Neil Gorsuch Confirmation Process Discussion (confirmed 54-45)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I cannot believe we're actually going to give him the time of day. There should be precisely zero Democrats at these hearings and zero Democratic votes in favor of him. Never thought I'd support the #WeWillReplaceYou movement, but it's time to start purging pro-Trump Democrats.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I cannot believe we're actually going to give him the time of day. There should be precisely zero Democrats at these hearings and zero Democratic votes in favor of him. Never thought I'd support the #WeWillReplaceYou movement, but it's time to start purging pro-Trump Democrats.

Yeah and guess what will happen if you successfully primary Manchin, Heitkamp, etc? You're giving those seats to the GOP.

Oh noes! Then the Dems won't be able to hinder the GOP's deplorable agenda!

Oh, wait. They can't or won't do that anyway.

If the choices are between a small eternity of GOP vs. GOP-slightly lighter (at best), or years in the wilderness before the  Democrats can become a party worth supporting, I'll take the latter.  Although to be honest, I don't think the US as it presently exists is going to last long enough for it to matter.

 I used to think the US had a good two or three decades to make some badly needed structural and societal reforms. Now I think we'll be lucky to last past 2030.

The Dems have one good clean shot to pull together and convince independents and their own voters that they ought to be the opposition to the Trumpublicans. So far I've seen nearly nothing in terms of actions to convince me. Primarying them at the national level while taking over at the state and local level seems to be a good compromise between holding their feet to the fire, fighting the enemy, and preparing for the worst.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Ah, revenge! Republicans said disingenuous things about why they were holding no hearings or vote on any nominee put forward by President Barack Obama, and now some Democrats here want to say things even more disingenuous, obviously out of a petty desire for sheer revenge.
A plague on both your parties.

I need to find out whether Gorsuch actually is an originalist. I particularly need to find out whether Gorsuch knows what was the originally understood meaning of the 9th Amendment, and what were the originally understood meanings of the Due Process Clauses of the 5th and 14th, and what was the originally understood meaning of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th.

Why? Do you think such revelations will have the slightest effect on a single vote in the Senate?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

The government needs to govern.  It's not all about politics.

Republicans spent 8 years not governing.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Schumer a no and Democrats will filibuster

Good.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

This is just an excuse to cave.

it's the best imaginable deal right now.

The best imaginable deal is:
- No filibuster against Gorsuch
- Democrats allow free conscience vote(no whipping)
- Kennedy(if he retires or dies) must be replaced by a moderate
- A Democratic Justice must be replaced by someone like Merrick Garland(provide shortlist of Justices between Garland, Breyer, and Sandra Day O'Connor)

Hah. Trump's less trustworthy than rabid weasel.  Just ask all the contractors he's stiffed.

The bet imaginable outcome is:
-Democrats filibuster every nominee until the election is over.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I hate to say it but the Filibuster has to go at some point for the Republic to continue to function. This was my position when the Dems were in the majority and it continues to be my position now. It may just be better to just get rid of it now and let the GOP take the consequences if there are any (there probably won't be because hardly anyone cares about procedure outside of ultra-partisan hacks and political nerds like us.

I disagree. What has to go is having a major voting block dominated by whatever idea benefits right-wing media. Get rid of that, and politics can go back to being about real compromise. (Instead, the left is start to fall prey to the same disease that has eaten the brains of the right.)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

so it is pretty clear Democrats should take a stand here against Trump, the GOP, and their theft of this Senate seat.

Lol. So the rules say whichever party controls the presidency at the exact moment a vacancy arises owns that seat forever? Because i will never understand this "they stole it, so we have to steal it back, but somehow when we do it its not stealing" argument.

i could have lived with republicans rejecting half a dozen judges, until we got someone who finally was good enough or moderate enough or neutral on abortion or 80 years old or whatever, but just being able to reject hearings is mindblowing, imho.

Agreed. And the democrats were right then to complain. Now theyve taken what moral high ground they had, shat all over it, and still keep complaining about how stinky the republicans were a year ago.

Next time don't steal Supreme Court seats and maybe we won't have this problem.

I dont need to poke holes in your argument because repeating this "stolen seat " garbage betrays your lack of understanding and objectivity, but what the hell.

This overall argument is equivalent to a toddler justifying the pulling of his playmate's hair because "she should have shared if she didnt want it pulled." Right and wrong dont just disappear if someone else did something first. That is nor how logic works.

You guys made your bed and now you'll have to sleep in it.  Enjoy   Oh and spare me the hypocritical moralizing, I think I speak for most Democrats when I say you're wasting your breath.  I literally have no interest in seeing that seat filled by anyone regardless of their qualifications or objectivity until we have a Democratic President.

AT SOME POINT SOMEBODY IS GOING TO HAVE TO DEESCALATE.

That's only true if you want a future United States that isn't small band of survivors eating rats and each other in the ruins of flooded cities. Since that seems to be a future that the Trumpublicans are quite happy with (so long as their band of survivors is white, shouts "Jebus" every so often, and makes sure to kick the women in the head a lot when they're young) the incentive for those of us who oppose the deplorable scum to deescalate is pretty minimal.