I have often stated that I think Dems have great ideas they just suck at politics…..and a recent attempt by Progressives if Biden is elected is another of those great ideas I speak of but it is also goddam hilarious.
The Progressive want Biden to pledge to deny lobbyists and other sycophants places in the cabinet….
A group of progressive lawmakers, candidates, and organizations have collectively signed a letter urging Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to eschew appointing corporate executives and lobbyists to his administration if he is elected, Politicoreported Friday.
According to Politico, signatories to the letter include Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), and New York congressional candidate Jamaal Bowman.
Groups that signed include Public Citizen, Communications Workers of America, Greenpeace USA, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee—which is closely associated with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Our Revolution, founded by supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
“One of the most important lessons of the Trump administration is the need to stop putting corporate officers and lobbyists in charge of our government,” the letter, which was delivered to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday morning, states.
Does anyone really think that Biden will ignore all those big dollar donors after he is elected? Again damn laughable!
A great idea that is more theatrics than actual policy desires…..
I am all for getting “fat cats” out of the government but it is just a dream that they will ever be eliminated from the reins of power…..after all they do want something for all that cash they spread about like so much fertilizer.
Money is why you will never be in government….that is unless you sell what is left of your soul to the soulless….it is never about the service but rather the money and the influence.
I try to avoid the silliness of the nation on weekends….but sometimes there is news that truly needs to be reported…….
Looks like Donald the Orange has made his much awaited decision on who he would nominate to replace Ginsburg on SCOTUS…….and the winner is…..Amy Coney Barrett.
It appears that President Trump has his new Supreme Court nominee. The Washington Post, Politico, the New York Times, and Axios all report that sources are pointing to federal appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett as Trump’s pick to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a move that would significantly push the Supreme Court even further to the right, with a 6-3 conservative majority. The 48-year-old Barrett, who has served on the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit since 2017, would be the third relatively young conservative justice appointed by Trump to the high court, joining Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, both in their 50s, on the bench.
Barrett, whom the Times calls a “polar opposite” to Ginsburg, was in the running to replace Justice Anthony M. Kennedy when he retired in 2018. Trump, however, was said to be “saving” the devout Catholic, known for her deeply conservative views on such topics as abortion and LGBT issues, for when Ginsburg’s slot opened up. A caveat from the Times, though, on Trump’s supposed nominee: “As they often do, aides cautioned that Mr. Trump sometimes upends his own plans.” On Friday night, in response to questions from reporters on his pick, Trump would only say he’s made his pick “in my own mind, yes,” and that “I haven’t said it was [Barrett], but she is outstanding,” per Politico.
There is so much more……this pick is polar opposite to Ginsburg…..but what can we expect when we allow ideologues make the picks for the president.
Read and weep……this is what our “impartial referee” of the Constitution has become a plaything of ideologues.
30+ days until the election and now the Dems have something else to bitch about…..which they need to focus on the vote and let this minor irritant go for the more they bitch and whine the more they turn people off.
How many of you think that Joe Biden was the nominee of the Dems? Well he was the presumptive nominee but now it is official (as if we needed this now)……
After primaries and caucuses in 42 states and the District of Columbia, Joe Biden won the last few delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination for president late Friday, per the AP. Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island were among the eight states holding elections Tuesday, but a huge increase in vote-by-mail ballots meant election officials were still counting ballots Friday. As the states that voted Tuesday updated their results, a team of analysts at the Associated Press parsed the votes into the correct congressional districts so the delegates could be allocated between Biden and Bernie Sanders. The former vice president now has a total of 1,993 delegates—it takes 1,991 delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot at the Democratic National Convention.
Biden became the party’s presumptive nominee two months ago, following decisive wins over Sanders in several March primaries and in Wisconsin on April 7. The Vermont senator, the final major challenger in the race, dropped out the next day. Biden would have wrapped up the Democratic nomination much earlier, if not for the coronavirus pandemic—15 states, along with Guam and Puerto Rico, postponed their nominating contests due to the outbreak. Still, it’s not unusual for a Democratic nominee to clinch the party’s nomination in early June. That’s when Barack Obama in 2008 and Clinton in 2016 reached the milestone.
Seems kinda subdued for he, Joe, has been acting like the crowned king of the DNC since the start of the pandemic.
So for me it is official…..I need to start looking harder for a candidate that I can actually support.
This post is for those intelligent beings that put this court thingy on hold so they could enjoy their weekend……On this day 08Oct18 we have a new star rising in the cesspool that we call the Supreme Court.
