The Supreme Court thread [Archive]

allegro

09-18-2020, 07:50 PM

This requires an autopsy that actually connects the dots here. The GOP voting base is so delusional about stuff at this point that they probably think it's a deep state pizza/satan thing that stole the House and George Soros paid for it with baby blood. If that's the sort of voter they're relying on to pull off a hail-mary pass leading into an election they're assuming they're going to lose, they might do something completely insane.
That’s not the GOP base; it’s the Trump base. There are candidates like Sen. Cory Gardner and Sen. Susan Collins etc. who are in serious jeopardy right now in moderate districts and pulling some bullshit like this won’t help them one bit.

Let the GOP lose every motherfucking seat, and then if the Democrats win THEY WILL BLOW OUT THE MOTHERFUCKING FILIBUSTER AND WILL STACK THE SCOTUS.

And all of this is drift in this thread. we need to move it to the Trump thread.

allegro

09-18-2020, 08:13 PM

McConnell didn’t wait for the body to get cold. He says there will be a vote in the Senate for a SCOTUS nominee to replace RBG.

https://twitter.com/senatemajldr/status/1307121192516628480?s=21

Jinsai

09-18-2020, 08:23 PM

McConnell didn’t wait for the body to get cold.

Was about to post the exact same thing with pretty much the exact same wording.

Sorry Mitch. This IS NOT happening.

Wretchedest

09-18-2020, 08:56 PM

As much as I hope that Chuck grows a spine for this one.... What's the actual recourse. Murkowsi said she would wait to vote til after the election but.... That's 2 months til inauguration

eachpassingphase

09-18-2020, 09:15 PM

Eat shit, Mitch.

allegro

09-18-2020, 09:43 PM

As much as I hope that Chuck grows a spine for this one.... What's the actual recourse. Murkowsi said she would wait to vote til after the election but.... That's 2 months til inauguration

Mitt Romney is now saying he will refuse to vote until after inauguration, as well.

Crowds singing “Amazing Grace” on the steps of the Supreme Court is killing me gahhhhh :( :( :(

Wretchedest

09-19-2020, 01:22 AM

Mitt Romney is now saying he will refuse to vote until after inauguration, as well.

Crowds singing “Amazing Grace” on the steps of the Supreme Court is killing me gahhhhh :( :( :(

I think that makes 4 actually so

You're telling me there's a chance!

GulDukat

09-19-2020, 04:45 AM

What Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death Could Mean For 2020 And The Supreme Court (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-ruth-bader-ginsburgs-death-could-mean-for-2020-and-the-supreme-court/)

GulDukat

09-19-2020, 06:50 AM

This is bad. Even if Biden wins, the Evil Turtle will wait until after the election but before January 20 (with a lame duck POTUS and Congress) to ram whoever asshole Trump nominates.

ltrandazzo

09-19-2020, 09:44 AM

allegro

09-19-2020, 11:10 AM

This is bad. Even if Biden wins, the Evil Turtle will wait until after the election but before January 20 (with a lame duck POTUS and Congress) to ram whoever asshole Trump nominates.

Murkowski and Romney are saying “no” until after inauguration.

Another interesting thing I just saw? That if Kelly wins in AZ, he could be immediately sworn in, in November, not January, because McSally won in a special election after McCain died?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/18/us/elections/the-winner-of-the-arizona-senate-race-could-be-seated-in-time-for-a-vote-on-a-supreme-court-pick.html

The Republicans have 6 more Senators plus a VP tie breaker, so Democrats would need enough to cover that spread until the inauguration.

GulDukat

09-19-2020, 11:50 AM

Murkowski and Romney are saying “no” until after inauguration.

Did they say "no" until after the inauguration or until after the election? I am doing a Google search and can't find a source. If you are correct that would give me peace of mind.

allegro

09-19-2020, 12:13 PM

Did they say "no" until after the inauguration or until after the election? I am doing a Google search and can't find a source. If you are correct that would give me peace of mind.

I only have this:

https://twitter.com/JimDabakis/status/1307120855454044160?s=20

https://twitter.com/alexanderbolton/status/1290248244682018816?s=20

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/sen-murkowski-says-confirming-supreme-court-nominee-in-2020-would-be-double-standard/

Grassley was also on record as being against it, based on 2016. Collins might also be against it.

So that'd be:

Romney
Murkowski
Grassley
Collins
Kelly

Some are questioning whether McConnell would even have a quorum. SCOTUS hearings would require that Senators stop all campaigning to attend hearings.

My anxiety level is -- (out of a scale of 1-10) on "30" right now.

eachpassingphase

09-19-2020, 01:30 PM

Unless we take the Senate back, and we can. And if they do likely get away with this, it’s time to pack the fucking court.

Agreed. And even if Republicans stand down and don't ram somebody through, a reckoning is long overdue.

It's time for Democrats to stop with the propriety and hand-wringing and time for them to go scorched earth the second they have even a morsel of control back.The majority of Americans are NOT Trumpers (popular vote has proven this), but you wouldn't know it by looking at the way our election system works, and that's by Republican design.

No forgiveness, no compromise. Republicans have been fucking Dems for ages, and it's time for them to fuck back.

Jinsai

09-19-2020, 03:16 PM

Lindsay Graham can go straight to hell. Hypocrite weasel scumbag. Not surprised, but I really, newly hate this person on another level now.

versusreality

09-19-2020, 06:16 PM

Trump went right to it in his rally tonight. He's saying he's going to put out his pick next week. Crowds chanting "fill the seat"

fucking disgusting.

elevenism

09-19-2020, 07:26 PM

Trump went right to it in his rally tonight. He's saying he's going to put out his pick next week. Crowds chanting "fill the seat"

fucking disgusting. oh my dear god. That is SICKENING. I think any other president would have said something about her accomplishments, and the tragedy of this loss, politics aside. Edit: fuck me. Trump DID praise her for like, a minute.

Every time I think the shit trump pulls can't get any worse, he hits a new, terrifying low.
And in each of those moments, I feel a peculiar sense of unreality.

burnmotherfucker!

09-19-2020, 07:42 PM

I'm trying to find a window of optimism here. But I don't think there is one. Everything will be on the table if the court goes to 3-6. Civil liberties, women's rights, fair elections, decriminalization of plants, big pharma regulation, social security, pretty much any relief going to the poor. It could all go just like that. Oh, and no environmental regulation whatsoever.

We're all fucked. Senate will confirm a nominee after the election but before the inauguration. Court stacking isn't going to happen and if it does it could also lead to a huge backfire once dems lose control again.

And all of that is if Trump actually loses the election. Last I checked the odds were Biden -130, Trump +110. That's way too close for comfort in that regard. And I wouldn't even bother with polls after last election. A large number of Trump voters aren't the type of people pollers normally contact.

All of this brought to you by the electoral college.

The only remote hope is enough republican senators delay until inauguration. Unfortunately almost no rebublican has shown an ounce of integrity during this Trump disaster. Do we really think they will now? Romney, sure, but that's only because Trump made him look like a fool and so he hates Trump. Some other moderates will delay until the election but regardless of their outcome they will want to confirm after the election no matter what. It would take 4 republicans to flip until inauguration IF Trump loses. How likely is that?

M1ke

09-19-2020, 07:43 PM

Can someone please just kill the fucking turtle.

Jinsai

09-19-2020, 08:20 PM

of course on Twitter and when there's a journalist in front of him, he'll be all like "OH MY GOD I LOVED Ginsberg!!!! She was a pillar of tremendous female strength and tremendous, just tremendous... tremendously tremendous."

But you put him on a rally stage? "FILL THE SEAT!!!!!!!" not even 24 hours later.
So, who is this lip service even FOR anymore? Who is supposed to buy it?

And then I realized, this disconnect between the truth and clear lies is all part of the gaslighting fun that's driving us libs crazy. NOBODY ON EARTH actually believes that Trump is truly saddened by the passing of Ginsberg.

allegro

09-19-2020, 10:01 PM

Unfortunately, this is pretty fucking doomsday.

It’s pretty bad.

hellospaceboy

09-19-2020, 11:20 PM

There was some concern on Twitter earlier in the day that the Lincoln Project would steer away from their campaign against Trump because -let's face it, they're still Republicans and that Supreme Court seat sure looks tempting...
But no.

Which is good, because they're doing the job that the Democrats should be doing.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EiUP9EXVoAAEotE?format=jpg&name=large

Jinsai

09-20-2020, 09:11 AM

I'd like to think that they're not just chasing down and tackling the point here, and the Lincoln Project has got to know what sticks with this president is practically NOTHING. I think they know this is a platitude more than anything; that you can wag your finger at Mitch McConnell, and he'll just give you a goofy smile and stare into your eyes and for a brief moment, you will see hell reflected back at you, and then he'll worm his way over to a microphone and warble about how it's cute that you thought your ideals would keep you afloat... and then he'll just pretend you were never in the room. Maybe he'll smile in that wormy way while he points out that "you have no power here"

The shitty part is, he's mostly right. This isn't about who is right or wrong.
I hate to say it, but I think they'll have someone intractably installed before the election.

GulDukat

09-20-2020, 09:59 AM

Arizona Senate race could impact confirmation of new justice (https://apnews.com/c641329537add939609ba8933a4d84a2)

elevenism

09-20-2020, 12:49 PM

how can they get away with confirming a nominee, when they wouldn't let Garland through in an election year?

the sheer hypocrisy of this is astounding.

Jinsai

09-20-2020, 01:07 PM

how can they get away with confirming a nominee, when they wouldn't let Garland through in an election year?

the sheer hypocrisy of this is astounding.

Cue the deafening sound of Mitch McConnell mocking your naivety with his shitty nails-on-chalkboard laughter.

What keeps me going? I really DO believe people are SO FUCKING PISSED right now, and all these pollsters aren't accounting for that. They don't understand, they never really factor it in.

I have to believe it. I am going to pay attention for the early voting returns... If Florida goes to Trump, sorry, I'm going to maybe try out some new crazy drugs and why not, maybe it's time to give DMT a shot. Fuck it. Maybe I'll wake up in a different quantum reality where Trump lost in 2016, Forest Gump says "Life is like a box of chocolates," President Hillary Clinton isn't great but things aren't that bad really, and C3P0 doesn't have a silver leg.

Jinsai

09-20-2020, 01:42 PM

Yes, but Lindsey Graham ALSO said that Trump was crazy and unqualified for the office and a joke or something, then he got right to fluffing him whenever possible after a golf outing. He's probably "kompromat"

https://gregolear.substack.com/p/lindsey-graham-is-trumps-hostage

allegro

09-20-2020, 01:45 PM

Lindsey Graham wants more SCOTUS seats. Period. None of these GOP Senators give a shit about "ethics," they only want conservative justices agreeing with them.

Jinsai

09-20-2020, 01:49 PM

we need to just have a law about how politicians cannot flagrantly lie. We just need to make that illegal. Hypocrisy on some blatant level should be punishable. If it was a jailable offense to completely swap your stance when politically advantageous, maybe people would consider that it's not a good thing to be a hypocritical piece of lying shit.

How about this? "The president is ALWAYS under oath when he/she speaks to the people"
Let's start there.

elevenism

09-20-2020, 02:33 PM

allegro , I heard talk of this "Biden Rule" on CNN, but, couldn't wrap my head around it. So, because of an ARGUMENT made by Biden in 92, or an idea he expressed, the right is trying to say that trump should get to fill the seat, due to some non existent precedent or rule? And, it's very handy that it was biden"s argument, because it falsely casts him in a hypocritical light? Am I getting all of this?

My question is, ultimately, who is the arbiter here?

allegro

09-20-2020, 03:01 PM

There is no "rule." It's something they made up to substantiate their own bullshit. In 1992, Biden wasn't speaking in MARCH; he spoke on June 25. His speech said "It would be our pragmatic conclusion that once the political season is under way, and it is, action on a Supreme Court nomination must be put off until after the election campaign is over." Note that there was nothing happening as far as SCOTUS at the time. There was no nominee to consider. He wasn't saying that a nomination WOULDN'T be considered by the Senate; he only stated that, since it was nearly July, with only about 3 months left, the pragmatic way to handle this - should it arise - would be to delay the nomination until after the election.

In March, no election campaign is "well under way." It's just started. There is no arbiter.

We must look at the context of Biden's speech. There was a time when SCOTUS hearings and votes were pretty much TOTALLY bipartisan. RBG received a 98-2 vote. Justice Stevens received a 99-0 vote.

Here are parts of that Biden speech in 1992 (Biden was the chair of the Judiciary Committee):

Given the unusual rancor that prevailed in the (Clarence) Thomas nomination, the need for some serious reevaluation of the nomination and confirmation process, and the overall level of bitterness that sadly infects our political system and this presidential campaign already, it is my view that the prospects for anything but conflagration with respect to a Supreme Court nomination this year are remote at best.

In my view, politics has played far too large a role in the Reagan-Bush nominations to date. One can only imagine that role becoming overarching if a choice were made this year, assuming a justice announced tomorrow that he or she was stepping down.

Should a justice resign this summer and the president move to name a successor, actions that will occur just days before the Democratic Presidential Convention and weeks before the Republican Convention meets, a process that is already in doubt in the minds of many will become distrusted by all. Senate consideration of a nominee under these circumstances is not fair to the president, to the nominee, or to the Senate itself.

