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You are here: Home / Open Threads / The Latest on the Kentucky Deal

The Latest on the Kentucky Deal

by | 184 Comments

This post is in: 

Mark Joseph Stern, legal correspondent at Slate, has the story. He also has a summary on twitter:

Biden agreed to name Chad Meredith, an anti-abortion advocate, to a federal court in Kentucky in exchange for McConnell’s promise that he would stop blocking Democrats’ picks for U.S. Attorney in Kentucky.

The deal hinges on Judge Karen Kaye Caldwell, a GWB nominee who agreed to take senior status *on the condition* that Biden and McConnell name a conservative to replace her. That’s why there was no public vacancy when this story first broke.

The White House was supposed to consult with @RepJohnYarmuth and @AndyBeshearKY on judicial nominees when a vacancy arose, but cut this deal with McConnell instead. Yarmuth and Beshear were blindsided because only the White House knew about the vacancy.

Caldwell submitted her move to senior status on June 22 but for unclear reasons, it first became public on Friday. I’m told she will vacate the seat only upon the confirmation of her successor. Now that the seat is open, we’ll see if the White House goes through with this.

My main reaction to this is that Caldwell should sit on the bench until she dries up and blows away, and I hope her hemorrhoids give her daily pain during her extended time in service. Judges already think they’re God — hopefully we can make an example of one who’s trying to manipulate the appointment process this baldly. Also, mandatory retirement age for all judges (including the Supremes) would be a good thing.

The whole story is worth reading because it has a lot of the nuance of the whole issue of judicial appointments.

Reader Interactions

184Comments

  4. 4.

    different-church-lady

    Sorta like I said in the previous thread, in a better world Biden could say, “We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” but I’m pretty sure that’s not the world we live in.

  5. 5.

    Mnemosyne

    The whole story is worth reading because it has a lot of the nuance of the whole issue of judicial appointments.

    Bless your heart that you think that anyone currently screeching about Biden’s “betrayal” is interested in nuance.

    I agree with folks in the previous thread that IF this nomination gets put through in the name of horse-trading, the judges that Biden wants have to be appointed first.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    @Mnemosyne: 

    The problem is the article doesn’t mention judges. So not as good a deal as initially thought, unless there’s more to it.

  7. 7.

    Cacti

    There literally could not be a worse moment for Biden to be cutting a backroom deal to give another Federalist Society lunatic a place on the bench.

  8. 8.

    Alison Rose

    Too bad the leftier-than-thou folks are allergic to nuance, so it’ll just be BIDEN IS WORSE THAN BUSH, HE SOLD US OUT!!!!!! forever

    ETA: Whether or not this deal was a bad move, I’d still rather have Biden as part of it than a GOP president.

  9. 9.

    Ken

    @Mnemosyne: I would also be pleased if Schumer never got around to putting the vote for the replacement judge on the calendar. But then I’m petty.

  10. 10.

    MazeDancer

    Understand how Mr. Biden feels he’s no worse off judge wise and gets his US Attorney.

    But it’s a bad look and bad timing.

    And making deals with Mitch, going around the Governor. If he is going to do something bold, this wasn’t the move.

  11. 11.

    Mnemosyne

    @Baud:

    I’m confused by the piece of the article shown. How is Biden in charge of picking Kentucky’s Attorney General, and how is McConnell able to block Biden’s pick?

    ETA: Oh, U.S. Attorney. That seems kind of important to prevent women in KY from being charged for getting an abortion or having a miscarriage.

  12. 12.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: according to the linked article, this is who MM wanted for (a) KY US Atty

    ccording to Slate’s source in Kentucky, McConnell agreed, in exchange, to stop blocking Democrats’ preferred nominees for U.S. Attorney in the state. McConnell has sought to place his own allies in these positions—including prosecutor Thomas B. Wine, who as the Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney refused to charge the police officers who killed Breonna Taylor.

  16. 16.

    Cacti

    @Mnemosyne: Oh, U.S. Attorney. That seems kind of important to prevent women in KY from being charged for getting an abortion or having a miscarriage.

    Not in the least. Anti-abortion prosecutions would be charged under state laws by local prosecutors. The US Attorney has zero jurisdiction over those.

  18. 18.

    TheTruffle

    Doesn’t mean this judge gets through. I’m hoping he isn’t confirmed.

  19. 19.

    mistermix

    @MazeDancer:

    But it’s a bad look and bad timing.

    I think the deal was struck a couple of weeks ago and just leaked, for some reason.  Caldwell submitted her move to senior status on June 22.  I assume the deal was made prior to that.  Dobbs came out on June 24.

    As for the deal itself, I guess I’m falling on the “meh” end of the spectrum on substance and the “aargh” end of the spectrum on appearance and timing.  This judgeship was never going to a liberal.

    However, if it does fall through, I wonder if Caldwell can rescind her move to senior status.  Hope not!

  20. 20.

    eldorado

    so this is trading a lifetime appointment for one (or two?) that has no set length but serves at the pleasure of the president, do i have this right?

  21. 21.

    Kropacetic

    @Baud: One US attorney doesn’t strike  me as worth it for a lifetime appointment for a judge (I only assume this is for life).  All the details may not be out yet, though.

  25. 25.

    SpaceUnit

    Okay, so I’m guessing that to block Biden’s nomination for US Attorney in Kentucky McConnell requires the assistance of a certain senator from West Virginia and one from, say, Arizona?

    Good grief.  Enough of this shit-show.

  28. 28.

    Kropacetic

    @Alison Rose : There was nothing in my comment that implied every single person who identifies as a lefty was guilty of this.

