Here’s a new thread for the afternoon portion of the hearing:
Whitehouse is up first, and bringing the heat. Open thread!
Activist Judges!
Barrett Hearings Day II (Open Thread)
Here’s CSPAN’s YouTube livestream in case anyone’s interested in following the “Grand Theft, SCOTUS” saga.
I half-assed watched yesterday’s proceedings, keeping my sanity by muting the Republican opening statements. I’m biased, but I thought the Dems did an excellent job of linking Barrett to Trump and diminishing the nomination by tying it to the farcical super-spreader event that kicked it off and to Republican bad faith and hypocrisy on the SCOTUS in general.
It seems inevitable that Republicans will win the prize. But the Dems made it clear that this SCOTUS seat is a tawdry Trump-branded bauble thanks to Republicans’ dishonest machinations, and the Dems are doing their best to extract the highest possible political cost. I was proud of their efforts yesterday; IMO, they played a crappy hand as best they could.
The Dems were extremely disciplined in their focus on the ACA, which was smart. It’ll be interesting to see how the questioning unfolds today. Barrett is a zealot who wants to impose her crackpot views on the rest of us. But by all accounts, she’s highly intelligent, and she’s obviously been training for this moment all her life. So I expect her to duck, dodge and demure ably, if dishonestly.
My take is that Whitehouse and Klobuchar were the stand-outs yesterday because they were the most openly contemptuous of the Republicans running this charade and least deferential to Barrett herself. Republicans are not only foisting this mendacious fanatic on us, they’re trying to sell her as a feminist icon. Well, fuck that noise!
If you also find this fraudulent proceeding outrageous and are represented by Republican senators, consider calling them to register your disapproval. It won’t stop them from this smash and grab, but it will let them know you see what they’re doing.
Open thread.
Hearings Part II (Open Thread)
In the Senate Judiciary hearings before the lunch break, the Democrats focused relentlessly on the threat Barrett poses to the ACA. I don’t know if voters will notice, but Papaya Pinochet got awfully defensive on Twitter:
We will have Healthcare which is FAR BETTER than ObamaCare, at a FAR LOWER COST – BIG PREMIUM REDUCTION. PEOPLE WITH PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS WILL BE PROTECTED AT AN EVEN HIGHER LEVEL THAN NOW. HIGHLY UNPOPULAR AND UNFAIR INDIVIDUAL MANDATE ALREADY TERMINATED. YOU’RE WELCOME!
Republicans must state loudly and clearly that WE are going to provide much better Healthcare at a much lower cost. Get the word out! Will always protect pre-existing conditions!!!
As those of us who’ve been paying attention know, Trump started claiming he would replace the ACA with a better, cheaper healthcare plan in 2015 and has done exactly jack and shit since then except undermine the healthcare people already have and threaten to use far-right judges to throw tens of millions off their healthcare — during a pandemic with mass unemployment. He’s got no credibility on this or any other issue.
I think this is a good strategy for the Dems. Senator Whitehouse was a highlight from the morning’s statements:
WATCH: @SenWhitehouse lays out Senator Cornyn and Senate Republicans’ years of fighting to destroy the ACA and how they would be responsible for millions losing coverage and protections if Judge Barrett strikes it down. pic.twitter.com/BQk8xZf8kp
— Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) October 12, 2020
So was Senator Klobuchar:
Amy Klobuchar says the American people are the only thing that can alter Barrett's hearings: "It is you calling Republican senators and telling them enough is enough, telling them it is personal, telling them they have their priorities wrong. So do it" https://t.co/uScvfX9o80 pic.twitter.com/O2yTFqMocy
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 12, 2020
My two senators are Republican snakes, but I called them anyway. It went to voice mail. Maybe that’s a good sign? Open thread.
Amy Covid Barrett hearings
The confirmation hearings for the dishonest right-wing SCOTUS nominee of the corrupt president just started. Here’s a YouTube livestream if you want to watch it:
You might want to hold off — Graham is simpering hypocritically at the moment. Open thread.
PS: As the screen grab shows, the judge has crazy eyes like Michele Bachmann. This will not end well.
GOP Death Cult Open Thread: Nefarious ACB
U.S. Supreme Court nominee's confirmation hearings on track, McConnell says https://t.co/6WMUTMN3rO pic.twitter.com/UFfgVhUvXW
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 3, 2020
… “Previously-scheduled floor activity will be rescheduled until after October 19th … The important work of the Senate’s committees can and will continue as each committee sees fit,” McConnell said in a statement.
McConnell added that the Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee would start Barrett’s confirmation hearings on Oct. 12 as previously planned. Senators have the option of attending the hearings in person or remotely.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said McConnell’s decision was dangerous and reckless.
