This doesn't really mean anything to be honest. She never wanted any of this in the first place and seemed happy enough to live out her life, only coming forward to give a written statement about BK. She's probably glad that the whole thing is over and doesn't want to go through it again. She was used as a political tool and now they have no further use for her, there's nothing stopping her walking away. I feel more sorry for her than anything else.
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This doesn't really mean anything to be honest. She never wanted any of this in the first place and seemed happy enough to live out her life, only coming forward to give a written statement about BK. She's probably glad that the whole thing is over and doesn't want to go through it again. She was used as a political tool and now they have no further use for her, there's nothing stopping her walking away. I feel more sorry for her than anything else.
It's clear she was a political pawn, the whole episode just saddens me.
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Makes the mid terms a bit more interesting. Dems can't arrogantly assume they are going to make huge gains. Republicans will feel emboldened by the decision.
smudgedj
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The right outcome happened in terms of the presumption of innocence but it's the way the US is moving. Extreme short-termism thinking and ultra partisanship is plaguing them and I fear we're not THAT far behind in the UK.
It was the Democrats who changed the rules from needing 60 votes to 50 to end a filibuster under Obama. Now the Supreme Court has a "Conservative slant" after Trump put two on there. You can't think like that in politics, this is where loads of people seem to go wrong - once you establish a practice, your opposition get to use it against you too. Which is why people should take a MAD-like view of these things and keep them civil and rational; it's a defensive measurement more than an attacking one. Instead nobody ever does.
Trump's approval ratings are higher than Obama's was at the same stage, at least according to a poll I saw on CNN.
In the scheme of things, this is probably bad for Trump in terms of the elections. If BK was not passed, he could have potentially used that to flame the outrage that gets his voters energised. Instead he now has to go for the midterms on the platform of "I'm doing what I said I'd do" which is get the economy going and get the Supreme Court slanted.
Whether it will be enough is another matter. Latest projections I saw were a move to a slight Dem majority. He'd have to pull another rabbit out of the hat to keep the Senate.
BobKowalski
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The Supreme Court has had a conservative slant for years if not decades. The ending of the 60 rule was done because the GOP refused to pass judges under Obama and Reid knew if the GOP kept the Senate and won the WH McConnell would have nuked the 60 rule on judge appointements anyway.
The big question is do the Dems nuke the 60 rule on legislation when they get control as the possibility of this keeps the GOP awake at nights. GOP are likely to keep slim control of the Senate in the mid terms but will probably lose the House.
Nominating Kavanaugh was a mistake. There are plenty of conservative judges without the sexual assault baggage added to which he now has the hyper partisan and unfit temperament baggage. Also the digging into his past will continue. GOP should have dropped him. Kavanaugh is too compromised to be effective.
FogBlueInSanFran
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Democrats have very little prayer in the Senate, but a a very good chance to flip the House. But if the last two years have taught us anything, it's that polls don't seem to do as good a job of predicting outcomes as they once used to.
Yeah I actually meant the House rather than the Senate.
I believe that US pollsters have been formulating new algorithms since 2016 that they feel are more accurate and representative so perhaps they're already using them for the midterm calculations?
FogBlueInSanFran
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It's considered to be pretty even before Trump. Yellow line is baseline
This is really cool, I'd never seen this chart before.
Among the courts considered most conservative (and therefore, in some folks' minds, the most politically partisan) was the one which voted 8-0 against Nixon's claim of executive privilege over the Watergate tape release.
The court has a funny way of de-politicizing the interpretation of the law. 9 justices is a good number; another win for the founding fathers.
BobKowalski
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It's considered to be pretty even before Trump. Yellow line is baseline
Nice chart. Court had a conservative slant before Trump and still has a conservative slant. Although as FogBlue says even with a conservative slant or any slant the SC does have a way of taking politics out of the situation. The GOP is obsessed with maintaining or strengthening the conservative leanings of the judiciary. McConnell seems to have made it his life mission. As with the 60 rule on legislation it’s a necessary bulwark against liberal policies and increasingly challenging demographics.
Well yeah. This is why the "BK said he'd never impeach a sitting President!!!" stuff was absolute nonsense.
BK wrote an article about his personal beliefs, not about his interpretation of the Constitution. In fact I seem to recall that he's on record as saying that the Constitution DOESN'T support such an outcome. And his job now is to interpret the Constitution.
As predicted a few pages back, nobody will be talking about this by page 2300. Storm in a teacup, a political ploy that many got suckered in to.
ChicagoBlue
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It was RIGHT leaning, with Kennedy considered the most moderate right winger. This is NOT news.
What has happened is that with the death of Scalia, a hard right vote was needed to replace him. They got that. In replacing Kennedy, the moderate conservative, they have now got yet another hard right vote, which means the so-called “moderate” vote has disappeared and the Court has LURCHED to the right.
The fear is that RBG and/or Breyer will not make it to the end of Trump’s term in office, which will give the court a 6-3/7-2 hard right bent until forever.
It is telling that the right now has 5 men, over 1/3 of whom were accused of sexual assault and/or harassment by highly educated women, while 75% of the Justice on the left are women, who represent the 51% of the American population who are apparently weak liars...also called women elsewhere in the world!
ChicagoBlue
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“increasingly challenging demographics”????
Do you mean “the population of the United States”???
Yeah, can’t have those new non-white new American citizens and their families SOILING the white male dominantion of America, can we?!
ChicagoBlue
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Actually, I think 9 MAKES IT POLITICAL. Having that majority vote is what has created this political furor....that and the “win at all costs” demeanour of the white male right wing establishment, and the billionaires that fund them, trying to ensure their version of A,Erica survives for at least one more generation.
BTW, have you heard of any judicial fallout from the 4-4 court? No, me, either!
8 makes it incumbent upon compromise and strong arguments to get to 5-3, which would be the majority vote needed to overturn the lower court rulings. And, fwiw, the court hasn’t always had 9.
BobKowalski
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That’s the GOP view. And yeah I can see how it looks like that’s my view too. It isn’t. It’s just badly worded.
Just call them Jews mate. It's where this is going anyway, you may as well stop pretending that isn't what you mean
BobKowalski
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Remember a female tennis player getting a code violation for changing her top? Your tireless fight to pick out examples to discredit a genuine problem goes on.
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