    A steady drumbeat of anti-left sentiment may affect left inclined individuals on an identity level. I’m not saying you (I have others in mind).  But some regular commenters get really tiresome with this.

  29. 29.

    James E Powell

    Just tell Mitch it’s an election year. Can’t do it. Wouldn’t be right.

  30. 30.

    Scout211

    I’m sorry but just because Stern wrote it on Slate, doesn’t mean anymore than all the news stories this morning that state “presumed to be” or “thought to be” or “purported to be” because of a deal that Biden agreed to for . . . reasons. I am waiting for real verification one way or the other.

    I do believe this from Stern, though:

    It remains unclear whether he will go through with the planned nomination.

  32. 32.

    Kropacetic

    @Baud: Anyone know the words to “Kumbaya?”

    Eta: I’d also say the dynamic is reversed here from most of the internet. I’m less in favor of Balkanization, though. We should spread outreach efforts across the big D Democratic diaspora.

  35. 35.

    Fraud Guy

    It might be worth looking into if she had any children working for banks that loaned money to Trump…

  38. 38.

    SpaceUnit

    @Baud:

    I took a quick peek on Wikipedia, and it should surprise no one that Mitch McConnell came out against blue slip holds when the shoe was on the other foot.

  42. 42.

    Kropacetic

    @Scout211: They want to monopolize the tickets in order to precipitate low attendance, like TikTok kids once did famously.

  43. 43.

    Scout211

    Oh, the pushback against the pushback has begun.

    CNN — 
    Then-President Donald Trump angrily demanded to go to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and berated his protective detail when he didn’t get his way, according to two Secret Service sources who say they heard about the incident from multiple agents, including the driver of the presidential SUV where it occurred.
    The sources tell CNN that stories circulated about the incident – including details that are similar to how former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described it to the House select committee investigating January 6 – in the months immediately afterward the US Capitol attack and before she testified this week.
    While the details from those who heard the accounts differ, the Secret Service sources say they were told an angry confrontation did occur. And their accounts align with significant parts of Hutchinson’s testimony, which has been attacked as hearsay by Trump and his allies who also have tried to discredit her overall testimony.
    Like Hutchinson, one source, a longtime Secret Service employee, told CNN that the agents relaying the story described Trump as “demanding” and that the former President said something similar to: “I’m the f**king President of the United States, you can’t tell me what to do.” The source said he originally heard that kind of language was used shortly after the incident.
    “He had sort of lunged forward – it was unclear from the conversations I had that he actually made physical contact, but he might have. I don’t know,” the source said. “Nobody said Trump assaulted him; they said he tried to lunge over the seat – for what reason, nobody had any idea.”

  45. 45.

    Scout211

    @debbie: @Kropacetic:

    Got it, thanks. That was the rally in Tulsa. K-pop and Tik Tok kids flooded the pre-registration. And it also was the rally caused the death of Herman Cain.

  47. 47.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Ken: i would rather have some Democratic senator hold it up like Rand the Prick does all the time.  Maybe Tom Carper or Jeff Merkley.

  48. 48.

    NutmegAgain

    I certainly do not know any of the details on this, beyond MrMix’s post up top. But really–would there be worse timing for a Democratic admin to put any kind of forced-birth appointee anywhere? Anywhere? Seriously, if not in fact, if only for the optics. How demoralizing. Fuck that conservative judge, reaching out from beyond the bench (grave) to determine her successor. Just fuck that noise. Repukes pull bait and switch all the time. Let’s see some Democratic tough stuff.

  49. 49.

    Kropacetic

    @James E Powell: So now the Beltway Courtiers will refrain from attacking her credibility. Right? Right?

    What’s the fun in that? More importantly, where are the eyeballs?

  50. 50.

    Mnemosyne

    And now I’m running a fever from my second booster (stupid Moderna), so I have to tap out for the rest of the afternoon. Stay well, jackals.

  51. 51.

    Tom Levenson

    Just wrote to Biden and Harris urging him not to do it, and her to help him get to see that he can’t do it.

    We cannot be seen to be making deals with people who don’t see women as people. Not now. (Not ever, by preference, but definitely not now.

  52. 52.

    mistermix

    @Scout211:

    I’m sorry but just because Stern wrote it on Slate, doesn’t mean anymore than all the news stories this morning that state “presumed to be” or “thought to be” or “purported to be” because of a deal that Biden agreed to for . . . reasons. I am waiting for real verification one way or the other.

    I made sure he was a trustworthy reporter with a good track record before posting, but I agree that how this will ultimately pan out is unknowable.

  55. 55.

    Miss Bianca

    @Mnemosyne: Ugh. That’s why I have been putting off getting my second booster till the two shows I am in are over. Which will be as of this weekend.

    Feel better soon!

  56. 56.

    Starfish

    @Mnemosyne: That’s not right. A US Attorney General would not be dealing with cases that have to do with state law (abortion cases.) Those would be the local District Attorneys.

  57. 57.

    zhena gogolia

    I predict that in 2 weeks no one will remember the judge in KY. I already don’t remember him.

  58. 58.

    Kropacetic

    @Miss Bianca: Work in a hospital so I got my second booster as soon as I was eligible. Luckily I tolerate them very well.

    zhena gogolia: I’ll forget the judge once 365ish data center goes down again.

  59. 59.

    Starfish

    @Alison Rose : There has been a lot of hostility in the comments towards “Do something Twitter” and various lefties, assuming that the lefties now are the lefties who voted for Bernie.