The vote is in and the Supreme Court has a new judge….a political, partisan, hard drinking perv is on the court for life…..a partisan d/bag will take his seat just in time for a ruling on a case that could involve the president….you will be watching…..
It all took place Friday and over the weekend…the confirmation that is……and if you found the whole process putrid but still would like to know what happened then tune in to IST…I can help with you education…..
The smart money now says Brett Kavanaugh will be the next Supreme Court justice. That became evident Friday afternoon when the Democrats’ last big hope, Republican Susan Collins, announced that she would vote yes on confirmation, reports the Washington Post. After her announcement, Democrat Joe Manchin, another swing vote, said he would do the same. The math now looks hopeless for Democrats ahead of Saturday’s expected vote, even with Republican Susan Collins voting against Kavanaugh. All this comes after Friday morning’s decision to end debate and move toward a final vote. Details and developments:
The math: Kavanaugh supporters won Friday’s procedural vote by a narrow 51-49 margin, and Democrats would need to flip two of those yes votes into no’s in order to stop the nomination. A tie wouldn’t cut it for Democrats because VP Mike Pence is the tie-breaker. That put the focus on the swing votes of Collins, Murkowski, and Jeff Flake, all Republicans, along with Democrat Manchin.
Flake: The Arizona Republican voted yes on Friday’s procedural matter, and he says he plans to vote in favor of Kavanaugh on Saturday “unless something big changed,” reports Politico. But, he added, “I don’t see what would.”
Collins: She gave a 45-minute speech from the Senate floor in which she talked about the Kavanaugh allegations and the confirmation process. “I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court,” Collins said, per Politico. “I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.”
Murkowski: She was the only Republican to break ranks Friday and vote against moving Kavanaugh’s nomination forward. “I believe that Brett Kavanaugh is a good man,” but perhaps “not the right man for the court at this time,” the Alaska Republican told reporters, per NBC News. The comments suggest Murkowski is a firm “no” on Saturday, though the New York Times reports that Republicans were pressuring her to change her mind. Now it likely won’t be necessary.
Manchin: He’s the only Democrat who voted yes on Kavanaugh Friday, and fellow Democrats hoped to change his mind on Saturday. But Manchin announced Friday afternoon that he would vote for the “qualified jurist,” reports the AP. Even if he flips and votes no, that would lead only to a 50-50 tie, which Pence would break in favor of Kavanaugh. As the Washington Post notes, Manchin serves red-state West Virginia, and he’s in a tough re-election race.
Palin to Murkowski: “Hey @LisaMurkowski — I can see 2022 from my house,” tweeted the former Alaska governor in regard to the Alaska senator’s “no” vote on Kavanaugh. Palin urged Alaskans to make Murkowski pay for the decision when she’s up for re-election.
Bad timing: GOP Sen. Steve Daines of Montana has a big conflict on Saturday: He has to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding in Montana. Republicans could hold the vote open for Daines if his vote is needed to push Kavanaugh over the top, but the senator tells the AP that he will fly back to DC by private jet if he’s needed. Daines says Montana congressman Greg Gianforte, a fellow Republican, has offered up his plane.
The tea leaves: “It’s theoretically possible that some combination of Collins, Flake, and Manchin could still change their mind between now and the final vote,” observes Josh Voorhees at Slate. But “the writing is on the wall.”
A suggestion: An op-ed in the Hill says the Kavanaugh drama illustrates one thing that should be evident to both parties: It’s time to amend the Constitution and institute term limits for Supreme Court justices, writes law professor Alan Morrison of George Washington University. He suggests 18-year terms.
Maybe the markets did not see his confirmation as a good thing….. U.S. stocks closed lower as a three-day surge in government bond yields has investors worrying about rising interest rates, the AP reports. The Labor Department said the economy continues to add jobs at a strong pace. Investors sold bonds, sending their prices lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.24%, its highest since mid-2011. The S&P 500 fell a further 16 points, or 0.6%, to 2,885. On Thursday it took its largest loss since June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 180 points, or 0.7%, to 26,447. The Nasdaq composite fell 91 points, or 1.2%, to 7,788. The Nasdaq fell more than 3% this week, its worst in six months.
In case you are not sure about the judiciary let me help with that….
Personally I was NOT impressed by all the the theatrics around this appointment……Repubs being the butt boy of the president and disregarding the Constitution and the Dems for using this as try outs for the next presidential election.
The Founders would be ashamed of the dramatics around this important appointment.
