Observe the "Don't tread on me" snake from the Gadsden flag on that homebrew banner on the wall behind Donnelly. What a weird cult swirls around the US military. According to the cult, to be free, one must enlist as a soldier and take every order coming down the pike. Weird.
Should a man evidently incapable of successfully handling his own finances be making decisions that will have major impacts for years to come on the finances and livelihoods of the American people?
We are about to find out.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/brett-kavanaugh-has-saved-almost-nothi...
3
People who have been paid well to sell things that take a lot of persuasion to close find "supply side economics" completely out of this world. Nothing economic happens without demand. Kavanaugh looks like someone who has been insulated from ordinary reality for his whole life.
I like to remind everyone that Hillary was favored to win the election in 2016. Matthew Dowd of ABC News said on the day after the election, put out the statistics that 113 out of 115 polls guaranteed that Hillary would win the presidency. Guaranteed. Hillary would have appointed the justice to succeed Justice Scalia and today would be selecting the successor to Justice Kennedy. But Hillary didn't win.
Gets back to the Democrats not understanding the mood of the country what was troubling the electorate.
Worth reading the late Anthony Bourdain's interview with Reason magazine and his thoughts on the election and why the Democrats and Hillary lost.
http://reason.com/archives/2016/12/29/anthony-bourdain
2
This may well rally both bases. The social conservatives held the their collective noses to vote for Trump for this single issue. And the second Supreme in 18 months with a almost certain third before 2020. They got what they bargained for and more. They will should up in November.
I read in another article the esteemed judge has fewer than $60,000 in assets but up to $200,000 of credit card debt for buying season tickets in baseball. Elite credentials indeed. It will be interesting to see how fast his debt is paid down and who pays it for him. I guess a judge teetering on bankruptcy is just the kind of Supreme we need.
2
How much of our power to manage our own bodies have we somehow delegated away?
2
Democrats need to say , “Listen, this guy’s getting in no matter what because they have the votes and elections have consequences. So this is what you get when you stay home or chose a protest vote. Now that we’re here this guy believes the president is above the law. But not all presidents because he was fine when it was Bill Clinton and he was working for Kenneth Star. No, he means this particular president. So Trump will never be held accountable.
He is most likely to let corporations stomp on employees, reverse Roe v Wade and let SOME people have religious liberty so long as it’s Christian. Affirmative action will be gone as well as voting rights and gays have a lot of discrimination down their road. Citizens United will now be able to just parke the trucks full of cash in front of the Capitol and dish out wads depending on how legislators vote. Why bother with red tape?
But you were right. Bernie, Jill Stein and no show on Election Day only solidified your integrity.”
1
And which provision in the US Constitution allows for suspending presidential pardons, executive orders, and SC appointments until you approve of the president? I looked over my copy and couldn't find it. I guess when it comes to hating Trump the law really doesn't matter.
Hmmm ask Mitch McConnell about that when unconstitutionally blocked Obama’s Justice.
2
Democrats can fight as hard and as long as they want, but as usual, the 4th estate holds the keys to the kingdom.
If the press frames this fight (or any fight) as a ''losing battle'' (which many in the press are doing already), then the the battle is already lost, isn't it ?
I feel that Liberals need to stand on principle, but then again, I believe there should be a 50 state (and Puerto Rico) 535 district offensive/game plan and not cower to only the places we think we can win.
Be clear, concise and unequivocal in your arguments, If you lose that particular battle , then so be it. That does not mean that reinforcements are not going to show up for the ''war''.
Stand strong and the electorate will respond in November and beyond with large majorities for Democrats.
Democrats can fight as hard and as long as they want, but as usual, the 4th estate holds the keys to the kingdom.
If the press frames this fight (or any fight) as a ''losing battle'' (which many in the press are doing already), then the the battle is already lost, isn't it ?
I feel that Liberals need to stand on principle, but then again, I believe there should be a 50 state (and Puerto Rico) 535 district offensive/game plan and not cower to only the places we think we can win.