    Painting everyone who is not sitting in the rightmost seat of the Democratic Party at this moment as a “Bernie Bro” is not going to be a winning strategy because there are a lot of folks who have been showing up to vote, who are frustrated with the shift rightward as the Democrats try to be inclusive of right-wingers who are not going to be swayed.

  60. 60.

    Mai Naem mobile

    Why doesn’t Ky have a Biden appointed USA as of June 2022? WTF? This shit should have been ready to go by Feb 2021. I am  wondering how many other states don’t have Biden appointed USAs and did Schumer pull this stuff under TFG or did they just let everything go through.

  64. 64.

    Kent

    My main reaction to this is that Caldwell should sit on the bench until she dries up and blows away, and I hope her hemorrhoids give her daily pain during her extended time in service. Judges already think they’re God

    100% this.

    Since when do we fucking let judges or any other government officials pick their own successors?  We might agree to do that when they are on OUR side.  But not when they are on the other side.

    Would we let Justice Thomas pick his own successor to SCOTUS if he agreed to retire?

  65. 65.

    Baud

    @Starfish:

    Painting everyone who is not sitting in the rightmost seat of the Democratic Party at this moment as a “Bernie Bro”

     
    This type of hyperbole is not helpful either. The bulk of the criticism is directed at a small number of vocal people who are taking the focus off the GOP. People are not going to let that slide.

  68. 68.

    Kent

    @Baud: see my edit above.  It’s different when they are the other side.

    Would we let Justice Thomas pick his own successor on SCOTUS if he wants to retire?

  69. 69.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kropacetic: Saaayy…since you work in a hospital…did you mix up your boosters? I’ve been hearing that if you got Moderna the first time round you might want to go with Pfizer the second, and vice versa.

    They do Moderna in the clinic here and that’s what I went with. Just wondering if there was any advantage in heading down the hill to another pharmacy to get a Pfizer shot this time round.

  71. 71.

    West of the Rockies

    @MazeDancer: 

    U.S. attorneys can be fired, no? Didn’t Trump fire them all upon taking office. Judges can’t be fired. The deal feels like trading a rook for a poorly-positioned pawn.

  73. 73.

    Kropacetic

    @Miss Bianca: Pfizer, all four. Easier access for me given what the various facilities I work at carry. I’m a convenience guy, as evidenced by my Grindr inbox.

    @Starfish: I took Pfizer as my first booster, and I am going to go with Moderna kicked my butt more, so it must have been better.

    Kinda like how the burning of Listerine makes me feel more secure in my dental care.

  74. 74.

    Scout211

    @Starfish: From that Courier-Journal article:

    There still is no direct quote from anyone to verify this.  It may be accurate and it is exactly what the deal involves, but “they believe” is still too vague, IMO.  My bold.

    Yarmuth and other officials have said they believe Biden’s move is part of a deal cut with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell so he won’t hold up future federal nominations by the White House.

  76. 76.

    Miss Bianca

    @Starfish: I had reactions to the first Moderna shots, not so much the booster. So I’ll probably be OK, but I’m a total weenie about physical discomfort, so I’ve been putting it off.

    @Kropacetic: Ha ha, got it.

  77. 77.

    JoyceH

    Anyone else hope that the reason they need a US Attorney in Kentucky is to be ready to issue indictments on that totally hinky McConnell landslide in 2020? He was on track to potentially lose his race, and he didn’t just win, he won a blowout of really unbelievable dimensions.

  78. 78.

    pacem appellant

    Is there a “good news” only thread on the horizon? For obvious external reasons and unstated internal ones, I could really use some happy news this Friday.

  82. 82.

    Starfish

    @Burnspbesq:

    We want meaningful climate change legislation, so our children will be able to continue to live on planet Earth. ‍♀️

  83. 83.

    Baud

    @Kropacetic:

    Correct. There are no perfect groups.  So unless we want to enforce a non-criticism rule, we have no choice but to police what criticisms are within the range of reasonable and which are bullshit.

  85. 85.

    Ken

    @Starfish: We want meaningful climate change legislation, so our children will be able to continue to live on planet Earth.

    But such legislation will hamper the ability of billionaires to have their children living on Mars. Remember that this benefits everyone: There will be a “trickle-down” effect, and some of your children will get to go along as servants.

  86. 86.

    Bill Arnold

    I’d like to know what tool McConnell is using to block US Attorney nominations. Can blue slips be used for this? And if the blue slip process is being used, why should McConnell should not be told to eat a bag of salted dicks, due to his ignoring of that tool during the Trump administration, and blue slips ignored just to fuck with McConnell if politically possible (e.g.. Manchin not monkeywrenching)?

  87. 87.

    Bnad

    Sounds like Biden is betting a federal judgeship that the Rs will take the Senate in November.

  88. 88.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I have found Stern to be prone to overreaction and hyperbole.  Still waiting for some reliable reporting.

  89. 89.

    Miss Bianca

    @JoyceH: Hmmm…what an intriguing idea. I’d like to hope that *if* there is more to this whole story than a bunch of hearsay (needless to say, I really hope there isn’t), that there would be some sort of chess move like that as part of the reasoning.

    But…as I am a bear of very little brain…I know nuffink.

  91. 91.

    mistermix

    @Kropacetic:

    A steady drumbeat of anti-left sentiment may affect left inclined individuals on an identity level. I’m not saying you (I have others in mind).  But some regular commenters get really tiresome with this.

    Agree with this, and if people are going to criticize “lefties” be specific.   I’m a “lefty” of a sort, but I’ve never written a “don’t vote” post on this blog, or any of the other stuff that the vagely-defined “lefties” are constantly accused of in the comments.  Plus, I think some people do get snookered by grifters on the left (as they do by grifters in the “center”) and naming lefties who are grifting or dead-ending is educational.

