Justice Ginsburg's Death Should Mean NO Rush To Fill Her Seat - So Dems Need to Prepare For War (Even Retributional)

Supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday evening.  Her death leaves the court with eight members just weeks before it starts its new term and raises the possibility that the court’s balance of power could shift further to the right.  As messages of grief and gratitude for her life and career swept the country, millions of citizens now realize what the liberal icon’s death means for the Supreme Court and an already jittery nation.  

What SHOULD happen is Mitch McConnell and the Reepo Senate ought to adhere to the late justice's wishes, i.e. no filling of her seat until the new president is seated in January.   That was Justice Ginsburg's wish and it ought to be honored.

But we know the Reeps lack any sense of decorum or decency so no surprise to learn Friday night McConnell said that he would seek to confirm any Supreme Court nominee that Trump puts forward,  We also know last week Trump added 20 more names to his list of potential Supreme Court nominees, all of them with views sharply to the right of Justice Ginsburg.  Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees includes three Republican senators: Josh Hawley of Missouri, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ted Cruz of Texas.  All of them disasters especially Cotton  who not long ago wrote a rabid op ed in the NY Times arguing for use of active military in protests. This is not a guy we want on the highest court.

This is also given the matter of serious long term ramifications.  Some of which we've already seen include repealing aspects of the Voting Rights Act, rolling back union protections as well as making it easier to fire older workers, and going after women's reproductive rights including abortion.  Make no mistake a 6-3 rightist court would be a living grotesque nightmare, not just for people of color, but for women and many other citizens. 

Further, just take a look at the cases looming on the Court's future docket, including: the future of the Affordable Care Act, issues of separation of church and state, and congressional access to grand jury materials. A Supreme Court finalized at 6-3 for the Right could also play a role in litigation of any contested elections, with the potential to give the benefit of the doubt to Trump's lawyers over Biden's.    That is the ultimate near future nightmare scenario.

In any case, any majority conservative Supreme Court could affect the lives of literally millions of Americans for decades, if not generations - on matter ranging from abortion to health care to the role of religion in public life. To put it in blunt terms, this is the outcome the Right has been salivating over for nearly 50 years. 

 We cannot let the bastards win, especially as it looks more and more likely the Dems can take the presidency as well as the Senate. 

 So Dems have to fight like junkyard dogs to ensure McConnell doesn't get to stuff some walking turd like Tom Cotton onto the court before inauguration day.  They need to use every procedural device in the book to delay, and maybe off the books.  (Preventing a vote for extension of gov't funding, as Sen. Mazie Horono suggested on ALL IN.)   If nothing can be done to stop the rush to torpedo Justice Ginsburg's wishes now then a retributional response can be done - assuming Dems win the presidency and Senate. That means killing the filibuster, and packing the court  - maybe up to 15 members, with 9 Dem picks.  As Janice put it: "It's time now we learn to fight like they do!"  Agreed!

What they - or we- can't do, is go quietly into that dark night.

See  Also:

Ginsburg’s death sets off political battle over her replacement, Supreme Court’s future

And:

If McConnell pushes through a nominee, President Biden should pack the court

Opinion by Jill Filipovic

And:

Supreme Court

Murkowski: 'Fair Is Fair,' No Supreme Court Confirmation Before the Inauguration. Who's Joining Her?

And:

Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Supreme Court

RIP RBG. Now End the Filibuster. Add States to the Union. Expand the Courts.

by David Atkins | September 20, 2020 - 7:12am | permalink

— from Washington Monthly

AND:

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

With the Passing of Justice Ginsburg, Democracy Just Got Harder, Again

Neil Gorsuch Needs To Be "Borked" - Along With Every Other Trump SC Nominee

The Donald crawled out of his chaotic rat warren last night to make his first Supreme Court pick. As predicted, it was a conservative extremist albeit straight out of central casting. The guy named? Neil Gorsuch whose trail of judicial terror was revealed last night in the course of several Dem Senatorial comments. 

Before I get to them, let's go through a few of Gorsuch's recent cases to show what a pathetic loser he is and why he needs to be "Borked" - the term derived from when Robert Bork was advanced in 1987 as a Reagan nominee and he had to be jettisoned by the Gipper.

1) Ryan Wilson excessive force and wrongful death case:

In maybe the most infamous, young Ryan Wilson, 22, was tasered in the head and side by aggressive cops in Lafayette, CO after an MJ grow was discovered near Hecla Lake and Wilson ran from the scene. The death came as a result of the kid having a heart condition and his parents subsequently  filed a lawsuit asking for a trial based on excessive force in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.  Judge Neil Gorsuch tossed the case out on the basis of "holofied immunity"  which protects all law enforcement from civil liability for damages. So even if the cops crashed into your home  in a patrol car while on a chase, and accidentally killed grammy sitting in her rocker, they'd get off. This is the putz the Reepos put up.

2) Hobby Lobby case:

Gorsuch was the guy who put forward the initial whacko argument for the Hobby Lobby case, in which the company's owners were entitled to exemption from the ACA's contraception provision based on their individual religious beliefs.  The outrage at the time was upper decibel level, with one Philly-based federal appeals court pithily objecting that:

“Businesses do not pray, worship, observe sacraments or take other religiously motivated actions.”

This was important, given historically  the Court has never recognized a for profit corporation's "religious rights" under federal law or the Constitution.  But Gorsuch's ruling took no account of that at all, apart from the nonsense of referring to corporations as "people"- which only a madman would do.