Be clear, concise and unequivocal in your arguments, If you lose that particular battle , then so be it. That does not mean that reinforcements are not going to show up for the ''war''.
Stand strong and the electorate will respond in November and beyond with large majorities for Democrats.
3
Democrats can fight as hard and as long as they want, but as usual, the 4th estate holds the keys to the kingdom.
If the press frames this fight (or any fight) as a ''losing battle'' (which many in the press are doing already), then the the battle is already lost, isn't it ?
I feel that Liberals need to stand on principle, but then again, I believe there should be a 50 state (and Puerto Rico) 535 district offensive/game plan and not cower to only the places we think we can win.
Be clear, concise and unequivocal in your arguments, If you lose that particular battle , then so be it. That does not mean that reinforcements are not going to show up for the ''war''.
Stand strong and the electorate will respond in November and beyond with large majorities for Democrats.
The Democrats need to use this opportunity to expose the depravity of the Republicans positions on healthcare, corporate welfare and civil rights.
After they have publicly exposed those positions the Democrats need to extract a public commitment from Kavanaugh that he will recuse himself on any and all manners that may be brought before the Supreme Court regarding Trump or any of his campaign team members.
Then, and only then, should the Democrats allow the Democratic Senators in Red States to go ahead and vote for the Conservative Justice their constituents want.
1
I find this infantile "age of trump" pathetic and corrupt - when it comes to almost everything.
Since when have this country sunk so low that ADVERTISING PROPAGANDA all over the networks, spending millions of dollars, is appropriate for appointment of a Justice of the Supreme Court?
The Trumplicans and "Pro-Life" crazies are doing everything they can to restore sight to blind justice. This is tantamount to a major criminal offense and make a mockery of the First Amendment.
THE SUPREME COURT IS NOT ELECTED, it is populated by appointment and approval of the Senate. Every decent American should be outraged about this propaganda and reject any entity that panders it (read "sound neutral" Christian right PAC).
These ads target uneducated, undemanding, ignorant people who choose to be subject to this drivel without giving any serious thought to the extreme significance of the Judicial Branch. IT SHOULD BE NEUTRAL to insure a fair and equitable hearing for ALL Americans and Constitutional issues. YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE LAW - exactly what a decent Justice of the SC should NOT do. THAT is for Congress and Congress alone.
And you wonder why intelligent Americans oppose you with such passion!
2
The lines have been drawn. We are well past the point where we can overlook someone playing footsie with Trump and the GOP so-called leadership. These Democrats In Name Only need to join their comrades-in-arms or be driven from the party. Donnelly, Heitkamp and Manchin voted for Gorsuch...Shame!!! They kiss up to Trump. They must shape up or ship out. We are in fact fighting for the survival of our democracy.
5
The Democratic leadership groveled their way past the entire eight-year Obama administration, and this SCOTUS nominee is what we get as a result of their incompetence. Heads should have rolled in December 2016 when Trump won an election that was in the bag for Hilary. They did not. Now we are asked to trust this same leadership to get us out of this corner. Sorry, I cannot.
4
The Democratic party needs to grow a spine.
1
What part of fighting the rise of fascism is considered a knee-jerk response?
4
Of course the direction of the Supreme Court should concern Congressional candidates and voters. But Democrats should not overplay their hand before the 2018 election. Dems need to first get elected and then they can do something about the direction of the country through legislative initiatives.The current make-up of the Supreme Court including the latest Trump nominee, Cavanaugh, is basically a fait accompli. Congress can make the Supreme Court irrelevant by enacting laws that make end runs around Court decisions that are antithetical to progressive government. Democratic candidates need to convince swing voters and moderate Republicans of how destructive Trump and his so-called "conservative" (aka reactionery) supporters have been and will be for the entire country. Don't waste political capital trying to tear down one SCOTUS appointment. In the short run it will probably hurt rather than help.
2
If it takes Kavanaugh to mobilize Democrats for this midterm, we have a big problem. If we don't take the Congressional majority from the Republicans, we may end up with Trump as president for life and dollars being counted instead of votes in American elections.