  92. 92.

    Kropacetic

    @mistermix: I’m not sure I’ve encountered “don’t vote” messaging anywhere on this blog. I would be oblivious to it if not for the others such talk has reasonably riled up. They should just aim their fire a little better or, to your point, identify a target. One we should reasonably be talking about.

  93. 93.

    livewyre

    This issue and this thread are a prime opportunity to campaign against the party, and it is being taken in spades. The subtext is that our government cannot be trusted and there is no way to influence it via participation. These things are false. The rest is a matter of strategy.

  94. 94.

    Kropacetic

    @Baud: I personally like making a little room for people involved in a conflict to either show signs that they’re considering the other viewpoint or, otherwise, show their ass.

    Takes time and patience but the ones inclined to use the rope to hang themselves generally get around to it.

  95. 95.

    NutmegAgain

    @Mnemosyne: rest up!  I also felt like crap after booster #2, and I had Pfizer. (I also had a giant bruise at the injection site, which might be due to having the shot administered by a pharmacist??  )  I generally am fine with vaccines–the only exception I can think of was cholera, and I really didn’t care about the vaccine side effects in that case.  Anyhow, feel better soon.

  96. 96.

    livewyre

    @Kropacetic: Likewise, my approach is to go back and forth a bit to determine whether most of the sentiment is against an entity and their presumptive innermost desires or essence, or against particular actions being taken.

    What’s going on sounds like a bad decision in progress and needs pushing back on, whether it’s a strategic feint or a sincere misstep. Whether the pushback is part of the strategy or not, it needs to happen.

    However, that’s also an opening for party opponents to cast suspicion on the inner nature of the ones making the decision. It would be a mistake to go along with that part. I’m leaning “ours right or wrong, but if wrong, to be made right”. There’s really no other choice for the preservation of society – especially those whose rights depend on being represented by the Democratic Party.

  97. 97.

    Kropacetic

    @NutmegAgain: I’m a pharmacy technician and my pharmacists and I generally get excellent feedback on our shots. Goes to the individual and some circumstantial things I’m sure.

    Off for the day. Take care, all.

  98. 98.

    Cameron

    This story seems incomplete to me.  Maybe parts (or all) of it are true, but it just seems way too vague to get juiced about right away.  I’m inclined to let it percolate over the weekend and see if anything new comes up.  Let’s face it – outrage/despair/panic are indulgences one can enjoy any time, so why not wait a bit?

  99. 99.

    LeftCoastYankee

    I wouldn’t be at all surprised if McConnell leaked this story… it’s the kind of weaselly that passes for strategy in his “mind”.

  100. 100.

    Jinchi

    @zhena gogolia: Other than Ketanji Brown Jackson I couldn’t name any judge that Biden has picked, but I give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s picking people who support certain basic principles.

    Learning that Mitch gets to pick a few of them in exchange for not being an ass for a day undermines that faith.

    Reading that he’s picking an anti-abortion judge days after the SC put a target on women’s backs is going to set people off.

    It also raises the question, who else is he making deals with?

  101. 101.

    livewyre

    @Cameron: Good question – from my standpoint, there’s a fair amount of reason to be dismayed about a decision in this moment that looks this sort of way. Proposing this now sounds like a heavy blow to the administration’s credibility on the issue at a critical moment of its defense.

    Emphasis on “sounds like”. Our opponents are taking full advantage of this lapse in appearances (where did the leak come from, for instance?) and have been campaigning heavily just in the last couple threads here, driving wedges between the electorate and the party and going down the usual list of contentious figures. One novel move this time around was to place Sanders on the same side of the wedge as the party – against us.

  102. 102.

    James E Powell

    @mistermix:

    Agree with this, and if people are going to criticize “lefties” be specific.   I’m a “lefty” of a sort, but I’ve never written a “don’t vote” post on this blog, or any of the other stuff that the vagely-defined “lefties” are constantly accused of in the comments.

    Completely agree. And as I mentioned in a comment on an earlier thread, it is really important that we stop fighting with each other. If some soi-disant lefty shit talks Biden or Democrats, punish them with the whip of indifference. After all, we have work to do.

  103. 103.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jinchi:

    Learning that Mitch gets to pick a few

    so we’ve gone from one to “a few” ? can you back that up?

    Reading that he’s picking an anti-abortion judge days after the SC put a target on women’s backs is going to set people off.

    Yes it is. Also the same day the first African-American woman takes her place on the Supreme Court. One might ask, as Left Coast Yankee does, cui bono?

  104. 104.

    Starfish

    @Jinchi: He has kept his promise of putting a number of Black women in the judiciary. It looks like he has binders full of women. (I am going to get smited by Romney for that, aren’t I?)

  105. 105.

    LeftCoastYankee

    @JoyceH:  I was thinking something similar but with that sweetheart deal for the Russian Oligarchs.

    But it could be having a US Atty. in place to do a Civil Rights investigation/case on the Louisville PD.

  106. 106.

    livewyre

    @Jinchi: He could be making deals with anybody at this point. There’s no way to tell whether he has our interests in mind. He can’t be trusted. He isn’t accountable to us. He could betray us at any moment. It’s better to not be on his side when that happens. But I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt.

  107. 107.

    Geminid

    @Kropacetic: The word “left” is very elastic and can be used to describe a lot of different people, just as “centrist” can be. I think here the commenter was was talking about those on the left that are determined to peel away voters from the Democratic coalition.