3) Little Sisters of the Poor case:

This howler of a case was also ruled on by Gorsuch. To quickly summarize: the Little Sisters yelped about being "forced" to provide artificial contraception to public employees of theirs against their conscience. This was via the Affordable Care Act. They were then offered a way out where all they had to do is simply sign a form to be granted an exception and they pitched a fit about that too. They claimed the very act of signing the exemption form would also detract from their "religious freedom" - and in his ruling in their favor Gorsuch concurred.

Apart from these cases which clearly show Gorsuch has a background we don't want and can't afford (especially as he's only 49 years of age, and could be on the Court decades) there is the other matter of that Supreme Court seat having been "stolen" by the Repukes. They sat on their asses for nearly a year after Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland and didn't even have the grace or courtesy to allow a hearing. Not even a hearing. Some Reepo Senators went so far at the time to insist that even IF Hillary won they'd hold off any Supreme Court hearings for her picks - whether 4 years, 8 years, whatever. In other words, the unspoken new rule was that Democrats didn't get to make SC picks.

Hence, liberals now are enraged and not prepared to see the Senate Dems allow anyone to get through a Supreme Court nomination. Gorsuch, nice guy though he may  be  - and even relatively "mainstream" as extremists go, is simply caught in the crossfire of political  polarization. Which is too bad, but then Merrick Garland was too, and at least Gorsuch will get his hearing.

Anyway, Sen. Elizabeth Warren had this to say about Gorsuch last night, with which I totally concur:

"President Trump had a chance to select a consensus nominee to the Supreme Court but to the surprise of absolutely nobody he failed that test. Instead he kept a promise to select a nominee from a list drawn up by far right activists and groups that were financed by big Business interests.

Judge Gorsuch has been on this list for four months. His public record, which I have viewed in detail, paints a clear picture of his record. Before even joining the (federal) bench he advocated for making it even easier for public companies to defraud investors.

As a judge he twisted himself into a pretzel to make sure rules favored giant companies over workers and individual Americans. He sided with employers who denied wages for improperly fired workers and retaliated against whistle blowers for 'misconduct'.  He's ruled against workers in all manner of discrimination cases.

He's demonstrated hostility toward women's access to basic health care. For years, powerful interests have executed a full scale assault on our federal judiciary, trying to turn the Supreme Court into one more rigged game that works only for the rich and powerful. 

They spent millions to keep this seat open and Judge Gorsuch is their reward."

This is why the Democrats must now put aside all memes or fantasies that they are engaged in a "debate" with Marquis of Queensberry rules. No, this is now full throttle political combat and requires them to go all out, not only denying this nominee but the next as well.  And if the Repukes are stupid and brazen enough to remove the filibuster - which they might be, knowing "Bitch" McConnell -then all out blockage, and procedural sabotage must be used - as well as huge protests from the base -including in front of Republican Senators' homes.

See also:
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/marjorie-cohn/70999/trumps-choice-of-gorsuch-endangers-civil-human-and-environmental-rights

And:

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/richard-eskow/70973/trump-s-supreme-court-pageant-a-silly-show-to-fill-a-stolen-seat

Update:

Now that we've learned Gorsuch helped found "Fascists Forever" at his Catholic High School, we have much additional fodder for the Dems to do some "brain" surgery probes into his background. One thing we know, they must not be deterred by media editorials taking them to task.

Yes, There ARE More Political Posts - Because The Times Demand It

Yes, it is true that there are many more political posts on this blog than usual, for anyone keeping a tally. But I make no apologies for that because while science and math are running themes, the tumultuous times we're in demand attention to what's going on in the political world. Nearly all of this centers on the ascension of Trump and his extremist administration to power- including now making a Supreme Court  pick that could have ramifications for decades.  (See next post).

There is also the ongoing danger too many Americans may not perceive how our nation is seen from outside, and they may not read foreign news to process that - if they read at all. Thus, many may have missed the thousands protesting in the streets of London (even as many thousands protests here) to demand Trump not be allowed to visit the UK. 

Nor may they have seen that the European Council President has now - since Trump-Bannon's Muslim Ban - compared the U.S. to the likes of China, Russia and even radical Islam. According to one headline from the WSJ:  "EU Council Chief Says Trump A Threat To Europe's Future"

The EU leader Mr. Tusk said the Trumpian actions "call into questions the past 70 years of American foreign policy".  The Europeans, even more than Americans, are appalled at what has transpired and what it bodes for not only their future, but civilizations. Especially if Trump's Muslim ban triggers the "clash of civilizations" that Benjamin Barber wrote about in his book by the same name.

From day one, everything about the Trump Imperium has been in terms of 'spit in your face' arrogance as they released pseudo order after order upending the political equilibrium around the world - and now (in the words of one commentator) risking not only economic recession, but political (constitutional) crises as well and even potential war with China and North Korea. Too many still aren't processing these events, perhaps because as Alvin Toffler once put it ("Future Shock") when the pace of events exceeds a certain threshold many minds blot them out and become less aware, even responding in a kind of PTSD mode. Meanwhile, for many millions of others, interpretations of events are needed - because the vanilla, allegedly "objective" mainstream media is too often in the "see both sides" mode.

So make no mistake we are living amidst momentous events and these merit being recorded, including in a blog.  Those who might yearn for more of the math or science content can easily Google: "brane space, mathematics" or "brane space, physics" - or any permutations of these, e.g. "brane space, astronomy" and bring up previous posts devoted to those subjects. That is especially if you are tired of the focus on politics. But for others, this is where it's at right now, literally.

And as long as impacting political events are occurring I will be posting about them. When the tumult dies down a bit, well, then we will get back to the more eclectic mix of topics.

See also:

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/william-boardman/70971/trump-crashes-on-take-off