3
Well, while I agree with you on meddling, I have yet to see the Mueller report and we are going on almost two years of Trump in office.
We are close to another election and our intelligence agencies and DOJ have yet to tell us exactly who, what, when, where, and how which means the Russians can and will do it again in this coming election. And Washington is okay with this.
It’s going to be tough sledding for red State Senate Democrats over the coming months. Each of them however, know their constituents and will listen and react to what they say. That’s who elected them and they have to listen and vote accordingly.
As far as the House goes, my take is, the voters, most all of them, have already made their decision. They’ll be a few in the middle that are still undecided, but probably won’t swing the election of House Reps one way or the other. The Party that controls the House after the election will be the one that gets the most voters to the polling booths. And Democrats have a poor record during a mid-term election. Get out the vote, and you win.
3
Risking the possibility of not gaining a majority in the Senate or at the very least, perhaps losing seats for what is essentially a losing battle albeit for the debate and the narrative is short sighted and self destructive for both the individual Senators and the Party. Schumer understands the calculus. I would not be surprised if behind the scenes he has already sent word to these three that it is fine to vote for the nominee. He seriously wants to be Majority Leader. As a springboard to POTUS. Game on.
1
Schumer, president? This is a joke, right?
1
Senator from New York, ring any bells yet? Minority LEADER trying desperately to be hero of the left. And who else is out there with the credentials who is not so far to the left as to be unelectable?
In all likelihood, the Democrats have virtually nothing to say of consequence regarding this nomination. Kavanaugh will be confirmed easily with the support of moderate Republicans and perhaps a few or all of the red state Democrats. The court will be majority conservative for decades assuming Ginsberg can outlive Trump and assuming again that a Democrat can beat Trump in 2020 and bring her party into power in the Senate.
Such is the consequence of running a divisive, distrusted, and disliked candidate, under investigation for the use of a private email server while serving as Secretary of State of the US, in 2016. All the wailing and gnashing of teeth from Democrats is meaningless in the face of the obvious and too-often repeated admonition: elections have consequences. The calculated decision of the DNC to stack the deck and run Hillary Clinton at any cost has wounded this nation to its core.
The Republicans will soon control every branch of the federal government, the majority of state legislatures and most governorships. As we used to say in high school, "Nice play, Shakespeare."
4
You're wrong, many Republicans are not running for re-election, Donald will be indicted, and We, the People will fight to keep Kavanaugh off SCOTUS! Just watch!
1
We have a booming economy and people are gainfully employed in most parts of the country. If this was not the case, people would vote with their wallets. This makes the pro life/abortion debate become the deciding factor as to whom one will vote for. If you are strongly pro life, you will vote for the candidate who is pro life and if you are for abortion rights you will select the candidate that shares your views. The Democrats who are running in predominantly areas that lean one way or the other may have to decide which is more important winning the election or keeping the Democrats happy. Maybe they should just vote their consciences and hope for the best.
1
Many of us Democrats very much support living wages, affordable higher education and universal healthcare.
3
I posted this before, but this quote by Abigail Adams resonates even today:
"I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
11
At last, sanity/reality. If you would introduce the concept that laws/reality take precedence over feelings, you might not have these problems.
3
I'll believe reality has precedence in law in the US when Congress is held to "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion".
1
I find the presumption that the dead are wiser than we are absolutely ridiculous. If they're dead, they don't think at all.
2
The Kavanaugh opposition seems to be petering out already.
3
Don't bet on it!
The conservative court, full of "originalists" is consistent with constantly siding with the only voices that counted in the 18th century...white, male, property owners. In the 21st century that would be white, male, corporatists and those of great wealth. Equality and civil rights are harder for the rest of us to attain.
16
I always have to laugh when I see the word "left" to describe American politics. There is no "left" in America. We have center, right of center and extreme right. See the rest of the world for a standard and correct terminology and stop the dumbing down of America with these fake adjectives. The press should use their power to educate and inform, not go along with politician's deliberate attempts to confuse the public.