    I am reminded of what Wonderking82, a Bronx educator with a lively Twitter account said in a similar context: “If it don’t land on your doorstep, press it on.”

  108. 108.

    JPL

    Washington Post has an alert stating that Biden might allow more offshore drilling.   Can we win the midterms before he starts with this bullshit.    Mitch never deals in good faith.   Never did and never will.

    Biden forgot the Obama years, when he was supposed to work with Congress.

  110. 110.

    livewyre

    @Geminid: Maybe we can resolve this by ignoring the “left” part in general – leave it as a personal identifier. What matters in my book is the support on policy wherever it exists, while opposition is opposition.

  113. 113.

    Suzanne

    @livewyre: Asking in good faith, tho…. for the hypothetical left-leaning person who wants to influence the Dem party, how do you want them to do that? From the inside or the outside? And before you answer, I think it’s important to remember that, often, people in an organization are not thrilled about newbies who may represent a shift in agenda.

    This is really the challenge, right? The coalition needs to be broad and yet it is hard to represent everyone’s interests.

  114. 114.

    Baud

    @JPL:

    We lost the fight against Big Oil because of gas prices.  I don’t like it, but there’s nothing to be done about it now.

  115. 115.

    Geminid

    @livewyre: I like to think that using modifiers, as in “some on the left,” et cetera, can avoid triggering hurt feelings.

    “Good luck with that program,” I say to myself.

  116. 116.

    Starfish

    @livewyre: What I have been seeing lately is not support of policy, but shutting down any criticism as “demoralizing voters.”

    If the party did not do much on climate change or college debt, shutting down that criticism instead of saying, “Yes, we could have done better here” is a show of weakness and signaling that party leadership is out of touch.

    There have been several times that “Oh, perhaps we need to do better because the lefties in the party are unhappy,” and I am willing to be the unhappy lefty if it gets us better outcomes.

    For example, the decision between Judge Jackson and the other judge from South Carolina, Jackson was the more liberal of the two, and some people were noisy about this preference

    But, it does not mean that I am going to not show up to vote at the next election.

  117. 117.

    Fake Irishman

    @Jinchi:

    General info:

    Biden has had 69 confirmations to the bench: 1 Supreme Court justice, 16 to the courts of appeals, and 52 to the district courts. 75 percent of them are women, which doubles up Obama’s ratio which was the previous highest by far. More than half are people of color. Very few of them are traditional corporate attorneys or prosecutors. Several prominent ones are LGBTQ. Many have been public defenders or public advocacy attorneys, like a recent New York confirmee who ran the innocence project.

    if you look at the 32 he has in the pipeline, you’ll see similar traits. Biden has earned our benefit of the doubt in general on picking judges.

    It’s OK to be a bit upset about this potential trade with McConnell or judge it not worth it, but remember the Forrest through the trees: Biden has been outstanding on judges.

  119. 119.

    Cameron

    @Suzanne: And it’s got to be a much broader coalition now that the Republicans have gone bug-fuck insane.  Basically, the Democratic Party has to represent everybody who hasn’t gone round the bend, and that is a really, really heavy lift.  I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it will be a lot of work.

  120. 120.

    Miss Bianca

    @JPL: Oh, ffs. Can all the “Biden is selling us out, we’re DOOOOMED, some journamalist or other says so!!11!!” folks please just take a Valium the size of a manhole cover and chill the feck out? At least for the weekend? Or at least until there’s some other corroborating source? *This* journamalist would appreciate it, anyway.

  121. 121.

    James E Powell

    @Jinchi:

    Other than Ketanji Brown Jackson I couldn’t name any judge that Biden has picked,

    If only there were a database of such information somewhere.

    If only the technology you are using to access this blog could also have access to that database.

    Someday. Maybe. We can dream

    If that page is up to date & my count correct, there are 37 awaiting confirmation either by the whole senate or by the judiciary committee.

  122. 122.

    Birdie

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:  I see. Any criticism of Biden is in bad faith, and must be met with “what abouts” and defensiveness. Great way to build trust and confidence, isn’t it? (Fwiw I think Biden is MUCH better at listening to and considering alternate viewpoints than his ardent defenders. I aspire to be as inclusive and willing to see my own failings as he is.)

  124. 124.

    James E Powell

    @Birdie:

    I think Biden is MUCH better at listening to and considering alternate viewpoints than his ardent defenders.

    Damn, I sure hope so. He’s the president. We’re just . . . us.

  125. 125.

    Steeplejack

    I got up from a restorative nap, treated myself to some takeout Chinese food and then had this story crash my mood into a rage, i.e., more of a rage than it has been in all week. $#%&!

    I haven’t read the comments yet, so apologies if this is redundant. Judge Karen Kaye Caldwell’s conditional retirement puts the lie to any illusion of an impartial judiciary. “This seat is a conservative seat. Only a true conservative may sit here.” Christ, it’s at the level of a medieval fiefdom or a rotten borough in a Trollope novel. So Chad Meredith should be in there to call conservative balls and strikes instead of those icky liberal/​radical/​commie balls and strikes. And Meredith appears to be an exceptionally asshole-ish example of the breed. Goddamn.

    Finally, I assume I am also going to have to be in a rage because everyone will blame Biden exclusively for this rather than the obstructive GQP and king asshole Mitch McConnell. Yes, I fault Biden for entering into this deal with the devil—and I definitely think he should get his quid appointments before giving McConnell his quo—but I shudder to think of what exigencies forced him to do so. The system as currently constituted is fucked.

