2020 Dems On Court Vacancy

One of the subplots in the battle ahead over Anthony Kennedy’s replacement will be watching how Democratic presidential hopefuls vie for the attention of 2020 primary voters.

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Author: craigcrawford

Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.

74 thoughts on “2020 Dems On Court Vacancy”

  1. also want to hear from folkettes like sally yates and amy klobachar.  lest we forget there are other stars in our sky.

    speaking of what ms yates has been up to lately and to mn, from the star tribune:
    Former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates will lead an independent investigation into whether Minneapolis police officers crossed a line and urged paramedics to inject members of the public with ketamine, a powerful sedative.
     
    “The people of Minneapolis have spoken and we’ve heard their message loud and clear, which is, we need to get to the bottom of what happened and we need to do it in a transparent and accountable way completely free from any interference from officials in the city,” Mayor Jacob Frey said Friday.
     
    Yates was the Justice Department’s second-in-command at the end of the Obama administration and acting attorney general under President Donald Trump until he fired her for refusing to defend the travel ban executive order in late January 2017. Last month, she announced she was returning to her old law firm to help conduct investigations.
     
    “She’s got a record that’s beyond reproach,” Frey said. “It speaks for itself. Just a long history of commitment to unearthing the truth and delivering justice, and that’s exactly what we need now.”
    […continues…]

  2. I don’t know what rules are available to the Dems to slow, stop consideration on the floor of a nominee. I’m guessing that there are none that will be effective. I hope I am wrong. Remember that the one real tool – the filibuster- isn’t available any longer.

  3. How many does Bobby III have to roll up with Trumpsky to get a better SC pick?

  4. Instead of more droning ineffectuals, Democrats might be better served by cultivating their own Donald Segretti. Right now Democrats are the equivalent of white noise in the background. Republicans are wearing Dems’ balls around their necks. A little mischief behind the scenes, deliberately planting kudzu in the Republican landscape is proactive & turns the tables for the GOP to become reactive. Media loves crap if it steals the headlines. Nothing puts a speed bump in the middle of an agenda faster than breaking news.

    It isn’t a lie … if you believe it.

     

     

  5. drip drip drip…

    politico:
    Federal court documents unsealed Wednesday reveal that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had much closer ties to a Russian oligarch linked to Vladimir Putin than had been previously disclosed.
     
    A company jointly owned by Manafort and his wife received a $10 million loan in 2010 from the oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, according to the documents, which also alleged that the Russian billionaire provided financial backing for Manafort’s consulting work in Ukraine as far back as 2005.
    That information came from a source whose name was redacted in the documents, suggesting that one of Manafort’s former associates has cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
     
    “Obviously this is another tie between Manafort and Russian intelligence,” Asha Rangappa, a former FBI counterintelligence agent, said of the new disclosures, citing Deripaska’s deep ties to Putin and the Kremlin.
    [….continues…]

  6.  candidates should be running to represent their district, certainly NOT running to represent either nancy or Bernie or the twit.

    I thought this statement intelligent enough to be repeated…

  7. Pogo, on the subject of the filibuster I’ve seen a bunch of erroneous commentary blaming Harry Reid for “nuking” it in Supreme Court battles. Yes, he did do that for executive and lower court nominations but preserved it for SCOTUS votes. Good ole Mitch is the one who extended it when they fell short of 60 votes for Gorsuch.

    As far as other tactics, Dems could try silly stuff such as not showing up for hearings, prevent a quorum, maybe even threaten to shut down the government, anything to delay.

    But I say fight head on, go full Bork unashamedly on ideological grounds, and dwell on the abortion issue, force the nominee to respond to questions about whether Roe is settled law that should not be overturned. And get supposedly pro-choice Republicans Collins and Murkowski to withhold their votes until the question is answered.

  8. Fight. Tooth and nail…….it’s the only way now.  Risk not being elected again, but fight.  The Garland vote was stolen.  Civility is dead.