15
I want to know how and when any bona fide delegation of the power of individuals to manage all internal processes of their own bodies was made to any layer of government in this make-believe democracy purportedly empowered by specific limited delegated powers from the people.
I demand to know how and when any bona fide delegation of the power of individuals to manage all processes of their own bodies was made to any layer of government is this make-believe democracy empowered by delegated powers from the people.
When in Rome, folks, do as the Romans. I as a woman, as a nurse living in a diverse and liberal county and state, have it easy in supporting my senators and congressman. But as much as I fear for Roe v Wade, the ACA, and LGBT rights, I have to trust in those Democratic senators running for reelection in Red states. They know their constituents, they know their needs and aspirations. Let them do their thing. In a sense, let them triage re the priorities of their states. At this point it is more important that we hold onto those Senate seats and win the House. That is our focus now. There will be a time - hopefully by 2020 - that all the damage that this unconscionable GOP-lead Congress and its questionably moral president has done and continues to do, will be reversed. What is undone can be done again. Do not give up hope...
12
thank you!
Democrats, show us some courage, if you can. Don't just lie down and die. Don't just try to protect YOUR seat in congress. The country's future is way more important than YOUR political career. Try actually "serving the people," rather than yourselves.
7
Seems simple enough. No sitting president under investigation for criminal misconduct should be able to appoint any judge that might at some point rule on his/her case. This really should be a thing.
18
Sounds good as you say it but not so good in practice. Imagine the environment this would create: any president could be stymied by inflated accusations or innuendo.
Maybe. Wouldn't that simply encourage continual legal food fights to limit any President, regardless of party, from appointing judges? Seems like we'd enter the twighlight zone (worse than we already are) if this really happened.
As much as I dislike this pick, it doesn’t matter. He’s going to be approved. Tilting at windmills is generally a waste of time.
4
Two words: McConnell Rule.
Joe Donelley, STOP playing games! Come out as a true Democrat, who wants to help people KEEP their Medicare and Medicaid while Republicans want to CUT funding!
Tell your constituents the TRUTH! People appreciate the TRUTH! Let's start telling the TRUTH to Americans!
Republicans will get rid of the protection for preexisting conditions.
Republicans want to keep Americans from voting.
Republicans are in lock step with Donald's agenda, of separating families at the border and traumatizing children.
Republicans refuse to admit the Russia interfered with the 2016 elections, and are NOT doing a thing to protect the midterms!
Republicans are for the 1% not for the regular working class folks!
Democrats must start speaking up LOUD and CLEAR!
AND, Joe Donelley, VOTE NO on Kavanaugh!
6
Donnelly is one of the "Democrats" who may vote FOR this awful nominee, Kananaugh. If you value your civil rights, I would suggest you deluge him with communications. Email him, call him, write letters, go to his office. If you can't get his DC number, call the branches in your state. I have written to him, and I don't even live in his state. Put on the pressure! Pressure Manchin and Heitkamp, as well. Pressure the Democratic Party to push these Republican-lites. Our country's welfare is at stake, for a generation! Act, before it is too late. You will regret it, if you don't. I promise.
5
Partisanship aside, this gentleman is exquisitely qualified in every respect. So was Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she was nominated. Ideologically they may as well be on different planets, but that is both the point and entirely irrelevant. This choice, this debate and indeed this vote will ideally be on his qualifications alone, exactly as any job interview would be according to law, irrespective of his personal political leanings.
4
Ideology is not objectivity. One prefers to have objective judges who do not accept magic as an explanation of anything.
2
In short, given a choice between punitive and persuasive measures, Trump and his fellow-travelers opt for the punitive.
2
When will the Senate hearings be held? Does anybody know?
1
As far as I'm concerned we have an illegitimate president elected by Russian meddling, so anything he does is illegitimate. I want my country to restore justice. Suspend the presidential pardons, executive orders and SC appointments until we have a sane president again.
