Professor -- please stop calling them "conservative democrats". They are anti-Democrats, pseudo-Democrats, fake-Democrats, Republicans-in-drag, ... not conservatives. There is nothing true to the spirit of the current Democratic Party that they are conserving.
Take Manchin and Sinema out of the equation; Bernie Sanders didn't win, Elizabeth Warren didn't win. Both ran as candidates that ran on totally progressive agendas. Biden won! Maybe the term "conservative" democrat is not the best term or definition. I like to think of myself as a moderately progressive democrat. I like to see progress, but in moderation.
Don't get me wrong, Bernie was correct. The health care system in the US is a joke. Both Bernie and Elizabeth were correct, the economy is rigged for the rich.
However, when you only have a 5 member majority in the House and a 50/50 split in the Senate, that demonstrates half the country is not progressive enough and we have to deal with that. More importantly, so do those members of the House that are in districts where they can be voted out very easily.
Like Abigal Spamberger said about Biden, "Nobody elected him to be F.D.R., they elected him to be normal and stop the chaos"
We have to deal with what we have as a movement that thinks progressively, but its not going to happen overnight.
I’d just like to point out that neither the Senate nor the House is really representative of the populace. Between gerrymandering and the absurdity of highly populated states like California and sparse states like Wyoming each having the same Senate representation, both bodies are highly skewed in favor of conservatives. Their makeup is misleading.
But it's true that we are stuck, but we need more than a constitutional amendment. We need to end all the ways people do not have representation, from the electoral college, described above, to the gerrymandering, and laws that are being put in place now. Our former loser guy is trumpeting at his first rally of the year that 'the ones who count the ballots are the ones who win'. He should be arrested!
Hopefully, when the Orange cabal is found guilty in Georgia, and the justice department and New York, and when he is found guilty of Sedition, Constitutional amendment 14 section 3 will keep him from running for anything ever again!
Republicans love “states’ rights” but this clearly only amounts to a legal kind of cheating at this point, at least on a federal elections level. How many people even really care about states as such anymore?
Unfortunately I think a lot do. Conservatives in general hate centralized governments. The smaller the jurisdiction the more opportunity to do whatever they want. Frankly I feel that they’re not conservatives at all but anarchists. They use the concept of states’ rights as a beard though.
I don't think that just because the progressives are 'too progressive' is the reason we did not get a less moderate Democrat. If the people's votes reflected the actual, 1 person, 1 vote, we would see more policies that are popular with the true majority of the country. Our system is rigged and not representative of the majority of the people in any way. Period. We would see candidates who really represent us. Big money and the Free Speech of Citizens United throw a wrench in our Democracy.
I remember that in late February 2020, there were many Demo candidates, and Bernie was leading in the primaries. Then, just before the South Carolina primary on 02 March, all the Dems with few votes simultaneously dropped out — wasn’t this thanks to the persuasion of the DNC? The result: people who would have voted for all the Lesser Dems, now voted for Biden in the South Carolina primary. Had those Lesser Dems persisted, Bernie would have been the nominee.
I don’t feel that Biden has been sooo progressive like people say. To me, everything in BBB was not really sweeping, just things we obviously need to do right now especially, since women have gotten stuck with childcare and things are getting that much more imbalanced…and climate change, duh, should have been dealt with forty years ago or more. It’s sad to me that these things are considered far out left notions in this country. I’m sick of the conservatism we cling to, even many Dems. I guess it’s neoliberal assumptions x fear of Communism? Did the latter start all this uncaring BS? X (anti)heroism of cowboy allure of get-rich-quick individualism?
When I used the word "equation", I was referring to their positions as Democrats, (ie whether they were moderates , conservative etc.) .
Just so its clear I think Manchin is totally corrupt. He places the ownership of stock in the oil business over the needs of his constituents.
Constituents in a state with the most needs from health care to everything else BBB was offering.
As to Sinema well besides all the obvious need for attention, her donations are coming from everyone who has a conflict with what she's voting on as a democrat.
