Avoiding the appearance of partisanship or impropriety.

What could have been, dammit.

against Kavanaugh based on any alleged resentment over Kavanaugh getting the Supreme Court appointment that rightfully should have been Garland's.

All qualities that belong in justices of the SC. If Kavenaugh had any decency, he would have stepped aside as soon as the first accusations came up. He is a typical gop member. Imagine for a moment if President Obama had put forward a man of his negative qualities as a nominee for the SC? The gop decided Garland was way too DECENT for the SC, so they are backing slimeball Kavenaugh, since he represents their own "qualities"

to be, at least, considered.

I've thought just this. I've also applied the same to the 2016 GE, had the winner been a man or woman of good character.

I believe with every fiber in me that if the tables were turned and Hillary had won because of cheating the way the WH squatter did - Comey, the Russians, stolen emails, purged voter rolls - all if it, any of it, she would have made a statement about the disappointment of possibly winning unfairly and would have called for an investigation.

She is probably the most honest and ethical politician of my lifetime.

Any decent, fair minded, incoming President that was NOT COLLUDING but had heard from the FBI and others that Russia may have influenced the election should have been on the war path (metaphorically) And even if it was revealed that it was yourself they helped, that should not matter. At the very least PRETEND to give a crap about it.

But from day one it was a childish "no they didn't help me.....they helped her!!!" or "witch hunt!" etc... All that does is inflame his base. And it helps that he has a whole TV network to repeat his childish rants.

they would have recused themselves in Bush vs. Gore, and we would have gotten Al Gore as president.

too few.

Garland - Fair and Proper
Kava - Partisan hack

He should but he won't.

We were in strong need of such a principled stance, after this past week.

Had Garland ruled the complaint had merit, everyone would have questioned his motives- a no brainer.Let another judge handle it.

But BK will face similar issues upon ascending to the SCOTUS.
Half the country will scoff at most of his decisions as products of his bias.

He will have a job for life!!

right thing to do but I want to smash some shit up.

Barfing Brett doesn’t have the respect for the courts Judge Garland has. Creepy Kavanaugh has aleready warned more than half the country the “What goes around comes around.” So the only thing to expect from his lifetime appointment is endless revenge for the bench.

That make us PROUD Democrats

God I miss President Obama

in any similar situation. What reason have we to doubt what moderate Senator Collins assures us to be true?

Trump and his sycophants taint everything. BUT nobody can remain so dumb for so long. Although not a native, I lived in southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky for many years and have stayed in touch with many friends. These are, of course, mainly business and professional people, but have a strong involvement in the health of the community. The coal mines (and I'm an ex wife of a mining engineer/manager). are finished. Hillary had the right idea for reviving this area, but presented it in astoundingly stupid way. (check her website? SURE.)

How she sees the Judicial Code of Conduct will be telling.

If she rules against the plaintiffs, they will likely have no further legal recourse.

Judges are required to recuse themselves. Judge Garland had a conflict of interest, namely that he should have been Justice Garland.

It is becoming more and more clear to me that doing the noble and honors thing doesn’t get you anywhere. The only way to win, anymore, is to be as ruthless as possible. And if it means fighting dirty and cheating, then those are the new rules in this dark and dismal new era.

The ONLY way fighting fair works is IF BOTH SIDES ARE WILLING TO DO IT THAT WAY.

And we clearly see that our opponents refuse to make such an agreement (and then, of course, follow through on that agreement). They know and understand that if they can cheat, then they’ll win. Every time.

That old cliche is proven: nice guys finish last.

This is war. The GOP has politicized the federal judiciary and we need to fight back

avoid getting too much Kavanaugh/Trump/GOP crap on his hands.

...this was the right thing to do, but if I'd filed the ethics complaint, I'd be upset.

Merrick Garland is on the Court of Appeals because he is highly qualified (over qualified probably). I trust him enough to make the right decision and to be fair in his decision making.

This high road stuff seems to based on privilege.

The seat that was stolen from him was Gorsuch's, not this one.

If there was an issue with Gorsuch's seat, I could see a reason to recuse.

Or does he plan to recuse himself from all future investigations on SCOTUS justices?