27
And which provision in the US Constitution allows for suspending presidential pardons, executive orders, and SC appointments until you approve of the president? I looked over my copy and couldn't find it. I guess when it comes to hating Trump the law really doesn't matter.
1
There has been a lot of talk about how these Dems in deep-red states need to move right to survive in the fall. On the surface, this seems logical. After all, voters in places like ND and IN and WV really are very conservative - especially on social issues - and it stands to reason that they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who aligns with their views. However, there is nothing in the recent history of Senate elections that actually shows that this works in practice. In fact, recent history actually suggests that appealing to your base is a more effective strategy than moving to the center to court "moderates."
Just look at Ron Johnson and Pat Toomey, who won reelection in the swing states of WI and PA in 2016 despite being two of the most conservative Senators, period. Or look at Mark Pryor and Mark Begich, who were wiped out in AR and AK in 2014 despite frantic efforts to position themselves as conservative Dems ("A" ratings from NRA!). The reality is that these Dems will not get any "credit" from the right if they vote for Kavanaugh, but they will get destroyed by the left. Their margin of error is so small that any demoralization of their base means certain defeat. And voting for Kavanaugh will demoralize Dem voters, even in WV or ND.
I think these Senators should just vote their conscience. But if they will vote on political expediency, voting against Kavanaugh is the smart play. Either way, the key is getting this over with before the election.
10
Boris, I agree with your arguments but completely disagree with your conclusion. I think it's crucial that the vote comes after the newly elected Members of Congress have taken their pledges to uphold the constitution of the United States. Given that the Republicans denied Obama his appointment to the Supreme Court, I think it's time to give Mitch McConnell a bit of turn-about-is-fair-playism.
Apologies to G & S’s “The Judge’s Song"
If I can make it to the Court, I’ll side with the right wingers,
Support all CEO’s and such, the ones with sticky fingers,
Stare decisis I’ll maintain unless it is abortion
All tax cuts I’ll always uphold, if the Rich get the biggest portion.
The POTUS though a traitor he, should never be indicted,
His half wit efforts, treachery, however they’re benighted,
I’ll guard his back with all my might, to keep him from the slammer,
Should he escape I’ll do my best for the POTUS on the lam-mer,
I’m ready now to rule against all forms of same sex marriage’
Although my efforts to do so, I’m sure they will disparage,
All forms of contraception, I, view with great disapproval,
And from the Pharmacies demand, a full, complete removal.
So now I’m on the Court,
Abortion soon is a tort,
I will cut this evil short,
As Justice now new.
3
If someone is going to vote against you because you try to oppose Trump's machinations regarding the Supreme Court, they probably weren't going to vote for you anyways, plus the millions in small donations available to you from out of state donors through the internet are going to dry up faster than a pail of water dumped on a sandy beech.
11
The deluge of hand-wringing coverage of Trump's court nominee is no surprise. Indeed, many of these articles and opinion pieces were ready to go in draft form well before the announcement, only needing a name and some details filled in. It's like having canned obituaries for celebrities; the boiler-plate text and images are already done, all that is needed is a bit of updating before the final product is ready to print, post or broadcast.
Here's what I predicted (I swear) hours before the President's announcement: The choice doesn't matter.
Whoever Trump picked, the mainstream media would launch a salvo of articles and opinion (scare) pieces explaining why the pick is terrible for women, LGBTQs, migrants, poor people, abortion supporters, in fact pretty much everyone else except the notorious 1% and big business. The media would also say the Supreme Court will now be biased or even irrelevant.
The purposes of the barrage, of course, are to draw all but negative attention away from the nominee and to agitate the Democrat-liberal-socialist-radical base.
In fact, there is little the roused rabble can do about this; Trump pretty much has the votes to confirm his nominee. However, stay tuned for endless breast-beating, wailing, virtue-signaling, "spontaneous" protests, and accosting Republicans in restaurants. What are Democrats to do? Get out the vote in November!