Mr. President, where the nation should be treated to a consideration of constitutional philosophy, all it will get in such circumstances is a partisan bickering and political posturing from both parties and from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. As a result, it is my view that if a Supreme Court Justice resigns tomorrow, or within the next several weeks, or resigns at the end of the summer, President Bush should consider following the practice of a majority of his predecessors and not — and not — name a nominee until after the November election is completed."

Now, a few political pundits representing the Republicans HAVE mentioned on TV in the last 24 hours - and with merit - that HAD Garland been considered by the Senate, and HAD quorum been reached, and HAD Senate hearings been held, and HAD there been a vote, it's HIGHLY UNLIKELY that Garland would have been confirmed. He just would not have received enough votes by the Republican majority, who'd be in lock step (particularly in an election year). Obama would have then been forced to submit another nominee, that nominee would go through a hearing process, and Senators who were campaigning to keep their own seats would be unable to do so because they'd be busy in SCOTUS confirmation hearings. So, while McConnell was claiming the "Biden Rule," the reality is that he knew that Garland would never get the votes, and the process would tie up his GOP Senators during election season and that they'd poll way better if he played hardball against Obama.

elevenism

09-20-2020, 03:04 PM

My question about the arbiter: what I mean is, who will make the ultimate decision regarding the seat, as far as when the appointment occurs in this case?

Can it be challenged in court? Is it up to the senate?

allegro

09-20-2020, 03:44 PM

Article II, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution provides that the President shall appoint officers of the United States “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate.”

This includes the SCOTUS justices.

The arbiter as to "advise and consent of the Senate" is the Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell. HOWEVER, a "quorum" is necessary. You cannot move on to the hearings and then obtain "cloture" vote until you first have a quorum.

https://www.senate.gov/CRSpubs/74919ab6-b407-451c-b429-702e9ae8dcb1.pdf

No, none of this can be challenged in court.

See Hamilton Federalist 76 (https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed76.asp).

Article II, Section II

[The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

allegro

09-20-2020, 04:30 PM

I keep singing "My Shot" from Hamilton throughout all of this.

I especially love this version at the White House, with the Obamas head-bopping

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEHKBckBcr4&list=RDJXZfXFNfkRk&index=2

bobbie solo

09-22-2020, 04:08 AM

It's time for Democrats to stop with the propriety and hand-wringing and time for them to go scorched earth the second they have even a morsel of control back.The majority of Americans are NOT Trumpers (popular vote has proven this), but you wouldn't know it by looking at the way our election system works, and that's by Republican design.

No forgiveness, no compromise. Republicans have been fucking Dems for ages, and it's time for them to fuck back.

Dem leadership could go scorched earth right now, but have already indicated they won't. Pelosi has taken refusing to pass a budget/raise the debt ceiling off the table (meaning she refuses to work on either in the House unless the nomination is delayed), Biden said Saturday he's against packing the court, Feinstein said she is against removing the filibuster. No mention of bringing new impeachment charges against Trump, which would take precedence over confirmation hearings and delay the whole confirmation process by months in both houses. No riling up the base to get in the streets/perform civil disobedience against this move by McConnell, etc. Yes some of these things are dirty tricks, but thats what is needed to combat these monster reactionaries that are all that's left in the Republican party. All they understand is power. Fight fire with fire. But no...we just get more hand wringing, empty threats and spineless bullshit from these absolute ZEROS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTTllyv_zNM&ab_channel=U.S.SenatorChrisCoo ns

WAKE UP ASSHOLE. GET IN THE FUCKING GAME. THERE IS NO ONE ON THE OTHER SIDE THAT YOU CAN MOVE ON THIS WITH YOUR WORDS.

Democrats....paid to lose. #rEsIsTaNcE...spare me.

onthewall2983

09-22-2020, 11:55 AM

https://youtu.be/Qyc-byWM9CQ

Deacon Blackfire

09-22-2020, 04:00 PM

(extremely accurate rant)

I wish this wasn't so on point. But it really is.

Protests aren't going to stop the Republicans from rushing this through in a matter of weeks. The only people who have any ability at all to jam up the process and slow their charge through bureaucratic shenanigans are our elected officials, and yet they seem content to do the whole "you're better than this, Republicans" shuffle and not get serious about using every inch they have. "Because, well, if we packed the courts and added new states, why, Republicans would never forget us playing dirty and never give us a break again!" Except they never give us breaks. They never do. Compromise in this country as long as I have lived means "stepping to the right" and honoring the horseshit gentleman's agreement style niceties of political bureaucracy, that Republicans have never been anything less than eager to stomp on, has won our side no meaningful political victories.

All the "WE CAN'T RUN TOO LEFT OR WE'LL ALIENATE CENTRISTS AND RIGHT WINGERS" rhetoric is pointless, a trap designed by centrist Democrats to disguise the reality of their timidity - namely, that they are Republican-lite assholes who have no interest in anything other than superficial reform. Their commitment to their self-interest - and the Trojan horse "we'll lose if we got too far left" vehicle they hide it within - has had devastating results for the party. They have alienated and turned away such a large portion of what could have been an unstoppable political coalition, all while making their easily exploited weakness against the right obvious to Republicans. I mean Obama had a majority early on and could have forced some things (and he should have), but instead he spent basically his entire presidency genuflecting to Republicans and trying to include them and demonstrate how very adult and non-partisan he was, to the extent that it handicapped the effectiveness and worthiness of his accomplishments like the ACA (once billed as the first step toward universal healthcare, now used as an excuse for NOT pursuing universal healthcare). And it gained him nothing with Republicans. They still billed his very status quo friendly presidency an un-American, totalitarian nightmare and cosplayed as rag-tag resistance fighting back against...something. And they always will, no matter how far people (wrongly) go trying to meet them halfway. For the love of God, our Democratic candidate is fucking Joe Biden, one of the more Republican-adjacent Democrats you are likely to find, and even still, in the eyes of Republicans and Republican media? "Too far left." "Socialist." They say this about JOE BIDEN - they'll say it about anyone we run.

High time people (especially Democrats) accepted that Republicans have no ideology, they only have rhetoric as a means to an end. Demonstrating their hypocrisy means nothing to them. There's no point playing nice with them, ever - they will never, ever give us an inch, no matter how "nice" we are to them.

https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1308449791215628290

Fat chance though. One of the responses I've seen Pelosi give to the question of "what are you going to do (about the Supreme Court)" was essentially "you all need to get out and vote." Always our responsibility to vote for them, never their responsibility to fight for us.

Sorry to be so doom and gloom but I mean...this is where we are, and we're pretty much fucked. When I think of the Democrats, I think of the scene in Alien where Ash asks Ripley what he can do, and she hisses back, "Just what you've been doing, Ash - nothing."

GulDukat

09-22-2020, 04:37 PM

Romney backs vote on Supreme Court nominee, clearing way for Trump (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/22/romney-supports-holding-a-vote-on-next-supreme-court-nominee-419898?fbclid=IwAR1r5OgZtL7X3LHDiKlUVAXuvbAACjoO24 U1QY6y_JXn88broy2SzGGxkOQ)

burnmotherfucker!

09-22-2020, 05:41 PM

Well I thought Romney would be the only republican holdout when all was said and done. Not because he's a good person but because Trump absolutely embarrassed him in 2016. I was wrong. It turns out he's a shit eating knob gobbler like the rest of them.

I really don't think the dems do have any recourse for action here sadly. Corporate republican controlled theocracy for the rest of my lifetime incoming. The supreme court is such a big deal because of the lifetime appointment situation. I've been saying stacking the court won't happen, but the more I think about it the more I think they should. It will backfire eventually for sure because dems never hold the senate for long, but at this point what is there to lose? How many lifetimes are going to be ruined by appointees of presidents who lost the election but won the electoral college?

Sebek

09-22-2020, 10:26 PM

This is so fucking depressing. It's not going to happen overnight but they're going to slowly chip away at Roe v Wade until there's not much left of it. My one year old daughter is going to have her choices on how to manage her body removed by the time she's an adult. By these scumbag hypocrites who play by no rules and whose words are hollow and meaningless. The coming seismic shift in the court alignment will last a full generation and I'll be retired before it might turn around. Someone tell me something positive. Tell me there's real reason for hope somewhere. I keep telling myself that Biden will win, that the Dems will take the Senate, that they'll have the balls to kill the filibuster and pack the court, but it seems like so much has to break the right way that it'll never happen.

Wretchedest

09-22-2020, 11:17 PM

How many times are we going to keep electing politicians that *let themselves get played*

Deacon Blackfire

09-22-2020, 11:59 PM

As long as the hopelessly outdated and out-of-touch gatekeepers of the Democratic party hold onto the reins with their clammy old hands.

versusreality

09-23-2020, 05:58 AM

two Godflesh album titles come to mind:
"The New Dark Ages"
and
"A World Lit Only by Fire"

sweeterthan

09-23-2020, 09:45 AM

As long as the hopelessly outdated and out-of-touch gatekeepers of the Democratic party hold onto the reins with their clammy old hands.

unfortunately i agree. people love to applaud pelosi but she’s been disappointing to me for months. trump has openly admitted to criminal activities, we’ve had multiple whistle blowers, and plenty of evidence that he’s medaling with the election and what has she done? some interviews where she doesn’t make much sense and seemingly has no plan to deal with the aforementioned issues.

i’ve read several post about keeping up the fight since RGB died but it’s hard to remain positive when it seems the gop and trump get away with forcing their agendas.

M1ke

09-23-2020, 12:27 PM

Lets say the democrats take back both the white house and the senate in November, and then decide to pack the court in response to what the republican have done. What does that change? It gets you a few years of decency, but the republicans would take it back again at some other point in the future, and just over-pack it back their way.

And enough people believe and vote republican, that you can't just tell them all to go fuck themselves. But they also won't work with anyone else in any kind of constructive way. Your country works best if people can get along, and can find compromises and take care of each other, but the country isn't doing that.

But Trump has moved the needle from the point where two candidates both said they wanted what was best for the country but just had very different views of what was best, to one of schoolyard bullying and name-calling. And he did so by personifying the worst qualities of America. And showed the republicans that they too can demonstrate the worst qualities of America, and still hold on to power.

Trump successfully demonstrated that accountability in government isn't real. The republicans learned that from him and are no longer even trying to pretend to take a moral high ground, or to be the path of consistency. They're showing their true colours, and Trump is showing them that power grabs are fine in politics as long as you are grabbing it from people who aren't straight white men.

Packing the court isn't going to change anything. The only thing that fixes this problem is real accountability in the government, and the only way that's going to happen is if voters give republicans swift and brutal defeat at the ballot box this year. That's the only way, because (as Trump has made abundantly clear) this is the only form of accountability that exists in government.

allegro

09-23-2020, 02:47 PM

RBG should have retired during the Obama administration. She had cancer FOUR times. I loved RBG, she's meant a lot to women, a LOT. But taking the risks that she did by hanging in there for as long as she did helped nobody but the other side.

The only possible good thing that could come out of this is that the Dems get a supermajority, and pass a lot of legislation.

Ultimately, the Judicial branch does NOT legislate. But the Legislative - state and federal - has been using the Judicial as a Legislative branch for decades. Because the Legislative is rancorous. That needs to end. The Judicial has been used like this for many decades. The Judicial has no enforcement abilities. The Legislative MUST start doing its job.

And, yeah, RBG should have retired in, like, 2010.

The majority of CONGRESS are just like Pelosi; only a relatively small portion of Congress is progressive (left or right). The VOTERS put all those people in Congress where they are.

Any of this shit you're seeing now is because of VOTERS.

Swykk

09-23-2020, 03:04 PM

richardp

09-24-2020, 12:19 PM

What of these ideas I’m seeing where the Democrats tie up the Senate by impeaching Barr and/or Trump again for any of the myriad of nonsense they’ve pulled? Is that a thing that would work and get us through the election?

If it’s possible, they should do it. Fuck these GOP hypocrite pieces of trash.

It makes sense to me. They all can't attend two hearings at the same time, and one takes precedence over the other so at best, it's a move to delay the nomination until after the election, at worst it's just a another stupid thing we try to do that fails and the GOP takes it and spins the shit out of it in their favor.

At least that's how I see it.

allegro

09-24-2020, 01:39 PM

McConnell wouldn’t start the process, they wouldn’t get cloture.

They’ll get their SCOTUS justice. Because they have a President and the Senate. That’s the way it works.

This is THE most important part of elections.

Not legislation.

Not healthcare.

Not college.

Not minimum wage.

But a justice who’ll be interpreting law for their LIFETIME, over GENERATIONS.

Thomas has been there since 1991.

Gorsuch is 53.

Kavanaugh is 55.

Amy Coney Barrett is 48.

Coney Barrett is allegedly tied to a religious group that’s like The Handmaid’s Tale.

The GOOD news is that Alito is 70.

Thomas is 72.

Scalia died at 79.

But ... Kennedy retired at 82.

Deacon Blackfire

09-24-2020, 02:01 PM

Because Kennedy is an enormous piece of shit. Imagine watching Trump getting elected, getting to appoint a Supreme Court justice that wasn't his to appoint, and thinking, "this seems like a good time to retire." Fuck that guy forever.