Even the thought that Manchin or Sinema would have veto power over a Supreme Court nominee and thus diminish the role of the President makes me want to throw up.
Frankly that breaks with the division of powers in the Constitution. It is the President’s choice and the Senates consent. If either of those senators grandstands their way into the pre-approval process then it is time to cut them down to size. If Biden doesn’t put them into their place on HIS Supreme Court nominee then no one will have any respect for him. As I say the thought that a junior first term senator can veto a Supreme Court nominee is just too much to stomach.
After Antonin Scalia's death, President Obama made the decision to nominate someone as inoffensive as possible, in the hope that McConnell and his right wing bloc would confirm him. That didn't work, obviously. I wondered whether a Black woman at that time would have been more successful, since refusing to confirm her would have been seen as overtly racist.
Since Biden promised to nominate a Black woman, and there are several who are infinitely more qualified than the White males currently on the Court, he should go for it. I want to see someone who can understand what the lives of ordinary people are like, and doesn't sit in the ivory tower looking down imperiously at the unwashed masses below. (This is my impression of John Roberts.)
Someone who is not a corporate whore. None of the current justices fully comprehend that corporations are not people, and are not entitled to deference. They are chartered at the state level and should be closely scrutinized. Cases like Buckley v Valeo and following were wrongly decided because they are based on the false impression that the 14th Amendment applied to corporations. This mistake needs to be rectified!!! https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/118us394
Stan of Stanistan ; Supreme Justices should not be allowed to take gifts and be treated to 'junkets' or luxe vacations. Where does that money come from? Imagine their power as lifelong judges on the highest court! and now they are openly partisan. Any Judge on such a powerful and important court that was appointed by twice impeached and 'investigated' tRump should be out.
Having read through most of the comments, I am increasingly despairing of a balanced Supreme Court. The GOPerves are going to do everything in their power to knock any Biden choice into the trash can. I find myself wondering how/why American voters have allowed them to have the kind of power they seemingly wield. At the same time, I wonder what we can realistically do about this horrible minority rule we now have to deal with. They have truly perverted our government and laid waste our Constitution!!
What matters is the extent the nominee will defend democracy! Thomas is black and he couldn’t care less about saving our democracy. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if the identity politics cards played are white male Christian (e.g., Trumpism) or gender, race and sexual orientation (e.g., Democrats)—identity politics can and have been used to observe our focus on policy and law that furthers democracy. Let’s focus on creating the policies and laws that benefit the average United State’s citizens! It’s that manner of politics that will save our democracy.
No reason not to do both, nominate someone with a focus on policy, law, civil rights and democracy that's also from a group of people that have not been represented on the Supreme Court and that have historically pushed for advancement of civil rights and equal treatment under the law. It's about time.
Agreed. But let’s be clear as to what we are doing. The goal is civil rights, human rights, economic rights, democracy for all. Oligarchy has no problem hiding behind people’s identities in order to oppress those very same people. Failure to be aware of this reality is falling prey to oppression. Trying suppress this reality is participating in oppression.
John Mentzos - do a quick fact check on history. Citizen activists have changed this country - not politicians or judges. Thanks to activists women have the right to vote, Congress cannot send boys to war without the right to vote, children are out of sweatshops, off the streets and into classrooms, hospitals and mental institutions were modernized, gunslingers, mobsters, gangsters and hired mercenaries were driven off the streets, workers got out of filthy tenement factory housing, water and air pollution laws were passed, the civil rights and voting rights acts were passed and thousands of other small and large efforts that pulled out country into the future.
Today, black women are leading activism in our country and that is the reason Biden's promise to appoint a black woman meant so much to this average citizen.
Let’s not forget the young women who are sent to fight in questionable wars. The USA is now so desperate to continue military hegemony that women have been accepted into the combat arms.
Well, Stan of Stanistan, if I had my druthers, every American would turn 18 and serve one year in the military - without exception. I see that as a giant leap towards peace. I cannot imagine a better equalizer.
