The U.S. Supreme Court

i don't know how many senators up for re-election this year fit that description

there's a few. Portman in OH for one.

yeah. after the 2013 idiocy i think a lot of people thought that republicans might pay a price in the 2014 midterm elections. but then they didn't pay the price. no one remembered or cared. it's frustrating.
― Karl Malone, Thursday, February 18, 2016 10:34 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

gerrymandering, man.

should we start a new thread? This one's huge.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, February 18, 2016 12:48 PM (45 minutes ago)

we should probably just use the new scalia replacement thread tombot started

xxp pat toomey up for reelection too

he's probably gone no matter what tho i gotta think

...and gerrymandering is irrelevant to senate races, right?

yes, 2 senators to the state. everyone votes.

don't see why they would "pay a price"? GOP voters love that obstructionist stuff and Dem voters don't vote Republican. plus that was a year later and lol American attention spans.

i meant "pay a price" in the sense that repub voters don't show because of Trump and Dem voters are more motivated to vote them out because of the obstructionist stuff

oh, right, the senate. duh.

just to be clear, I don't think obstruction hurts republican senators in conservative states

right those guys are prob safe no matter what

it could hurt them in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, maybe others

dems need to flip 5 to take control?

to me, the most sane path that senate republicans could choose if Obama puts forward a totally moderate and unobjectionable nominee, would be to let at risk senators in conservative states oppose, but ultimately to provide enough votes for the the nominee to get confirmed. There's a very good chance this won't happen and I think it will be republicans who would lose out over the long run as a result.

IL, WI, FL, NV, PA, NH, CO, OH, NC, AZ all have possible/likely seat flips. seems v doable (the last 2 obv the least likely).

And people aren't assigned party membership at birth.

I get a pretty strong sense that Obama would like to be further left on a lot of issues but can't get anywhere because of a GOP wall of bullshit, and that Clinton will face the same wall of bullshit, and won't necessarily do any worse, but doesn't feel any pull to the left - certainly not further than she'll need to get a second term.

oh, and the NV seat is a D incumbent. the rest are R tho. xp

Obama's Scalia Replacement The Poll

the other thread referenced above

I get a pretty strong sense that Obama would like to be further left on a lot of issues but can't get anywhere because of a GOP wall of bullshit

I don't get this impression at all. I think there are specific policies that Obama actually publicly ADVOCATES and cannot get accomplished due to the GOP wall, but in terms of Obama's actual politics I don't think they're much further left at all (and I think this borne out both in his public statements, his actions, and by whom he's surrounded himself with).

Obama's Scalia Replacement The Poll

the other thread referenced above

― curmudgeon, Thursday, February 18, 2016

I'm on that one too but it's fairly specific.

Obama would like to be further left on a lot of issues

did you ever see a dream walllllking / well i have!

also dngaf

strenuously, effortfully dngaf

I don't think I entirely understand Alex's position - Why would Obama publically advocate for stuff he can't get done and doesn't care about, as a lame duck president?

An article on Gin & Tacos earlier was wondering whether, if 2017 starts with a Democratic president and senate, Ginsburg would resign to set up two new appointees.

he's not a lame duck president yet though

"lamé duck" is a very disappointing GIS

Huh, I genuinely thought I'd seen that tern for a second-term president all over the place. My mistake, but the point remains - he's not running for re-election, he's already #historic, what would be his motivation?

A president is a lame duck the morning after Election Day, to be clear.

Cementing the historic legacy right through the last day of the 2nd term...

On other issues:

Scalia and his sloppy ethics right to the end-- a free hunting and ranch resort weekend paid for by this guy:

One of Poindexter’s companies was involved in a case that made it to the high court. Last year, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving an age discrimination lawsuit filed against one of these companies, court records show.

The nature of Poindexter’s relationship with Scalia remained unclear Tuesday, one of several lingering questions about his visit. It was not known whether Scalia had paid for his own ticket to fly to the ranch or if someone else picked up the tab, just as it was not immediately clear if Scalia had visited before.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/02/17/justice-scalias-death-and-questions-about-who-pays-for-supreme-court-justices-to-visit-remote-resorts/

http://nypost.com/2016/02/18/scalia-could-have-been-poisoned-forensics-pathologist/

http://static.deathandtaxesmag.com/uploads/2014/12/so-youre-telling-me-theres-a-chance.gif

I don't think I entirely understand Alex's position - Why would Obama publically advocate for stuff he can't get done and doesn't care about, as a lame duck president?

That's not what I said. I said there are left wing policies which Obama has tried to accomplish and which he very much cares about which he's been frustrated on (climate change, gun control, healthcare, etc) by the right. I don't think though that he's secretly even more left wing than that but he's afraid of being so for fear of right wing obstruction or whatever.

"Still, Baden stressed that natural causes was a plausible explanation."

LOL

Pres. & Michelle Obama went to a Scalia tribute event today at Supreme Court, but just Biden is going to the funeral on Saturday. Republicans are mad, but Media Matters asserts that many presidents over the years have not attended funerals of Justices

http://mediamatters.org/research/2016/02/19/conservatives-defy-history-with-derision-at-oba/208693

An NYT story this morning said the same thing.

they would be angry if he DID show up

he should just go see a movie instead

Out of respect for and deference to Scalia, Obama should probably just die himself after first firing Biden and hiring Ryan as his VP. Fair is fair.

Obama should allow the spirit of Scalia to stay on the court, and he should appoint a fair-minded and just member of the GOP as the official White House medium, in the name of bipartisanship.

i feel terrible that i doubted it before, but now we have proof

http://winningdemocrats.com/pro-cruz-pastor-uses-numerology-to-prove-obama-sacrificed-scalia-in-pagan-ritual-audio/

http://www.theonion.com/article/obama-compiles-shortlist-gay-transsexual-abortion--52361?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=Pic:Week1:Default

and hiring Ryan as his VP. Fair is fair.

Are you kidding? Paul Ryan is a squish in GOP circles.

Pro-Cruz Pastor Uses Numerology To Prove Obama Sacrificed Scalia In Pagan Ritual

this is the good stuff

Fucking Obama, always signing his crimes

Love the contrast between Ted Olson and Cheney's heads:

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160220112337-05-scalia-funeral-0220-cheney-thomas-super-169.jpg

rolling contrasting heads 2016

In a 2013 case concerning signs on trucks, Justice Kagan gave a hypothetical example of one: “How am I driving? Call 213–867–5309.”

Tommy Tutone has achieved immortality.

i can't help but feel "i got your number off a truck" might have presented some tempting but dangerous rhymes to tommy and his tutones.

Someone in Los Angeles silencing their ringer and going, "Dammit, don't tell me this shit's happening again."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/supreme-court-precedent

Tierney Sneed is a made up name, right?

I knew a journalism professor named Don Sneed!