I told my very outspokenly liberal half-sister and brother-in-law that I fucking hate Pelosi, that I've never much cared for her milquetoast appeasement and white centrist shit, and they looked at me like I had just put on a balaclava and hurled a malatov cocktail into someone's hybrid SUV because it could have been an electric subcompact.

Long way to go. And thanks to this, and what seems like a certainty that the Democrats we have on offer won't have the balls or power to do shit about it, this is the rest of my life. I will be dead before we emerge from the dark ages.

Unfortunately establishment Democrats have done an exceptionally good job convincing a sizable portion of comfortable liberal voters that their snail-paced, feeble political utility is somehow borne of necessity and pragmatism, that it isn't a product of their general comfort with right-leaning ideology. It doesn't need to be their way, and in fact doing things "their way" is why we can run against the worst people in the world and still lose. And yet, they remain the gatekeepers, and remain committed to their ineffectual ways, out of pigheaded ignorance or myopic self-interest.

And I can hardly blame you for despairing, over this being the rest of your life. Just turned thirty back in June - I'm not an impressive person and I haven't done nearly as much with my life as I would like to, but I have a roof over my head and enough financial security to live without worrying about food, and for that I consider myself very fortunate. None of that stops the deep surge of dread when I think about the future. The situation our government is in and heading towards is nightmarish enough, but it's when I factor in climate change, that's when I start wondering if I'll even make it to fifty. It has never been given its due, by society, as the looming existential threat it is. Even Obama's environmental policies and commitments were woefully inadequate to successfully combat its severity, and now under Trump we've gone full tilt in the opposite direction. At this point the most devastating consequences are locked in eventualities, and the result will be a slow motion collapse that changes human life forever. We've been good at turning a blind eye to it, but when agriculture utterly collapses and entire fisheries disappear, I don't see any way that the social fabric doesn't just give way.

The most vulnerable will be the most harmed. And the people who stand the best change to escape the climate apocalypse are the wealthy and powerful who disproportionately polluted our Earth the most, who had the greatest ability to stop this from happening.

Sorry to divert from the topic. It's just...hard to feel like we weren't born to lose.

richardp

09-24-2020, 02:22 PM

Coney Barrett is allegedly tied to a religious group that’s like The Handmaid’s Tale.

I just looked this up and yeah it sure seems like she is. It's called "People of Praise" and this tidbit is found on their Wikipedia page:

The highest office a woman can hold in the community is "woman leader" (formerly "handmaid"). Women leaders "teach women on womanly affairs, give advice, help in troubled situations" and lead specialized women's activities. The term handmaiden was chosen in 1971 as a reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who in the Bible described herself as a "handmaid of the Lord" or a woman who is close to God. The community teaches that husbands are the head of the household as well as the spiritual head of their wives. While it emphasizes traditional gender roles, the organization encourages women to pursue higher education and employment.

allegro

09-24-2020, 02:56 PM

Because Kennedy is an enormous piece of shit.

Who was the only swing vote for decades.

Establishment Democrats which is the vast majority of Congress, because the vast majority of voters put them there, because of a rancorous obstructionist Congress that's been there since before Reagan.

The "Reid" action that is referenced by McConnell (minority vote for Federal judges, or nuclear) was due to the Republicans obstructing the approval of EVERY single federal court nominee for over two years. This was literally HUNDREDS of Federal justices.

Pelosi was Speaker from 2007–2011 and from 2019-now. She was minority leader from 2011–2019. There is nothing Pelosi can do about this. Nothing. There is nothing in the Constitution that affords the House ANY remedy, here. Just attempts that won't work, and will make them look like idiots. They will move the King directly into the path of the Queen. Checkmate.

This, here, what we are witnessing might very well be the complete breakdown of the entire system, the republic. We have an Authoritarian in the White House, we have Republicans in Congress who are fully on board with that Authoritarian being in power and remaining in power, we have those Republicans appointing Federalist jurists - over 225 of them - specifically to uphold this authoritarian system. And, without a huge tsunami of votes to rid the system of these Republicans and Trump, there is nothing to be done about it. The system will be this way for the unforeseeable future. For generations. The Democrats have been outvoted in HUGE numbers by Republicans, in the House largely by gerrymandering and in the Senate largely by racism.

The Republicans are using stuff like "Medicare for All" and “Black Lives Matter” as commie boogie men to energize their masses behind them and they fully intend on maintaining power forever. For them, the ACA was "radical.” If they have to have an authoritarian government to get what they want, they’ll do it. The Trump voters, with "Law and Order" and "MAGA" and "America First" are fully on board with this idea.

It's not exaggerating when this is compared to 1930s Germany.

You don't like what you see? At this point in time, the only thing Americans citizens can do is vote. There is no Constitutional fix for this problem other than voting. Although, that won’t stop the Republicans from creating a majority-conservative SCOTUS. It’s too late to stop that.

Swykk

09-24-2020, 07:17 PM

allegro

09-24-2020, 07:44 PM

Okay, I was just reading these suggestions and looking to see how viable they were because, yes, we should all vote and you know I’m going to for sure but I’m certain you’ve also seen where that orange diaper baby is plotting ways to stay in power even if he loses. I just thought it was worth bringing up those ideas because without a majority on the SC, it would be more difficult for him to pull off his scheme(s).

Yup, that’s where we are, now.

Voting en masse is the only option, because it’s far too late for any other option. The only option was Dems winning in 2016, and that's over.

There are no “suggestions” that are viable. No more options. These tricks that are mentioned simply aren't possible, because the Senate doesn't have to hold hearings on those impeachment tricks people think are possible. Hearings aren't required, McConnell can simply file and gavel a Motion to Dismiss.

If voting with a MASSIVE takedown of Trump via the Electoral College plus an overwhelming Democratic takeover of Congress doesn’t occur, the whole DEMOCRACY is over. Done. It has to be massive so that a recount is beyond possible and there is no question as to legitimacy. If it’s close, it’s over.

As far as packing the SCOTUS, The Judiciary Act of 1869 set the number of Justices at nine; Congress (House and Senate) would need an overwhelming majority to pass another Act to revise THAT Act. Democrats might not even flip the Senate in 2020.

Typically, over 50% of eligible voters don’t bother voting in every election.

There are reports indicating that many Democrats are so demoralized and depressed about Trump’s blatant threats to cheat and steal the election that these voters don’t feel like voting because it “won’t matter, anyway.”

I pray that’s not the case.

allegro

09-24-2020, 09:37 PM

lmao I can't even get real about the fact I don't think I'm gonna make it past fifty in the climate change ravaged world we've got coming without getting aggressively talked down to by the Democratic defense league. and I thought I was depressed before!

that's all for me folks, why the fuck do I even bother.
Dude, I’m not even a Democrat. And that wasn’t wholly addressed at you. One or two lines were. I don’t believe that Democrats aren’t on board with doing something about climate change, but that’s drift in the SCOTUS thread.

I’m just as depressed as you are. We all are.

This is the SCOTUS thread. There is nothing unconstitutional or illegal occurring right now. It’s too late to fix this. The 2016 election determined this outcome.

And, there is also no guarantee that a majority conservative SCOTUS will toe Trump’s line in all instances; Roberts is the Chief Justice. He doesn’t even have to accept a Writ in the instance of an alleged “election dispute.”

We’ve HAD a conservative SCOTUS court many times in the past. They don’t last if Dems last 2 terms in the WH and are in the Senate. Thomas and Alito are old, Thomas wants to retire.

GulDukat

09-25-2020, 04:59 PM

Trump Selects Amy Coney Barrett to Fill Ginsburg’s Seat on the Supreme Court (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/25/us/politics/amy-coney-barrett-supreme-court.html)

ETA--looks like it's not 100% confirmed, but looking like it will be her.

Jinsai

09-25-2020, 06:06 PM

it's gonna be her, unless they find some horrifying skeleton in her closet during this rushed vetting process.

zero

09-25-2020, 06:23 PM

it's gonna be her, unless they find some horrifying skeleton in her closet during this rushed vetting process.

Everyone has a closet full of skeletons. It's the imperfect nature of human existence. We all have flaws. And the magnitude of the flaws we harbor is subject to interpretation. But she sure seems young for filling this position. Much younger than I am, although I suppose that no longer has much relevance. Her age could portend a very long tenure.

Jinsai

09-25-2020, 07:35 PM

Everyone has a closet full of skeletons. It's the imperfect nature of human existence. We all have flaws. And the magnitude of the flaws we harbor is subject to interpretation. But she sure seems young for filling this position. Much younger than I am, although I suppose that no longer has much relevance. Her age could portend a very long tenure.

That's the appeal... it's why she's so young, and Kavanaugh was young too. It's not a coincidence. You'll be living with these decisions for the rest of your life.

"BUT I WANTED TO SAY THAT I DIDN'T LIKE HILLARY! AND SHE HAD EMAILS OR SOMETHING!!!!! BENGHAZI!!!!!"

allegro

09-25-2020, 10:15 PM

Justice Kagan was appointed to the SCOTUS at 50.

Justice Sotomayor was appointed to the SCOTUS at 55.

Volk

09-26-2020, 04:42 AM

god motherfucking jesus shit dicks damnit fuck.

GulDukat

09-26-2020, 07:54 AM

I think that our best hope at this point is that more Supreme Court Justices are added to offset the 6-3 super majority that the conservatives are about to have. Let's hope for a massive blue-wave in November.

VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!

Jinsai

09-26-2020, 10:23 AM

Justice Kagan was appointed to the SCOTUS at 50.

Justice Sotomayor was appointed to the SCOTUS at 55.

Same strategy, same reasoning behind it. You don't nominate a very old Justice for that reason. I think RBG was 60 when she was appointed?

All I'm saying is that I am hearing way too many people underestimating the importance of the Supreme Court, just like they did in 2016, and they're these idealists whining into the void about the impotency of incrementalism... If Hillary FUCKING Clinton was elected, we at least wouldn't be looking at this aspect to the insanity.

allegro

09-26-2020, 10:58 AM

Same strategy, same reasoning behind it. You don't nominate a very old Justice for that reason. I think RBG was 60 when she was appointed?

All I'm saying is that I am hearing way too many people underestimating the importance of the Supreme Court, just like they did in 2016, and they're these idealists whining into the void about the impotency of incrementalism... If Hillary FUCKING Clinton was elected, we at least wouldn't be looking at this aspect to the insanity.

Yup, absolutely.

GulDukat

09-26-2020, 11:12 AM

Jinsai

09-26-2020, 11:38 AM

she's got Michelle Bachmann eyes... yeah, I'm not feeling this.

sweeterthan

09-26-2020, 11:40 AM

she's got Michelle Bachmann eyes... yeah, I'm not feeling this.

i try not to judge based on looks but i see what you’re saying.

ltrandazzo

09-27-2020, 09:48 AM

I'm not going to share that fucking Notorious ACB shirt, but my god, what a thirsty fucking clown thing to do. We gotta get as many of these fuckers out of office as we can.

allegate

09-29-2020, 05:10 PM

Everyone has a closet full of skeletons. It's the imperfect nature of human existence. We all have flaws. And the magnitude of the flaws we harbor is subject to interpretation. But she sure seems young for filling this position. Much younger than I am, although I suppose that no longer has much relevance. Her age could portend a very long tenure.
Is it any weirder than appointing a Chief Justice? I seem to recall that being a point of contention.

https://twitter.com/ryanbernsten/status/1309966319027212294?s=20

Jinsai

09-29-2020, 05:56 PM

well, while on one hand I think a SCOTUS nominee should be able to pronounce "poignant," I am not gonna die on that hill

GulDukat

10-13-2020, 08:20 PM

Amy Coney Barrett refuses to answer whether presidents should commit to a peaceful transfer of power. (https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/amy-coney-barrett-refuses-to-answer-whether-presidents-should-commit-to-a-peaceful-transfer-of-power-93783621586?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_hb&fbclid=IwAR2U0JqwRlhB0kjzchJhBtnSds8MxqtUhopzGbpzM 52w5T_p5roDa0G48K0)

versusreality

10-13-2020, 08:34 PM

of course she doesn't commit.

she knows what she plans on doing.

probably part of the deal she struck when Trump "interviewed" her for the job.

really really hope there's a strong democrat voter turnout in texas and florida. I don't trust the governors of either state and expect some bs to happen.

onthewall2983

10-17-2020, 11:23 AM

https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/121545003_3726145274064708_226026765026869475_n.jp g?_nc_cat=1&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=T1MDaRpGKOAAX9DjI8u&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=e7618d523d5ebddbcfeb4623534cfc31&oe=5FB1BA5F

allegate

10-19-2020, 10:22 AM

https://twitter.com/ElieNYC/status/1318204330554646529?s=20

The most confusing thing I've read so far today.

botley

10-19-2020, 06:59 PM

1318322051690733569

Fucking finally. I hope this shit works!

hellospaceboy

10-27-2020, 08:40 AM

These fuckers did it...

cdm

10-27-2020, 08:59 AM

These fuckers did it...

