• Brett Kavanaugh: Key senators back embattled Supreme Court pick
    52 replies, posted
I get that everyone is all emotional about this, and yeah it’s not a good thing for Kavanaugh to become a justice, but a post like that is taking it simply too far. Would you really be willing to not spit but stomp on the face of liberal democracy and the rule of law? And make democracy in America akin to the failed democracies all throughout Asia and South America?
GOP is already working steadfast to take us in that direction anyways.
60 votes would be an absurd majority for one party to hold, i don't think Democrats could get that many seats even if they aced every run from now to 2020. there's no reason why those changes to the SCOTUS would be illiberal when all the actual elections stay fair.
It would eventually make the court composed of nine Merrick Garlands, it would mean no Kavanaughs, but no Ginsburgs too
Good? The court is supposed to be impartial.
Might as well double repurpose this post I'll just put the full text here, too I'm just gonna steal this reddit post The Republican party did this They've been doing this for actual decades. From the second Roosevelt enacted the New Deal, it has become the Republican mission to never ever lose again in order to ensure their financial interests are never jeopardized and their authority is never challenged I think it's time to bring an old ghost up from its grave. Just congressional voting records on a whole host of issues involving the US political process and money in politics. Notice any recurring trends in it? You cannot look at the collective history of the Republican party and then tell me they're not somehow a major component of the god damn problem Senator Whitehouses Opening Remarks Supreme Court Hearing And the transcript helpfully provided by an industrious redditor. If you only read one part of this post, it should be this part I've been neck deep in this shit for two straight years. This man has been neck deep longer than I have been alive. This isn't just arbitrary partisan bitching. This is a genuine fucking concern of mine that comes from a place of just knowing basic fucking things about the history of the party I couldn't find a graceful segue into this article, but it is a good read nonetheless This is a party of criminals and turncoats, and the evidence is everywhere you look. It's not even an argument. I defy anyone to look at the last eighty years of the Republican party and make an even remotely convincing case why they are anything but the official party of big business and organized crime To qutoe our friend Senator Whitehouse up there: When is a pattern evidence of bias? In court, pattern is evidence of bias all the time; evidence on which juries and trial judges rely, to show discriminatory intent, to show a common scheme, to show bias. When does a pattern prove bias? I am playing a little fast and loose with his words, I must admit. But the words 'when is it a pattern' resonate quite strongly with me I think it's a very good question, When is it a pattern? When am I allowed to call the Republican Party out for what they so obviously are? How much research and reading and evidence gathering do I have to do before it is fair for me to say yes, this is a party of criminals which regularly supports other criminals? If this is, in fact, a legitimate and perfectly harmless political party who has never committed any wrongdoing then where is the evidence of their harmlessness? At what point is it no longer acceptable to claim that it is just the biased lies of tearful liberals to excuse literally everything these criminals do? Why is it more acceptable to pretend they have done no wrong than to hold them accountable for their wrongdoings? Why was the scope of the FBI's investigation into Kavanaugh so sharply limited? Why did the Republican Party not allow the FBI to interview key witnesses? Why were the volunteered testimonies of Kavanugh's own associates completely ignored? Why do they continue to throw so much support behind Donald "Tinyhands" Trump? Why does the party of family values, national security, financial stability, fiscal responsibility, continue to throw their weight behind a man who has repeatedly been taken to court over sexual assault, has more connections to hostile foreign influences than you can shake a stick at, and has taken the massive fortune his father left him and done the equivalent of setting it on fire with each new failed business venture? Why do they support a racist, sexist, petty criminal? And continue to support him at the expense of the entire United States government and all her peoples? Why does the Republican party so consistently vote against anything that may introduce transparency and accountability into the system? When is it a pattern? When is it no longer partisan? When is it a genuine concern that the United States is being consumed from within by what at this point can only be called a massive organized crime syndicate? When is it a pattern?
The Republicans do it to the Democrats though. I'd agree with you if the US wasn't facing a bit of an existential crisis in respect to its morals right now.
In a perfect world true, but sometimes moderation may have to be left behind, like when Earl Warren desegregated schools and ensured suspects have civil rights.