  126. 126.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @JPL:

    Mitch never deals in good faith.   Never did and never will.

    and Mitch McConnell would like nothing better than to have his candidates and their supporters chanting “Drill, Baby, drill!” for the next six months. I hate the idea of more off-shore drilling. I hate the idea of more drilling anywhere. I hate the fact that high gas prices are an electoral boon to Republicans. I don’t have a solution that don’t involve time machines (just thinking earlier that this summer, a bit later, maybe August, will be thirty years since Poppy Bush mocked Al Gore as “Ozone Man”. And eight years later a sanctimonious, anti-left demagogue hijacked the Green Party to torpedo Al Gore’s presidential campaign by convincing a lot of, in the spirit of bloggy charity I’ll say naïve people that there wasn’t a dime’s worth of difference between Gore and the man who did more than any other individual (even more than Bernie!) to make a trump presidency possible.)

    Biden forgot the Obama years, when he was supposed to work with Congress.

    What does this mean? The President doesn’t really have an option of not working with Congress.

  129. 129.

    livewyre

    @Starfish: “Any criticism” is not a fair characterization. Let’s start there.

    We’re critical of the party because we want it both to do what’s important to us, and to remain able to do what’s important to us. Those are the priorities. All criticism has to serve those goals in order for what’s important to us to happen at all, specifically in the domain of government policy. Broad or personal characterizations do not serve those goals and are therefore hard to take as well-meaning criticism.

    We can support the party while correcting what it does. That’s the whole idea. It’s what it does and can do that we support, not what it is, or who it consists of. So protesting for the right to issue criticism is misplaced, especially when it’s focused on the internal nature of any particular figure. That would be a distraction. We have goals to take care of – especially now.

  130. 130.

    Fake Irishman

    @Baud:

    I don’t think that’s right: Biden has enacted considerably stronger fuel economy rules for cars and trucks, pushed electrifying transportation hard (with serious money for it in the infrastructure law), gone all in on offshore wind power, and much more. Selling a few more leases that may or may not be used really doesn’t change that, and all that came from our pressure.

  131. 131.

    Scout211

    @JPL:  Biden might allow more offshore drilling.

     

    Might is doing heavy lifting here.  I tend to ignore news stories or alerts with qualifiers like “might” “may” “could” etc., and also those that begin with a question and continue throughout the story with that too-cute structure.

  133. 133.

    Jinchi

    @James E Powell: I think you’re missing the point which was a reply to an earlier comment.

    No, most people won’t remember the name of this judge in a few months.  But they will remember that a Democratic president made a deal to seat an anti abortion judge at a time when they’re suddenly worried they could be prosecuted for having a miscarriage.

  134. 134.

    Geminid

    @Cameron: I think the Democratic party should try first to appeal to the coalition we have, which may be diverse but is essentially a center-left coalition. Disaffected Republicans and discontented lefties will either come over or they won’t. Some will. But we are winning elections in purple states and districts without them already.

  135. 135.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @zhena gogolia: According to Pew, the split between Democrats and Republicans in Kentucky is 43/44 with the rest unaffiliated. So the Federalist judge may not stick in your memory, but he could do a lot of damage to some good people.

  136. 136.

    livewyre

    @Suzanne: I mean, a lot rests on the definition of “left-leaning”, doesn’t it? For what it’s worth, I think the party is listening. Some of what’s going on is working; we’re pushing back where we need to and changes are being made. It’s not standing still. That I’m grateful for.

    So maybe the takeaway is to keep making noise as long as the support is clear and not “I refuse to join you unless x”. The coalition is broad enough to accommodate effective activism and turn it into a unified direction. I can trust in that.

  137. 137.

    Miss Bianca

    @Fake Irishman: Oh, look at you, coming in here with all your “facts” and shit. Next you’ll be telling us to give Biden the benefit of the doubt! Next you’ll be advising us to wait and see if this KY story is actually true! THIS AGGRESSION WILL NOT STAND, MAN!//

  139. 139.

    Suzanne

    @Cameron: I also think it’s critical to remember that our coalition is literally of a different personality type than the GOP’s. Their voters are authoritarians. Ours are not. That works to our advantage in that the people who are generally on the left-of-center side want nothing to do with the GOP. The downside is that they don’t necessarily want to do what the Dems want them to do, either. So a different strategy is needed.

  140. 140.

    livewyre

    @Jinchi: As long as the only important thing is whether to trust him personally, I take it – and preferably not to.

  142. 142.

    schrodingers_cat

    Riddle me this why is an anti-gun control and anti-immigration senator from a deep blue state who helped tank our 2016 nominee the gold standard of the left.

    What progress has he achieved in his 30 year old legislative career to be considered progressive?

    He called Planned Parenthood establishment, has made disparaging remarks about identity politics (sounds very Republican to me)

    Is it because he centered white male grievance (see overtures to the likes of Joe Rogan) over everything else.

    From a former front pager on this esteemed blog

    dengre

    @denngree

    ·
    19h

    AGAIN, we are only at this moment because of the choices Bernie Sanders made in 2016. Back then, he told us that SCOTUS did not matter. He was–as usual–catastrophically wrong> Bernie is a GOP stooge. If you do not know that, you have NOT been paying attention.

     

  143. 143.

    Geminid

    @Sure Lurkalot: Not to dispute your larger point, but party registration in Kentucky is singular. There are a lot of people, particularly in the eastern part, who are registered as Democrats but haven’t voted Democratic in federal elections for many years (the election of Governor Beshear is another story).

    I would add that the harm this judge may do will fall on all Kentuckians, not just those registered as Democrats. They may not be “good” people but they are still people and that matters to me at least.