Win presidency.
Win Senate.
Eliminate filibuster.
Expand to 13.
Force Breyer to retire.
DC & PR statehood.
Do it all in 2021. No waffling. Playing nice doesn't work anymore and that should be the party line and not some radical left <gasp!> <clutch pearls!> pipe dream. Do the above and ensure no GOP majority in the Senate for the foreseeable future. Only then can we start getting shit done.

allegate

10-27-2020, 02:26 PM

https://twitter.com/lindyli/status/1321129139701731328?s=20

allegro

10-27-2020, 10:45 PM

cdm

10-28-2020, 09:02 AM

I'll go further.

I'll allow it.

bobbie solo

11-03-2020, 02:56 AM

Win presidency.
Win Senate.
Eliminate filibuster.
Expand to 13.
Force Breyer to retire.
DC & PR statehood.
Do it all in 2021. No waffling. Playing nice doesn't work anymore and that should be the party line and not some radical left <gasp!> <clutch pearls!> pipe dream. Do the above and ensure no GOP majority in the Senate for the foreseeable future. Only then can we start getting shit done.

They will only POSSIBLY do the filibuster and DC & PR statehood. Current Dem leadership clearly does not have the will for court reform in any way. They are absolutely terrible and spineless. They could have blocked Barrett at least for the rest of the year, if not for good, and CHOSE not to do the aggressive tactics they could have employed to do so. Feckless, the lot of them. Schumer and Pelosi needed to be catapulted into the sun.

ltrandazzo

11-03-2020, 06:06 AM

They will only POSSIBLY do the filibuster and DC & PR statehood. Current Dem leadership clearly does not have the will for court reform in any way. They are absolutely terrible and spineless. They could have blocked Barrett at least for the rest of the year, if not for good, and CHOSE not to do the aggressive tactics they could have employed to do so. Feckless, the lot of them. Schumer and Pelosi needed to be catapulted into the sun.

They can’t even do statehood with the eliminated filibuster because the 6-3 conservative court will strike down every bit of legislation after the GOP challenges. Expand the court and rebalance it.

allegro

11-03-2020, 01:27 PM

The Senate Dems tried blocking Barrett. (The House can't do shit, they have zero Constitutional power re SCOTUS.)

The Senate Dems didn't show up for the vote, so the Senate wouldn't have quorum. The Republicans proceeded ANYWAY, without quorum. Which the Republicans did with Kavanaugh.

https://www.justsecurity.org/72521/senate-procedures-offer-no-hope-for-dems-on-supreme-court-nominee/

The time to block a Republican SCOTUS pick was the 2016 Presidential election.

burnmotherfucker!

11-04-2020, 06:20 PM

All this talk of stacking the court seems pretty unlikely now. This election is a shitshow. "We" now know there really is 1/2 of the country that is dumb/evil enough to want Trump after these 4 years. Also, if Biden wins and the republicans hold the senate it pretty much guarantees no Biden court appointee sees the bench. You think a 6-3 majority is bad? Wait til 2024 when Trump/his daughter runs again and wins the senate so they can go ahead and get a 9-0 majority.

burnmotherfucker!

11-04-2020, 06:49 PM

I really hope the senate goes blue, that would make things much easier. But nothing about this election makes me think dems will get enough turnout in 2022. And Trump isn't going to just go away like we're used to seeing with presidents. He realizes the power he has through social media. He will be louder than ever and while you and I may not care, his base isn't going anywhere. He will either run in 2024 or hand pick one of his family members to do it for him. Because of his ability to turn out voters, what's left of the republican party will allow it, they'll continue to bend over for him.

And the SC won't prevent a dem administration from passing legislation. But it will cripple them in that they wont be able to challenge any republican legislation thats been passed. And anything the dems do get done will easily be torn apart the next time republicans hold power. Not to mention they have two months now to strip healthcare with their stacked court. I hope I'm wrong about every bit of this.

botley

04-14-2021, 06:41 PM

Itshappening.gif https://theintercept.com/2021/04/14/house-and-senate-democrats-plan-bill-to-add-four-justices-to-supreme-court/

allegro

04-15-2021, 07:44 AM

Itshappening.gif https://theintercept.com/2021/04/14/house-and-senate-democrats-plan-bill-to-add-four-justices-to-supreme-court/

Not if Joe Manchin can help it.

allegate

09-13-2021, 12:10 PM

https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1437403962093842445

Breaking News: the world exhausted its supply of irony today.

allegate

09-27-2021, 09:47 AM

Sidney Powell Implicates Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, and Justice Alito In Plot To Overturn The Election (https://www.politicususa.com/2021/09/26/sidney-powell-implicates-kevin-mccarthy-steve-scalise-and-justice-alito-in-plot-to-overturn-the-election.html/amp?__twitter_impression=true)

Powell suggested that the plan was for the insurrection to delay certifying the election so that Trump’s lawyers could file a 12th Amendment case to overturn the election.

McCarthy and Scalise were trying to deny Pelosi the ability to file an amicus brief in the case.

allegro

09-27-2021, 10:24 AM

Whoa.

And Alito would be just the justice to do it.

otnavuskire

09-27-2021, 01:34 PM

Sidney Powell is a TERRIBLE source for information. It wouldn't surprise me if something like this were true, but no one should believe anything she says.

allegate

09-27-2021, 01:35 PM

True, but also she's in a freefall of "I'm going to say whatever I can to take as many of you with me as I can" so it's up in the air.

allegro

09-27-2021, 01:37 PM

Yeah!

allegate

10-15-2021, 09:36 AM

Biden Supreme Court commission opposes adding justices (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-supreme-court-commission-opposes-adding-justices/ar-AAPxwxH?ocid=uxbndlbing)

allegro

10-15-2021, 09:46 AM

Biden Supreme Court commission opposes adding justices (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-supreme-court-commission-opposes-adding-justices/ar-AAPxwxH?ocid=uxbndlbing)

I actually agree with this report.

Rotation or term limits is better.

Increase it, and we could end up with a bigger more conservative court. That’s not actual change. Rotation and/or term limits is actual change … DRAMATIC change that is really needed.

allegate

01-26-2022, 11:41 AM

Justice Stephen Breyer, an influential liberal on the Supreme Court, to retire (https://www.npr.org/2022/01/26/1075781724/justice-stephen-breyer-supreme-court-retires)

Countdown to asshole Republicans saying that Biden shouldn't be able to nominate someone because...fuck, they'll make some stupid argument up I'm sure.

GulDukat

01-26-2022, 01:19 PM

allegro

01-26-2022, 02:15 PM

My take:

Mitch McConnell will say that because it is an election year, Biden should wait until after the midterms before nominating a judge for the Supreme Court. Then he will say that there shouldn't be a nominee until after the next presidential election. McConnell is hoping to kick the can down the road until 2025, when he hopes that there is a Republican president.

Unless Biden nominates the electrified corpse of Abbie Hoffman, 48 Democrats and 2 Independents and the VP will approve of Biden's SCOTUS nomination. The End.

Biden will likely nominate a woman. Maybe a minority woman.

GulDukat

01-26-2022, 06:25 PM

Unless Biden nominates the electrified corpse of Abbie Hoffman, 48 Democrats and 2 Independents and the VP will approve of Biden's SCOTUS nomination. The End.

I'm not so sure.

allegro

01-26-2022, 07:25 PM

I'm not so sure.

How do you propose that McConnell stop the Dems from nominating a SCOTUS judge in the first year of a Presidency that’s not a PRESIDENTIAL election year? (Which has been McConnell’s previous excuse, although he didn’t care when he put in Coney Barrett IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR).

GulDukat

01-26-2022, 07:56 PM

How do you propose that McConnell stop the Dems from nominating a SCOTUS judge in the first year of a Presidency that’s not a PRESIDENTIAL election year? (Which has been McConnell’s previous excuse, although he didn’t care when he put in Coney Barrett IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR).

How Republicans Can Block Stephen Breyer’s Replacement (https://time.com/6142711/joe-biden-supreme-court-nominee-mitch-mcconnell-stephen-breyer/)

allegro

01-26-2022, 08:06 PM

How Republicans Can Block Stephen Breyer’s Replacement (https://time.com/6142711/joe-biden-supreme-court-nominee-mitch-mcconnell-stephen-breyer/)

Like I said, unless Biden nominates the electrified corpse of Abbie Hoffman …

SM Rollinger

01-26-2022, 10:10 PM

How do you propose that McConnell stop the Dems from nominating a SCOTUS judge in the first year of a Presidency that’s not a PRESIDENTIAL election year? (Which has been McConnell’s previous excuse, although he didn’t care when he put in Coney Barrett IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR).

He will come up with something and the spineless Dems will just go along with it.

elevenism

01-26-2022, 10:52 PM

What makes me sad about this whole SCOTUS 2.0: dystopian future version, is RBG.

You love her, I love her, we all love her. And, she couldn't predict the future.

But, had she retired in like 2014, well...

allegro

01-27-2022, 12:15 AM

He will come up with something and the spineless Dems will just go along with it.

Yeah okay. Sure.

Thanks for weighing in.

Wretchedest

01-27-2022, 12:33 AM

God why didn't rbg step down like ages ago. Pelosi running again at 81?! 81! Why do we have octogenarians in office at all live your life!

allegro

01-27-2022, 12:39 AM

Pelosi running again at 81?! 81! Why do we have octogenarians in office at all live your life!

I dunno. Good point. Likely because she’s afraid a Democratic challenger in her district might not win. Also, she’s a HUGE money-raiser. She has ways of raising shitloads of campaign funds for all Democrats. And she is pretty good at getting all the Dems to do the same thing in the House. Even the Republicans in the House aren’t doing that right now.

If the Dems win the House again, she may not run again (House terms are only 2 years at a time), but right now things are pretty fucking scary. The U.S. is on the brink of not being the U.S., anymore.

bobbie solo

02-04-2022, 01:45 AM

God why didn't rbg step down like ages ago. Pelosi running again at 81?! 81! Why do we have octogenarians in office at all live your life!

She was told to and refused. Obama was told to exert pressure on her to do so and refused also. They all thought historically unpopular Hillary Clinton was a 100% sure thing. The amount of hubris & lack of basic political strategy amongst Dem leadership is insane. Part. when you stack that against Mitch, who calculates his decisions for the Republican party literally decades ahead of time. Perfect example is the soon coming overturning of Roe, which he & others in charge of Republican strategy have been putting in place since the 80's.

Breyer only retired now b/c it helps sell his book that is about to come out. For real. Thats the reason for the timing right now...not b/c he's 1000 years old and could have a heart attavk at any moment. These people are ridiculous, corrupt ghouls who live on another planet. Guillotine all of them.

allegate

03-20-2022, 07:55 PM

Justice Clarence Thomas hospitalized 'after experiencing flu-like symptoms' (https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/20/politics/clarence-thomas-hospitalized/index.html)

"May he receive all the support he wished on others."
Cold but I can't see the lie.

allegate

03-28-2022, 11:58 AM

https://twitter.com/Popehat/status/1507140011266699285

Patrick_Nicholas

04-07-2022, 02:07 PM

Ketanji Brown Jackson has officially been confirmed! Thanks to a grand total of three Republicans.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/07/ketanji-brown-jackson-confirmation-us-supreme-court

EDIT: I just now noticed that no one here said anything about KBJ having been nominated in the first place.

otnavuskire

05-02-2022, 08:44 PM

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473

Fuck

Space Suicide

05-02-2022, 09:41 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHRaUUlD00w

Even 25 years later he says it best, even with comedy.

buzburbank

05-02-2022, 10:06 PM

The most compelling question about abortion is not whether it will be criminalized (I suspect it will, at least in some places), but rather, how criminally culpable are women, partners, providers, enablers, etc.? While uniformly in favor of 'outlawing abortion,' I don't recall having heard people who are pro-life or anti-Roe articulate satisfactorily what the proper penalty should be upon conviction. Are we talking probation or fines, the proverbial scarlet letter, imprisonment, death (however ironic)? And really isn't that the ultimate question? A group of only nine judges appear to be delegating that authority to hundreds (if not thousands) of state court judges. And isn't the inevitable (and vast) disparity in treatment going to be the next constitutional battleground? The slippery slope would be lousy grounds for upholding a decision that is otherwise (*according to some*) fatally flawed, for sure, but a predictable outcome nonetheless?

Food for thought, on a most interesting night in US jurisprudence and politics.

allegro

05-02-2022, 10:48 PM

A group of only nine judges appear to be delegating that authority to hundreds (if not thousands) of state court judges.

Really, state legislation. Which would spell out punishment. And judges adhere to that legislation (and sentencing guidelines provided in the legislation).

buzburbank

05-02-2022, 10:57 PM

Really, state legislation. Which would spell out punishment. And judges adhere to that legislation (and sentencing guidelines provided in the legislation).

Obviously, but "guidelines" and ranges do not preclude disparate application. See, e.g., ALL OF CRIMINAL LAW.

burnmotherfucker!

05-03-2022, 04:15 AM

It's insane to me that the right is framing this as giving back states' rights that were taken away from the evil federal government that wants to take freedom away.

