Stephen Breyer to retire at the end of this court session.

[lpetrich]

Madeline Peltz on Twitter: "Tomi Lahren: I'm wondering what kind of justice he will nominate, I'm sure it will be, as Guy said, a Black woman ... we saw how well that worked out with Kamala Harris (vid link)" / Twitter

Elie Mystal on Twitter: "The amazing thing to me is that conservatives are giving into their racist instincts even though THEY'RE ALREADY WINNING. It's a 6-3 Court. It's gonna *stay* a 6-3 Court. Why you gotta denigrate all black women when the pick can't do ANYTHING to stop your ideological crusade?" / Twitter

Elie Mystal on Twitter: "It's like somebody serving me a side salad with my rack of ribs, and me throwing a hissy fit, throwing the salad on the ground and stomping on it like a baby. I STILL GET THE RIBS, I STILL GET TO BE FAT. The salad is just there to freaking TRY." / Twitter

Tracie Hunte on Twitter: "@ElieNYC I was also, sadly, thinking this. Like why should it even be a tough confirmation? Nothing will change. Liberals are only getting a new person to write dissents." / Twitter

Elie Mystal on Twitter: "@TracieHunte right?
These freaking people replaced Thurgood Marshall with the most conservative person with a Black face they could find ON THE PLANET... and they're throwing a fit because we're replacing a liberal white guy with a liberal black woman? DON'T THEY HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO?" / Twitter

As if right-wingers think that they are the only ones with the right to play identity politics.

I suspect that right-wingers will nominate Candace Owens, because she is the most prominent right-wing black woman.

 

[lpetrich]

Louis R. Bridgeman on Twitter: "@ElieNYC By the by @ElieNYC, aren't we overdue for a @Peggynoonannyc perfunctory post-racial SCOTUS reprimand, perfectly coifed...and coloured?" / Twitter

Mary Shomon on Twitter: "@LouisRBridgema3 @ElieNYC @Peggynoonannyc And don’t forget the POPPED COLLAR! (Pop Collar Peggy never does.) (pic lnk)" / Twitter

Elie Mystal on Twitter: "OMG... Now I am awaiting the cursed headline: "Ronald Reagan Wasn't Playing Politics When He Promised To Appoint A Woman Because She Wasn't Black -- By Peggy Noonan"" / Twitter

Elie Mystal on Twitter: "Then Thomas Freidman will write "Biden should nominate Candace Owens as a UNITY SCOTUS pick!"" / Twitter

Elie Mystal on Twitter: "It'll all be chased by a Bari Weiss column: "I was going to be Biden's Black woman SCOTUS choice until I was cancelled for being insufficiently woke."" / Twitter

Dr. Joshua R. Greenberg on Twitter: "@ElieNYC I am waiting for one that says “The real Black women eligible for the Supreme Court are these white guys in a diner in Ohio that we just interviewed.”" / Twitter

 

[Toni]

Now, some years down the line if they can convince Katie Porter to run, that will be a real litmus test. I hope she does run.

Amen.
I am afraid we missed our chance.
Sanders would have won handily against the pants-crapping mob boss in 2016. But the Dem Party machine threw away the chance; they do not support progressives.

No, I don't think he would have won. And if he had, by some miracle, defeated Trump, he would be extremely ineffective. I am very familiar with the devotion he generates among his fans but he would have been seen as way too far left for the GOP defectors and unaffiliated to have voted for. They would have found and mounted a 3rd party candidate with a name and we would have ended up with DJT.

Let's face it: on merit, what comes out of my dog's back end would have been infinitely preferable to DJT, on merit alone. Aside from his various cabinet members and other cronies, you couldn't come up with a known name of anyone who would not be a vast improvement over DJT in terms of character and competence and qualifications.

 

[Gospel]

The democrats shouldn't let the republican complaints be about their pick, it should be about democrats jamming through their pick without any regard to republicans.

 

[Copernicus]

The democrats shouldn't let the republican complaints be about their pick, it should be about democrats jamming through their pick without any regard to republicans.

