We should be rooting for Kavanaugh

[SpankMe]

I say this because no matter what happens, the Republicans are going to get a super right wing ideologue on the court to replace Kennedy. I don't think this can be stopped. Whether Kavanaugh, or someone else, they're getting their Nazi appointed.

If Kavanaugh falls as a result of the sexual scandals, Republicans will probably find a squeaky clean nominee who can't be called into question for personal behavior and who has a long history of strongly conservative, America-killing policies. A person like that - with no personal failings and impeccable conservative credentials - will lend legitimacy to the court as a qualified, though conservative, jurist.

If Kavanaugh stays, however, then the court is forever sullied. We can leverage this tainted judge to imprint every conservative ruling with an asterisk and make sure that the court's majority puts a bad taste in everyone's mouth every time it speaks. If the ruling is conservative, we can characterize it as evil by association.

If they end up getting a choirboy appointed, it'll be harder to to hold up conservative rulings as flawed.

In the long term - if not the medium term - it'll help us keep the public soured on SCOTUS until we can get Dems in the WH and senate and hope that Clarence Thomas' poor eating habits catch up with him sooner rather than later.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. And yet McConnell VIOLATED his constitutional FUCKING DUTY to get here

so I say the rules dont apply anymore

none of them

[empedocles]

2. . . . and of course, if we get blue Congress, impeach kavenaugh at will.

[DrDan]

7. "at will"??? - you do realize an impeachment conviction requires 2/3 vote

[Hortensis]

13. Yes, might have to wait until something like denial

of the citizenry's right to privacy came down -- and was felt. They can talk about repealing Roe v. Wade and throwing it to the states, but just wait until it happened and the first girl gets sentenced to decades in prison for murder -- and other effects become real. Leaving the country or the state of residence for abortion will also be illegal in most states where it's banned.

Somewhere at very least strong limits on types of contraceptives are going to be imposed, perhaps elsewhere a ban on sales of all contraception products, perhaps possession, and effects will be felt. There will be a need to replace all those legal and illegal immmigrants being held in detention centers because other nations are refusing to take them.

Repeal of a whole slew of LGBTQ rights, and more tragedies. Btw, how come we don't hear more mea culpas from Hillary haters among that crowd? Sure they're a very small part of the population, but each of them has just as much to answer for as any others who threw this nation to right-wing extremists. Keeping quiet, or more likely unrepentent denial?

It'd take awhile, but 2/3 doesn't seem at all unattainable once people realize that after first they came came for "the Jews," etcetera they then came for their daughers, Social Security, unemployment insurance, Medicaid, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

[empedocles]

18. Yes. At will is strong.

My reasoning is, get a blue wave and the House. Mueller completes his work. Trump overwhelmingly, sickeningly, guilty. Enough Republicans see the handwriting on the wall, and some will vote impeachment.

[KenCol]

3. If Kavanaugh fails...

...some say it will depress Republican turnout in November, and maybe hand the Senate to Democrats.
Maybe.

[Trust Buster]

4. I disagree. Kavanaugh is not a judge. Kavanaugh is a right wing political operative.

Many on the right get pissed when Roberts does not vote their way. Roberts is a judge and not a right wing political stamp. A conservative judge would not be our first choice but it sure beats a right wing political hack IMO.

[DrDan]

5. so you support someone who thinks the president is above the law . . . do I have that right?

all because we can tag each ruling with an asterisk . . .

[NewJeffCT]

6. Do you think they can get somebody nominated

scheduled, through the judiciary committee and to the full senate by election day? They've pushed on Kavanaugh for a while now, and it's still been a few months to get him to this point.

[obamanut2012]

8. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[MountCleaners]

9. The Republicans are tainted

whether he gets confirmed or not, because of their ridiculous and persistent defense of him.

[Azathoth]

10. The GOP don't give a shit if the court is "sullied." This is a knife fight for raw power

Citizens United has put a bad taste in people's mouths for nearly a decade now, and so what? The ruling still stands, and likely will continue to stand for the rest of our lifetimes. Bush v. Gore was naked partisanship that didn't even try to cloak itself in objective jurisprudence, and Dubya still served eight years without a hiccup. On the flip side, Roe v. Wade has put a bad taste in conservatives' mouths for fifty years, and they're only now getting close to a shot at tearing it down.

SCOTUS is the ultimate power grab. Public perception means absolutely nothing to men and women with lifetime tenure and no superiors. Back in the day, of course, justices used to at least pay lip service to being above the political fray, but we have Scalia to thank for finally calling bullshit on that ongoing hypocrisy.

McConnell not only broke the Senate, he changed the game with the Garland nomination. So fuck 'em. Sink their nominees if possible, impeach the ones we can't, and pack the court if we can't impeach them. Enough of this "lifetime tenure" bullshit. Eventually, the chaos will force a term limit amendment, but until then, it's a knife fight. The days of scoring perception points and claiming that as a victory are over.

[leftstreet]

11. They're ASSAULT allegations, not SEXUAL scandals

A sexual scandal would be him having an affair outside of his marriage

[suffragette]

12. No, we shouldn't.

[WeekiWater]

14. Will the "asterisk" have any legal meaning?

Kavanaugh is far right. Bring him down and bring on the next.

Fighting and getting Democrats elected is the answer.

"it'll help us keep the public soured on SCOTUS"

Most people don't pay attention to the SCOTUS.

[Vinca]

15. I disagree. Kavanaugh's primary selling point from Dear Leader's perspective is his view that

the President of the United States is above the law and shouldn't be the subject of any investigation while in office and definitely should never get a subpoena or be indicted. Anyone they put up will be a threat to Roe, but Kavanaugh is a threat to democracy, too.

[ecstatic]

16. I was thinking he could be impeached, which

is a good thing as opposed to a squeaky clean right winger. I know I know... 67 votes.

[kentuck]

17. A brilliant strategy, however...

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" (Sir Walter Scott, 1808)