  144. 144.

    JPL

    @ BillinGlendaleCA: I agree and if it’s true, there is blackmail involved. imo   We’ll lower prices if …

    I’m still walking over hot coals to vote in the midterms.    Now if he kills someone on fifth avenue, I’d be really disappointed.

  145. 145.

    livewyre

    @schrodingers_cat: Because it’s important to split off “the left” as an identity group that uniformly opposes the Democratic Party and has nothing in common with it, in order to shrink its electorate and leverage on policy. There’s a lot of money dedicated to doing exactly that – to making it about who to fight rather than what. Any contentious enough figure would do just as well.

  146. 146.

    Scout211

    A tale of many different headlines.  The WaPo and NYT chose the worst possible light to show Biden, here’s the Wall Street Journal:
    Biden Seeks to Block New Offshore Drilling in Atlantic, Pacific

    WASHINGTON—The Biden administration plans to block new offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, while allowing limited expansion in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s south coast.

    The proposal released by the Interior Department Friday evening would allow as many as 11 oil lease sales for offshore drilling over the course of five years.

    But the plan is still being developed, and gives the administration several options—including one that would forgo new lease sales entirely, according to the Interior Department.
    The plan attempts to balance President Biden’s promises on climate change with the increasing pressure from inflation and demands for maintaining oil production. Interior Department officials say they intend to have extensive public comment and may shrink the areas they open up for new development based on public response

    “From Day One, President Biden and I have made clear our commitment to transition to a clean energy economy,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Today, we put forward an opportunity for the American people to consider and provide input on the future of offshore oil and gas leasing.”

  147. 147.

    different-church-lady

    [picks up store intercom] “Clean up, one thread down, aisle 314” [hangs up intercom]

  148. 148.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Scout211: here’s the Wall Street Journal:
    Biden Seeks to Block New Offshore Drilling in Atlantic, Pacific

    For the WSJ’s owners, execs and I suspect most of their readership, that’s an attack on Biden.

  150. 150.

    Scout211

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I saw it that way, too.

    ETA:  This is why I prefer to read the article or articles and post excerpts and links instead of hot takes from Twitter.  I don’t trust the authors of the Twitter hot takes to tell the whole story.  But I’m old fashioned that way.

  151. 151.

    Birdie

     

    @schrodingers_cat: Are you able to acknowledge that “this alleged horse trading is happening at a bad time and will reinforce a general distrust of the system, particularly among people who aren’t going to go look up a list of Biden’s judicial confirmations” is not the same statement as “Bernie woulda won”? Because one doesn’t necessarily follow from the other.

  153. 153.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Jinchi:

    No, most people won’t remember the name of this judge in a few months. But they will remember that a Democratic president made a deal to seat an anti abortion judge at a time when they’re suddenly worried they could be prosecuted for having a miscarriage.

    Yep. It’s pretty basic.

  155. 155.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, … Jamie Lynn Crofts at Wonkette:

    Not to be outdone by the US Supreme Court, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is, once again, back on its shit.

    This week, the Wisconsin high court ruled 4-3 that Republican political appointees can refuse to leave and hold their offices for as long as they want, at least until a Republican is elected governor.

    Yes, quite literally. The outcome in Wisconsin v. Prehn is a rule that will only benefit the justices’ fellow Republicans.

    […]

    It’s awful. Mirroring its federal counterpart, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has become the judicial branch of the Republican Party.

    BUT!

    Unlike the US Supreme Court, which is fucked beyond reason or belief for the foreseeable future, there is hope for the Wisconsin Supreme Court! The next supreme court election is April 2023, when rightwing Justice Patience Roggensack’s seat is on the ballot. The balance of the court will be decided in this election and an additional liberal justice would flip most of the court’s major decisions to the side of democracy.

    Wisconsin’s April elections are for nonpartisan offices and tend to have very low turnout. Next April, the balance of the state’s highest court will depend entirely on getting out the vote.

    Everything is terrible right now. But at least in Wisconsin, there is still a sliver of hope.

    Vote like your life depends on it; it very well might!

    Eyes on the prizes.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  156. 156.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jinchi:

    No, most people won’t remember the name of this judge in a few months.  But they will remember that a Democratic president made a deal to seat an anti abortion judge at a time when they’re suddenly worried they could be prosecuted for having a miscarriage.

    Actually I suspect most people who are not extremely-on-line will say “What the hell are you talking about?”

  157. 157.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Suzanne:

    I also think it’s critical to remember that our coalition is literally of a different personality type than the GOP’s. Their voters are authoritarians. Ours are not.

    You must not be voting for Baud 2024! then. This has been noted.

  159. 159.

    Geminid

    @Scout211: I don’t think there will ever be oil drilling off the Atlantic coast. The local people and elites are now solidly against it, and the commercial and sport fishing industries  are especially hostile. The commercial maritime interests wanted drilling ten years ago, but now they see that there is plenty of money to be made setting up wind farms.

  160. 160.

    Miss Bianca

    @Scout211: Wait a minute! That sounds a lot more nuanced than “Biden to allow offshore drilling”. I’m not sure I can handle it!

  161. 161.

    Kent

    @schrodingers_cat:AGAIN, we are only at this moment because of the choices Bernie Sanders made in 2016. Back then, he told us that SCOTUS did not matter. He was–as usual–catastrophically wrong> Bernie is a GOP stooge. If you do not know that, you have NOT been paying attention.

    Perhaps.  But in the alternative history in which Hillary wins in 2016 she has a GOP Senate for the first two years from 2016 to 2018 so getting any judges through much less a SCOTUS appointee requires getting maybe 20 GOP votes since the judicial filibuster for SCOTUS had not yet been abandoned.