Yeah, how does that even compute? State level politicians now get to legislate this to all the citizens living in their districts. And that's supposed to be what a free country looks like? As opposed to one that leaves that shit between, you know, doctors and patients?

versusreality

05-03-2022, 04:20 AM

this country is screwed

Volk

05-03-2022, 05:14 AM

Oh, so its up to individual states to decide what rights people have? Looking forward to applying that to gun ownership.

chuckrh

05-03-2022, 05:26 AM

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473

Fuck
Ya. We're so fucked. Tip of the iceberg.

allegro

05-03-2022, 05:50 AM

Oh, so its up to individual states to decide what rights people have? Looking forward to applying that to gun ownership.

Are you being intentionally ironic? The vast majority of gun laws already ARE determined by state laws.

https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/20047.jpeg

sweeterthan

05-03-2022, 05:57 AM

i wish i had the bandwidth to type something meaningful here but all i can say is fuck this shit. this country is a landfill.

Deacon Blackfire

05-03-2022, 08:04 AM

No sugarcoating this monstrous bullshit. It's a horrific day for this country and especially all people who are capable of conceiving children, cis-women and otherwise. I can only imagine how terrifying it is to be in that position and I'm so deeply sorry that our country is fucked up enough to force that on us. And meanwhile the right is having a meltdown about the SCOTUS leak like it's worse than January 6th, proving that they will get everything they want while still behaving as if they are the aggrieved, oppressed party in this scenario. Disgusting.

chuckrh

05-03-2022, 08:10 AM

I think the conservatives want to breed more serfs & cannon fodder for the corporate oligarchy.

allegate

05-03-2022, 08:52 AM

if there were ever a thing to get people fired up about it's this. and months before the midterms? I wonder just how badly they misjudged this release timing.

ekrekel

05-03-2022, 09:38 AM

Republicans:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EW_OfKOWAAACf5z.jpg
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F539376 492841563301%2F&psig=AOvVaw1XT3SMl9yzPdiLQuxTfMMP&ust=1651674899799000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAwQjRxqFwoTCNjju8_Gw_cCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

GulDukat

05-03-2022, 10:02 AM

Five of these assholes were nominated by presidents who lost the popular vote. This is going to be a disaster.

Millions of poor women in red states are going to face great hardships.

allegate

05-03-2022, 10:35 AM

https://twitter.com/johnkruzel/status/1521508763861192706

once again more concerned with the fact it got out than the fact they're fucking monsters.

sweeterthan

05-03-2022, 10:37 AM

https://twitter.com/johnkruzel/status/1521508763861192706

once again more concerned with the fact it got out than the fact they're fucking monsters.

i will donate to the leaker’s defense.

allegate

05-03-2022, 10:43 AM

I would absolutely love for the leaker to be one of the Justices themselves. Like, Thomas was so excited about this that he shared it with his hateful wife and she just had to let others know of this great 'win' for Republicans.

SM Rollinger

05-03-2022, 10:50 AM

I think the conservatives want to breed more serfs & cannon fodder for the corporate oligarchy.

Unwanted children and unplanned pregnancies have long been used to stifle class mobility.

allegate

05-03-2022, 10:53 AM

breaking news: pearls have been properly clutched

https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1521492230824939524

edit:

https://twitter.com/RBraceySherman/status/1521455449500966918

allegate

05-03-2022, 02:30 PM

https://twitter.com/jonathanwpeters/status/1521309806430236672

interesting thread about past leaks.

Cookster426

05-03-2022, 04:29 PM

Five of these assholes were nominated by presidents who lost the popular vote. This is going to be a disaster.

Millions of poor women in red states are going to face great hardships.

If Larry Flynt were alive he'd refer them as four assholes and one token c***

allegro

05-03-2022, 05:32 PM

GulDukat

05-03-2022, 09:54 PM

I'd settle for one ten-year term for each Justice.

Use Your Illusion II was the number one album the month Thomas was confirmed.

burnmotherfucker!

05-03-2022, 10:26 PM

The SCOTUS is now polluted, it’s trash, it’s crony. It’s worthless. It’s no more “important” than any state Supreme Court (elected positions that aren’t lifetime appointments).

We need a Constitutional Amendment to rotate SCOTUS judges from federal circuit courts and not hold them in reverence.

It’d be even nicer if we VOTED for SCOTUS judges from a pool of Federal judges every, say, 10 years; this per a Constitutional amendment.

The government and the judiciary needs to represent the people. SCOTUS now represents crony capitalism and secret societies and dark money.

It’s all trash. It needs a reboot.

Then maybe while we are at it, we can rid ourselves of that stupid Electoral College.

I agree that this shit is out of hand now. But I think it's also important to look at how differently the right is reading this right now. This is all many of them have ever wanted for their entire political lives. It's why the republicans got into bed with huckster preachers in the 80s and sank their teeth in to the congregations using this as a single issue. "See nice church folks, the democrats want to kill babies, don't you think Jesus would vote for us instead of them." And it WORKED, probably better than any political strategy in history. I grew up in these churches, I know their mentality like the back of my hand. The more upset the left becomes over this (rightfully so), the more they will enjoy it. Make NO mistake, this is their championship.

This will bring out the left in the midterms (god I hope it does, at least) but it will also bring out the right. They will remind the base that they were able to finally win the battle and give them what they want but they will also warn that it will be taken away if those pesky baby killers are allowed back into power.

As if this country isn't already on a steep decline. Something like this, the more I think about it, could actually crumble what little is left of democracy.

And getting rid of lifetime appointments and the electoral college? Yeah, sure, thats totally doable when Biden with a dem majority in the house and senate can't even pass the most basic of shit. I'm not holding my breath.

allegro

05-03-2022, 11:08 PM

I As if this country isn't already on a steep decline. Something like this, the more I think about it, could actually crumble what little is left of democracy.

And getting rid of lifetime appointments and the electoral college? Yeah, sure, thats totally doable when Biden with a dem majority in the house and senate can't even pass the most basic of shit. I'm not holding my breath.

Obviously not at this very moment,

But, moments like these have tended to get liberal voters to the polls.

burnmotherfucker!

05-03-2022, 11:35 PM

Obviously not at this very moment,

But, moments like these have tended to get liberal voters to the polls.

I know what you mean. Maybe I am perhaps being overly cynical. But when the deck is this stacked...

I just try not to get my hopes up is all. I pretty much expect to watch the end of the country in the back half of my life at this point.

allegro

05-04-2022, 12:10 AM

I know what you mean. Maybe I am perhaps being overly cynical. But when the deck is this stacked...

I just try not to get my hopes up is all. I pretty much expect to watch the end of the country in the back half of my life at this point.

You know who wrote the Casey SCOTUS decision? The decision that modified Roe but also upheld it?

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, and a Reagan appointee.

You know who appointed Justice Kennedy, who was a swing vote for much of his time during the Roberts court, voted in favor of Casey, and wrote four major gay rights opinions (Romer v. Evans, Lawrence v. Texas, United States v. Windsor, and Obergefell v. Hodges)? Ronald Reagan.

You know who is the only current / remaining SCOTUS justice who was serving when Casey was heard, and who voted against it and vowed to get rid of it ever since?

Clarence Thomas

Thomas was totally inexperienced and a radical right conservative, nominated by George HW Bush.

You know who Thomas REPLACED?

JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL, a civil rights icon!!

Wanna know the Senate vote on Thomas?

Voting yes were 11 Democrats and 41 Republicans.
Voting no were 46 Democrats and 2 Republicans.

Do the math.

burnmotherfucker!

05-04-2022, 12:16 AM

You know who wrote the Casey SCOTUS decision? The decision that modified Roe but also upheld it?

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, and a Reagan appointee.

You know who appointed Justice Kennedy, who was a swing vote for much of his time during the Roberts court, voted in favor of Casey, and wrote four major gay rights cases (Romer v. Evans, Lawrence v. Texas, United States v. Windsor, and Obergefell v. Hodges)? Ronald Reagan.

You know who is the only current / remaining SCOTUS justice who was serving when Casey was heard, and who voted against it and how vowed to try to get rid of it ever since?

Clarence Thomas

Thomas was totally inexperienced and a radical right conservative, nominated by George HW Bush.

You know who Thomas REPLACED?

JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL, a civil rights icon!!

Wanna know the Senate vote on Thomas?

Voting yes were 11 Democrats and 41 Republicans.
Voting no were 46 Democrats and 2 Republicans.

Do the math.

So, conservatives are moving farther away from sanity while democrats continually damage their own chances at power? Because thats how I read it.

Wretchedest

05-04-2022, 02:13 AM

It strikes me how easy it was for Republicans to achieve most of what they wanted with just a president and the house of representatives. We have the executive and legislative branches entirely and can achieve absolutely nothing and it feels like we are really on the ropes. This is war now. They're coming to our bedrooms to tell us how to fuck. It's crazy. No one in power will stand up to the..

elevenism

05-04-2022, 08:23 AM

This is minority rule. Americans support roe like 70/30.

It all about the evangelical right and their incestuous relationship with the Republican party.
These fucking christian dominionist extremist groups are INSANE. They want a THEOCRACY, literally.The problem is, they're also INSANELY well organized and INSANELY influential.
And they've been planning this shit for decades. It's hard to put an exact date on the beginning of this.
Falwell got things rolling with his first anti abortion sermon in like 78.
But I think Reagan attending the Religious Roundtable in Dallas in 1980 was the true birth of this fucking unholy marriage of church and state: that's the one where the televangelist guy gave the rousing speech on how disgusted he was with "commies and perverts coming out of the closet" to a basketball stadium full of angry, influential lunatics.
And then, old Ronnie said something like "You can't officially endorse me, but I endorse you!"
And then, they were off to the races.
Countless evangelical and dominionist think tanks and lobbying groups sprung up and flourished, and have continued to do so to this day.
Extremists moved from the shadows to the senate.
We got both Bushes.
Preachers started giving sermons on politics, to the point that a LOT of them these days MOSTLY talk about politics.
I've long thought trump was partially just a useful idiot to get those judges in.
PENCE, though...pence as running mate was no accident. He was chosen to seal the deal with the hardcore evangelical voting bloc. Pence was a walking dog whistle.

And, HERE WE FUCKING ARE. Radical Christians spent 40 years finger fucking our political system, power hungry moderate Republican leaders took their money and advanced pieces of their agenda (while largely not really GIVING a fuck about any of it), poor people voted AGAINST themselves fiscally because their crazy preacher said to, partisan supreme court picks blatantly lied to us and ignored legal precedent, and now, it's Welcome to Handmaid's Tale Land!

Also, yes, RvW should have been enshrined/codified into law when we had that supermajority. And RBG should have retired, god love her.

Oh, and didn't like ALL of the current conservative judges say or at least insinuate that Roe and Casey were settled? Yeah, fuck those people.

It won't stop here if we don't fight back HARD. Maybe this galvanizes the left, and the red wave I fear is quelled.

But I could damn sure see a full on abortion ban in the US come 2024.
And then they'll go for birth control and marriage rights.
We could definitely move backwards on race, too, because I know most of you aren't into theology, but I can tell you that a LOT of these eerie "evangelical" fucks believe that white Europeans are LITERALLY the twelve tribes of Israel. So, white Noah, Moses, Abraham, Jesus.

These are the "christians" you SHOULD be afraid of.

It's years of watching THIS shit, and a Democratic party with no TEETH, that caused my wife and I to attempt to find a way to leave the US not in 2016, but 2013.

Fuuuck me, though. I foolishly thought Roe was safe, at least for.now.

allegate

05-04-2022, 10:10 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJCGAA4VYT8

oh, so it's perjury as well? nice.

also Stephen does a pretty good Phil Hartman grandma, yeah?

ekrekel

05-04-2022, 11:35 AM

I came across an interesting thought that the leaker was a conservative Justice or their staff. The logic being releasing an early draft puts those named justices on the hook to stay the course and possibly leave the early draft unchanged to keep the infighting out of the public eye. It also helps rile up "the lib leaker" angle giving R's a new herring to point to.

Times like these are when the patient slow rolling wheels of justice fail us. Everyone and thing that put these justices in place could wind up in prison or being undone, but undoing this ruling would take codifying a deceased Roe or a future SC to overrule this SC. A unified 60 D votes in the Senate seems unlikely to ever happen again, as we see now Dark money just needs to keep luring away the weakest ones and the SC likely doesn't want to get into the business of just undoing the predecessor's stuff just 'cuz.

allegate

05-05-2022, 09:52 AM

https://twitter.com/StruMatt/status/1521631002136748032

allegate

05-05-2022, 12:54 PM

https://twitter.com/jonathanchait/status/1522260991840509953

If [Roberts] pulls another Justice to his side, he could write the plurality opinion that controls in a 6-3 decision. If he can’t, then Justice Thomas would assign the opinion and the vote could be 5-4. Our guess is that Justice Alito would then get the assignment.
This turned out to be a good guess!

huh, very interesting.

ickyvicky

06-08-2022, 10:45 AM

Armed man arrested after saying he wanted to take out Brett Kavanaugh near his home
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/08/politics/man-arrested-near-brett-kavanaugh-home/index.html

allegate

06-08-2022, 10:52 AM

https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/1534536335037456386

It's probably nothing, right?

heavy sarcasm fwiw.

allegate

06-21-2022, 12:32 PM

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1539261883911397376

so I guess the whole "we're originalists!" is a bunch of bull huh.

allegro

06-21-2022, 05:11 PM

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1539261883911397376

so I guess the whole "we're originalists!" is a bunch of bull huh.

