Tag Archives: supreme court

Political Rants

No justice.

Trump has named his nominee to the Supreme Court, with a reality show-like flourish, and we spent a couple of days hearing about how eminently qualified the honorable judge Gorsuch is, how pleasant a man he is, what a great colleague and … and … fuck all. Frankly, his qualifications are irrelevant. Much as the Republicans would like to pretend that time began Tuesday evening at 8:00pm, we all know what happened over the last year after the unexpected passing of Justice Scalia – basically, Mitch McConnell and the Senate GOP invented a new obstructionist rule, saying in essence that President Obama had no right to name a replacement justice in the final year of his second term.

I agree with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkely on this. That seat on the Supreme Court was stolen by the Republicans on the then-long chance that they might win the 2016 election. Now they expect everyone to just forget all that and proceed with the swift confirmation of a man who is significantly to the right of the reactionary justice he would be replacing. I am not alone in saying, fuck that. Eight is a nice, round number – let’s just stay there, shall we?

Favorite photoThe notion that the Democrats need to allow this one to go through unchallenged is truly a case of playing by the last decade’s rules. Here’s the argument: Give Mitch McConnell his vote and he won’t blow up the filibuster on Supreme Court nominees. If you don’t, he’ll invoke the “nuclear option” and you won’t have the filibuster should another vacancy – this time perhaps left by a more liberal justice – comes up in Trump’s tenure. That is just magical thinking. If the filibuster can be shot down that easily, what’s to stop them from doing that next time around? The suggestion that they would somehow refrain out of collegiality or gratitude is laughable. At least filibustering Gorsuch would demonstrate to the majority of people that you’re willing to stand for something. Do nothing and not only will their man be seated on the Court, but next time you try to use the filibuster they’ll just toss it out. You gain nothing – and lost much – by being accommodating.

Now for what really irks me. Who knew that the filibuster was so easily disposed of? I had a suspicion when the Republicans threatened the “nuclear option” during the Bush years, but almost all the way through the years of Democratic Senate majority they wouldn’t touch it. You mean to tell me that in 2009-10, all the Dems had to do to get (1) the public option, (2) card check, (3) a bigger stimulus and more was to do a rule change in the Senate? What. the. fuck. That is a titanic political fail, and we are all the losers for it.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Least we can do.

Matt wrote a song back in the, I don’t know, nineties called “Good Intentions” – I’m hoping to re-record it some day. Anyway, one of the lines went like this:

That son of a bitch with the backdrop and the gun
That son of a bitch with the gun
Well, I voted against, yes I voted against, yes I
voted against for all the poor
creatures of the world

Part of the reason why I’m thinking of this is the current Republican standoff over the Supreme Court vacancy … you know, their war against the U.S. Constitution which they claim so vehemently to revere. It is depressingly predictable that they would pull something like this, of course. Why not? We gave them power, after all; not by voting for them, perhaps, but by failing to vote against them. Matt was being sarcastic, of course, writing about people who think doing very little is doing enough. It certainly isn’t, but things like voting are the very least we can do, and they can make a difference. This is how.

Gotta vote, people. Just sayin.If back in 2014 more of us had said “Damn the torpedoes, I am going to vote against those fuckers if it takes me all day,” Obama would have been able to send a nominee through a normal Senate review process. If we had kept the Senate out of the hands of the wrecking crew known as the GOP, we would likely have pulled the Supreme Court back from the extreme right for the first time in more than thirty years. Now that opportunity is completely up in the air. We don’t know what’s going to happen in November, but I can tell you what isn’t going to happen before then: a Supreme Court confirmation vote, that’s what.

Elections have consequences, it bears remembering. Reagan’s victory in 1980 certainly did, as did Nixon’s in 1968 and 1972. We are living with the fallout from those electoral failures, just as we now live with that of our most recent mid-term rout. Turnout in 2014 was remarkably low – that’s the essential ingredient in any Republican victory on a national basis. When we stay home and sit on our hands, government at every level becomes more tightly controlled by the wrecking crew. Regardless of how little faith you may have in the institutions of government, that prospect simply cannot seem to you like a good thing.

No matter who wins the Democratic nomination, nor who is running for office in your state or your congressional district. No matter how long the lines or how many hoops you have to jump through. No matter what, vote against the mothers.

Next week: Ted and Donny’s super excellent war on terror.

Political Rants

Blind justice.

As promised, I wanted to scribble a few lines about the loss of Justice Scalia and the consequent shit-storm that has engulfed our nation’s political landscape. I’m sure that most of your conservative friends have shared 10 and 20-year-old speeches by Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden as support for the insupportable position taken by the G.O.P. leadership in the Senate. You could do worse than to remind them that (1) both of those speeches were made in a year when there was no vacancy on the court, and (2) both speeches came something like a year after extremist justices were appointed by a Republican president and approved by the Senate without filibuster – in the case of Biden’s speech, it was Clarence Thomas, who was approved by a Democratic controlled Senate. (Though it’s hard to tell because he’s so deathly quiet, Thomas is to the right of their sainted Scalia.)

The neocon establishment's new little tin car.All that said, Obama’s natural inclination will be to offer an olive-branch appointment, something like the one he trial-ballooned this week, namely the Republican governor of Nevada. Seriously … what is it with this president’s Pangloss-like insistence on attempting to curry favor with the Republicans? Hasn’t he been burned enough times in the last seven years? He’s like freaking Charlie Brown trying to kick the football again. Earth to Obama: they hate everything you want to do … doesn’t matter what it is. Best to nominate someone that might energize the Democratic base for the upcoming election; make the point that the election is, in substantial measure, about this issue. It’s about a lot of things, but the Supreme Court is a biggie.

The remaining G.O.P. candidates discussed this during the CNN debate on Thursday night. I say “discussed”, though it was more a pissing contest. Apparently John Roberts is now too liberal for Donald Trump’s taste. I wish I could say that this food-fight was the worst display of the entire debate, but that’s not even close to being true. Anyone watching was treated to a rehash of John McCain’s health plan (i.e. let insurance companies sell their products across state lines), resurrection of the ultimate neocon foreign policy (apparently Marco Rubio is now the little tin car Bill Kristol drives around in), and rabid celebration of trickle-down economics. And a lot of good yelling and screaming, of course.

One thing’s for certain, people … if anyone on that stage in Texas gets anywhere near the White House, don’t buy any green bananas. You’d just be throwing your money away.

luv u,

jp