We Are Screwed

Yeah, I’ve seen a couple of places a stat that shows that someone in Wyoming has approximately 4x the voting clout that I do in California.

It is a dark time, but I still have a glimmer of hope. The Rams could force a fumble, and return it for a TD, recover the onside kick, and still have time to run 3 plays. It’s possible.

Susan Collins flatly stated she would not support a judge who would overturn RvsW. She said she was opposed to “activist” judges, and that they would look at the written judgments, and she would not support a judge who “went out of bounds” to push new interpretations and laws.

I think she’s a No on Kavanaugh.

The problem is going to be Dem senators in Trump states. I know Tester is one. McGaskill. The lovely and talented Joe Manchin. Maybe one or two others. But then…maybe some of the retiring Rep senators can do something for the country on the way out. It’s not much…but it’s all the hope I can sweep up.

I just cannot believe how insanely bad Trump is. I haven’t read the news yet, but I see he is bombing NATO right now, according to the headlines. Seriously, you literally could NOT draw up a fictional president who could realistically do more damage to the US’ relationship with its allies than what Trump is doing. How can there be any doubt that he is controlled by Putin at this point?

Speaking of rule from the minority:

We’re living in an age of minority rule

This factoid is pretty striking:

Why do I say that a vote in Kavanaugh’s favor is an example of minority rule? Because the body that will confirm him is built in its current formation to almost guarantee Republican control, despite the fact that most American voters selected Democrats to represent them there.

Using Dave Leip’s invaluable election atlas, I added up all the votes cast for Democrats and Republicans in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 Senate elections, which put the current Senate in place. I didn’t bother with the few special elections since 2012, which in total wouldn’t change the results much, but I did include Bernie Sanders’s and Angus King’s last elections, since they are nominally independent but caucus with the Democrats. Here are the results:

Republican votes: 102.3 million

Democratic votes: 117.4 million

In the elections that determined the current Senate, there were 15 million more votes cast for Democrats than for Republicans. Yet Republicans maintain control and therefore get to confirm President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

Zooey wrote:

Susan Collins flatly stated she would not support a judge who would overturn RvsW. She said she was opposed to “activist” judges, and that they would look at the written judgments, and she would not support a judge who “went out of bounds” to push new interpretations and laws.

I think she’s a No on Kavanaugh.

We lefties in Maine see Collins as a problem who often says “the right things” to keep her job in a blue state, but, is never ever to be fully trusted. So we’ll see on Collins. Hope you’re right.

My wife and I have begun thinking about other places to live – places more in line with our political ideals. Not seriously discussing it yet, but I can see those discussions happening soon.

Just letting you know in case you see the moniker ‘Scandinavia Ram’ around here in the near future.

“…After 12 years of conservative decisions on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Kavanaugh has left little doubt as to how his rulings from the high court will fall. Of course he will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade if given the opportunity. Of course he will vote to limit gun control laws, because he already has. Of course he will vote in favor of polluters and against net neutrality. Of course he will be a great ally in the GOP’s ongoing war against the right to vote, having written his former court’s majority opinion upholding South Carolina’s scrofulous voter ID law.

Kavanaugh is far more conservative than Justice Kennedy ever was, and will be as reliably right-wing as Justices Gorsuch and Thomas. Add Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts to the dogpile, and you have a historically hot mess that will still be burning when my grandchildren are dodging automatic weapons fire before homeroom, because America.

Senate Democrats can try to string out the nomination fight until after the midterm elections, but that strategy depends entirely on retaking the Senate majority. Barring that, they can try to hold their caucus together and convince GOP Senators Collins and Murkowski to also vote “No,” but that is perilous on a pair of fronts: The two Joes — Manchin and Donnelly — along with Heidi Heitkamp are running for their lives in red states (Heitkamp already voted for Gorsuch), and as the tax cut bill vividly showed us, the senators from Maine and Alaska can also be bought if the price is right.

It will be close, but not really. Brett Kavanaugh will soon be an associate justice of the US Supreme Court…”

Trump Card: Brett Kavanaugh and the “Unitary Executive” Theory

zn wrote:

Zooey wrote:

Susan Collins flatly stated she would not support a judge who would overturn RvsW. She said she was opposed to “activist” judges, and that they would look at the written judgments, and she would not support a judge who “went out of bounds” to push new interpretations and laws.

I think she’s a No on Kavanaugh.

We lefties in Maine see Collins as a problem who often says “the right things” to keep her job in a blue state, but, is never ever to be fully trusted. So we’ll see on Collins. Hope you’re right.

Speaking as a Mainer, Susan Collins kept her real self fairly hidden for a while.

Not anymore.