I was reading some speculation on twitter that at least 6 people who were at the announcement in the white house rose garden on Saturday for Barrett have tested positive in the last 48 hours (this included the President, the First Lady, Hope Hicks, Mike Lee, Duke university president and Ronna McDaniel). I saw some discussions about whether this might be one of the possible events that something happened at-none were wearing masks and shook hands with each other.
Sen. Tom Tillis (NC) has now tested positive. He was at the Saturday event as well and is on the judiciary committee.
Any opinions about this article? It scared me a bit.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/12/amy-coney-barrett-bad-choice-women
@jovesta She is scary. All the judges recommended by the Federalist Society are. They aren't just right wing, they want to re-interpret away half of 20th and 21st century jurisprudence. I hope like heck she doesn't make it on. If she does the dems will have to expand the court, otherwise they will get no legislation that will survive SCOTUS rulings. That's the right wing's next plan for holding onto power -- challenge progressive legislation and polices and have the extremist SCOTUS declare them all unconstitutional.
@jovesta She is scary. All the judges recommended by the Federalist Society are. They aren't just right wing, they want to re-interpret away half of 20th and 21st century jurisprudence. I hope like heck she doesn't make it on. If she does the dems will have to expand the court, otherwise they will get no legislation that will survive SCOTUS rulings. That's the right wing's next plan for holding onto power -- challenge progressive legislation and polices and have the extremist SCOTUS declare them all unconstitutional.
Some have had visions of Kavanaugh quickly exiting the SCOTUS. Is that still accurate? Has anyone recently been able to get a feeling on that?
I've read that other intuitives predicted Kavanaugh would get in but he wouldn't last. I've also read that some of them don't think Barrett will get on. I think ultimately it will work out because if SCOTUS starts to rule in ways that are completely at odds with the popular opinion there will be a pressure to expand the court.
On a brighter side, if Biden become president and stays in for two terms, either alone or with Harris becoming president if something happens to him, he could possibly replace Thomas and Alito, and who knows who else. That would limit extreme rulings to less than a decade. I think that's survivable, although not ideal.
The situation with the current nominee is still very unclear in my mind. However, I still think it won't matter if she gets in or not. Something tells me that while she is conservative, she is also has a more strict interpretation of the Constitution than her proponents expect. That's a double-edged sword, though, because while it could lead to her deciding against her supporters on some issues, she could also cause havoc with more progressive cases due to her stricter interpretation bias.
With regard to Kavanaugh, I'm not sure how long he'll last. I'm not seeing a "scandal" as such, but something from the past - from his original nomination hearings, maybe - may put pressure on him to resign. I have also seen speculation by a few pundits that both Alito and Thomas may leave the court within the next five years, and they are the most conservative members at this point.
I just returned from 3 days of R&R at a lovely mountain cabin, turned on the tube and saw this about the Barrett Supreme Court hearing:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/feinstein-graham-hug-photo-barrett-hearing.html
I'd say I was speechless, but I'd be lying. But what I'd have to say at the moment is probably not appropriate for posting.
Made me mad as hell. No only from a health and safety standpoint, but what was she thinking. Rethugs have thumbed their noses at the law, the Constitution, democracy and the people of this country, and she gives them fodder like this?
I have to say I was very disappointed in my senator Ms. Feinstein. I can't believe she thanked Graham for the "one of the best hearing I've participated in" She is such a disappointment. I voted against her last time around and will vote against her if she runs again.