I hope that it will run smoothly enough that they can bring it off. However, Democrats don't have the votes without Manchin and Sinema. So either of those two could kill any nominee that Biden picks. He'll need to at least consult them before nominating anyone, and they will hold veto power over him. Right now, it looks like Manchin will be amenable, but he has a reputation for reversing himself from one day to the next. Sinema is completely unpredictable, except that she seems to enjoy having everyone talk about her, even when what they are saying isn't flattering. Maybe both Manchin and Sinema will let this one pass without putting their stamp of disapproval on it. We'll be lucky if that happens.

 

[lpetrich]

Stephen Breyer Tried to Compromise On An Increasingly Uncompromising Supreme Court | FiveThirtyEight

Biden is delivering on his promise to diversify the courts
Share of nonwhite and female appointees of appellate and district judges appointed by presidents since Jimmy Carter during their first year in office

President	Nonwhite %		Female %
Carter	10	##	3
Reagan	3		2
Bush I	7	#	20	####
Clinton	26	#####	37	########
Bush II	18	####	28	######
Obama	46	#########	46	#########
Trump	9	##	18	####
Biden	72	##############	75	###############

So a black female Supreme Court Justice would be in character with Joe Biden's other picks.

 

[Gospel]

The democrats shouldn't let the republican complaints be about their pick, it should be about democrats jamming through their pick without any regard to republicans.

I hope that it will run smoothly enough that they can bring it off. However, Democrats don't have the votes without Manchin and Sinema. So either of those two could kill any nominee that Biden picks. He'll need to at least consult them before nominating anyone, and they will hold veto power over him. Right now, it looks like Manchin will be amenable, but he has a reputation for reversing himself from one day to the next. Sinema is completely unpredictable, except that she seems to enjoy having everyone talk about her, even when what they are saying isn't flattering. Maybe both Manchin and Sinema will let this one pass without putting their stamp of disapproval on it. We'll be lucky if that happens.

Well if anything indicates whether or not they both plan on stepping down next election it would be how they handle this nomination. They're already on thin ice so if they pull their usual shenanigans they are guaranteed to get voted out regardless of anything they do at that point.

With that said, I appreciate what they both do (not why they do it), as I'm not a "party over people" person. Each state representative is exactly that, a representative of the state and all who live there. These days everyone is either doing party line shit or big doner shit (mostly the latter). Back in the ole slave-owning days, politicians were mostly on some ole USA against the world shit now it's mainly every American for themselves shit (while still screwing up the world).

My guess is that's because the more common folk got a say in government in hopes to score a win for the team the more the elites moved goalposts.

 

[southernhybrid]

I'm not worried about Manchin. He's already said that he has no problem voting for someone who is a lot more liberal than him. He's supported all of the 42 lower court justices that Biden has chosen. Three Republicans voted in favor of some of those justices as well. Sinema said she will review their qualifications. I seriously doubt that she will vote against the nominee. They only need 50 votes. It's not going to be that hard, although it may be lengthy. I'm pleased that Biden has promised to appoint a Black female. The courts should reflect the diversity of the country. For far too long, SCOTUS was a pack of privileged white males. I may be in the minority, but I look forward to seeing a sharp, experienced Black women on SCOTUS.

 

[Copernicus]

I just hope that they move the nomination forward as quickly as possible. All it would take would be for one of those 50 Democrats to become unavailable, and the Senate would quickly flip to Republican control. At this point, I think that McConnell would block any nominee from a Democratic president, no matter how long it took. Republicans have already shown that they have far stronger party loyalty than Democrats, no matter how much they don't like the people in charge of Republican policies. That goes for both Republican voters and Republican elected officials.

 

[Politesse]

I think that McConnell would block any nominee from a Democratic president, no matter how long it took.

And no matter who they are.

 

[Jarhyn]

I just hope that they move the nomination forward as quickly as possible. All it would take would be for one of those 50 Democrats to become unavailable, and the Senate would quickly flip to Republican control. At this point, I think that McConnell would block any nominee from a Democratic president, no matter how long it took. Republicans have already shown that they have far stronger party loyalty than Democrats, no matter how much they don't like the people in charge of Republican policies. That goes for both Republican voters and Republican elected officials.