Thing is we've went from the relatively good times of 2008-2016 to the absolute pits in the span of two years. I'm not trying to say that the Obama administration was entirely responsible for how warm our domestic relations were back then, but he certainly gave it his all. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been, since day one, a series of colossal disasters that have only been getting more and more horrific and damaging both domestically and internationally over time. Taking into consideration that we still potentially have another two years under Trump's presidency, it's gotten to the point where simply crying out against our president's actions just doesn't accomplish anything. He's still incredibly powerful amongst his vote base, and the GOP has dropped all pretence of being elected representatives in favor of gaining as much control as possible. I'm not going to say that open rebellion is the right course of action, I think that would be ruinous to the country, but we've seen how little verbal protests have gotten us.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I agree that a 60 vote supermajority for Supreme Court appointments is a good thing. I was responding more to the suggestions of court stacking, ‘fucking over the Republicans in any way they can’, threatening violence by bringing the ‘big guns’, and saying that all of that is for protecting the integrity of the nation, when those very things would undermine the very foundations of American democracy. I’m not blind to the Republicans pulling nasty stunts, because they have. But ‘getting back at them’ just as dirtily is only going to perpetuate the hate and widening division in America. Something has to give; people need to stop responding to hate with hate. And hopefully then that cycle can end. Just like how I advocate for members here on Facepunch to keep cool heads and replace hatred with compassion and understanding, I hope that others like me are doing the same thing on other platforms - left-leaning and right-leaning.
It's less a matter of revenge, and more preventing of institutional injustice that seems to be heavily perpetuated via an ever increasingly conservative party. It's a matter of preventing cross generational systems that will torment generations for no good reasons. When the status quo of dancing politely in hopes of a better world doesn't work, fighting to make a better world is what's necessary. It's clear that republicans and many democrats aren't interested in making a world for future generations to survive and triumph in. They're narrow and short sighted, acting for corporate donors and maintaining their own riches. That's not something that can be sustained in a world ravaged by economic lusts and environmental crippling. Only replacing and reverting the actions of those enabling an abusive system will end continuous abuse. Reforging the systems to work in favor of the many, instead of the few, will be the long term interest of any who wish to live in a better world for everyone.
Democrats aren't gonna change anything by respecting norms, that's for sure.
someone ought to publish an easy to read list of all the voting senators, their states, and the day of the midterms. they deserve to not be re-elected
I mean, in a perfect world I would completely agree that playing dirty is out of the question and that anyone doing so is clearly desperate, but I feel that trying to act virtuous in regards to the GOP's latest tactics is ineffective for the DNC to even consider. There's already a massive divide between Democrats and Republicans made even worse by the president flat out lying to his supporters by claiming that the opposing party is villainous and trying to undermine the country. Coupled with the fact that news agencies like Fox will vehemently defend Trump and will lie to their viewers only hurts the country as a whole. So yeah, it's not a "good" decision if the DNC starts using the same tactics that the GOP have been using, but you have to take into consideration that there's much more at risk here than just a political rivalry.
The turtle cunt, Lindsey Graham, and Susan Collins are up for reelection in 2020. A strong Democrat presidential candidate's coattails might help unseat them.
This is outdated and very clearly demonstrated ineffective. This is becoming a class war of ultra rich and second class working poor. Ending the cycle of hate as you put it wont work because the good side lacks the power to end it without resorting to hard measures. Do you see the republicans pulling any punches? It wont happen. Stop thinking it will.
Joe Manchin's statement is nuts. “I have reservations about this vote given the serious accusations against Judge Kavanaugh and the temperament he displayed in the hearing and my heart goes out to anyone who has experienced any type of sexual assault in their life. However, based on all of the information I have available to me, including the recently completed FBI report, I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution and determine cases based on the legal findings before him. I do hope that Judge Kavanaugh will not allow the partisan nature this process took to follow him onto the court. "I have reservations about the things he said and did but I'm still going to vote for him". This isn't an application to Burger King, this is a lifetime appointment that is very, very hard to rescind. Anything less than absolute faith in a persons character should be dismissed out of hand.
It seems like for every time democrats try to treat republicans fairly, the GOP don't return the favor. so why bother?
With a cool head and a heart full of compassion and understanding for my fellow Americans, the Democrats should absolutely abuse every precedent set by the Republican party for the last 10 years.
Mazie Hirono already said something about if they get a majority blocking Trump SCOTUS picks until after the 2020 election.
Er, you do realize that's not a literal term, right? They're clearly not stating to bring weapons or threaten violence. They're stating that they should use the strongest and most effective methods they can, even if they're not emthods we would normally agree with, because our country's democracy is in danger and the other side isn't playing fair. (And thus playing fair in return is just going to play into their hands.)
That's actually a good point. I thought he was just reading subtext, or something, when there isn't any, but it does look like he interpreted it as a call to violence, now that you mention it.
Centrism with slight lean is the norm. Extremism is just hugely on the rise, and will lead to more problems with division in America. Following the trajectory America is going to be hell if this keeps up after the next election.
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