By David Futrelle
If you haven’t already heard: Anthony Kennedy is retiring from the Supreme Court, which means we’re even more fucked than we already were. Goodbye Roe v Wade! The Dems need to function as a real opposition party for once and pull a sort of reverse-Mitch McConnell, doing everything they can to block a new nomination until after the midterms. And then they need to win the midterms.
Fucking Trump doesn’t even know the names of the justices.
LOLOL I missed this live but Trump totally could not remember Justice Anthony Kennedy's name at the beginning of his press event
"Justice… Anthony……. you know who I'm talking about." pic.twitter.com/9CDJtSV7Uz
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 27, 2018
I can’t even find Trump’s idiocy funny today. I’m too angry.
Anyway, here’s an open thread. I gotta start doing these regularly again.
Hope is slipping after our dems leaders decided to tell us to say nice things to the Nazis, but I’m sure that in this case they would oppose the GOP. After all they wouldn’t do something like “if we roll over on everything the gop voters will be so complacent we win by default.”
I’m the bonus Mom to 18 LGBTQ young adults. And trying to raise a 14 year old son into a good man who cares, and I’m just sick. My oldest one is married, and has had a doctor refuse to treat him already… I wanted him to sue, but the doctors nurse practitioner was willing to treat them if they “didn’t make a fuss, or he won’t let me”. And them living in the Rural south, it’s over an hour away to go to another clinic. And we are just going to see more and more of this shit
What boggles my mind is…Kennedy knows what this means for the makeup of the court. Doesn’t he care? Conservative judges always seem to find it in them to hang on until they can be confident that their replacement will lean the same way. Why are liberal judges so cavalier about this sort of thing?
It wasn’t really their fault. FDR appointed a bunch of judges around the same time and a bunch of them died/retired during Nixon or Reagan’s term so we got 5 conservative judges. Scalia’s death was the chance for a liberal majority, but McConnell’s fuckery changed that. Kennedy probably feels its safe as a conservative to retire now and maintain the composition of the court. Maybe once we have a Dem majority we can impeach Gorsuch.
We’re ruled by a gaggle of Hitlers and their obsequious Chamberlains.
Why does it always seem like the conservative judges are all 52 years old, with the longevity of bristlecone pines?
If Trump gets more nominees, I would fully expect him to start nominating unqualified 25 year old evangelicals fresh out of Bob Jones law school, because fuck you, America, that’s why.
My guess is bribery or blackmail.
@Buttercup
Because Democratic Presidents care about appointing judges who are experienced and competent. This naturally means they tend to be a bit older than the judges appointed by Republican Presidents, who care about ideology and nothing else.
I’ve kind of resigned myself now to the reality that no hoped for blue wave will ever be enough. A civil war or the threat of one a least will be the only way to stop fascism.
I hope I’m not in breach of the comment policy saying that. I’m not relishing this or desiring it in any way. Or advocating that anyone run out and commit violence. I’m just thinking that this is where we’re heading. Until the ruling classes are scared of civil unrest, they’re just going to push authoritarianism and steal the nation’s wealth more and more.
Our last hope is that the Democrats steal this stole the way Republicans stole a seat in 2016. But I have next to 0 confidence they’ll be willing to actually stand up the people.
Anthony Kennedy is fucking traitor to retire and leave a seat for a fascist to fill.
Some small hope, Dianne Feinstein is at least talking about pulling a Mitch McChinless
https://twitter.com/SenFeinstein/status/1012068491858464768
Any tips for what non-US Mammotheers can do to help? Other than donate to Planned Parenthood, which I already thought of.
Non-financial ideas particularly welcomed, as it’s not abundant in the Weatherwax household at the moment (and the goats have abandoned me) (the newts are still here, but are mainly pissing in the well) (Pratchett references – feel free to ignore).
Weatherwax,
Pressure your own governments to start punishing the US. No diplomatic visits, kick us out of the G7, maybe even start talking sanctions. Our leaders, not just political leaders but media and business leaders. need to hear that the world cannot and will not abide the US becoming a dictatorship instead of a democracy.