Let’s open a Wiccan school!

As a Wiccan, it’s my religious right to have an abortion.

Two birds, one stone. Especially when it’s a full moon.

ekrekel

06-24-2022, 08:29 AM

stream along in horror with us: https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/06/announcement-of-opinions-for-friday-june-24/

GulDukat

06-24-2022, 09:19 AM

I hope everyone who refused to vote for Clinton in 2016 out of spite is fucking happy.

allegro

06-24-2022, 09:21 AM

I used to have respect for SCOTUS.

But over the last 20 years or more, it’s garbage.

The first sign was overturning the VRA.

I only hope this motivates voters. The midterms …

The difference between pre-1973 and now is that you can get abortion drugs by mail. Unmarked. Or travel to other states. And it’s unconstitutional to prevent travel to other states.

Fuck SCOTUS.

GulDukat

06-24-2022, 09:25 AM

5 of these assholes were nominated by presidents that lost the popular vote.

ickyvicky

06-24-2022, 09:26 AM

What in the fucking fuck!

ryanmcfly

06-24-2022, 09:38 AM

One step forward, fifty backwards with this country. They’re probably coming for same sex marriage next unfortunately if you read into what Thomas said

allegate

06-24-2022, 09:52 AM

I'm not even going to bother going to twitter today as I'm already in a bad enough mood. fuck them.

otnavuskire

06-24-2022, 09:53 AM

They’re probably coming for same sex marriage next unfortunately if you read into what Thomas said

And also the availability of condoms and IVF. Fuck this country.

Zimbo

06-24-2022, 09:59 AM

Fuck my country, for real. Beer Drinking justice is a fucking prick.

Jinsai

06-24-2022, 10:12 AM

And also the availability of condoms and IVF. Fuck this country.

Eh, these are people who telegraph how Christian they are. Jesus was the OG IVF.

I know it's not proper to really joke at all about this sort of thing... I think I'm just stunned at this point with how quickly we're going backwards.
Every time I run into a "friend" who bragged about how he just couldn't vote for the email lady or "another incrementalist."

Cool. Enjoy the next fifty years of neo-con SCOTUS rulings. Let's watch the fast-forwarding of the undoing of any civil rights footing made in the past fifty years.
Let's watch the future get morphed into a Mitch McConnell-approved nightmare that he'll only live to see the first intro act of.

Yay, political idealism ftw. Fuck everything.

ickyvicky

06-24-2022, 10:19 AM

Biden going to speak at 12:30pm EST

ekrekel

06-24-2022, 10:27 AM

So I'm a bit of a dummy. Wouldn't 2/3rds of both houses creating a law for post mortem codification of Roe work? Also, the "egregiously wrong" verbiage used by Alito here to justify the full overturn of Roe seems to open the door for any partisan disagreement with previous court rulings.

Did y'all see Thomas specifically called out cases about contraception, gay rights/marriage, and same sex conduct and interracial marriage(?!?!) as additional rulings that need to be reviewed in his individual response.

Here's a great Clarence Thomas biopic if you've got a few minutes. if language hurts your feelers sorry in advance

https://youtu.be/BLNDqxrUUwQ

Edit: It seems I got ahead of myself. SCOTUS blog listed it before I saw the case names.

otnavuskire

06-24-2022, 10:29 AM

Wouldn't 2/3rds of both houses creating a law for post mortem codification of Roe work?

This would never happen. The votes aren't there.

ekrekel

06-24-2022, 10:35 AM

This would never happen. The votes aren't there.

Certainly not today and extremely unlikely going forward, just confirming what would be required.

Jinsai

06-24-2022, 10:36 AM

Nope. We're fucked. The bigots won.

ekrekel

06-24-2022, 10:40 AM

Nope. We're fucked. The bigots won.

I thought the legislative/executive check on judicial was the ability to create laws that overrule court decisions.

allegate

06-24-2022, 10:45 AM

So I'm a bit of a dummy. Wouldn't 2/3rds of both houses creating a law for post mortem codification of Roe work? Also, the "egregiously wrong" verbiage used by Alito here to justify the full overturn of Roe seems to open the door for any partisan disagreement with previous court rulings.

Did y'all see Thomas specifically called out cases about gay rights/marriage and interracial marriage(?!?!) as additional rulings that need to be reviewed in his individual response.

Don't you love the hypocrisy of the right? For me but not for thee.

Jinsai

06-24-2022, 10:51 AM

I thought the legislative/executive check on judicial was the ability to create laws that overrule court decisions.

There's a lot of things to consider going forward, but I guess we will see soon.

richardp

06-24-2022, 11:19 AM

Fucking christ I truly hate America and living in this shit pile with every fiber of my being.

cdm

06-24-2022, 11:27 AM

Shithole country.

tfang

06-24-2022, 11:30 AM

Guns are a-ok with fewer restrictions the better, but medical autonomy for women is just a bridge to far... hmm yeah, that seems fine.

These week has been a plagued with god-awful decisions from SCOTUS and it is exhausting. Knowing that there is a group of crusty conservatives somewhere toasting each other for a job well done is infuriating.

GastonKappa

06-24-2022, 12:02 PM

I’m incredibly scared for the future of this nation and world. Save this bs for dystopian movies and books but not for real life.

Kodiak33

06-24-2022, 12:20 PM

So I'm a bit of a dummy. Wouldn't 2/3rds of both houses creating a law for post mortem codification of Roe work? Also, the "egregiously wrong" verbiage used by Alito here to justify the full overturn of Roe seems to open the door for any partisan disagreement with previous court rulings.

Did y'all see Thomas specifically called out cases about gay rights/marriage and interracial marriage(?!?!) as additional rulings that need to be reviewed in his individual response.

Here's a great Clarence Thomas biopic if you've got a few minutes. if language hurts your feelers sorry in advance

https://youtu.be/BLNDqxrUUwQ

Pretty sure he left out Loving specifically...

ekrekel

06-24-2022, 12:23 PM

Following up on my note, Thomas specifically called out these cases:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griswold_v._Connecticut - Relating to contraception by married couples.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_v._Texas - Same sex "conduct".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obergefell_v._Hodges - Same sex marriage/rights.

I guarantee Texas will go after 1868's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crandall_v._Nevada - Free travel between states on January 10th 2023, but I wouldn't put it past Abbot to call a special session on the topic.

Pretty sure he left out Loving specifically...
Yes, I got ahead of myself reading a summary from SCOTUS blog that I thought was accurate.

However...... Lawrence v Texas did involve interracial intercourse so given the extent they expanded the scope of Dobbs v Jackson who knows how far they'd go.

allegro

06-24-2022, 12:26 PM

If the Republicans get control of Congress, and the Presidency, they've said they're going to:

* Ban IUDs (they consider IUDs a method of abortion)
* Ban birth control pills (ditto - ridiculous)
* Ban abortion drugs (ditto)
* Ban In Vitro Fertilization (wtf)

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/05/19/some-states-already-are-targeting-birth-control

https://www.salon.com/2022/05/21/ban-all-birth-control-says-endorsed-candidate_partner/

https://www.salon.com/2022/05/09/arent-even-bothering-to-lie-about-it-anymore-they-are-now-coming-for-birth-control/

https://time.com/6175213/birth-control-after-roe-v-wade/

allegro

06-24-2022, 12:30 PM

Guns are a-ok with fewer restrictions the better, but medical autonomy for women is just a bridge to far... hmm yeah, that seems fine.

SCOTUS just ruled states' rights is overruled by the Second Amendment for carrying guns for self-protection (self-protection is NOT in the Second Amendment), thereby removing states' rights; but then Alito points out in this opinion that "abortion" isn't in the Constitution, and cites states' rights.

SCOTUS ruled in favor of people who don't want to wear masks or get Covid vaccines, but ruled against people who don't want to be pregnant. Medical autonomy for some, oh but not for YOU.

What we really need, now, is legislation that IMMEDIATELY puts sperm-contributors on the hook for pregnancies. Or face prison. That’d shake Jesus nuts to the core.

ekrekel

06-24-2022, 12:39 PM

The ongoing conversations between my Wife, her sisters, and their mother are so cringe. Complete lack of understanding on my MIL's part about what this overturn means and the recent Texas legislation moving the ban to 6 weeks and its deadman switch outlawing it entirely which goes into effect in about 60 days. She thinks this is all about the right to terminate one day before the due date. I'm serious. Edit: Also believes that there are exemptions for rape and incest which the 2021 Texas law banned.

Oh and to make it even better she's telling her daughters to read the SC ruling and the laws before speaking.

Oh and even better she may or may not have benefitted from Roe in High School.

allegro

06-24-2022, 12:44 PM

She thinks this is all about the right to terminate one day before the due date. I'm serious.

I seriously want to smack the shit out of people who think this actually HAPPENS on the regular. NOBODY performs these abortions. Good luck finding someone. But, pro-life Republicans are out there making it seem like late-term abortions are happening daily. Abortion is limited to like 22 weeks in MOST STATES. But Trump is out there yammering about abortions "after the baby is born."

Wtf.

eversonpoe

06-24-2022, 01:00 PM

clarence thomas saying he wants to overturn decisions on birth control, same-sex marriage, and even gay relationships is fucking terrifying. that combined with the SC voting yesterday to essentially protect cops from being sued by people who aren't properly informed of their miranda rights is abhorrent.

i can't wait to be arrested for being a trans lesbian and not be able to sue the cop who mishandles my arrest! FUN!

Jinsai

06-24-2022, 01:17 PM

cdm

06-24-2022, 02:18 PM

She thinks this is all about the right to terminate one day before the due date. I'm serious.

Their messaging on this, like a lot of things, is working.

allegate

06-24-2022, 02:31 PM

I predict a Troubles coming soon to a politician near you.

allegate

06-24-2022, 02:39 PM

I'm not even going to bother going to twitter today as I'm already in a bad enough mood. fuck them.
I lied I guess.

https://twitter.com/MustangZeroFive/status/1540410721367773184

I was thinking during lunch: if the Democrats had half a brain they would have been talking impeachment over the last month-ish time for those four/five justices who all lied under oath. But nothing because they have less than half a brain. They're the tots and pears of government made real.

allegro

06-24-2022, 03:01 PM

I was thinking during lunch: if the Democrats had half a brain they would have been talking impeachment over the last month-ish time for those four/five justices who all lied under oath. But nothing because they have less than half a brain. They're the tots and pears of government made real.

Removing a SCOTUS justice requires 2/3 of the Senate.

So threatening something that’s literally impossible takes half a brain.

We can’t even remove Thomas over his seditious wife.

And impeachment of a SCOTUS justice requires a REALLY egregious offense.

Republicans already made checkmate moves with Trump.

They packed the Federal courts with hundreds of very young, very religious and very conservative judges.

And they did the same with SCOTUS.

And the Democrats don’t truly have a majority in the Senate; the Senate is 50/50, and the tie is only broken by the VP. But that’s only for budgets; everything else requires 60. Manchin and Sinema won’t budge on that.

It’s game over, for generations.

Missouri is going to ban IVF and IUDs, pretty much immediately.

allegro

06-24-2022, 03:15 PM

Their messaging on this, like a lot of things, is working.

That’s been their mantra for 50 years. They’re still the minority. But they’re a loud enough minority that Republicans use it (and 2A) for all of their fundraising.

I’m wondering if New York State will just say “fuck you” and ignore the SCOTUS gun decision. Which they can actually do. Scalia actually said this, that the SCOTUS has no enforcement capabilities.

Brown vs. the Board of Education, for example. There was MASSIVE resistance. President Johnson had to call in the National Guard to enforce the Civil Rights Act.

New York can just IGNORE the SCOTUS decision. Because SCOTUS is not a law-creating body. It interprets laws. But states can resist that, or flat out ignore it. Because SCOTUS is now a kangaroo court.

allegate

06-24-2022, 03:37 PM

https://twitter.com/FarnoushAmiri/status/1540390460920922117

AndItKeepsRepeating

06-24-2022, 03:46 PM

The government does not care about any one of us.

They just want as many potential laborers and consumers as we can make for them to exploit while lining their pockets.

allegro

06-24-2022, 03:50 PM

The government does not care about any one of us.

They just want as many potential laborers and consumers as we can make for them to exploit while lining their pockets.

The voters caused all of this.

You want to blame?

The SCOTUS justices got there via Presidents, and those Presidents got there by voters.

The cases got to SCOTUS by lobbyists who are supplied with money by voters.

The legislation that bans abortion, gay marriage, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights? That legislation was written by people who got there via voters.

“The government” is formed by voters.

You want to change government?

Vote.

allegate

06-24-2022, 03:53 PM

The government does not care about any one of us.