Somehow you missed the boat. The days of cultural assimilation are long gone. That ship has sailed. Americans are rapidly moving into the heart of American culture. That’s what all the ruckus is about. This is not division we are hearing; this is the sound of a nation moving out of walled off sub-cultures, and into a culture united by Democracy.
People are fighting for Democracy, because we cannot unite without it. Again, I encourage you to look at history. Civil rights, human rights and economic rights etc. emerged out of American culture – not white culture. In fact, white culture opposed Democracy with all its might. Y G-d, man, they killed people to stop Democracy.
Right from the very start of this nation, white culture feared for itself, and our founding fathers established a Republic to assure their own fortunes. But, and there are always buts and butts, they also instituted everything necessary for future generations to overthrow the Republic and replace it with Democracy. Think not? Read the Constitution.
Democracy is the means that enabled Americans to express their allegiance to our constitutional principles. It’s been a long hard road, but American culture has won the war. The tables have turned, the script has flipped. White people can assimilate into American culture, or self-isolate in walled off communities. People can whine all they want, but there is less and less room for white culture in our rapidly growing American culture.
Americans do not need permission to be Americans. The public square, the halls of justice, the White House and Congress are not white spaces anymore. They are American spaces and Americans are filling those spaces. White people did their best, but self-isolation bred minds too small to govern a multi-cultural nation. In time, white people will adapt and learn to live comfortably in American culture. But that will take time. Americans cannot wait for them, we must move forward.
We need an American on the Supreme Court. As you demonstrate, people still entrenched in white culture, are a long way from joining, let alone understanding, American culture. For that reason, a black woman gives Americans a much better chance of an American Supreme Court Justice. Not a black justice, not a woman justice – but an American justice who believes in Democracy.
Democrats must take back the word socialism, which has been conceded as to the Republicans for over a century as a scare tactic.
Some ad ideas/themes.
1) Convey what socialism is--public or collective ownership of factories and businesses.
2) Democrats oppose socialism
3) Explaining that the following is not socialism: Child care, Health care for all, paid parental leave, negotiating drug prices, strong consumer protection laws, CFPB, etc
4) Note which of the above are available in other nations and that having such in the US will make America as great as other nations.
Have ads in which citizens from other nations mock the US for not having these things
5) Have real people from other countries appear in ads extol the non-socialist items above.
I've been trying to explain this to people on numerous occasions! Most people who are against socialism don't even know the true definition of socialism is.
We are and will always a free enterprise capitalist society. If I may add to your list:
6) We are a capitalist society, that values free enterprise, with individual freedom and a social safety net!
Yes, I think it’s important to emphasize that entrepreneurial people — those who invent the “better mousetraps” — shouldn’t be discouraged by a socialist approach. Germany is proof that a fairly balanced economy benefits the most people, including the innovators.
Question to all - WHAT IF - the golden rule, (a worldwide principle from throughout all time, all traditions) became an important part of our whole judiciary, our whole justice/judicial system? There are thousands of formulations that can guide us in such an endeavor. Thich Nhat Hahn's contributions to this principle are well known.
John & Dean, Admittedly, in a 50-50 Senate, one should expect some shenanigans. Still, presuming Dems can hold their bare majority together and no one gets incapacitated or dies, I believe McConnell will be unable to prevent a vote on Breyer’s successor.
Lots of excellent potential replacements for Justice Breyer, but we are still way behind. One thing for sure: there is nothing perfect in this world, but what Moscow Mitch pulled with Merrick Garland and the other follow-on ersatz Supremes is as perfect an example of hypocrisy, shamelessness and complete lack of character that one will ever see.
Well one of the is that you need to be able to understand the law. You need to be able to weigh arguments. You need to be able to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and reasoning of the briefs presented. If all you do is let your clerks do the work because you are too lazy or ignorant to do that yourself then you don’t belong on the highest court in the land. Unless of course you want to live in a banana republic.