Breaking out of the legion of lurkers to say one thing: vote. If you’re a woman of reproductive age, or if you care about one, the loss of access to reproductive health care could be a death sentence. This stuff really matters. Vote, and encourage everyone you know to vote. It is critical.
Yes, I’ve read the comment policy. I just rarely have time to comment.
Hey all. 🙂 Thank you very much, David, for making an open thread. I hope that these will be at least a semi-regular feature from now on. To be quite honest I don’t really see how my own small woes can compare with the monumental crisis the US is going through. Still, I want to get a couple of things off my chest.
So, the big thing that has happened recently is that my Mom came for a visit. She was only here for a week (Wed-Wed) and she only came to see me on Thursday but seeing a person you can’t really talk to about anything of consequence due to extremely different worldviews for seven days straight can take it out on you. First the good stuff: I got a haircut and a nice shave and I got a few new shirts and quite a bit of food to fill my larder with. The the bad things: My Mom is now a bit of a “healthy eating” crusader, which meant that she keeps trying to turn me vegan. To be honest, with the food issues that I have, if I were to try and stop eating animal products, I wouldn’t eat anything. So that’s a non-starter. However, the big thing is that my Mom is still as big of a fan of Trump and Brexit as she was two years ago. (One of the reasons I don’t like to talk to her.) The “funny” thing is that she’s not American or British, she’s just a Finn who is living in the UK so I don’t know what she plans to do once Brexit actually happens. Then again, she is white…
Thanks to anyone who has read this. I hope that everything goes at least relatively well for all of you. I read everything that is posted on WHTM but I rarely comment anymore as I have to take care of myself.
@Monzach
My sympathies. That sounds like a terrible week.
@ weirwoodtreehugger
So are Harris, Durbin, and Schumer, last I checked. Not to mention Schiff and Lieu in the other house.
@wwth
Thanks. I already know what I’m doing 13/7 (7/13 for USians who find that puzzling), which is the long-discussed UK visit.
Realpolitik is tricky, and the UK post-Brexit is in a precarious position. But I don’t care. I’ve studied the 1930’s and the parallels are chilling. Not just in the US, or the UK. It’s “unfortunate” that Italian Roma can’t be deported? Italy can’t accept a boat of desperate people in their waters? I’m not picking on Italy; it’s all over. Godwin’s Law, sadly, needs to be suspended for the duration, because it’s time to recognise the little things (not that I think separating children from their parents or making hungry people stay on an overcrowded boat are “little”) because they lead to big things (do you need me to describe them?). Please, let’s not allow a slide into big things because we were being polite. History taught us a lesson. Shame on us if we didn’t listen.
I get the frustration and the fear, but come on. He’s 81 years old, and he’s been wanting to retire for years.
This solidifies the 5-4 majority, though, assuming a nominee comes up for a vote. I’ve called both my senator and my rep to emphasize that they should do whatever they can to block a vote until after the midterms, or better yet, after Mueller has finished his investigation.
I just hope none of the other justices dies or retires. You know Trump would try to replace them with a 35 year old super conservative idiot. I don’t want to live under the shadow of Justice Stephen Miller for the rest of my life.
Technically, he IS a conservative judge – he was appointed by Reagan. His votes on some issues have leaned more liberal, which is why he should have retired when the Dems could appoint a replacement.
I really hope the liberals down there get onto their Reps to stall, stall, stall until after November. And that the blue wave actually happens.
Kennedy has never been liberal. He got counted as one because he hadn’t supported the push to overturn Roe v. Wade, and he didn’t get as bombastically stupid about whining when the court sided against him (which is what Scalia was for). He just quietly did his own thing, which sometimes meant that he would vote in a way that liberals would like. He was never a liberal, or even aligned with them, however, and almost every situation where his swing vote would make or break a case, he would vote with the conservatives that brought him. The myth that he wasn’t on the Right should have died with Bush v Gore, but liberals and especially moderates are a hopeful lot, and if you throw a few bones in our direction a lot of us will forgive you anything– which sets up the next big disappointment.
