Stealing a Court Seat

Mitch McConnell blocked Obama's pick and changed the rules to push through the Republican nominee to the Supreme Court.

Rather than broaden its message or revamp its failed policies, the GOP has declared war on democracy.

McConnell sees shredding of tradition as no vice in the pursuit of preserving privilege.

And with enough money in the next election cycle, the Republicans will face no consequences.

Update (November 26):  Andrew Perez and Margaret Sessa-Hawkins uncover just how much influence one wealthy individual can have in U.S. politics.

The Wellspring Committee, a Virginia-based nonprofit, donated more than $23 million last year to the Judicial Crisis Network, which spent $7 million on advertisements pushing Republican senators to block President Barack Obama’s court pick, Merrick Garland. After the election, the network spent another $10 million to boost [Fuckface von Clownstick's] pick, Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Wellspring received more than $32 million in donations last year, with $28.5 million coming from a single, anonymous donor.

Update (June 26, 2018):  Crime pays with a couple of 5 to 4 decisions.

Update (June 27, 2018):  Another 5 to 4 decision and now Justice Kennedy is retiring. And so we'll live with the consequences of a broken democracy for decades to come.

Update (September 17, 2018):  The Republicans got tripped up in their rush to confirm, as Senator Brian Schatz puts it, "a Republican operative who is posing as a judge". Soon we'll know whether a documented perjurer accused of attempted rape is considered qualified for the Supreme Court.

Update (September 18, 2018):  Confirmation might not be so easy now that the accuser is calling for an FBI investigation before testifying to the Judiciary Committee.

Update (September 19, 2018):  Senator Orrin Hatch exemplifies the Republican attitude that the accusations are not legitimate.

He's a straight-shooting, honest guy. I think when people listen to him, they’ll know he’s alright.

I think this woman, whoever she is, is mixed up. 

Update (September 22, 2018):  Mike Littwin thinks only one side is panicking over the coming confrontation.

Update (September 23, 2018):  Whether the current nomination succeeds or not, Paul Rosenberg argues Republicans should be made to pay a price.

I'm not arguing that the Supreme Court should slavishly reflect every aspect of public opinion. But neither should it be a rear guard, constantly fighting against the tide. It's only like that because conservatives have made the Supreme Court central to their politics for 50 years, using any means at all to achieve their ends, and even refusing to allow an elected president fill an open seat simply because he was a Democrat. To take the Court back, the rest of us need to be willing to do just the same: Make it a top priority, and recapture it by any means necessary.

“Playing nice” by accepting the rules that conservatives lay down — and set aside whenever it pleases them—is no longer an option. Consider how Republicans are treating Christine Blasey Ford even worse than they treated Anita Hill 27 years ago. The lesson should be clear. As Malvina Reynolds sang long ago, “It isn’t nice to block the doorway/ It isn’t nice to go to jail/ There are nicer ways to do it/ But the nice ways always fail.”

Republicans stole the Merrick Garland seat. There's a clear remedy: As soon as they have the power to do so, Democrats should expand the Supreme Court to 11 seats and appoint two liberals -- with the appropriate legal qualifications, of course -- to offset that theft. Yes, that would break with tradition. But there is nothing in the Constitution to prevent it, and in our current situation it's high time to get over handwringing about violating such norms.

And the New Yorker reports on a second woman with accusations of sexual misconduct. So now we get to wonder--how many more? I do have to admit, the timing seems unusually auspicious. But I'm all for his withdrawal and that would save the first woman from a public spectacle.

This is the thing--it's not unreasonable to assume abortion rights are being threatened, and so a lot of women would have the motivation to step up and expose his history.

Update (September 24, 2018):  Third? Fourth? Will the political calculation amount to getting the judge they really want for the next few decades at the cost of losing Congress? But if the accusations get even worse, it may be over soon.

Update (September 28, 2018):  Senator Jeff Flake is a piece of shit for voting to advance the nomination--he could have stopped the whole thing on his own. But he got confronted by two women on live TV.

Look at me when I’m talking to you! You’re telling me that my assault doesn’t matter.

And so a combination of pressures has brought about a "limited" FBI investigation that needs to be finished in a week.

Update (September 30, 2018):  It's funny how Republicans get mad when someone steals a page from their playbook. Whoever leaked the first accusation is definitely playing hardball. And Nancy Pelosi gives the best reaction to the nominee's tantrum.

I couldn’t help but think that if a woman had ever performed that way, they would say "hysterical".

Update (October 4, 2018):  The nominee lies about the dumbest things and then Republican Senators are more than happy to tout a handful of letters willing to back up those lies. Jason Biehl characterizes why the Right is fighting so hard for this.

When you’ve never been held accountable for your actions, accountability feels like oppression.

Update (October 5, 2018):  And so the answer is nothing disqualifies in the eyes of Republicans looking for their big win. When I referred to them as fucking pieces of shit, someone objected that I was praising them too highly. He only attempted rape in high school--on the Court he'll be responsible for thousands of women dying from illegal abortions.

Update (May 28, 2019):  Senator Mitch McConnell now says he'd fill an empty Supreme Court seat if one came up during the election year of 2020. And he gets away with that shit.

Update (September 18, 2020):  Sadly, Justice Ginsberg has died only six weeks before the election. McConnell, of course, promises a vote while Senator Schumer throws McConnell's words in his face.

The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President.

Update (September 20, 2020):  Not that hypocracy bothers Republicans--Senator Lindsey Graham in March 2016:

If there’s a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.

You could use my words against me and you would be absolutely right.