“If it’s too dangerous to have the Senate in session it is also too dangerous for committee hearings to continue,” Schumer said in a statement…
McConnell’s announcement, however, could mean that no new coronavirus aid bill will be approved by Congress in the coming days, despite negotiations this week between House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House officials…
#MoscowMitch will kill his own teammates as happily as he would Democrats…
NOTE: Senate rules require ALL 12 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to show up — in person — to advance Barrett's nomination in vote expected Oct. 22 if Democrats boycott. 2 of those senators have tested positive for COVID. https://t.co/0qo8Q94sYM
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) October 3, 2020
GOP Death Cult Open Thread: Nefarious ACBPost + Comments (193)
GOP Death Cult Open Thread: The SCOTUS Rush
NEW: Trump and GOP aim to complete reshaping of federal judiciary with new SCOTUS nominee https://t.co/xX8aTSboff pic.twitter.com/NtVeToUntk
— The Hill (@thehill) September 29, 2020
This administration is threatening the very legitimacy of the Court — and all of us — by trying to rush through a nominee.
We must take action.
Message your senator NOW to delay a SCOTUS confirmation ⬇️ https://t.co/irLAqi5OKj
— ACLU (@ACLU) September 28, 2020
While the odds, at this moment, are in Coney Barrett’s favor, when it comes to seating a new Supreme Court Justice, “rush” is a relative term. The first hearing isn’t scheduled until October 12th, which is two weeks or approximately 750 internet news cycles from now. The AP put out a good explainer on the process over the weekend. Here’s the latest from the NYTimes:
… The White House planned to send paperwork to the Senate formally nominating Judge Barrett, a Notre Dame law professor and appeals court judge in Chicago, on Tuesday, when lawmakers reconvene after the Jewish high holidays. She was also scheduled to begin courtesy visits to Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader who championed her selection; Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee; and many Republicans on the panel.
Some top Democrats, still steaming over Republicans’ rush to fill the seat so close to an election, turned down offers to meet, laying the first bricks in a wall of opposition to the nomination they plan to erect in the coming weeks. Others pledged to use the meetings to begin pressing Judge Barrett to explain her views on politically divisive issues that could come before the court, like abortion rights, gay rights, the Affordable Care Act and affirmative action…
Out of public view, the Judiciary Committee was already working at full tilt to prepare for four days of nationally televised hearings set to begin in just two weeks. The committee typically has more than a month for such preparations, but Republicans insist no more time is necessary because Judge Barrett’s record was studied by many of the same lawmakers in 2017, when she was nominated to sit on the appeals court.
Both sides were quickly bringing on extra help, with close to 20 lawyers and law clerks temporarily joining the committee between the Democrats and Republicans. The additions were reported earlier by Politico…
Per the AP:
… Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham says his panel will hold four days of confirmation hearings the week of Oct. 12.
Once the committee approves the nomination, it goes to the Senate floor for a final vote. This could all happen by Nov. 3 if the process goes smoothly. Graham said he hopes the committee can move the nomination to the Senate floor by the week of Oct. 26 for a confirmation vote…
Republicans are privately aiming to hold the final vote the last week of October, but acknowledge the tight timeline and say they will need to see how the hearings go. McConnell has been careful not to say when he believes the final confirmation vote will happen, other than “this year.” …
GOP Death Cult Open Thread: The SCOTUS RushPost + Comments (132)
On Justice Ginsburg: One More Farewell
??MUST-WATCH??
Amy Klobuchar is on FIRE and did NOT come to play.???? pic.twitter.com/Poh8MVbDjF
— DeMarcus ?? (@semperdiced) September 24, 2020
Because these were too good not to share!
Ruth Bader Ginsburg chose, over and over again, not to let awful circumstances crush her determination to fight towards a better world. We owe her to keep that relentless determination alive, as best our individual circumstances permit.
Opinion: Justice Ginsburg leaves us our marching orders https://t.co/WiBOR2QIAY
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 25, 2020
… Ginsburg was arguably the most influential Jew in U.S. history (perhaps tied with Sandy Koufax for the most loved). Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt’s remarks at the ceremony centered on “tzedek, tzedek tirdof” — the phrase from Deuteronomy 16:20 meaning “justice, justice you shall pursue,” featured in an inscription on a piece of art in Ginsburg’s office. There are many rabbinical discussions on why the word “justice” is repeated, but my favorite — one certainly applicable to Ginsburg — is that you must pursue justice in a just way. Justice is not merely the result that matters, but the means by which you seek it. Ginsburg exemplified this idea by pursuing justice for all Americans, case by case, through the steady progress of the law. Might does not make right. It is through rational and creative thinking that justice is advanced. Justice does not come as a bolt from the blue, but as the result of tenacious, fierce, careful and inspired work.