.

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    @Alison Rose ???:

    They have no problem being told they can’t be in a certain room unless they are wearing a tie.

    But being told they have to go through a metal detector to get into a certain room – “fuck you, you’re not the boss of me!”

    Being told they can’t be in a certain room unless they are wearing a mask that will save lives – “fuck you, you’re not the boss of me!”

    Total fucking authoritarian hypocrites!

  119. 119.

    Paul W.

    None of this would have been possible without Biden’s win and the follow ups in Georgia. We gotta take the W here and work for an even better Senate next term, then almost anything is possible once Manchin and Sinema are out of the picture.

  120. 120.

    geg6

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I saw Cori Bush on something trying to explain this.  Something, something, something about poor Russian and German people getting more screwed by this than normal.  Also the money we spend in Ukraine is better spent here.

    I just kept thinking MASS GRAVES.  MASS FUCKING GRAVES.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

    I’m sure Omar’s reasoning is similar, but I don’t get it at all.  People in mass graves are getting screwed much worse than any poor people in Russia and Germany and certainly in the US.

  121. 121.

    WaterGirl

    @SiubhanDuinne: That’s a huge hurdle to have gotten over.

    Things like clearing the fridge and tying up the final loose ends aren’t physically taxing, and they can give you a chance to emotionally process saying goodbye to one chapter and opening up to another.

  122. 122.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Baud: I appreciate your effort to explain. :)

    If indeed Saudi oil is the reason, it appears to be a thin reed indeed. Mind you, reducing/eliminating dependence on all fossil fuels–especially from bad actors like Russia and Saudi–is a highly desirable goal, but this vote still doesn’t serve that or any normal [read: liberal] political goals, IMO.

  124. 124.

    japa21

    I just want to point out what a commentary it is on the state of the country that we even had to worry whether she would be confirmed.  There was a time, not even 20 years ago, when it would have been 80-20 to confirm.

  125. 125.

    MisterDancer

    @ian: This institution is so broken.

    The Senate has always been broken, in that case. It was broken when Senator Brooks damn near beat Senator Sumner to death, over freeing my ancestors. And keep in mind, he wasn’t even expelled from the Senate for that action.

    In fact, I’d say that this is about why it’s broken — it has from jump, and with too-few exceptions, allowed those who already have power, to move to retain it. And in doing so, to block those without power, in this society, from gaining it.

    Steps like putting Justice Jackson on the Supreme Court can be part of changing that equation, even as so much threatens to take us back to those olden times. And it’s critical, esp. at times like these, to keep both sides of this in mind.

    At least, in my opinion. :)

  127. 127.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ah, so Ms. Furrowed-Brow did come through. Well, thank dog for tender mercies. Now that she’s done her one useful act in life, here’s hoping she tucks into so truly bad, bad fish.

    …unless, of course, another USSC seat opens in the next couple of years.

  129. 129.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @geg6: Hmmph. The Germans are perfectly capable of defending their perceived interests without Cori’s help. And what does the US not buying Russian fossil fuels have to do with Germany’s supply anyway? As for everyday Russians feeling an economic squeeze, it doesn’t quite compare to Ukrainian mass graves, as you rightly point out.

  130. 130.

    Captain C

    @geg6: When your reasoning as to why you opposed taking action against a genocide is essentially “but mah principles!”, it’s probably time to rethink your principles entirely.

  132. 132.

    Steve in the ATL

    @eclare: round these parts this time of year, the weather is either rain or pollen.  Today is pollen, so better for moving.  The gods must look favorably upon SD.

  135. 135.

    Tony Jay

    @Yutsano:

    So am I. Too ill, that is.

    Hopefully the next time that bitter old fraud emerges from Miscegenation Mansion its feet first and due to natural causes.

  139. 139.

    JMS

    @O. Felix Culpa: The house vote referenced was on March 9. That was fairly soon after the war started. I don’t think any Dems voted the wrong way since, so maybe they were talked to or maybe they realized that voting with MTG against almost everyone is a bad look.

    On the other hand it was ah, discussed quite a bit when the vote actually happened. The tweet makes it sound like the vote just happened. It’s the senate vote that just happened (passed 100-0) which I guess is less exciting.

  140. 140.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @eclare:

    I love the South in the Spring! The trees get all fluffy — redbud and Bradford pear, and dogwood pretty soon — and then they burst into bloom, and then there are the azaleas and rhododendrons, and next month all the magnolia buds that the squirrels haven’t eaten will burst into those beautiful waxy cream blossoms. A Southern Spring almost makes all the yellow pollen and horrible elected officials worth it. Almost.

  143. 143.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Rethuglican senators – classless and rude as ever after Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation vote

    h/t https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1512133744219475986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1512141337247698951%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediaite.com%2Fnews%2Fmitt-romney-seen-standing-alone-applauding-kbj-as-other-republicans-walk-out-after-historic-confirmation%2F

    Republican Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) was seen in a now-viral clip standing alone applauding after the official confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court on Thursday.

    In the clip, which vividly illustrates the pervasive partisanship gripping Washington, DC, Romney’s Republican Senate colleagues can be seen slowly walking out as the Senate chamber applauds the historic confirmation of the first Black female Supreme Court justice.

    h/t https://www.mediaite.com/news/mitt-romney-seen-standing-alone-applauding-kbj-as-other-republicans-walk-out-after-historic-confirmation/

  145. 145.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @JMS:  Ah, thank you for the clarification. I checked the date on the tweet and thought it was a perplexing new vote.

  146. 146.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Spanky: did she give a thumbs up sign like she did with the this down on minimum wage?  Was she in a cute white outfit for womens’ suffrage? Or maybe she wore one of those Ankara print long dresses that African.women wear since Ketanji is such an ‘exotic name?

  147. 147.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Wyatt Salamanca: seriously wtf? I’ve heard a few stories of Senators’ aides taking off their ties and handing them over to their bosses in some wardrobe malfunction emergencies.

  150. 150.

    Omnes Omnibus

    This was a good thing.  It will have good results for years to come.  Let’s just celebrate it and leave the haters to themselves for a night.

  151. 151.

    J R in WV

    Pretty glad Judge Jackson won her nomination vote… should take office tomorrow.

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