    And then it is questionable whether she would gain enough ground in 2018 to take back the Senate.  We didn’t actually take back the Senate until 2020 and then only 50/50 due to the GA special elections.

    And then we also have to calculate whether Clinton would have survived re-election in 2020 under a Covid economy and with a rabid GOP opposition.

    So in the even that Clinton wins in 2016 we would have been looking at 4 years of a do-nothing obstructionist GOP Senate and her possibly losing re-election in 2020.

    At BEST she would have gotten a moderate through for the Merrick Garland seat that McConnel held open.  Kennedy would not have retired in 2018.  And McConnell would not have let Clinton make a lame-duck replacement for RBJ, of that we can be absolutely certain.

    So even if Clinton wins in 2016 nothing is for certain.  The orcs are always at the door and every election is consequential.

  163. 163.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kent: all very plausible, I’d make one caveat: one of biggest wounds trump has made in our polity has been to teach Republicans what they can get away with. They don’t even try to dog-whistle anymore, they hog call. I suspect that without trump exposing the depths of the apathy of the American people, I don’t know if the Radical Clerics would have gone as far as they did last week, and you would at least have had that gutted shell of Roe that so many were predicting.

    I hope and pray they have finally overreached.

    ETA: if trump had lost in 2016, there might have been a retrenchment, another “audit”. Probably would have gone about as well as the last one, but I think you would have seen less audacity on their side

  165. 165.

    different-church-lady

    @Kent: ​
      Sooooo… what you’re saying is having those seats unfilled would. be worse than having them filled with Trump appointees?

  166. 166.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Birdie:

    I see. Any criticism of Biden is in bad faith

    I don’t think Jinchi was necessarily engaging in bad faith by inflating McConnell’s influence on Biden’s judicial nominations. A lot of people find their emotions more important than facts. Not my thing, but it’s not uncommon. Unfortunately.

  167. 167.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I seem to remember a guy named Comey. Media that wrote umpteen articles about emails. A multi decade Republican program to discredit Hillary. Foreign influence. And yes, a tech heavy campaign apparatus that didn’t listen to Democratic leaders and boots on the ground about the tide turning in Wisconsin and Michigan.

    But somehow, despite never accomplishing anything in a 30 year career, Bernie ended up all powerful in the election of Trump.

  169. 169.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Sure Lurkalot: BS and his scorched earth campaign against HRC complete with DNC rigged the elections for her was a factor in Trump’s win.

    It was not the only factor but it was certainly a factor and that election was lost at the margins in the battleground states.  Trump won by razor thin margins.

    And he is supposed to be an ally unlike Comey or the Republicans.

  170. 170.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Geminid: You’re a nice person and I’m not.  I have issues with people who vote for horrible candidates and policies, get burned and then stand in line to do it again.

    Kentucky had one of the best ACA exchanges going. Many stories about people getting medical help who hadn’t had it in years. Then they voted it all away.

  171. 171.

    Geminid

    @schrodingers_cat: I’m glad to see you commenting. You seemed fairly discouraged the day. I reflected on how I tend to comment more when I disagree with people than when I agree with them, and that I should have been more supportive when you felt isolated.

  175. 175.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Geminid: Well, I think you are eminently reasonable, thoughtful, and compassionate, qualities I associate with niceness.

  176. 176.

    Geminid

    @Sure Lurkalot: Who is saying that Bernie Sanders was “all powerful in that election”? An exaggeration like that reflects poorly on the argument it supports.

    We could easily name a half dozen different factors that hurt the Democratic candidate. But in an election that close, all of them and any one of them were determinative. The behavior of Sanders and his supporters stand out because they damaged the party beyond the damage to it’s candidate.

    I’m not bothered by Sanders like other people are. I am a white native born male, though, and his politics didn’t hit me personally way it hit others.

  179. 179.

    Central Planning

    @Mnemosyne: My 2nd booster gave me a slight fever and body aches, but that was infinitely better than my 2nd shot and 1st booster which laid me out for 36 hours.

    I also got my 2nd shingles vaccine earlier this week. Slight fever and body aches on that one too.

    Maybe that’s my new reaction to vaccines. I would be ok with that compared to the alternative.

  180. 180.

    Belafon

    Why does McConnell even have the ability to block them? Democrats didn’t have the ability to block appointments two years ago.

  181. 181.

    Citizen Alan

    @Kent:  We can play what ifs all day. My personal theory is that if Hillary had won, the republicans in the senate would have rushed through Merrick Garland rather than take the chance that circumstances might change and allow her to appoint a younger and much more progressive Justice. And with Garland on the Supreme Court,  Partisan gerrymandering would have most likely been struck down as violative of  Equal protection, and all of those ultra gerrymandered  Red states might have been forced to Apportion their congressional seats in a sane manner

  182. 182.

    Geminid

    @Citizen Alan: Counterfactuals can be interesting. One of my favorites: what if Al Gore had picked Senator Bob Graham of Florida as his running mate in 2000, instead of that sanctimonious jerk from Connecticut?

  184. 184.

    taumaturgo

    @Baud: ​
     

    we have no choice but to police what criticisms are within the range of reasonable and which are bullshit.

    What we have here is the suggestion to establish a criticism overlord that would rule which criticism is allowed and which is canceled. This is another example of the center-right democrats ever so slowly drifting to MAGA anti-democratic positions, and confirms that in their view there is no greater threat to their centrist do nothing dogma than what once was the soul of the party; liberals and liberalism.

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