The SCOTUS is suppose to be a neutral arena for the decisions on laws in this country…..granted all judges have a partisan side but they keep it to themselves because of the rulings they will be asked to hand down…….Kavanaugh has taken the step that will taint every decision he gives…..
He made sure that he let it been known that these were his words and no one influenced his composition of statement….
Brett Kavanaugh admits he “might have been too emotional at times” when he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week—but he says he will be an impartial judge if confirmed to the Supreme Court. “I was very emotional last Thursday, more so than I have ever been,” he writes in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. “I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said,” Kavanaugh writes, explaining that he was “forceful and passionate” because of his “overwhelming frustration at being wrongly accused … of horrible conduct completely contrary to my record and character” and at the “unfairness” of how the sexual assault allegations had been handled.
Kavanaugh, who was criticized for the partisan tone of his testimony and his angry responses to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, among others, says he will be continue to be “hardworking, even-keeled, open-minded, independent, and dedicated to the Constitution and the public good.” As a judge, he says, “I have always treated colleagues and litigants with the utmost respect.” The Supreme Court “must never be viewed as a partisan institution,” he writes, promising to “strive to be a team player” if confirmed. “I revere the Constitution,” he writes. “I believe that an independent and impartial judiciary is essential to our constitutional republic.” (More than 1,000 law professors signed a letter to the Senate saying Kavanaugh lacks “judicial temperament.”)
Playing to the lowest denominator Brett has proven that he is not fit to be a judge appointed for life. He is a partisan hack…..not judicial quality.
The accusations be damn……the reality of his temperament shows that he is a petty person that does not belong on the highest court in the land.
If confirmed then a possible impeachment should be considered. PERIOD!
Yes I watched the hearings for SCOTUS yesterday….not because I give a shit on who gets what….I watched because I wanted to see how far these toads would push the political theater.
I was not disappointed.
I made the investment in beer and popcorn……
We had Graham give his little rant that nothing to do with anything but the cameras were on.
We had the nominee teared up over his yearbook entry…..very phony in appearance. But he made damn sure that he got his digs oin at those that tried to get to the bottom of the accusations. (not convincing in the least)
In a public meltdown that many found nearly impossibly to comprehend, Brett Kavanaugh’s opening statement and early responses before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday offered a stark contrast to Dr. Christine Ford’s morning appearance, as the Supreme Court nominee launched into an angry, tear-streaked tirade against the Democratic Party and those who have alleged that he sexual assaulted them.
We had Orin Hatch talking and showing that dementia is setting in.
We had Jeff Flake talk about his confusion and decisions to be made (his mind was made up a week ago)
We had the Dems on the committee get their digs in against the nominee
And we had the president do what the president knows how to do (about the only thing he does know how to do) he tweeted his thoughts and patted himself on the back.
He was not alone…Tweeter was alive with the tribal back and forth….that accomplishes nothing but confusion and hate.
All in all this “hearing” was a total waste of time and money. It accomplished nothing but a source of so-called “news”……and the speculation that followed….endless.
Now the vote will go forward and the GOP will weather the repercussions from these accusations.
But there is more that is being ignored……
The media, Congress, and the American people continue to fix to their attention on Brett Kavanaugh and today’s hearings regarding allegations of sexual assault and harassment against him. While these are serious issues and should not be taken lightly, there are numerous other developments that are falling by the wayside as the national conversation remains preoccupied with the Supreme Court nominee.
..But with or without Kavanaugh there will be nothing changed when it comes to abortion.
We have had good judges and then we have had the ones we have today.
These judges are the referees of our republic and yet it has come down to ideology not the rule of law. The judges are voting, for the most part, along party lines not whether a law is beneficial or restrictive to the population.
As the midterm elections speed towards us, defeated Americans hope for a ‘blue wave’ of Democrats to save us. Republicans, who align across the board with President Trump’s corporate ecocide agenda, want to push through Trump’s despicable Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh before a potential blue wave. Republicans may not trust Donald Trump, but they agree with him on the issues and will take whatever gains he has provided the party.
Trump has called his nominee Kavanaugh a man of outstanding intellect. Such a phrase coming from Trump is enough to make anyone giggle. It’s like the tortoise saying the sloth is extremely fast. It all depends on the perspective.
Whenever Trump cozies up to someone it always makes me uneasy. For one, it is always so over the top it becomes clear Trump has never given a genuine compliment to anyone in his life. Even more troubling would be the character of the person Trump is complimenting. If he finds something redeemable about you, you should take a long look in the mirror.