Because the one binding principle is they all seek the opportunity to be evil as they may, and sometimes that means accepting evil above them and so upon.

As long as they give more than they get.

They don't even have to use the word evil, or know it.

 

[Trausti]

Biden is delivering on his promise to diversify the courts

Wut?

Janice Rogers Brown - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Her nomination to the Court of Appeals was stalled for nearly two years as part of Democratic opposition to appointments made by George W. Bush.

U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session

roll_call_vote.xml

www.senate.gov

 

[Toni]

Biden is delivering on his promise to diversify the courts

Wut?

Janice Rogers Brown - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Her nomination to the Court of Appeals was stalled for nearly two years as part of Democratic opposition to appointments made by George W. Bush.

U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session

roll_call_vote.xml

www.senate.gov

OMG Democrats opposed the nomination of a conservative jurist. How shocking.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Smart move on Breyer's part, this will actually be a very non-momentous replacement. Very little grounds for contention, unless Biden does something extremely bone-headed in his appointment.

Yes, it will be a "check the diversity boxes" appointment. Technical qualifications will come a distant second.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Biden is delivering on his promise to diversify the courts

Wut?

Janice Rogers Brown - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Her nomination to the Court of Appeals was stalled for nearly two years as part of Democratic opposition to appointments made by George W. Bush.

U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session

roll_call_vote.xml

www.senate.gov

OMG Democrats opposed the nomination of a conservative jurist. How shocking.

But her diversity checkboxes should be the primary consideration!

 

[Toni]

Biden is delivering on his promise to diversify the courts

Wut?

Janice Rogers Brown - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Her nomination to the Court of Appeals was stalled for nearly two years as part of Democratic opposition to appointments made by George W. Bush.

U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session

roll_call_vote.xml

www.senate.gov

OMG Democrats opposed the nomination of a conservative jurist. How shocking.

But her diversity checkboxes should be the primary consideration!

Only in the minds of anti-liberals. Actually, her diversity checkboxes were probably exactly why she was selected--they got a conservative AND could claim that they made a color/gender blind selection which was obviously quite the opposite.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Biden is delivering on his promise to diversify the courts

Wut?

Janice Rogers Brown - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Her nomination to the Court of Appeals was stalled for nearly two years as part of Democratic opposition to appointments made by George W. Bush.

U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session

roll_call_vote.xml

www.senate.gov

OMG Democrats opposed the nomination of a conservative jurist. How shocking.

But her diversity checkboxes should be the primary consideration!

Only in the minds of anti-liberals.

HA!

Actually, her diversity checkboxes were probably exactly why she was selected--they got a conservative AND could claim that they made a color/gender blind selection which was obviously quite the opposite.

So diversity checkboxes aren't racist when liberals do it but are racist when conservatives do it. Got it.

 

[Toni]

Biden is delivering on his promise to diversify the courts

Wut?

Janice Rogers Brown - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Her nomination to the Court of Appeals was stalled for nearly two years as part of Democratic opposition to appointments made by George W. Bush.

U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session

roll_call_vote.xml

www.senate.gov

OMG Democrats opposed the nomination of a conservative jurist. How shocking.

But her diversity checkboxes should be the primary consideration!

Only in the minds of anti-liberals.

HA!

Actually, her diversity checkboxes were probably exactly why she was selected--they got a conservative AND could claim that they made a color/gender blind selection which was obviously quite the opposite.

So diversity checkboxes aren't racist when liberals do it but are racist when conservatives do it. Got it.

We need a conservative but let's make it difficult for our opponents to oppose our nominee by choosing someone who is black and female ---yeah, that's racist and sexist.

 

[Politesse]

Technical qualifications will come a distant second.

What "technical qualifications"? The Constitution defines no requirements for a Supreme Court Justice except for the discretion of the President and the approval of the Congress. They don't even have to be a citizen, speak English, or practice law. So what technical qualifications are you referring to?

 

[lpetrich]

 Janice Rogers Brown

... Actually, her diversity checkboxes were probably exactly why she was selected--they got a conservative AND could claim that they made a color/gender blind selection which was obviously quite the opposite.

Sort of like Clarence Thomas.