A lot of people think Kamala is a liability and would like to get her off the ticket. A "promotion" to the Supreme Court would be one way to do it. But she wants to be President, so probably isn't interested.
Whereas I mostly agree with Shakespeare with regard to lawyers in as much as the first thing they seem to learn in law school is how to make money off of their clients, there are lawyers like Ginsberg who study case law in writing their briefs and don’t simply favor the party with the most money or power. I would like one of those on the Supreme Court not a politician or a fake attorney.
My pick would be Stacy Abrams for all she's done to right the wrongs in Georgian politics. Of course, Neal Katyal would be a great pick. He's neither black nor female. Maybe we'll have to wait for his appointment after CThomas passes. That said, I'm not so sure neither Sinema nor Manchin wouldn't cross the floor and side with Republicans to block a nominee vote for SCOTUS. I don't trust these two DINOs. Their record of contrarion politicizing won't stop with their recent grandstanding(s).
Professor -- please stop calling them "conservative democrats". They are anti-Democrats, pseudo-Democrats, fake-Democrats, Republicans-in-drag, ... not conservatives. There is nothing true to the spirit of the current Democratic Party that they are conserving.
Good point
I'm sorry I disagree with both of you.
Take Manchin and Sinema out of the equation; Bernie Sanders didn't win, Elizabeth Warren didn't win. Both ran as candidates that ran on totally progressive agendas. Biden won! Maybe the term "conservative" democrat is not the best term or definition. I like to think of myself as a moderately progressive democrat. I like to see progress, but in moderation.
Don't get me wrong, Bernie was correct. The health care system in the US is a joke. Both Bernie and Elizabeth were correct, the economy is rigged for the rich.
However, when you only have a 5 member majority in the House and a 50/50 split in the Senate, that demonstrates half the country is not progressive enough and we have to deal with that. More importantly, so do those members of the House that are in districts where they can be voted out very easily.
Like Abigal Spamberger said about Biden, "Nobody elected him to be F.D.R., they elected him to be normal and stop the chaos"
We have to deal with what we have as a movement that thinks progressively, but its not going to happen overnight.
I’d just like to point out that neither the Senate nor the House is really representative of the populace. Between gerrymandering and the absurdity of highly populated states like California and sparse states like Wyoming each having the same Senate representation, both bodies are highly skewed in favor of conservatives. Their makeup is misleading.
Paula B. Well said!
I agree 100% but its what we stuck with without a constitutional amendment.
But it's true that we are stuck, but we need more than a constitutional amendment. We need to end all the ways people do not have representation, from the electoral college, described above, to the gerrymandering, and laws that are being put in place now. Our former loser guy is trumpeting at his first rally of the year that 'the ones who count the ballots are the ones who win'. He should be arrested!
Hopefully, when the Orange cabal is found guilty in Georgia, and the justice department and New York, and when he is found guilty of Sedition, Constitutional amendment 14 section 3 will keep him from running for anything ever again!
Unfortunately I don't have high Hope's of prosecuting Trump.
Robert ; That will take longer than a change at the Vatican to allow women the freedom to control their lives!
Republicans love “states’ rights” but this clearly only amounts to a legal kind of cheating at this point, at least on a federal elections level. How many people even really care about states as such anymore?
Unfortunately I think a lot do. Conservatives in general hate centralized governments. The smaller the jurisdiction the more opportunity to do whatever they want. Frankly I feel that they’re not conservatives at all but anarchists. They use the concept of states’ rights as a beard though.
I don't think that just because the progressives are 'too progressive' is the reason we did not get a less moderate Democrat. If the people's votes reflected the actual, 1 person, 1 vote, we would see more policies that are popular with the true majority of the country. Our system is rigged and not representative of the majority of the people in any way. Period. We would see candidates who really represent us. Big money and the Free Speech of Citizens United throw a wrench in our Democracy.