3
Democrats appear to hate America in a similar way to Obama. They applaud money for illegal aliens but do not offer the same benefits to actual Americans who need this same help. Now they are about to further alienate Americans over the Supreme Court fight with a solid family man everyone likes. The Democratic party has never look weaker. Tom Perez is a joke as is Keith Ellison. Liberals act against everything good about our Country
9
Actually, I have come to believe that republicans hate America. How can you believe that a corporation's profits are more important than our environment and the health of our citizens? How can you vote for somebody who consistently degrades women, minorities, the handicapped, and immigrants? How can you support somebody who is so clearly not a family man; somebody who uses women as if they are expendable? Who found his "religion" when he needed the evangelical vote? Who thinks fascists are fine people? Who insults our allies, while brown-nosing dictators and congratulating them when they kill thousands of their own citizens? Need I go on? But these are all issues not addressed by Fox "News."
The republican party has become extreme to the max. It does NOT stand for American values anymore. The party has never looked weaker. Prez trump is a joke, as is Pence, as is Paul Ryan, as is Mitch McConnel. Republicans act against everything good and decent in our Country. If they keep going on like this, we will see blood in the streets.
12
What a shameful thing to say.
Democrats believe in the right of every single person in this country to achieve the American Dream.
How can you say that Democrats do not afford benefits to actual Americans? What world do you live in?
Yes we want to give immigrants the opportunity to better their lives, but it was a Democrat, Franklin Roosevelt who gave us the New Deal that brought America out of the great depression and created the safety net of Social Security that Republicans complain about on a daily basis.
Perhaps you should try turning off Fox News and reading a few history book and get your facts straight.
The weakness of the Democratic Party will never be more apparent than on November 8th when they send the Republican Party packing.
2
Touché.
Self destructive Democrats hurting their own cause and alienating Americans at record levels. Socialist Democrats? No this is an oxymoron. No such thing
8
Don't waste time or energy on the Complicit Sisters. It's merely posing and styling. Watch how they VOTE. Fake moderates, and fake Women.
Seriously.
17
Joe Donnelly and other legislatures, you need to step up your game. Yes, selecting a supreme court justice is a big deal to everyone even if they don't know it is.
My concern with Kavanagh is not that he isn't qualified on paper, he is. However, he looks soft. Has he ever done any labor or had any life experiences that will make him be able to emphasize, not just sympathize, with the populace?
Plus, big firm law experience can be a negative for the new young lawyers don't get real responsibility for years. That doesn't help develop their character, and it exposes them to an environment where women are not as successful as men overall, in part due to the culture.
5
Ok! how about a list of all Congress members and see who has done any "labor" W.D.C., OOPS very few qualify.
1
Kavanaugh’s long history of rulings and writings consistently reveals a philosophy that the constitution is meant to afford CEO’s and presidents superior rights. He apparently believes that due to their higher positions in society, the powerful must always be held in far greater legal regard than the average person. Judge Kavanaugh’s rulings repeatedly enshrine legal mandates that corporate rights must always be considered as superior. He firmly believes any business has the unfettered ability to cause what ever harm to individuals and the environment it deems as necessary. The right to pursue greater profits is far more important than any individual”s right to things such as health, privacy, speech and well being. This is the Kavanaugh doctrine.
19
Sure, bud. Why don't you tell us which of his many pinions you have read? My guess: None.
2
Judge Kavanaugh is a threat to health care and other "bread-and-butter" issues of his constituents. Sen. Joe Donnelly should be willing to stand up for them and vote against man who will be the deciding vote on workers' issues like pensions and changes to Obamacare dealing with pre-existing conditions. Sen. Donnelly may himself be the deciding vote in whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed. It's time for him and his red state Democratic Senate companions, Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Manchin, and Claire McCaskill, to stand together and oppose the Kavanuagh nomination. They should remember the lesson of their former Southern Democratic colleagues who tried to be Republican-lite and were voted out. This is it the time for Democratic backbone and some "Profiles in Courage." This not just a vote against an arch-conservative to the high court; it's a vote that may save our democracy from a Trump autocracy.