I beginning to think that the Supreme Court is a colossal waste of time and money….why not just banish these spineless partisan hacks and just let the elections decide what the laws of the country will be and who gets screwed by them.
Of course I am being a bit bombastic here….but you get what I am railing about, right?
Trump’s nominee for SCOTUS has had a couple of bad weeks…..first one accusation of sexual misconduct….then a second….from the gossip around there maybe be a third.
During all this the nominee has said he is completely innocent of the charges (as one would expect him to do)…..but the Senate in its haste to confirm will ignore all sense of legality and push this person through the process….
The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote Friday on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, the AP reports. The committee vote is being set for the day after Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford are to testify about her allegation he sexually assaulted her when they were teens. That public hearing is set for Thursday. The committee scheduled the vote as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday he was moving forward with Kavanaugh’s nomination. The committee will be voting on whether to recommend Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate. Senators were told to be prepared for a rare weekend session and McConnell said he was confident Kavanugh would be confirmed.
Kavanaugh has denied Ford’s claim and that of another woman who has come forward with an allegation from his time at Yale. That woman, Deborah Ramirez, offered on Tuesday to give a sworn statement to the FBI. Her attorney, John Clune, tweeted that he’s been “working hard to cooperate with the Senate Judiciary Committee,” but that “they have refused to meet all scheduled appointments.” He said an FBI investigation has been formally requested and concluded, “Ms. Ramirez is ready to swear to the FBI under penalty of perjury. Why won’t the Senate Judiciary Committee welcome that?” He says he will be on Anderson Cooper’s show Tuesday night to discuss the case.
You can tell that the position is NO longer the position that was intended….when there are political style ads for his confirmation…..the position is no longer about the rule of law but rather party politics….and the Founders are flipping in their graves.
My opinion?
I think that there needs to be an investigation and that this person should step out of the process and bring in fresh meat.
Why?
If the Dems are as successful as all seem to think then there will be hearings and a possible impeachment of the judge…..,can a judge be removed from the Supreme Court?
Damn right he/she can!
Although an appointment to the United States Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment, the U.S. Constitution includes language that allows a justice to be impeached and forcibly removed from office. Article 3, Section 1 of the Constitution states, “The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour…”
Constitutional Language
Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution states: “The president, vice president and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Because federal judges are considered civil officers, they are subject to this rule.
Article 3 mentions good behavior of judges, without defining it. According to the Congress.org website, produced by CQ-Roll Call Group, this is taken to mean that the reasons for impeachment of a federal judge aren’t limited to criminal acts.
Impeachment Process
The impeachment process begins in the House of Representatives, with passage of articles of impeachment by a majority vote. The articles of impeachment state specific allegations of wrongdoing. The second step in the process is a trial in the U.S. Senate on the allegations. To convict someone who has been impeached, a two-thirds majority vote is required by the Senate. If convicted by the Senate, the accused is immediately removed from office.
The Federal Judicial Center lists federal judges who have been impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. No Supreme Court justice has been convicted and removed, and only one has been impeached. The House impeached Justice Samuel Chase in 1804. The impeachment accused him of basing court decisions on political bias and misconduct. The Senate acquitted Chase in 1805 and he returned to duty.
(legalbeagle.com)
The Dems will get even for the game played by the GOP on Obama’s choice of justice….all the whining in the world by the Repubs will not change the course of this event.
Kavanaugh is a liability he should step aside and let someone else take the heat.
His politics are god-awful and we need someone that will put the country and its laws first and party politics in the crapper where they belong.
His politics is god awful, but that is hardly news. It was a sure thing that Trump would nominate someone with god-awful politics. Because he knows little and cares less about the judicial system, except when it impinges on his financial shenanigans, and because, as part of his pact with “conservatives” Trump outsourced judicial appointments to the Federalist Society, anyone he would nominate was bound to come with god-awful politics.
At least, this particular god-awful jurist is well schooled, well spoken (in the way that lawyers are), and intelligent enough to talk like a lawyer or judge, while dissembling shamelessly and saying nothing of substance. That puts him leagues ahead of Trump. It also puts him head and shoulders above the average Republican.
We have been bombarded in the last couple of weeks on the nominee for the Supreme Court….and more recently about the accusation of sexual misconduct….and now there is even more news on this subject…..