  9. Poobah,  I was aware of Mitch being to blame for nuking the filibuster on SCOTUS nominees – he did that to get Gorsuch through. The inaccurate info on that is coming from RWers.  And I agree with your approach – head on questiosn about Roe, Obergefell, hell, throw in Brown to combat drip, drip drip -with the RW outcry led by SFB against illegal brown people in the US that is a field that has yet to be plowed.

    Was glad to see the SFB backed build the wall and throw a crumb or two to dreamers did not pass the House – at least I think I’m glad.  I didn’t get into the weed re: the bill so I’m not sure what was actually offered that Dems wanted.

  10. Remember when these were making the rounds?

    Three Days in the Saddle, by Charlie Redass

    Under the Grandstand, by Seymore Butz

    Three Tracks in the Snow, by Wun Hung Lo

    Spots on the Wall, by Hu Flung Dung

    Tiger’s Revenge, by Claude Bawlz

     

  11. We’re going to get the right wing hack job that they pick for the narcissist to nominate.  Perhaps the Democrats need to be cautious in how they approach this lest they end up looking like spoiled brat children right before the mid terms.

    It’s a lot easier to be a conservative than it is to be a liberal.  Hate and racism is easy – doesn’t require a lot of thought.  Liberal thought has to include tolerance and understanding – something that requires effort.

    There are lessons to be learned by the Ocasio-Cortez election in New York.  But the midwest isn’t New York.  This should be about the economy, jobs, lost jobs, etc.  The progressive can score big in November – but they’re going to have to fight like hell to do it.  Not sure if we have that in us.

  12. Now the question is will Collins* insist on a nominee answering the Roe question under penalty of losing her vote? (She let Gorush get away without answering.) Will Murkowski do the same? Nothing Dems can do would be a game changer like that, the only way GOP could fall short of confirmation without pulling some Dems over.

    *Collins suggests she won’t vote for Supreme Court nominee who doesn’t support Roe v. Wade

  13. More ponderables: Could enough Republicans gang up to force a Supreme Court vote after Midterms? Flake, McCain, Corker, + Collins/Murkowski? Note: If McCain cannot come back to vote, only one GOPer needed to scramble Mitch’s timetable.

  14. Saw this in a comment thread at WaPo and though it was worth citing here.

     

    12 minutes ago

    wapo1024“Thanks to the Russians, former FBI director James B. Comey and fewer than 80,000 voters in three key states, the fabric of American life could be radically altered.”You forgot to thank the non-voter, Jennifer.

    green-flag 7 minutes ago

    Comey and the Russians influenced non-voting.

    actualintent 8 minutes ago

    And the Bernie-or-bust short-sighted morons who voted for Trump because they hate Clinton.

  15. This is stunning and well worth repeating for the Midterms: Politico — Next year there won’t be a single House Republican who supports abortion rights.. https://politi.co/2yOvnrR

    Also, gotta wonder how many young voters who take reproductive rights for granted will be horrified to learn that the Republican Party aims to abolish those rights (and gay marriage) by railroading a pivotal right winger to the Supreme Court? Midterm effect?

  16. To that point, Pogo, I keep this in a save-get file for ready reminders:

    A shift of fewer than 80,000 votes in three states (Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) — or 0.0006% of 137 million cast — would have made Hillary Clinton president … Trump won those states by 0.2, 0.7 and 0.8 percentage points, respectively — and by 10,704, 46,765 and 22,177 votes. Those three wins gave him 46 electoral votes; if Clinton had done one point better in each state, she’d have won the electoral vote. But for 79,646 votes cast in those three states, she’d be president of the United States.

    Given that, does he really want to face reelection as the president who abolished abortion rights?

  17. One of the things we have heah is the Confederate tail trying to wag the American dog.

  18. Might feel called upon to do a little Budminiscing as this funkyass day wears on.   It’s not a fit country out for man nor beast.