I remember that in late February 2020, there were many Demo candidates, and Bernie was leading in the primaries. Then, just before the South Carolina primary on 02 March, all the Dems with few votes simultaneously dropped out — wasn’t this thanks to the persuasion of the DNC? The result: people who would have voted for all the Lesser Dems, now voted for Biden in the South Carolina primary. Had those Lesser Dems persisted, Bernie would have been the nominee.
I don’t feel that Biden has been sooo progressive like people say. To me, everything in BBB was not really sweeping, just things we obviously need to do right now especially, since women have gotten stuck with childcare and things are getting that much more imbalanced…and climate change, duh, should have been dealt with forty years ago or more. It’s sad to me that these things are considered far out left notions in this country. I’m sick of the conservatism we cling to, even many Dems. I guess it’s neoliberal assumptions x fear of Communism? Did the latter start all this uncaring BS? X (anti)heroism of cowboy allure of get-rich-quick individualism?
Robert Arena ; I disagree with you on your 'equations'. Corruption is corruption
When I used the word "equation", I was referring to their positions as Democrats, (ie whether they were moderates , conservative etc.) .
Just so its clear I think Manchin is totally corrupt. He places the ownership of stock in the oil business over the needs of his constituents.
Constituents in a state with the most needs from health care to everything else BBB was offering.
As to Sinema well besides all the obvious need for attention, her donations are coming from everyone who has a conflict with what she's voting on as a democrat.
I call them Bizzarro Demos.
Even the thought that Manchin or Sinema would have veto power over a Supreme Court nominee and thus diminish the role of the President makes me want to throw up.
Frankly that breaks with the division of powers in the Constitution. It is the President’s choice and the Senates consent. If either of those senators grandstands their way into the pre-approval process then it is time to cut them down to size. If Biden doesn’t put them into their place on HIS Supreme Court nominee then no one will have any respect for him. As I say the thought that a junior first term senator can veto a Supreme Court nominee is just too much to stomach.
Well, in fairness, it's one Senator plus 50 other Senators who collectively have the "veto" power.
After Antonin Scalia's death, President Obama made the decision to nominate someone as inoffensive as possible, in the hope that McConnell and his right wing bloc would confirm him. That didn't work, obviously. I wondered whether a Black woman at that time would have been more successful, since refusing to confirm her would have been seen as overtly racist.
Since Biden promised to nominate a Black woman, and there are several who are infinitely more qualified than the White males currently on the Court, he should go for it. I want to see someone who can understand what the lives of ordinary people are like, and doesn't sit in the ivory tower looking down imperiously at the unwashed masses below. (This is my impression of John Roberts.)
Not to mention Brett Kavanaugh.
Carolyn Herz and once again, I am 100% with you.
Someone who is not a corporate whore. None of the current justices fully comprehend that corporations are not people, and are not entitled to deference. They are chartered at the state level and should be closely scrutinized. Cases like Buckley v Valeo and following were wrongly decided because they are based on the false impression that the 14th Amendment applied to corporations. This mistake needs to be rectified!!! https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/118us394
People who cannot be fired cannot be faulted for living in an ivory tower. I suggest term limits for Supreme Justices.
Stan of Stanistan ; Supreme Justices should not be allowed to take gifts and be treated to 'junkets' or luxe vacations. Where does that money come from? Imagine their power as lifelong judges on the highest court! and now they are openly partisan. Any Judge on such a powerful and important court that was appointed by twice impeached and 'investigated' tRump should be out.
Having read through most of the comments, I am increasingly despairing of a balanced Supreme Court. The GOPerves are going to do everything in their power to knock any Biden choice into the trash can. I find myself wondering how/why American voters have allowed them to have the kind of power they seemingly wield. At the same time, I wonder what we can realistically do about this horrible minority rule we now have to deal with. They have truly perverted our government and laid waste our Constitution!!
Connie Ingalls-O'Keefe ; I agree, there is something unjust about our highest Court. It is unbalanced. It's present form speaks for itself!