A former classmate of Christine Blasey Ford has changed her tune a bit after initially stating, “This incident did happen” in a Facebook post about Ford’s allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school. You can see a screenshot of Cristina King Miranda’s Wednesday post, which has since been deleted, here; in it, Miranda says she knew Ford, Kavanaugh, and Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge (who Ford says was in the room during the alleged assault) in high school and describes a “completely out of control” drinking environment. She says she was one of the more than 200 alumnae of Maryland’s Holton-Arms School who signed an open letter supporting Ford, and that “many of us heard about [the Ford-Kavanaugh incident] in school.” But in a new interview with NPR, Miranda denies knowing whether the assault happened.
“That it happened or not, I have no idea. I can’t say that it did or didn’t,” Miranda says. “In my [Facebook] post, I was empowered and I was sure it probably did [happen]. I had no idea that I would now have to go to the specifics and defend it before 50 cable channels and have my face spread all over MSNBC news and Twitter.” She says she played soccer with Ford and that she still supports her and believes her, but she wasn’t expecting to be contacted by staff from the Senate Judiciary Committee after posting on Facebook. She says that if the committee asks to interview her, she will decline. She also posted on Twitter (though her account appears to have since been deleted) that she does “not have first hand knowledge of the incident” Ford describes. But, she tells NPR, she remembers a “buzz” going around involving a serious incident at a party involving students from her school and Kavanaugh’s school.
When I read this story the first thing that entered my mind was…..wonder how much that cost the team?”
As I always try to say….he is accused of misconduct….this needs to play out and cut the theatrics (which is impossible in DC for theatrics is all they have)…
The GOP seems to be in a rush to confirm for the good of the court…..seriously….they allowed the court to function with a judge down for damn near a year and it is important now but not 2 years ago…..this is what I point to when I call them all hypocrites…….
Personally, I do not trust the guy…his hair looks like that of a Baptist preacher and I do not trust a preacher as far as I can toss them.
The big story of the week is the hearings to determine if Kavanaugh is suitable to be the next justice for the Supreme Court……and after two days what do we have?
After the “chaotic” first day of Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination hearing, Wednesday saw the 53-year-old appellate judge bombarded with questions from senators. The AP describes him as “treading carefully,” and highlights some of the biggest issues raised during the second day of the hearing. Kavanaugh “didn’t show his hand” when questioned about abortion rights, for example, though he did call Roe v. Wade “important precedent” that has “been reaffirmed many times over the past 45 years.” (The AP also notes that Sen. Dianne Feinstein “vastly overstated” the number of deaths from illegal abortions in the decades before Roe v. Wade; it has a fact-check here.) More from the hearing, which is expected to extend into the late evening hours of Wednesday:
Kavanaugh said it was like a “gut punch” to learn that multiple women had accused one of his mentors, Judge Alex Kozinski, of sexual misconduct, and that it highlights the broader need for a better system of reporting workplace harassment; he said he was not aware of the allegations until they were made public. Fox News has more.
The New York Times, which offers live updates on the hearing, highlights questions from Sen. Patrick Leahy bringing up two Bush-era scandals. Kavanaugh worked as an associate White House counsel in the Bush administration, and Leahy suggested he may have been aware of the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program as well as the infiltration of Democrats’ confidential internal files regarding Bush’s judicial nominees, both of which he has denied knowing about. More details at the Times, which calls the exchange “tantalizing but incomplete.”
The Washington Post also has live updates; among its highlights: President Trump weighed in on the confirmation hearing, saying Kavanaugh has an “outstanding intellect.” “I have watched his remarks, I have watched his performance, I’ve watched his statements, and honestly, they’ve been totally brilliant,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “I think the other side is grasping at straws.”
ABC News offers five key questions Kavanaugh was asked Wednesday and his responses to each one. Among those: Can a president pardon himself? Kavanaugh declined to answer, saying it was a hypothetical question.
Kavanaugh cited the “Ginsburg rule” when declining to answer hypothetical questions; Fox News explains what that is.
Protesters have again interrupted the hearing; the AP has more on the protests here.
Also Wednesday, Jon Kyl was sworn in to fill the late John McCain’s Senate seat through the end of the year; he will have the opportunity to weigh in on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, the AP notes.
Speaking of votes, Susan Collins is a key swing vote, and the Intercept reports that activists have raised more than $385,000 so far that will be given to the campaign fund of a future opponent running against the Republican senator should she vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmation. If she votes no, the pledges will be canceled.
This is as I thought it would be a contentious hearing at times…..but so far there has been nothing one could call a bomb thrown against the nominee…..but a few “we shall see” moments……IMHO.
For me….I would not vote for this guy because his hair looks like the hair of a Baptist preacher and I do not trust preachers….but that is just me.
