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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGood read: "With Kavanaugh the GOP May Be Killing Itself Off. Make Sure We Help"
Posted for your consideration.
http://pleasecutthecrap.com/with-kavanaugh-the-gop-may-be-killing-itself-off-make-sure-we-help/
VOTE, DAMMIT!
mantis49
(815 posts)So we know if we even want to click on it.
calimary
(81,466 posts)First three paragraphs.
The first question everyone should have regarding Brett Kavanaugh is, why is the entire Republican Party risking their viability as a major party on this lying asshole. Of course, Kavanaugh is a judicial clone of Lord Donny; rich, entitled and a psychopath who thinks everyone should believe everything he says because hes Brett Fucking Kavanaugh, bitch.
In other words, there seems to be no real reason the Republican Party would put all their eggs in the Kavanaugh basket. Lets real here; the Federalist Society could easily find dozens of qualified judges with ideologically reprehensible records who have not been credibly charged with attempted rape and who arent blackout alcoholics. Hell; as disgusted as we were with Gorsuch and the circumstances surrounding his nomination, he went to the same prep school as Kavanaugh and no accusations of sexual assault or even lying were made. Kavanaugh, on the other hand, has done nothing but lie and, as part of the process of getting the job of Supreme Court Justice, he has personally insulted most of the people charged with making the decision. Imagine youre in a job interview and you call the HR person conducting the interview an idiot and tell them they are conspiring to keep you out of the job because of some paranoid conspiracy you came up with in your own little mind. What is the likelihood youll get that job, do you think?
Now, imagine that your former employer is putting all of their support behind you getting this new job. They support everything you say to the HR person at your new company, and they back up your conspiracy theory wholeheartedly. What do you think will happen to that companys reputation?
http://pleasecutthecrap.com/with-kavanaugh-the-gop-may-be-killing-itself-off-make-sure-we-help/
mantis49
(815 posts)Interesting article.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)tblue37
(65,487 posts)Aren't there also women candidates? (Like Amy Coney Barrett, for example. She is on the list of otherwise qualified extreme right wingers who would satisfy the GOP.)
Considering the whole context of this SCOTUS controversy and its spotlight on the way the patriarchy stifles and abuses women, one would think such an utterance wouldn't show up in an article on a progressive website.
Takket
(21,625 posts)they are likely losing the house, and even if this costs them the senate... for now... i don't think they care. A GOP scotus for the next 40 years is worth it. if they control the courts they can reinstate gerrymander nationwide, gut voting rights and civil rights, overturn Roe, ensure citizens united remains the law of the land..............
in short they set themselves up to remain in power down the road even if it means a firestorm now. He is just TOO VALUABLE to them to pass up no matter what he has done. and if a few GOP Senators sacrifice their careers to push him through? Meh. i don't think they care. they will go home to their mansions still filthy rich, and ensuring that the law will protect them and their greed and racism for the rest of their lives.
roamer65
(36,747 posts)The killing one will be 2020.
In 2021 with a Dem president and supermajorities in Congress we kill the filibuster and stack the SCOTUS.
We also impeach Thomas and Kavanaugh.
Garrett78
(10,721 posts)Those who think confirming Kavanaugh will ruin the Republican Party are, in my estimation, being far too optimistic. Memories and attention spans are short. A massive number of American adults don't vote. A large number of those who do vote, for either Republicans or Democrats, don't pay very close attention to politics.
If Kavanaugh is confirmed, I will be beside myself with anger. There will not be a silver lining. There will only be a grave injustice, and a horrific message sent to all survivors of sexual assault. That does not mean we give up. Perhaps criminal charges will be brought against Kavanaugh. Perhaps Democrats will manage to increase the number of SCOTUS justices, as some have suggested. But confirmation of Kavanaugh would be a tragedy of epic proportion.
But back to my main point...I will once again reference the following article: https://www.vox.com/2018/5/1/17258866/democratic-party-republicans-trump-election
...no policy platform is going to win three or four consecutive national elections for Democrats because we know policy isnt what decides elections; thats not how most voters make decisions.
So there are no policy changes that are going to reverse the overall trajectory that this society is on right now. We have to address some of the structural barriers to progressive power in this country, and we need to take those things as seriously as we do the policy fights within the party.
Sean Illing
I definitely want to get into some of these structural barriers, but lets be clear about this point youre making. A lot of people still think theres some meaningful connection between policy outcomes and voter decisions, but theres a good bit of political science research to suggest thats just a fantasy.
David Faris
Right. People just dont seem to make the connection between policies and the party in power.
So, for example, the Democrats passed Obamacare and gave millions of people heath care, and yet tons of people who benefited from it have no idea what it is or how they benefited. And its like that with a lot of policies voters simply dont connect the dots, and so they reward or punish the wrong party.
I think the idea that were going to deliver these benefits to people and theyre going to be like, Thank you Jesus, thank you for everything that youve done, let me return you with a larger majority next time, is just nonsense. Its the wrong way to think about politics.
That doesnt mean we shouldnt do things for people, but weve got to be serious about how elections are won. And theyre not being won on the basis of policy proposals or policy wins.
Sean Illing
In the book, you say that Democrats are engaged in policy fights and Republicans are waging a procedural war. What does that mean?
David Faris
The Constitution is a shockingly short document, and it turns out that its extremely vague on some key procedures that we rely on to help government function at a basic level. For the government to work, cooperation between parties is needed. But when that cooperation is withdrawn, it creates chaos.
Since the 90s, when Newt Gingrich took over Congress, weve seen a one-sided escalation in which Republicans exploit the vagueness or lack of clarity in the Constitution in order to press their advantage in a variety of arenas from voter ID laws to gerrymandering to behavioral norms in the Congress and Senate.
Sean Illing
What the Republicans did to Merrick Garland was one of the most egregious examples Ive ever seen.
David Faris
Right. They essentially stole a seat on the Supreme Court a swing seat, no less. But they correctly argued that they had no clear constitutional obligation to consider the presidents nominee for the seat. They didnt violate the Constitution. They violated the spirit of the Constitution. They violated the norms that have allowed these institutions to function normally for years and years.
This is the sort of maneuvering and procedural warfare Im talking about, and the Republicans have been escalating it for two decades. And theyve managed to entrench their power through these dubious procedures.
The result is that the structural environment is biased against Democrats and the Republicans have engineered it that way.