I nominate Barack Obama.
I nominate Michelle Obama.
If only Obama would accept it.
I just learned that there is evidence that Biden promised to nominate a black woman to the SCOTUS, so he will probably go that direction.
I'm counting on it.
What matters is the extent the nominee will defend democracy! Thomas is black and he couldn’t care less about saving our democracy. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if the identity politics cards played are white male Christian (e.g., Trumpism) or gender, race and sexual orientation (e.g., Democrats)—identity politics can and have been used to observe our focus on policy and law that furthers democracy. Let’s focus on creating the policies and laws that benefit the average United State’s citizens! It’s that manner of politics that will save our democracy.
I agree with you 100%! Someone who will stand for Democracy protection should be the focus of his choice.
No reason not to do both, nominate someone with a focus on policy, law, civil rights and democracy that's also from a group of people that have not been represented on the Supreme Court and that have historically pushed for advancement of civil rights and equal treatment under the law. It's about time.
Agreed. But let’s be clear as to what we are doing. The goal is civil rights, human rights, economic rights, democracy for all. Oligarchy has no problem hiding behind people’s identities in order to oppress those very same people. Failure to be aware of this reality is falling prey to oppression. Trying suppress this reality is participating in oppression.
Hear, here! Thank you for weighing in - and so very well.
John Mentzos - do a quick fact check on history. Citizen activists have changed this country - not politicians or judges. Thanks to activists women have the right to vote, Congress cannot send boys to war without the right to vote, children are out of sweatshops, off the streets and into classrooms, hospitals and mental institutions were modernized, gunslingers, mobsters, gangsters and hired mercenaries were driven off the streets, workers got out of filthy tenement factory housing, water and air pollution laws were passed, the civil rights and voting rights acts were passed and thousands of other small and large efforts that pulled out country into the future.
Today, black women are leading activism in our country and that is the reason Biden's promise to appoint a black woman meant so much to this average citizen.
Let’s not forget the young women who are sent to fight in questionable wars. The USA is now so desperate to continue military hegemony that women have been accepted into the combat arms.
Well, Stan of Stanistan, if I had my druthers, every American would turn 18 and serve one year in the military - without exception. I see that as a giant leap towards peace. I cannot imagine a better equalizer.
Maimed women soldiers at Walter Reed reinforced my belief that it is bad enough to assign men to combat.
See my reply to Jim Tedford above. It’s the same reply I have to your comments.
Somehow you missed the boat. The days of cultural assimilation are long gone. That ship has sailed. Americans are rapidly moving into the heart of American culture. That’s what all the ruckus is about. This is not division we are hearing; this is the sound of a nation moving out of walled off sub-cultures, and into a culture united by Democracy.
People are fighting for Democracy, because we cannot unite without it. Again, I encourage you to look at history. Civil rights, human rights and economic rights etc. emerged out of American culture – not white culture. In fact, white culture opposed Democracy with all its might. Y G-d, man, they killed people to stop Democracy.
Right from the very start of this nation, white culture feared for itself, and our founding fathers established a Republic to assure their own fortunes. But, and there are always buts and butts, they also instituted everything necessary for future generations to overthrow the Republic and replace it with Democracy. Think not? Read the Constitution.
Democracy is the means that enabled Americans to express their allegiance to our constitutional principles. It’s been a long hard road, but American culture has won the war. The tables have turned, the script has flipped. White people can assimilate into American culture, or self-isolate in walled off communities. People can whine all they want, but there is less and less room for white culture in our rapidly growing American culture.
Americans do not need permission to be Americans. The public square, the halls of justice, the White House and Congress are not white spaces anymore. They are American spaces and Americans are filling those spaces. White people did their best, but self-isolation bred minds too small to govern a multi-cultural nation. In time, white people will adapt and learn to live comfortably in American culture. But that will take time. Americans cannot wait for them, we must move forward.
