The Declaration of Independence is basically a statement of values and the Constitution is basically the rule book for running a government. It’s not exactly surprising that the modern GOP can’t tell the functional difference between those documents but it is certainly worrisome.
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He’d only say “Thank you, sir! May I have another?” anyway.
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Look like it’s a wrap!
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Senator Sinema will probably vote in favor as well based on past statements about this nomination being a “historic milestone” but I’m not taking anything for granted when it comes to Sinema. She’s made plenty of inexplicable reversals in the past and will do all kinds of crazy shit if she thinks it makes her seem more centrist to Fox News viewers.
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I guess i wouldnt bet money on it either, but while she might decide to pee in the punch bowl, I think it’s just as likely that a Repubbie or two will find their consciences for a bit and vote yes.
Some might think of their historic legacy in those terms too. I don’t think they’re quite the lockstep gang that Trump had whipped them into being.
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thomas is out of the hospital. maybe he left to spend time with his family
Thomas was discharged less than a day after news outlets revealed that his wife, Virginia Thomas, had sent an array of text messages urging then-President Donald Trump’s top aide, Mark Meadows, to try to overturn the 2020 election following President Joe Biden’s victory.
eta: boy im behind the times…
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Yeah, it ain’t gonna be a happy homecoming.
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Spineless Dems were spineless Dems again.
Aside from Booker, did any make good use of their time?
If we can all agree that the purpose of this charade for Graham is to try to flip Sens. Susan Collins or Lisa Murkowski, and that for Sen. Ted Cruz the purpose of this charade is to goose his own Twitter mentions, and that for Sen. Josh Hawley the purpose is to take what was a fringe “endangering our children” smear campaign last week and push it to the GOP mainstream today, it’s manifestly clear who the real pornographers are this week. But if we can all agree what the GOP agenda has been, I remain utterly mystified by the Democrats. They have the votes to confirm. They are about to irrevocably alter the course of American history. So what are they afraid of?
I wrote earlier this week about the utter failure on the part of Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats to connect this hearing to what is going to be a catastrophic series of progressive losses at the Supreme Court this term, and the almost staggering inability to lay out any kind of theory for progressive jurisprudence, or even a coherent theory for the role of an unelected judiciary in a constitutional democracy. My colleague Mark Joseph Stern wrote today about a broadside attack on the whole idea of unenumerated rights, substantive due process, and the entire line of cases that protect Americans from forced sterilization, indoctrination of their children, and penalties for using birth control, and afford them the right to marry whom they want. More mysterious than this coordinated GOP project to undermine LGBTQ rights, marriage equality, contraception, and abortion—again, none of this is new or shocking—was the almost complete silence from Senate Democrats on these issues of substantive due process, privacy, and bodily autonomy. On the simplest level, the hearing might have been an opportunity to explain why Roe v. Wade is in fact the tip of the constitutional iceberg; that the same doctrinal underpinnings at risk in this term’s looming catastrophe of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization could lead to existential losses of countless other freedoms. But the hearings were framed as if Republicans stand to lose the court and the midterms, while the Democrats behaved as if the future of the courts, the Senate, and democracy itself has no bearing on what happened inside the Senate chamber.
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Yeah, some actually asked decent questions about the job she’s applying for, including my Senator who is on the Judiciary committee… I missed his first round, but heard his second.
This is specifically what these hearings are for, which is digging into the record and methodology of the candidate to see what they’ll bring to bear on the job.
I don’t know about other states, but I’m actually very pleased with the job my current senators are doing. They’re not loud or attention seeking, but they’ve gone to washington and done exactly what they told us they would - work hard to pass legislation that will have a positive impact on their constituents. I can say, that although they have not gotten everything I want yet, they have made a serious effort to do the actual work of being elected officials.
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i’m not necessarily sure i agree. another framing of that would be dems using her confirmation to articulate their views
imo, they should do that on their own time, not hers. if they haven’t been doing a good job of that so far ( and arguably they haven’t ) - it wasn’t suddenly the time. they’ll have other better opportunities
their job i think was to protect her. because the attacks against her were always going to be unfair, largely because she’s a black woman in front of white men
she had to be ten times more qualified, ten times more perfect in her answers, than any other candidate would. ( i mean look at barrett or especially kavanaugh ) that’s how the power dynamic always works
their job i think was to help balance that out. i only listened to bits, and i do think they tried. at least somewhat
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Agreed, but i think the problem was that they did very little of that, especially by not directly and forcefully rejecting the absurd, disrespectful and racist treatment she received from Repugnicans.
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…and the Constitution does not grant any rights at all. It limits the rights of government. As a forking US Senator, one would hope Ms. Blackburn would know this most basic aspect of US civics (at least more than a Canadian FFS), but apparently not.
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Yea, the quoted tweet seems to be arguing that SCOTUS is a bad idea because the current one is poor. That person is thus apparently calling into question the whole idea of independent judiciary, which is a very dangerous idea. The independent SCOTUS (particularly Justice Kennedy) held democracy together for the past 40 years or so during some pretty rough times in congress and the executive.
There is an impeachment process for justices as well. SCOTUS appointment does not make them kings, and people should not be looking to throw the baby out with the bath water at this scale just because current SCOTUS is such a bad bench (pardon the pun)
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