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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#171651: Jan 31st 2017 at 5:26:36 PM

Surprise! Trump won and now the Supreme Court is a write off for 20 years, unless Ginsberg, Bayer and Kennedy pull through.

But emails!

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#171652: Jan 31st 2017 at 5:34:21 PM

[up]Okay, would you please knock off the "But emails/Benghazi!" thing? It wasn't very funny before, and now it's just plain annoying and tiresome...

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#171653: Jan 31st 2017 at 5:34:50 PM

Here's another (longer, and also ongoing) thread painting us a picture of Mr. Gorsuch.

This man has no place on the SCOTUS, even if the seat wasn't stolen. The time for the Dems to fight back is now, while they still can. When democracy is being dismantled before our very eyes, we can't exactly afford to hang back and wait for future battles, because there may not be any.

[up] Still true tho.

edited 31st Jan '17 5:35:06 PM by RBluefish

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#171654: Jan 31st 2017 at 5:41:44 PM

The President of the European Union has named Trump a threat on the level of Russia, China, and terrorism.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/31/politics/european-union-trump/index.html?sr=fbpol020117european-union-trump0209AMVODtopLink&linkId=33985945

Yeah, US isn't going to have many democratic allies for much longer.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#171655: Jan 31st 2017 at 5:44:15 PM

Voters who said that the Supreme Court was the most important factor in their choice broke for Trump

I love the fact that Democrats have a diverse coalition of voters, but godDAMN if they're not fucking idiots at times.

New Survey coming this weekend!
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#171656: Jan 31st 2017 at 5:49:44 PM

[up]The average person in the Democrats' target demographic is probably going to be a Single-Issue Wonk for something more immediate than the supreme court. Where the Court will be in twenty years is inconceivable to them because that's as long as they've been alive.

Me? When I started thinking about my own mortality, that's when I dropped that attitude entirely. I'll be alive eighty-ish (personally hoping for ninety) years if I'm lucky, and because of Trump, a monster will be on the SCOTUS turning America into even more of a terrible place for twenty of them.

edited 31st Jan '17 5:50:50 PM by CrimsonZephyr

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#171658: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:02:21 PM

Yeah, posted that earlier.

Republicans, their supporters, and their sympathizers do not believe in democracy.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#171659: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:10:19 PM

[up][up] I'm not worried about most of those attempts at all. Not only do Pennsylvania and Virginia have Democrat Governors, but Pennsylvania tried to convert to the Proportion system with a Republican Super Majority (including Governor) in 2009-10, and it just fell through. Michigan, Virginia and Wisconsin are almost guaranteed to get Democrat Majorities in their Congresses in 2017-18. Combined with Nebraska trying to revert to Winner-Takes-All, I don't think their is much risk for those 4 states.

New Hampshire, on the other hand, is a weird state, and I wouldn't be surprised if they go through with it. Whether that makes New Hampshire permanently Red or not, I can't say. I doubt it, but again, New Hampshire is weird.

edited 31st Jan '17 6:10:47 PM by DingoWalley1

RedSavant Since: Jan, 2001
#171660: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:17:21 PM

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but Trump's nominated Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court. Given the pattern, I'm going to assume that he's a first-year law school dropout who nonetheless has spent years attempting to have the Supreme Court dismantled.

It's been fun.
LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#171661: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:20:35 PM

Who were the alternatives? None of the people he would have nominated would have been liberal in any way anyway.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
ViperMagnum357 Since: Mar, 2012
#171662: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:21:58 PM

[up][up]He is Scalia, only younger, without the redeeming features, and hates the first amendment whenever it does not apply to a Christian oppressing someone else.

[down]Which means he will be on the bench for somewhere between 20 and 40 years.

edited 31st Jan '17 6:24:59 PM by ViperMagnum357

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#171663: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:23:04 PM

He's around Scalia's age when Scalia was nominated to be the Court's Scalia.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#171664: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:23:54 PM

The SC was a lost cause the moment Clinton lost. The best case scenario is that Trump only lasts one term (and is replaced by a Democrat), which is no guarantee (there's no guarantee that you'll be a true or even passable democracy by 2020), and no more justices die. The doomsday scenario is Bayer, Ginsberg and Kennedy (or even Obama's appointments) dying/retiring in some combination. Even the conservatives leaving would be bad, as they'd be replaced by younger blood.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#171665: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:27:38 PM

The SC is the only weapon we really had. Five glorious dictators ready and willing to drag America into the future over the amassed conservative filth foaming up around us. If the election was any indication, it's that progressives can't save America from itself.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#171666: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:36:33 PM

Its only 5 to 4 conservative to liberal guys, hardly the apocolypse. We've been in this situation before.

That said, it does suck. We used to depend on the Senate to slow the juggernaut. Now all we have is an energized and engaged public.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
higherbrainpattern Since: Apr, 2012
#171667: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:41:19 PM

Isn't Kennedy usually the swing vote in SCOTUS decisions anyways?

LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#171668: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:42:29 PM

I was about to say what [up][up said.The court was looking like this before Scalia died and that wasn't the end of the world. It's less the guy himself and more the stolen seat itself that I think is the problem.

edited 31st Jan '17 6:43:05 PM by LinkToTheFuture

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
ViperMagnum357 Since: Mar, 2012
#171669: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:43:12 PM

[up][up],[up]Socially, though Kennedy is centrist-leaning conservative in most other respects.

edited 31st Jan '17 6:43:29 PM by ViperMagnum357

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#171670: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:43:21 PM

I would not entirely write off the idea of the other conservative justices on the court turning against Trump. They're older, pre-Obama conservatives who are more likely, statistically, to be repulsed by him. And whatever their leanings they recognize the fundamentals of the Constitution and probably recognize that Trump does not.

higherbrainpattern Since: Apr, 2012
#171671: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:44:23 PM

Man, I really hope Ruth Bader Ginsburg is able to stick around for another 6 years at the very least.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#171672: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:44:25 PM

It's back to status quo (conservative majority, with Kennedy or Roberts as occasional swings), but it might not stay that way for long.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#171673: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:44:42 PM

I wouldn't count on Uncle Thomas protecting the Constitution from Trump when he sleeps through most court proceedings.

And Alito is just vile; trying to flip him is a lost cause.

edited 31st Jan '17 6:45:32 PM by CrimsonZephyr

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Pseudopartition Screaming Into The Void from The Cretaeceous Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
Screaming Into The Void
#171674: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:47:03 PM

I seem to recall someone in this thread saying that Kennedy and Roberts probably won't be happy with the way Trump is disregarding the courts.

Man, I really hope Ruth Bader Ginsburg is able to stick around for another 6 years at the very least.
If I know little old ladies and their capacity for spite,note  I think there's a decent chance. She's said the only reason she didn't retire during the Obama years was because she knew the Republicans would just block her replacement.

edited 31st Jan '17 6:50:01 PM by Pseudopartition

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#171675: Jan 31st 2017 at 6:50:06 PM

The Supreme Court can be relied on to protect its own prerogatives, regardless of who is sitting on it.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.

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