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Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died

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331–340 of 1001 posts

Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died

#331
post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theres a sliding scale of it though. The disinformation and anti-intellectual campaigns are generally weaker in mainland Europe and as a consequence the governments are less broken. The US is at the point where 30-40% of the country would drink bleach and shoot their neighbor at the presidents command while probably similar numbers are functionally illiterate. Not to say the democracy has been functioning, but you ca…

> The US is at the point where 30-40% of the country would drink bleach and shoot their neighbor at the presidents command It sounds like you may have succumbed to some of that disinformation yourself

Then talk me down from my lofty vantage because looking at ICE internment camps and seeing women forcibly sterilized en masse is making it awfully hard to not conflate my WW2 history curriculum with the present day.

Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died

#332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The constitution means what the Supreme court says it means. Doesn't have to make sense.

Ok, are you honestly saying that you think a majority of the Supreme Court justices will rule against a direct and clear Constitutional Amendment just to help a President that has no control over them or their jobs? Has this post really gotten to this point, that we’re just posting crazy claims without any merit or knowledge or research at all? Isn’t HN better than this?

It's like Reddit, where people have been claiming for a year that Trump would just cancel the election, despite him having to power to do so.

I expect a lot more fuckery to happen, but cancelled elections and the Supreme Court nullifying the 22nd amendment won't be included.

Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died

#333
post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It only takes a majority in the senate and house to add a seat to the SCOTUS Exactly. If Biden wins and the senate flips, they'll just add two justices (for 11 total) to get a majority. The right will scream bloody murder, but won't be able to do anything about it.

Four. Whatever trump got plus one for Garland. Also make DC a state on day 1.

You're really expecting a landslide, aren't you? Democrats are doing the exact same thing this time they did last time, and they're expecting the virus to save them. It might not happen...

Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died

#334

Why are there life-terms on the Supreme Court? Doesn't that incentivize the justices to hold on past their prime, dying waiting for a new president or resigning in a politically motivated fashion? And don't life terms create a race to the bottom where younger justices are favored for longer remaining life? Why not 20 year limits?

Most likely because the founding fathers didn't expect the justices to be split on party lines. They were intended to be impartial judges ruling on a limited set of federal laws.

Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died

#335

Absolutely. My family is feverishly working on how to leave this hellscape of a country we’re in. The United States is dead.

You might want to see how this election turns out, first.

Election results don't change what people believe and value.

The current situation in the US has been a long time coming, and it will take a long time to resolve.

Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died

#336
post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about head kicks. I think you just need to be a political realist. The reality is that you need (edit: cooperation of the) Senate and Presidency to get a Justice nominated. Obama didn't have the Senate and didn't get his pick for Justice. Trump does, and will get his pick. The whole "Republicans are hypocrites" thing is true - but obviously so. Whatever was said about not doing it in election year was si…

Kennedy, Souter, and Thomas were all approved by a senate of an opposing party. Apparently you have to go back to the 1800s though to find a case where a Democratic president had a nominee appointed by a Republican Senate.

You have to have the cooperation of the Senate I meant. Obviously, in cases where a President of one party has a nominee appointed by a Senate of another, the cooperation of the Senate was there.

Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died

#337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then it's time to fight back. Make it absolutely clear to McConnell and Democratic leaders in the Senate that if McConnell fills this seat in an election year, then the Democrats must increase the size of the SCOTUS. McConnell needs to fear the reprisal more than he fears the delay. Because you're right, this is about power. Nothing else matters to them. So make them fear this.

So why wouldn’t the Republicans do the same thing next time they win an election? Or would the Democrats somehow guarantee that never happens again?

They will. The SCOTUS as a nonpartisan institution that isn't a political football is 100% dead if McConnell confirms a nominee before the election.

It's time Democrats recognize that, and play offense when they have the ball.

It's sad to see the institution end as a non-political body, but it's been happening for the last couple of decades. This will be the absolute end of it.

Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died

#338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on what? A justice dying and a terrible president who will be voted out of office in 7 weeks? Quit with the sensationalist “the world is ending” comments that aren’t based on anything but you’re pessimistic gut feeling.

Have you just awoken from a four year slumber?

Have you? Yes, Trump is terrible, there have been other Presidents as terrible as him in US history (Buchanan, Johnson, Harding) and the ship has always righted itself. He also hasn’t fundamentally altered the American political system. Congress still makes laws, Supreme Court still rules on their legality, President still signs them into law. The comments on here act like Trump has become a Francisco Franco when the fact is he’s likely to be voted out of office in 7 weeks and gone from politics on January 20th.

Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died

#339
post #236
post #8

Of course a president should not appoint a judge on the last few months of his term, should he?

Trump may try, but it will be interesting to hear the reasoning to rush it before November 4. If Trump is going to win, as he says he is, there is no need to rush. I believe there is no precedent for the Senate confirming a Supreme Court justice in a lame duck session. If Trump loses to Biden and the Senate then confirms a Trump nominee in a lame duck session, that will probably be the end of the Supreme Court. I’d e…

[deleted]

Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died

#340
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly the congress at that time was acting in bad faith and would have delayed her successor being appointed, as they did with Merrick Garland.

True, but in 2009 the congress was acting in a fairly reasonable way, and Ginsburg had already been on the bench for 29 years at that point. It was major failure of Democratic leadership that at a time when they controlled all branches of government they failed to make any significant reforms, such as admitting new states, expanding the size of the House of Representatives, or appointing judges.

Hindsight 20/20.
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