They just want as many potential laborers and consumers as we can make for them to exploit while lining their pockets.https://twitter.com/JoshRoush/status/1540401400902873088

allegro

06-24-2022, 03:56 PM

^^ The religious right hates:

* College education (too woke)
* Public schools (ditto)
* Democrats (ditto)

The religious right loves:

* Bible over the Constitution (it’s like Christian Sharia)
* Israel (because Jesus is from there! don’t like Jews, though)
* More white babies!!!
* Trump Jesus!!!
* Guns

I think this opinion is gonna really screw Republicans, ultimately.

allegate

06-24-2022, 04:02 PM

https://twitter.com/jbendery/status/1540352994482348033

https://twitter.com/jacquie_rn/status/1540364717247451137

wow that's weird. wonder what's different.

Wretchedest

06-24-2022, 06:27 PM

I don't even want a peaceful resolution at this point. Fuck all of these people.

Deacon Blackfire

06-24-2022, 09:26 PM

Failed state. SCOTUS has been obviously compromised for a while now and is only just beginning to flex its muscles in the regressive direction it pleases. Thomas makes it clear this doesn't stop here. Contraception, gay marriage, hell even just being gay - it's open season on all of our civil liberties now. And watching the people like Pelosi and Clyburn who spent the last month backing anti-abortion Democratic incumbents, people like Biden who spent a lot of their careers undermining Roe and helping pave the way for this moment by never pressing with any urgency, have no answer other than to vote for them more is such a depressing and concise encapsulation on why the right has gained so much ground. I don't see things improving anytime soon.

What else is there to say. We live in hell.

bobbie solo

06-25-2022, 02:58 AM

These week has been a plagued with god-awful decisions from SCOTUS and it is exhausting.

And 8 more decisions are coming by 7/1, and they ain't gonna be pretty either. The West Virginia one is especially troubling, as it will most likely severely limit federal agencies from enforcing their regulations, which was the whole point of taking this case to the Supreme Court.

ViN

06-25-2022, 12:30 PM

Fuck christianity

allegro

06-25-2022, 12:49 PM

The West Virginia vs EPA scares the shit out of me.

https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/20-1530

The Federalist Society is totally running SCOTUS, and most of the Federal court system. MOSTLY just via TRUMP, alone.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_Society

In January 2019, The Washington Post Magazine wrote that the Federalist Society had reached an "unprecedented peak of power and influence." Of the current nine members of the Supreme Court of the United States, six (Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Amy Coney Barrett) are current or former members of the organization. Politico wrote that the Federalist Society "has become one of the most influential legal organizations in history—not only shaping law students' thinking but changing American society itself by deliberately, diligently shifting the country's judiciary to the right.”

ekrekel

06-25-2022, 12:56 PM

The thing that's really dragging me down a further notch is... even if RBG had held on, this decision was 6-3. This is a landslide... and that's very bad.

Roe V Wade was non-partisan. This isn't. This is completely fucked.

And a last minute abortion is a thing that doesn't happen outside of an emergency procedure to save the mother's life.

As I Understand, it Roberts voted against Dobbs and indicated that he would’ve left Roe in place so it’s sort of a 5-4 finding against Roe and 6-3 against Dobbs.

allegro

06-25-2022, 04:30 PM

Had Hillary Clinton won in 2016, SCOTUS would look like this:

Roberts
Thomas (age 74)
Alito (age 72)

* Breyer (retiring, then replaced by a Clinton appointee)
* Sotomayor
* Kagan
* Clinton appointee
* Clinton appointee
* Clinton appointee

https://youtu.be/upwaPjz7ncs

Frozen Beach

06-25-2022, 07:09 PM

It's a never ending game of chess that fucks with people's lives and rights.

allegro

06-25-2022, 08:42 PM

Olivia Rodrigo brings Lily Allen onstage to sing Allen’s “Fuck You” to the SCOTUS Justices who overturned Roe, with the approval of 200,000 screaming fans.

CfP5juvJep4

allegro

06-25-2022, 08:45 PM

It's a never ending game of chess that fucks with people's lives and rights.

And many American voters don’t understand that there’s definitely a chess game being played.

allegate

06-26-2022, 09:27 AM

She just didn't make them feel funny in their pants so they didn't vote for her. Simple as that.

And the people on Twitter talking about "we're gonna show them in November!"

Lol right. This is basically done and over with.

richardp

06-26-2022, 04:43 PM

And the people on Twitter talking about "we're gonna show them in November!"

Lol right. This is basically done and over with.

Same people who've been posting memes about hating living here and how disgraceful this shit country is, but then next week their socials will be full of pictures of themselves garbed in american flag gear happily celebrating the 4th of July.

GastonKappa

06-26-2022, 05:03 PM

Billie Joe Armstrong “renounced” his citizenship: https://deadline.com/2022/06/green-day-billie-joe-armstrong-renouncing-us-citizenship-moving-to-uk-1235052222/

Pillfred

06-26-2022, 09:52 PM

Billie Joe Armstrong “renounced” his citizenship: https://deadline.com/2022/06/green-day-billie-joe-armstrong-renouncing-us-citizenship-moving-to-uk-1235052222/

I’d like to believe it but, while it’s not hard to do there’s no coming back either. I suppose he’s got the money to make it work for him. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Jinsai

06-26-2022, 10:48 PM

Just saw that clip of Mary Miller in Illinois with Trump standing right behind her, saying that this SCOTUS decision is a victory for "white life"
If Trump was distressed about what she just said, he had a great poker face. He probably wasn't listening, just grinning along like an idiot and staring out at the people who love and worship him. But he smiled and applauded along with the audience.

But she says it. "White life." Her team is saying she "misspoke." No shit she misspoke. She said something she knows she wasn't supposed to say out loud. Just because she didn't mean to say it into a microphone doesn't mean she hasn't said something like that a billion times in private.

And ok, if I'm supposed to believe she misspoke... what the hell was she trying to say?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/26/mary-miller-white-life-trump-rally/

burnmotherfucker!

06-26-2022, 10:53 PM

Billie Joe Armstrong “renounced” his citizenship: https://deadline.com/2022/06/green-day-billie-joe-armstrong-renouncing-us-citizenship-moving-to-uk-1235052222/

So? Now he can't stick around to vote these fuckers out? Great.

Instead of moving to Canada when shit like this happens, I wish all these rich folks would move to red states en masse and donate and vote.

allegate

06-27-2022, 10:38 AM

Well, they are hoping that this causes an exodus (https://www.businessinsider.com/josh-hawley-overturning-roe-v-wade-help-republicans-electoral-college-2022-6).
Sen. Josh Hawley predicts the overturning of Roe v. Wade will cause a 'major sorting out across the country' and allow the GOP to 'extend their strength in the Electoral College'
"I really do think that this is going to be a watershed moment in American politics," he said on a call with reporters on Friday. "The first decision — the 1973 Roe decision — fundamentally reshaped American politics, it ushered in the rise of the Christian conservative movement, it led to the forming of what became the Reagan coalition in 1980."

Jinsai

06-27-2022, 10:43 AM

I don't think the GOP actually wanted this to happen. Not the people who are really playing the game at the top. They want this sociopolitical football to toss around, they wanted to promise things they have no intention of delivering to a bunch of useful idiots. Well, fuck around long enough, and you're bound to wind up a baby daddy to a bundle of problems you didn't foresee. If only there was some way you could take it back...

But now they've done it, and shit's just gotten real for millions of people who previously were just fatigued with politics, or looked at the whole thing like a team sport or a game. It's getting real, and there's no plan b for a scotus decision.

Meanwhile, for your daily dose of WTF (https://boingboing.net/2022/06/27/sarah-huckabee-sanders-we-will-make-sure-that-when-a-kid-is-in-the-womb-theyre-as-safe-as-they-are-in-a-classroom.html?utm_content=bufferae2e8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR3WZpmcfqU2ByKNTyj6oXVnTZENxzD9GIjR2yQZT yUrUm8ja3DgH5u_StM)
Sarah Huckabee Sanders wants to live in a world where babies are as safe in the womb as they're gonna be in a classroom.

allegate

06-27-2022, 11:11 AM

I saw this constantly over the weekend:

‘The dog that caught the car’: Republicans brace for the impact of reversing Roe (https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/25/the-dog-that-caught-the-car-republicans-brace-for-the-impact-of-reversing-roe-00042387)
Everything was going right for Republicans in the midterm campaign. Then the Supreme Court decision came down.
Republicans finally got the Roe v. Wade decision they wanted, and in public, they are delighted.

More quietly, however, according to interviews with more than a dozen Republican strategists and party officials, they just didn’t want it to come right now — not during a midterm election campaign in which nearly everything had been going right for the GOP.

M1ke

06-27-2022, 07:43 PM

Jinsai

06-27-2022, 10:37 PM

I saw this constantly over the weekend:

What drives me nuts about this article... you have the republican strategists freaking out, saying things like "everything was going our way! It was great! Skyrocketing inflation! Crazy gas prices! It was all playing into our hands!!!!! Then this Roe thing had to happen..."

Except... you know the skyrocketing gas prices aren't a result of anything Biden or the democrats have done. Biden inherited a disaster, and neither he nor progressives own inflation and unaffordable gas. Similarly, the GOP was not responsible for gas prices being low previously. It's a sunny day, Trump must have willed it. Blah, the republicans credit themselves with shit they didn't have anything to do with, and they blame stuff they don't like on the opposition.

You know what the republicans DO own? They own this fucking supreme court, and they own this fucking decision. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS! Directly, you are responsible. It is because people voted for that orange fuck that we now have this SCOTUS ruling. People are NOT going to forget that you assholes.

allegro

06-27-2022, 10:43 PM

^^^ Fuck, yes!!!!!!

Meanwhile…

https://twitter.com/LoriLightfoot/status/1541587238529671169?s=20&t=DHuzgWYl2P2pjE-ap52g1w

AndItKeepsRepeating

06-28-2022, 06:20 PM

This is a genuine question, that I don't really have the answer to at this point. Does the USA even have any chance at all anymore?

Yes. But its probably going to get a lot worse (another great depression and maybe even civil war) before it starts to get better.

nmitchell86

06-28-2022, 10:10 PM

...Biden inherited a disaster, and neither he nor progressives own inflation and unaffordable gas. Similarly, the GOP was not responsible for gas prices being low previously. It's a sunny day, Trump must have willed it.

Fact check, the Dem led Fed own "SOME" of the inflation shit. (Yes supply chains, consumer demand, blah blah blah.) The Summer of 2021, they kept calling off "inflation" as "transitory". They could have started raising interest rates then and at a much slower pace, to curb inflation. Don't suck the D or the GOP cock. At the level of running the Fed they are both balls deep in capitalism and were excited for there own personal gains, ignoring the writing on the wall. Had they pulled the trigger on interest rates the summer/ fall of 2021, we would not have had the housing market rocket of spring 2022. Elites on either side of the coin, they are still elites, 1%. What we need is no more elite leadership. We are their pawns, they use social shit to distract us so that they can control the economy and get the money. They are just well educated, well spoken gangsters. It is reported that T privately said that the Roe decision is bad for the GOP, then went out to pander to his base and say "your welcome." Fuck him. And Joe could do better on his front, but I don't see it.

nmitchell86

06-28-2022, 10:12 PM

allegro

06-28-2022, 10:46 PM

Fact check, the Dem led Fed own "SOME" of the inflation shit. (Yes supply chains, consumer demand, blah blah blah.) The Summer of 2021, they kept calling off "inflation" as "transitory". They could have started raising interest rates then and at a much slower pace, to curb inflation. Don't suck the D or the GOP cock. At the level of running the Fed they are both balls deep in capitalism and were excited for there own personal gains, ignoring the writing on the wall. Had they pulled the trigger on interest rates the summer/ fall of 2021, we would not have had the housing market rocket of spring 2022.

The housing market rocket took off in 2020. Mostly because people moved out of the city, and into the suburbs (because they started working from home during the pandemic).

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brendarichardson/2021/01/26/housing-market-gains-more-value-in-2020-than-in-any-year-since-2005/amp/

https://fortune.com/2021/12/23/homeowners-real-estate-price-gains-breakdown-in-every-state/amp/

I was in real estate law for 30 years. It’s all about supply and demand. The real estate market in 2007 was insane, people buying and selling and flipping before the crash. The interest rate in 2007 was 6.34%. In 2006, it was 6.41%. In 1996, it was 7.93%.

In 1981, it was 16.63%.

The current issues have been due to quantitative easing (and supply chain issues that started in 2020).

https://fortune.com/2022/05/10/investing-regime-change-stock-market-fed-put-end-of-free-money/amp/

As long as the Fed left interest rates historically low and pumped billions of dollars into the economy each month through QE, it made sense to stay invested in risk assets. As Zweig describes, falling interest rates reduce stocks’ competition from other investments, including Treasury bills, money market funds, and certificates of deposit. “So, as interest rates drop, investors tend to bid prices higher, partly on the expectation of better earnings,” Zweig wrote.

Now, with the Fed raising rates and ending QE, it’s a whole new era, one that might not be as kind to risk assets.

But investors still can’t fight the Fed. It’s just that the central bank is no longer pushing them toward high-flying tech stocks and cryptocurrencies. Instead, it’s making other, perhaps less risky, assets look more favorable. Assets that typically perform during rising-rate environments, like short-term government bonds and value and dividend stocks, may outperform in this new era. Don’t fight it.

allegro

06-28-2022, 10:50 PM

The only way to codify Roe is an amendment. Then SCOTUS will have to go with that. Amendment IX The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Amendment X The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

We need to take this shit back.

