Everything is on fire - the US politics thread

[Clovis]

McConnell Statement on the Passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg |...

“President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

[Factor]

Surely any replacement attempt will be blocked due to the upcoming election, like what happened when Obama tried to nominate a replacement in 2016?

[soy_macchiato_with_h]

Recognise Guardian has a slant but this article explains it well. They’ll smash ahead with someone horrendous to ‘get out the base’ or whatever the fuck. The nuttier the bloke they chose the better for Trump.

What does Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death mean for the supreme court?

Free tip for younger lads - that Notorious RBG doco was on repeat in my house during my dating years. Watched it with a looooooot of girls (until I got to the best one) and it was fish in a barrel.

[Higdawg]

Get a nutcase in, lose the election, trump supporting supreme Court overturns election result, Civil war.

[Paulska]

@Factor

Surely any replacement attempt will be blocked due to the upcoming election, like what happened when Obama tried to nominate a replacement in 2016?

As far as I understand, Supreme Court Justices are chosen by the President and ratified by the Senate. The Republicans controlled the Senate at the time so it was never going to happen.

The irony is all the Republicans and even a Justice are saying it should go through, despite the fact that 4 years ago, they were saying you should never select a replacement right before an election. The hypocrisy is just phenomenal… Another interesting bit of information, is that there is nothing from stopping a future President from bringing in two more Justices. There’s no numbers specified in the Constitution.

[MrRooney]

That is the “arrow in the quiver” that Pelosi was talking about… if trump forces a conservative onto the bench, and the democrats get the senate (not a certainty) they’ll push for two new supreme court judges to be appointed

[Clovis]

FDR tried that and it did not go well for him. Plus, if the DEMs win and create two new seats on the Supreme Court what is to stop the the GOP from creating four new seats when they get back in?

[mental]

Indeed, this is the bind the US is stuck in at the moment. The Republicans have shown they are happy to trash tradition to keep power, the Dems might have to do the same to compete but if they do the same then what are they even competing for?

[DrunkFly]

I don’t see that they have much choice. As it stands the US is basically a failed state. If the Dems start playing “dirty” there’s a very small chance of salvaging something. If they don’t, it’s goodbye forever to reproductive rights, any semblance of racial equality, any public spending whatsoever, a gun policy even remotely connected to reality, controls on carbon emissions…

[RoryBunk]

It’s gotta split up doesn’t it? Is there much of a secession movement in states such as California? Getting shafted by the vagaries of the electoral college all the time can’t be sustainable.

[DrunkFly]

California would obviously be a viable nation on its own, as would the collective northeast, but the rest of the country isn’t likely to be thrilled about the actually productive parts of the country leaving. The history of secession attempts in North America isn’t exactly pretty.

One way or another I suspect there’s a huge amount of violence in the US’s future.

[Higdawg]

I’d America is fighting America, does America still win all wars?

[hillbilly]

I reckon I’d give America a fair chance against America

After All, we’re not talking about the Viet Cong, NVA, Taliban or ISIS here.

[Clovis]

How Trump’s Supreme Court Maneuver Could Dangerously Increase the Powers of...

In a 2019 dissenting opinion, Barrett wrote that the government should be able to strip a Wisconsin man who pleaded guilty to mail fraud for a Medicare scheme, a felony, of his right to vote but not his right to own a gun. During her three years on the federal bench, Barrett has also ruled that job applicants cannot sue employers whose policies have a disproportionately negative impact on older workers and that judges should not stop the deportation of immigrants who say they face torture at home.

Lagoa’s rulings as a federal appeals-court judge, in Florida, have also cheered conservatives. This month, Lagoa joined a majority federal appeals-court decision that upheld a law, enacted by Republicans in the state legislature, which bars people convicted of felonies from voting unless they have paid all fines, restitution, and fees imposed at their sentencing. That requirement limited the impact of a 2018 statewide referendum that restored voting rights to that population, who, under the state constitution, had been banned from casting ballots for life. The new law is expected to prevent as many as eighty-five thousand people who had registered to vote from casting ballots this November. As my colleague Dexter Filkins recently wrote, Lagoa and a second judge on the court had both been appointed by Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, to the State Supreme Court. While serving on that court, they had participated in oral arguments that resulted in an advisory decision supporting DeSantis. By legal custom, they should have recused themselves from the federal appeals-court ruling. They declined to do so.

[toffe]

In a surprise to probably no one, the cops that murdered Breonna Taylor in her sleep walk free. One indicted for recklessly shooting into a neighbour’s house but no charges for the murder. Some justice system they’ve got there.

[Jabbatron]

The family and friends of the wall must feel so vindicated

[MrRooney]

And now their is uprising on the streets, demanding justice while Trump says he doesn’t know if he’ll relinquish power.

[RoryBunk]

Kero being metaphorically poured everywhere - NRA tweeting about “freedom seeds” at news that ammo sales are significantly up. Clearly all the “freedom lovers” are keen to gag on some of that there authoritarian cock.

Shit’s going down in a big way and we are stuck between these useless cunts as the supposed “light on the hill” to contrast against the likes of Russia and China.

Good Dan Carlin “Common Sense” ep out this week where he took the unprecedented step of endorsing Biden.

[Hybrid]

The only thing for certain is that there is no bottom between now and at least 20 January. Strap in.

[Jabbatron]

Would that be inauguration?

Something I think about increasingly is how far away we (Australia) are from something similar? If at all?