14
Interesting how the man who made his bones working for the special prosecutor Starr attacking a Democratic president over something the current president brags about (inappropriate sexual relations), now wants to protect the current president who has potentially committed treason and other high crimes. Sickening, really!
30
I’d be interested to know what recourse the executive and legislative branches have if and when dems control both branches after 2020.
Specifically, is it possible to re-nominate Merrick Garland to fill the empty seat occupied by Judge Gorsuch?
Is it possible to impeach a seat rather than a Justice?
Is it possible to declare the Senate’s refusal to advise and consent in the case of Judge Garland unconstitutional?
Is it possible to shrink the court to 7 members and create a last-in-first-out rule?
Or are we to be saddled for decades with a Supreme Court that feels illegitimate?
I’d be interested to hear outside-the-box thinking by constitutional law experts.
7
Their recourse would be to change he number of sitting justices on the bench. The can add another judge or more to offset a conservative appointee. It has been done in the past and it could be done again.
9
No; no; no; not in the way you suggest. The court can be expanded or contracted, but sitting justices are appointed for life and can only be removed by impeachment by the House, and conviction in the Senate for high crimes and misdemeanors.
2
Exactly.
Justices can be added to balance the vote. It can only be done if all three branches are in agreement. So if it going to happen, it will have to wait until the Democrats take back both houses and the White House in 2020.
The time to fight this nomination was November 2016. But Dems were too busy fighting each other to beat Trump and Mitch McConnell. The next opportunity is this November. Have Dem politicians and voters learned anything since then or will they continue to be out-maneuvered? Can Dems keep their eye on the ball as do evangelists? Or is the future just more online petitions and fundraising emails? If you don't win you don't get to set policy and make nominations. So people must suck it up and vote with a purpose once a candidate wins the primary.
If you want change in the Senate then vote out weak Senators, like Heidi Heidkamp and Joe Donnelly in the primaries. Or alternatively, vote out Chuck Schumer and get leadership that can lead. But that ship has sailed for this November. Its time to limit more damage in 2019 and 2020.
4
Rush Limbaugh on Monday, just two days ago:
"My guess is that when some of you heard him (a caller) say the pendulum is starting to swing back, “Well, come on. We haven’t gained any ground at all, yet. I mean, maybe, but don’t get overconfident.”
The far-right is trying to sell that America's move to the right hasn't even really started yet.
Prepare for a fight, people.
VOTE.
37
Isn't it great.
The Red State Democratic Senators are waiting for Collins and Murkowski.
After they decide, they'll know how to vote.
12
We need to call and write to Donelley and the others asking that they step up!
By all means let's energize the many single-issue Democrats with scare threats to their main and usually only thing that matters. It doesn't mean a thing that the nominee has an extensive legal background on multiple issues and has shown wisdom rather than fixed political one-sidedness with regard to them.
Forget the Constitution and the rule of law. Politics and false, make-believe charges must lead the day.
10
Kananaugh is a political swamp creature whose whole political life has been serving as a Republican sycophant in the inside-the-beltway bubble.
28
Daschell Hammett, creator of Sam Spade ( your namesake?), said this about his character: Spade does not "want to be an erudite solver of riddles in the Sherlock Holmes manner; he wants to be a hard and shifty fellow, able to take care of himself in any situation, able to get the best of anybody he comes in contact with, whether criminal, innocent by-stander or client."
An erudite solver of riddles would look below the surface characterizations being offered by the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, the Administration, and the corporate interests that have taken over every branch of our government, and study Judge Cavanagh's actions before and after he ascended to the bench. His record does not show wisdom but fixed political one-sidedness.
1
Sadly, I think we've already returned to that time. Money is our country's highest value. Humanity not so much.
Women, especially suburbanites and independents, will be the bloc to reckon with as November approaches. Their personal aversion to the president aside, women care deeply about health care issues and the threat of the Republican Party-backed NRA. Women know that any day they could get a call from the police about a shooting at a school that their children attend. And they won’t be receptive to the government deciding what’s best for them concerning abortion.