Or, the Equal Rights Amendment that’s been in the works for 100 years,

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/ExhibitDocument/OpenExhibitDocument?exhibitId=54203&fileDownloadName=SJR%208%20%282019%29_The%20Equal% 20Rights%20Amendment%20%28ERA%29%20and%20Abortion_ Don%20Nelson.pdf

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/02/13/politics/equal-rights-amendment-era-explained/index.html

allegro

06-29-2022, 12:04 AM

If Democrats win everything in the midterms, does it even matter anymore?

When Trump implemented his Muslim ban, the Supreme Court stepped in and said "No, that's illegal, you can't do that".

If the Democrats win everything, and then pass a bill that essentially codifies Roe V Wade, what's to stop the Supreme Court from just saying "No, that's illegal, you can't do that".

This is a genuine question, that I don't really have the answer to at this point. Does the USA even have any chance at all anymore?

Okay, let’s first look at what the Supreme Court of the United States does, its role. It never says a law is “illegal.”

SCOTUS is the highest FEDERAL court, the end of the road.

See this about the types of cases it’s been hearing, lately, and its role: https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/09/empirical-scotus-the-importance-of-state-court-cases-before-scotus/

SCOTUS hears cases based solely on Constitutionality.

The Constitution contains no laws, at all. It’s a blueprint for our country’s laws, but it contains no actual laws.

Because of the balance of powers specified in the Constitution, the SCOTUS very rarely - if ever - overturns a law that Congress has passed.

It overturned a PORTION of the Voters Rights Act because it felt the law was over 50 years old, contained Federal overreach that violated states’ rights voting sections of the Constitution, and they felt the country somehow didn’t need it, anymore (wrong).

But, it’s upheld the ACA several times. Because Congress passed the law.

Trump’s Muslim ban was an Executive Order. Executive Orders are not laws.

Per our Constitution, only the Legislative branch can pass laws.

The President is the Executive branch, which executes (enforces) laws, but doesn’t create laws.

SCOTUS said that the Muslim ban was UNCONSTITUTIONAL, not “illegal.”

Roe was just “overturned” this way:

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf

Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act provides that “[e]xcept in a medical emergency or in the case of a severe fetal abnormality, a person shall not intentionally or knowingly perform . . . or induce an abortion of an unborn human being if the probable gestational age of the unborn hu- man being has been determined to be greater than fifteen (15) weeks.” Miss. Code Ann. §41–41–191. Respondents—Jackson Women’s Health Organization, an abortion clinic, and one of its doctors—challenged the Act in Federal District Court, alleging that it violated this Court’s precedents establishing a constitutional right to abortion, in particular Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113, and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U. S. 833. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of respondents and permanently enjoined enforcement of the Act, reasoning that Mississippi’s 15-week restriction on abortion violates this Court’s cases forbidding States to ban abortion pre-viability. The Fifth Circuit affirmed. Before this Court, petitioners defend the Act on the grounds that Roe and Casey were wrongly decided and that the Act is constitutional because it satisfies rational-basis review.

Summary Judgment is when an order is entered based on the facts presented, without a trial.

Roe and Casey are precedents relied upon for decades. (Note that Casey upheld Roe only based on precedent but NOT on merit; this was made clear.) This SCOTUS determined that the original Roe decision was faulty because there is no Constitutional right to privacy, which is the basis of Roe; further, they ruled that the opinion overturned too many laws that already existed on a state level without doing anything with those laws.

What this says, really, is that you can’t use the judicial branch to create laws, no more than you can use the executive. Scalia said that there is no enforcement mechanism in the judiciary, and he was right. Congress became lazy and contentious, and allowed a litigious society to duke things out in courts vs. Congress actually doing the work required.

Congress can pass a Federal law that legalizes abortion, but they’d need it to be bipartisan. This would require concessions from Democrats as to time restrictions; Democrats pushed the limit to late-term. There are DEMOCRATS who don’t believe in late-term abortion. I imagine that a humane and realistic compromise will be reached, AND that an Equal Rights Amendment will also be passed.

Lawsuits can be filed in an attempt to get before SCOTUS to overturn these laws, but Cert will always be rejected. Because they’ll have no Constitutional merit for argument. Particularly if the ERA is passed.

Kodiak33

06-29-2022, 07:16 AM

allegro, thank you so much for explaining things!

allegate

06-29-2022, 02:51 PM

https://twitter.com/Forbes/status/1542233661659090945

All this talk I totally forgot about this change in the ranks.

hellospaceboy

06-29-2022, 11:59 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOvvBWSBwU0

allegate

06-30-2022, 09:36 AM

There's a joke to be made about the Supreme Court finding that you have no right of privacy and them also decrying the publication of their home addresses.

allegate

06-30-2022, 12:50 PM

https://twitter.com/PaulBlu/status/1542509377705259013

Yeah, that's totally fine. just fucking peachy.

Jinsai

06-30-2022, 01:28 PM

now the supreme court is moving right along, and striking down environmental protections

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/3542758-congressional-climate-hawks-demand-action-after-alarming-supreme-court-decision/

versusreality

06-30-2022, 01:54 PM

Their decisions are fucking awful. Woman's bodies...the environments...they do not give one fuck.

Jinsai

06-30-2022, 11:50 PM

Frozen Beach

07-01-2022, 01:25 AM

It's like they actually want a civil war.

bobbie solo

07-01-2022, 03:50 AM

and the voting rights case they're gonna take next year will potentially really fuck democracy for the 2024 federal elections.

It's literally insane that we have to hope people like Alito, Thomas, Pelosi, Hoyer, McConnell, Schumer & Clyburn have to literally die for anything positive to happen. I don't include Trump b/c at this point he is so toxic & the Dems are so bad at politics that we actually want him to run again in 2024, as distasteful as that sounds.

allegro

07-01-2022, 11:07 AM

The House of Representatives could be 100% full of AOC Democrats and NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN.

Because there aren’t enough Democrats in the SENATE, not even to kill the filibuster let alone to do something like pack SCOTUS.

This country is doomed to fail, due to MORE REPUBLICAN VOTERS going to the polls to elect SENATORS.

For DECADES.

We can only save it by electing LOTS MORE SENATORS to U.S. Congress.

ONLY SENATORS have ANYTHING to do with SCOTUS, or the Federal courts, or approval of cabinets or agencies. This is all right there in the Constitution. I highly recommend that every American take the time to read it.

The left is just too lazy to show up most of the time. Or delusional and focusing on ideology vs. endgame strategy.

allegro

07-01-2022, 11:16 AM

a list of the other things the supreme court's been up to lately that might have flown under the radar with the Roe decision. This country is changing.

https://twitter.com/5thCircAppeals/status/1542522257511026689?fbclid=IwAR3paAu9Eqrww-s7nZnqUpbx-MJ1vLXFNkifIYLdFgYMLVWnHHRGfh1Rjq0

They are deciding per the Republican voters who essentially put them there per the Republican SENATE, which solely selects the SCOTUS per the U.S. Constitution

a FEW good things:

* Divided court allows Biden to end Trump’s “remain in Mexico” asylum policy
* Jackson becomes first Black woman to serve on Supreme Court
* Court refuses to hear New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen

What should happen?

Only 50% of eligible voters actually vote. People should vote for SENATORS who will represent their interests in EXPANDING THE COURT. Also be sure to select a Democrat President, natch.

I’d also say let’s get rid of the Electoral College, but there are FAR TOO MANY voting Republicans right now for that to ever happen (they won’t let it).

The Republicans have had this strategy in place to do all of what you’re seeing right now, FOR DECADES.

Packing the Federal Courts
Packing SCOTUS
Packing longterm positions in Federal agencies

All while Democrats laser focused on individual issues that various loud constituents demanded, which will never come to fruition because… see above.

The Republicans were playing chess while everyone else was focusing on daily emergencies.

The day Harry Reid killed the filibuster to elect Federal justices?

That was us opening the door and handing them a gift. It was the moment they’d been PRAYING for: Precedent.

And they USED that gift to then kill the filibuster for the election of SCOTUS Federal justices.

You used to need 60 votes to approve a SCOTUS justice; Dems opened the door to 51.

If Dems “kill the filibuster” in the Senate, entirely?

That will be the final gift. Wrapped in a big Red bow.

Republicans will use it to dig the grave. Forever. And tell us that we did it.

allegro

07-01-2022, 12:21 PM

Oh, and the HOUSE?

This is just SOME of what the House has passed (but many failed in the SENATE):

H.R.3755 - Women's Health Protection Act of 2021
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3755

H.R.7666 - Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7666

H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2021 (voting)
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1

H.R.4 - John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4

H.R.5 - Equality Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/5

This bill prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in a wide variety of areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system. Specifically, the bill defines and includes sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation.

The bill expands the definition of public accommodations to include places or establishments that provide (1) exhibitions, recreation, exercise, amusement, gatherings, or displays; (2) goods, services, or programs; and (3) transportation services.

The bill allows the Department of Justice to intervene in equal protection actions in federal court on account of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Protections against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin shall include protections against discrimination based on (1) an association with another person who is a member of such a protected class; or (2) a perception or belief, even if inaccurate, that an individual is a member of such a protected class. The bill prohibits the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 from providing a claim, defense, or basis for challenging such protections.

The bill prohibits an individual from being denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity.

H.R.842 - Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/842

H.R.1280 - George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1280

H.R.3617 - Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3617

H.R.55 - Emmett Till Antilynching Act <— Became Law
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/55

H.R.1620 - Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2021 <— Became Law
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1620

There are TONS OF BILLS that the Dem House has passed.

Go look at them:
https://www.congress.gov/most-viewed-bills

If we keep the House and gain lots more seats in the Senate?

WE CAN MAKE LAW OUT OF ALL OF THE BILLS ALREADY PASSED IN THE HOUSE!!

This MIDTERM ELECTION is THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION IN OUR HISTORY.

Aladdinsanity

07-01-2022, 02:26 PM

A single vote for senate in red Wyoming has something like 62x the voting power of a single vote for senate in blue California. It’s demagoguery at this point to blame “the left” for the Democratic Party being filled almost entirely with corporatists who collaborate with the GOP to lower the bar on social policies so they can fundraise off of being the “lesser evil” in perpetuity. That very incentive structure would be disrupted if they actually improved their voters’ material conditions.

allegate

07-01-2022, 09:02 PM

It's like they actually want a civil war.

actually worse: the rapture.

allegate

07-08-2022, 11:54 AM

Brett Kavanaugh was forced out of a DC restaurant by protesters amid anger at SCOTUS overturning Roe v Wade (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/brett-kavanaugh-was-forced-out-of-a-dc-restaurant-by-protesters-amid-anger-at-scotus-overturning-roe-v-wade/ar-AAZm43X)

Protestors held a demonstration outside a Washington D.C. restaurant after getting word that Brett Kavanaugh was inside, forcing the Supreme Court justice to depart from a back door, Politico reported. (https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2022/07/08/schumer-ups-pressure-on-mcconnell-in-usica-reconciliation-dance-00044652?nname=playbook&nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&nrid=00000169-fc16-df05-a76b-fd1f3f130000&nlid=630318)
oh, frowny face.

otnavuskire

07-08-2022, 05:07 PM

allegate

11-01-2022, 09:28 AM

https://twitter.com/ElieNYC/status/1587098079857152000

allegate

01-21-2023, 03:44 PM

https://twitter.com/stevenmazie/status/1616153531739783168

"Guys, Alito said he didn't do it and we're all out of ideas now."

bobbie solo

01-23-2023, 12:50 AM

I get why they can't admit who leaked b/c it would certainly point to Alito (the man has a history of leaking decisions...google him and the Hobby Lobby decision), and I also get that there is sadly a very narrow sliver of people who still even care about this story, but this only adds to the preponderance of evidence that the court is corrupt & broken, is not something to be deified any longer, and needs to be reformed (or really, obliterated).

allegate

06-21-2023, 09:32 AM

Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court (https://www.propublica.org/article/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court)

In early July 2008, Samuel Alito stood on a riverbank in a remote corner of Alaska. The Supreme Court justice was on vacation at a luxury fishing lodge that charged more than $1,000 a day, and after catching a king salmon nearly the size of his leg, Alito posed for a picture. To his left, a man stood beaming: Paul Singer, a hedge fund billionaire who has repeatedly asked the Supreme Court to rule in his favor in high-stakes business disputes.

Singer was more than a fellow angler. He flew Alito to Alaska on a private jet. If the justice chartered the plane himself, the cost could have exceeded $100,000 one way.

In the years that followed, Singer’s hedge fund came before the court at least 10 times in cases where his role was often covered by the legal press and mainstream media. In 2014, the court agreed to resolve a key issue in a decade-long battle between Singer’s hedge fund and the nation of Argentina. Alito did not recuse himself from the case and voted with the 7-1 majority in Singer’s favor. The hedge fund was ultimately paid $2.4 billion.

“If you were good friends, what were you doing ruling on his case?” said Charles Geyh, an Indiana University law professor and leading expert on recusals. “And if you weren’t good friends, what were you doing accepting this?” referring to the flight on the private jet.

https://twitter.com/LegalEagle/status/1671516160305528842