The upshot of this is that this is theoretically the final disappointment. Perhaps he will say something when he’s out of power to sharply scold Trump (suddenly finding one’s conscience when one no longer has the ability to act on it being a popular thing about conservatives), which will be one more annoying disappointment, but it would only be a minor epilogue note.
Honest question from a non-USian (who has spent more time than advisable reading Wikipedia to get a handle on this):
What are the Democrats’ options here?
The “McConnell Standard” proposed by Feinstein et al (i.e. no consideration of appointments to the Juridicary up to 12 months before a federal election, as was done in 2016 to block Merrick Garland) is itself an innovation on the Thurmond Rule, which is not even a consistently-applied convention. What’s more, getting that Standard accepted in Congress would effectively halve the number of years in a Presidential term in which apppointments can be considered (since Midterm year and Election year would be out). Not that the GOP would even be willing to consider accepting this anyway.
The House has no power in the appointment of Justices (“by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate” and all that), and the filibuster is not available to Representatives.
Democratic Senators can try to filibuster or call a hold, but the GOP can easily invoke cloture.
So what can the Democrats in Congress do to block this?
Monzach: you need to read up on the Finnish Civil War, just after the end of WWI. It was a small but nasty ideological war between right and left. So I’m not surprised there are Finns that far right.
I say it over and over again: Anger makes conservatives get out and vote. It makes liberals stay home and sulk. Screw Russell Brand and people like him. VOTE! Do you REALLY think there was no real difference between Clinton and Trump? The people who say things like that fall into two classes.
1. Out of their depth in a mud puddle. They think filet mignon and liverwurst are pretty much the same because they’re both meat, or ice cream and Limburger cheese are the same because they’re both dairy.
2. So far out on the Planet Mongo the differences shrink to a pinpoint from that far away. These folks expect things no rational society can ever offer. No, we are not going to print a million dollars for everybody.
Pouring one out for the gay marriage I’ll never get to have
@Weirwood
Sadly I agree with you and I felt the same when Surplus to requirements said something very similar on another thread. And it gives me no joy to see just how high my levels of resignation are. But here we are and it is clear that decent people have to protest and resist. I’m going to my citiy’s June 30 protest.
@Weatherwax
For the past few years I’ve been feeling more and more understanding for the people who lived through the thirties. Times are hard. We all know the other shoe is going to drop and that it is going to be bad. We’re watching not only evil people take over, but watching our neighbors and compatriots either change or rip off the mask of civility. Anyone who doesn’t fit a very narrow definition of what it is to be a person is being groomed for denial of human rights at an alarming rate. It really does have a tendency to put decent people into the freeze mode of horrified shock.
I’ve always admired the people who resisted while the Nazis held most of mainland Europe. I thought they were incredibly brave when putting your head down and keeping your mouth shut and hoping you lived through it was more than tempting.
Clearly we need to protest before we are living in a literal totalitarian state. This is even more demoralizing because the world is already facing serious problems that it would take all of our skill, ingenuity and good will to solve and not only are people making things worse, we aren’t even discussing the issues we face in any organized, public way.
Non US mammothers, I think the suggestion to pressure your leaders to get the US back into western civilization is a good one. The US completely imploding is going to cause problems for everyone.
And thank you. I’m just so glad that after all of the bad things we’ve done as a country in the last fifty years that people in other places are willing to even consider that many if not most of us aren’t in agreement.
I found it ironic in the extreme that the people seeking asylum and sanctuary at our border are fleeing wars and civil unrest that the US has more than had a hand in. And worse that there wasn’t the tiniest peep from the press about the historical causes of the unrest in Central America.
Doesn’t cloture require 60 Senators? And don’t the Repugs only have 51?