  19. Might take a while to sink in but voters who have no clue about pre-Roe days must be confronted with where the GOP wants to go:

    New Yorker: Under “cause of death,” the coroner had written in a sloped hand: “Attempt at criminal abortion, self-inflicted.”

  20. Nothing like trolling the Dems to make people feel better about their own lack of initiative or guilt for doing things that helped elect SFB

    To Craig’s rundown on the election – important to add that Wisconsin actively blocked people from voting some estimates in the hundreds of thousands.   Penn also has a more restrictive voter ID law.

  21. Instead of invoking the “McConnell rule”, why aren’t the Democrats arguing that Trump has a clear conflict of interest in Supreme Court nomination? That’s the much stronger case than McConnell stealing Garland’s seat. No Supreme Court nominee should be considered until Mueller has finished/issued a report or as long as Trump is under investigation while he’s president. Highly likely that the Supreme Court will have to rule on something related to Mueller investigation.

  22. I was an adult while abortion was illegal.  That policy ruined the lives of many people not too mention endangering people who pursued the illegal procedure.

    Well f–k the millenials and their smug co-generations – let them see what it is like. They stayed home and did not vote  — hope they have air fare to Ireland.

    We are the only country currently marching backwards.  It is why people voted for SFB

  23. Trump on punishing women who get abortions and sending them back to “illegal places”  (March 30, 2016 Town Hall):

    • MATTHEWS: Should the woman be punished for having an abortion?
    • TRUMP: Look…
    • MATTHEWS: This is not something you can dodge.
    • TRUMP: It’s a — no, no…
    • MATTHEWS: If you say abortion is a crime or abortion is murder, you have to deal with it under law. Should abortion be punished?
    • TRUMP: Well, people in certain parts of the Republican Party and conservative Republicans would say, “yes, they should be punished.”
    • MATTHEWS: How about you?
    • TRUMP: I would say that it’s a very serious problem. And it’s a problem that we have to decide on. It’s very hard.
    • MATTHEWS: But you’re for banning it?
    • TRUMP: I’m going to say — well, wait. Are you going to say, put them in jail? Are you — is that the (inaudible) you’re talking about?
    • MATTHEWS: Well, no, I’m asking you because you say you want to ban it. What’s that mean?
    • TRUMP: I would — I am against — I am pro-life, yes.
    • MATTHEWS: What is ban — how do you ban abortion? How do you actually do it?
    • TRUMP: Well, you know, you go back to a position like they had where people will perhaps go to illegal places.
  24. KGC…  what I find astounding is all the calls for Dem politicians to stick together to make them super…  or to show us some balls…   yet… the same doesn’t seem to apply to the electorate.   A lot of Republican voters held their noses and voted from trump anyways because he had an “R” after his name.  We said they sold their souls…  but yesterday showed us exactly why they did it.

    I wonder if being “progressive” means….  asking other people to do stuff that one doesn’t want or will do themselves.

  25. My particular choice for female Prez candidate:

    Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says he wants a vote on a new Justice this fall. He is getting pushback from Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, who said in a statement that Kennedy, “should be replaced by someone who will see both sides of the issues and make a decision based on legal precedent, not someone who will vote solely on the basis of ideology.”

  26. My choice for president in 2020 will be whomever wins the Democratic nomination…  be they male/female…  black/white/red/purple/green… gay/straight/trans/bi/other…  loves Pelosi/hates Pelosi…  loves Bernie/hates Bernie…    etc….  etc.

  27. And Amy needs to be the last person Trump talks to before he nominated someone for the vacant position of Kennedy

  28. If only we could get verifiable evidence that one of Trump’s affairs resulted in a pregnancy and abortion…and that he wanted & paid for it.

  29. Also, Hillary did poor job of addressing the concerns of a large groups of folks, some of whom were in those, three states.

  30. Hillary did not do a poor job of stating her goals.   The oafs who didnt vote for her did a poor job of risk assessment and cognitive acuity.