We need an American on the Supreme Court. As you demonstrate, people still entrenched in white culture, are a long way from joining, let alone understanding, American culture. For that reason, a black woman gives Americans a much better chance of an American Supreme Court Justice. Not a black justice, not a woman justice – but an American justice who believes in Democracy.
Democrats must take back the word socialism, which has been conceded as to the Republicans for over a century as a scare tactic.
Some ad ideas/themes.
1) Convey what socialism is--public or collective ownership of factories and businesses.
2) Democrats oppose socialism
3) Explaining that the following is not socialism: Child care, Health care for all, paid parental leave, negotiating drug prices, strong consumer protection laws, CFPB, etc
4) Note which of the above are available in other nations and that having such in the US will make America as great as other nations.
Have ads in which citizens from other nations mock the US for not having these things
5) Have real people from other countries appear in ads extol the non-socialist items above.
I've been trying to explain this to people on numerous occasions! Most people who are against socialism don't even know the true definition of socialism is.
We are and will always a free enterprise capitalist society. If I may add to your list:
6) We are a capitalist society, that values free enterprise, with individual freedom and a social safety net!
Yes, I think it’s important to emphasize that entrepreneurial people — those who invent the “better mousetraps” — shouldn’t be discouraged by a socialist approach. Germany is proof that a fairly balanced economy benefits the most people, including the innovators.
Question to all - WHAT IF - the golden rule, (a worldwide principle from throughout all time, all traditions) became an important part of our whole judiciary, our whole justice/judicial system? There are thousands of formulations that can guide us in such an endeavor. Thich Nhat Hahn's contributions to this principle are well known.
Watch Mitch say that it's too late to nominate a new Justice before the mid-term elections.
This time, it's not entirely up to Mitch!
John & Dean, Admittedly, in a 50-50 Senate, one should expect some shenanigans. Still, presuming Dems can hold their bare majority together and no one gets incapacitated or dies, I believe McConnell will be unable to prevent a vote on Breyer’s successor.
Stacy Abrams is better left to fight battles.
Lots of excellent potential replacements for Justice Breyer, but we are still way behind. One thing for sure: there is nothing perfect in this world, but what Moscow Mitch pulled with Merrick Garland and the other follow-on ersatz Supremes is as perfect an example of hypocrisy, shamelessness and complete lack of character that one will ever see.
Omg. Stacey Abrams or Kamala Harris!! That is so exciting! I don't have words! I didn't know that was possible!
I don’t understand the qualifications needed to become a Supreme Justice.
Well one of the is that you need to be able to understand the law. You need to be able to weigh arguments. You need to be able to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and reasoning of the briefs presented. If all you do is let your clerks do the work because you are too lazy or ignorant to do that yourself then you don’t belong on the highest court in the land. Unless of course you want to live in a banana republic.
A lot of people think Kamala is a liability and would like to get her off the ticket. A "promotion" to the Supreme Court would be one way to do it. But she wants to be President, so probably isn't interested.
Whereas I mostly agree with Shakespeare with regard to lawyers in as much as the first thing they seem to learn in law school is how to make money off of their clients, there are lawyers like Ginsberg who study case law in writing their briefs and don’t simply favor the party with the most money or power. I would like one of those on the Supreme Court not a politician or a fake attorney.
It’s not
I want the best, unbiased, professional for this appointment - could not care less about their ethnicity, gender or color of their skin.
My pick would be Stacy Abrams for all she's done to right the wrongs in Georgian politics. Of course, Neal Katyal would be a great pick. He's neither black nor female. Maybe we'll have to wait for his appointment after CThomas passes. That said, I'm not so sure neither Sinema nor Manchin wouldn't cross the floor and side with Republicans to block a nominee vote for SCOTUS. I don't trust these two DINOs. Their record of contrarion politicizing won't stop with their recent grandstanding(s).
Ms Abrams is better for our nation when fighting in the field
This doesn't quite fit with your column of today, but is a recall of Sinema in Arizona and Manchin in West Virginia a possibility?