The president has selected justices who have been hostile to the ACA, voting rights and registration, educational and professional opportunities for minorities. Women realize that they’re at risk as much as other minorities of having their hard won gains over 50 years rolled back by a president whose only interest is keeping promises to his base.
25
“Our base doesn’t like hearing this, but it comes down to math..."
What your "base" doesn't like hearing is a few squeaks of protest followed by capitulation to yet another right-wing victory. Get in and fight, even if it's only to show that you have some backbone and principles. That's what people want from their elected representatives.
29
Donnelly won't fight. He's an anti-abortion Catholic from the U Notre Dame area.
4
I have always looked towards the Democratic party as the "Can Do" party. The party of empowerment. Let the people be themselves and they will accomplish wonderful things.
The "Cannot Do" party of the Republicans would like to turn the clock back to a time when intolerance ruled our discourse. An intolerance based on the restrictive and narrow minded focus of the religious right. Many would be happy to see women out of the workplace and back in the kitchen and homosexuals in jail.
The First Amendment guarantees our freedom FROM religion before it grants the people freedom of religion. The direction this country is taking is away from this right, not towards it.
The far right is getting its wish. First a stolen seat on the Supreme Court and now a second selection by a president that barely understands the Constitution and does the bidding of the conservative think tanks. Roosevelt gave us a progressive liberal Supreme Court that drove the progress of the United States through most of the second half of the 20th Century. The people benefited with new liberties and the country prospered.
We are looking at a possible return to a time when corporations and money take precedent over human rights. When civil liberties take a back seat to profit and gain. A time when only select privileged Americans, wealthy white Christian Americans, receive the protection of the law. The rest of us can go to hell.
25
I am as bitter as the next liberal as to how Republicans have conducted themselves the last few years but I don't see an endgame for Democrats on this fight. Kavanaugh clearly has legal experience and even if they kill this nomination, we will just go to the next guy on the Federalist list. Better to move on from this fight and not give the Right another election that they can make all about the SC.
10
I don't think caving in is a winning strategy—with that attitude, why even put up any kind of opposition to anything The Orange Menace says or does?
3
@Mary. Sure, put up the good fight where it will do some good. I just don't see a good outcome to this fight and I worry that it will increase the chances of conservatives maintaining control of the Senate.
The one question that constituents should be asking their elected officials about Kavanaugh's nomination is, does Kavanaugh believe that the president is above the law.
If the answer is yes then those elected officials need to start looking for a new job.
37
It seems our side is playing softball while the Republicans are playing hardball. The Democrats need to ask themselves a simple question - What would Mitch McConnell do? ... And then do it.
46
That's what led the Democrats to get rid of the filibuster for judicial appointments. Now that filibuster would have enabled the Democrats to block Trump's nominee. The Democrats thought they were playing hardball when they get rid of the filibuster. Now they are playing boomerang.
6
The Democrats have to pick their battles. They can't win the Supreme Court nominee fight. If not Kavanaugh, then the next nominee will be someone much the same. Democrats should concentrate on the issues for November 2018 and so have a stronger voice when the next vacancy arises and not take on fights which make them appear as knee-jerk politicians.
4
What part of fighting the rise of fascism is considered a knee-jerk response?
2
"The Democrats have to pick their battles."
Democrats are in the minority in government now because they never fight any battles.
Democrats are political cowards who deservedly get no respect because they're weak.
2
Actually, we, Democrats, can use the same argument that McConnell used to block Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland: the election is a few months away, let the people decide!
We, very much have to fight Kavanaugh's appointment!
There is nothing "knee jerk" about fighting FOR freedom and democracy!
1
The Democrats should aim to block the confirmation until November, when they can (hopefully) retake Congress and hold the seat open for 2 years. If they lose in 2018 and Kavanaugh is seated, they should run in 2020 on adding two additional supreme court seats. At this point in, anything constitutionally allowed should—and must—be on the table. Play to win, Democrats. The fate of our democracy is far more important than ill-defined "norms." Oh, and the one thing Democrats absolutely cannot continue to do is allow the opposition to pick their plays.
8