  31. And if those same people do it again, guess what……it gets even  worse., on the fast track.to hell on earth. (Unless you’re rich, of course.)

  32. Clinton would have  had to yell I’m a racist/misogynist and I’m really a man before any Trump voter would have even looked at her.

    Put the blame where it  belongs – voters who went with Trump want the white America of the 1950’s ..probably would be even happier with the 1850’s

  33. heddy,   an inspiring idea! No Supreme Court nominee should be considered until Mueller has finished/issued a report or as long as Trump is under investigation while he’s president.  

    [one problem tho’, we might end up with a 4-4 tie at appeal time]

  34. dilemma of today’s democrat reflected in dialogue from “man of la mancha”

     

    And all he reads oppresses him…

                  fills him with indignation…

                  at man’s murderous ways towards man.

                  He ponders the problem… how to make better a world…

                  where evil brings profit and virtue none at all.

                  Where fraud, deceit, and malice…

                  are mingled with truth and sincerity.

                  He broods and broods and broods and broods…

                  and broods and finally his brains dry up.

                  He lays down the melancholy burden of sanity…

                  and conceives the strangest project ever imagined…

                  to become a knight-errant, and sally forth…

    off to fight wind mills

  35. Kennedy is a conservative- appointed by Reagan, waited out the entirety of a Democratic presidency, made a few more conservative rulings, and then retired when he realized a conservative majority was assured.  Landmark LGBT and abortion rulings?  What good is a position obtained that can’t be defended?

  36. The Dems have to find a way to break the normalization of SFB and the equivalency which the media is doing.  Until they do that any message is going to be “the Dems need a message”.

    I hope Mueller is following the Russian money trail to Mitch, Ryan, Nunes, Rorhabacher, and the other greedy old perverts.  It would be fun watching him spread indictments soon.

  37.  “break the normalization of SFB and the equivalency which the media is doing“

    …too late.  My news feeds are already littered with thinly-veiled GOP propaganda, daily.

  38. Progs, Libs, Dems- they all fail to grasp how stupid the average voter is.  The GOP understands exactly how stupid they are- they helped make them that way.  Whenever a savvy Dem comes along and tries to game the system, self-righteous left-wing simpletons, like Blue, for an easy example, will undermine them out of principle because they’re just too dumb to see the bigger picture.  Obama pulled it off, but we see now, if we hadn’t before, that he’s an empty suit.

    They’ll suit up for war when they could have just pulled a lever, but that would be too easy- people have to learn the hard way: it’s why we’re doomed as a species.

  39. bink, have noticed that too about the ” thinly-veiled GOP propaganda.”
    am also experiencing trouble with news reports that deal with anything negative about the twit and his foreign financial deals and some of the stories of various targets in mueller probe seem to trigger nasty malware invasions.   have had to clear history, shut down and reboot more often than usual.

  40. With all of our technological advancements, do you realize we haven’t had a viable governmental innovation, globally, in like, 300 years?  It’s been almost 400 years since the most recent viable economic innovation.  Now, how smart do you think we are?

  41. Media companies are businesses, businesses are profit-motivated.  We elected a fascist who has made clear he will seek retribution against any critical of him, businesses included, and the managers of big media can read the writing on the wall.  The more solid our head-fascist’s grip on power, the more right-wing propaganda you’ll see until there’s nary a peep from the left on those platforms and networks, but luckily we still have the internet.

     

    Oh wait, big media owns all the transmission networks for that.  There’s always HAM radio, i guess.

  42. wapo:
    Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a frequent critic of President Trump, takes fresh aim at his fellow Republican in a new video in which he mocks Trump’s efforts to save the coal industry, [….].
    The three-minute video opens with Schwarzenegger, an actor well known for his time-traveling title role in “The Terminator” movie series, lecturing a Trump bobblehead.
     
    “So President Trump, I know you really want to be an action hero, right?” Schwarzenegger says. “So take it from the Terminator, you’re only supposed to go back in time to protect future generations. But your administration attempts to go back in time to rescue the coal industry, which is actually a threat to future generations.”
     
    “It is foolish to bring back laughable, outdated technology to suit your political agenda,” Schwarzenegger continues. “I mean, what are you going to bring back next? Floppy disks? Fax machines? Beanie Babies? Beepers? Or Blockbuster? Think about it. What if you tried to save Blockbuster?”
    […continues…]

  43. There are two similar pieces at WaPor e: Rosenstein being grilled by Jim Jordan and Trey Gowdy.  One’s by Jennifer Rubin, and one’s by Devlin Barrett, et al.  The utter hypocrisy of Trey (3 years and millions to investigate Benghazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzi) Gowdy to hurry up and have Mueller finish his investigation is just stunning. And teh questionning apparently got pretty personal.

    At the hearing, Jordan peppered Rosenstein with accusations, asking, “Why are you keeping information from Congress?”

    Rosenstein denied doing so.

    “I don’t agree with you, congressman,” he said. “That is not accurate, sir.”

    Jordan also accused the deputy attorney general of redacting documents to hide information embarrassing to the FBI.

    “Mr. Jordan, I am the deputy attorney general of the United States. I’m not the person doing the redacting,” Rosenstein answered.

    As Jordan peppered him with questions, Rosenstein snapped back: “Your use of this to attack me personally is deeply wrong. … I’m not trying to hide anything.”

    Jordan responded: “It’s not personal,” as the two continued to argue and Democrats on the panel attempted to interject in Rosenstein’s defense.

    Not personal – right.

  44. Chris Hayes had Cortez on his show.  I heard that normal turnout for off-year elections is 10%, but due to Cortez’ actual door-knocking campaign , she drummed up a whopping 2% more voters for herself, enough to oust the incumbent in the shocker from Queens.  I would hope that slackers would become aware of this, that if you are even a little passionate about a cause, and you can convince another one or two slackers to shed that label and get out and vote, the world can be altered.  { I have been a lurker lately…I’m OK and well and all that}

  45. Dex, good to hear that.  Thanks for dispelling all the rumors and speculation.  🙂

     

  46. Amen to that Dexter. Many just don’t realize how little it takes to change the world at the ballot box. She won with a bit over 15,000 votes, and built her victory margin by energizing non-voters. In our low turnout universe just about any election can be won with a candidate who can do that. Hit’em where they ain’t — isn’t that a baseball saying?

  47. Shooting at the Annapolis Capital Gazette offices in Annapolis.  I immediately blame SFB.  When it is proven that the killer was not a cult member then, and only then, will I accept a different version.

  48. I’d like to know more about the primaries in NY — why congress is on  a separate day from the state races  no wonder there is low turnout

  49. When I used to work elections…  I’d always get excited for any upcoming voting day except the state primary…   it was so slow from low turn-out… it bored the crap out of me.  I know my fellow election workers felt the same way.   And yet we here in NH are noted for our better than average turnout.  I can only imagine how low the turn-out must be in other states.

  50. Finally my first laugh in several days.  I have my own hate troll on Twitter.  The Russians finally are getting around to attack me there. #WakeUpPamennett  Somehow the grind through the software does not have the same result as if it was a real American attacking me.

  51. BB,
    SFB can get that stopped when he goes to Finland. Just mail him a request to that effect.

  52. Renee,
    We had our runoffs on Tuesday. I showed-up around noon–I was number 31 on the Democratic list of voters. I brought the ladies a bag of snacks. They didn’t pay a bit of attention to it. Instead, they are all competing for my everlasting affection. The nice warm hugs do feel nice.

  53. Mr Flatus, were those hugs for coming in to vote, for voting as a Dem, or for being the dashing and Hollywood-handsome guy that you are ?
    Driving up in the Rolls might have helped. Maybe.

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