As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

[SCOTUS] thread we dreaded updates for because RIP RBG

11718202223102

Posts

  • SpoitSpoit *twitch twitch* Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    SCOTUS still has legitimacy with the vast majority of the population. There's an argument to be made that a couple of the 5-4 decisions to come out have been the direct result of Roberts trying to preserve that legitimacy.

    I think the idea that Roberts has been letting some small fish go to preserve legitimacy for bigger fights is the correct one.

    Even with that, I'd take a more radical position and say that the court lost legitimacy well before 2016. At the absolute latest, 2000 should have dispelled any notion that it wasn't for of right wing judicial activists

    steam_sig.png
  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    Kavanaugh could be proven to be Jon Benet Ramsay's killer and the Republicans wouldn't vote to remove him. They made the deal with the devil to get the court, they're not going back now.

    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
  • MillMill Registered User regular
    Looking at stuff that is moving, I suspect Kavanaugh becomes a massive liability for the GOP. He's likely to be a name that gets trotted out when someone wants to make a point that the GOP has not business having power. It's pretty clear that the GOP made damn sure he wasn't investigated because they didn't want to hurt Trumpy boy's feelings and were more concerned with getting their guy into that seat. it's a bit too easy to get caught up on the idea that thing won't change. Not to long ago, people were afraid to come out about not being straight. Before that, inter-racial marriage was illegal in places. I could go on and on how things changed. Looking at the demographics, younger people are much less friendly to the idea of tolerating rape culture. Also we're seeing more and more women enter spaces that the like's of Kavanaugh tried to keep them out of. I even posted in the economics thread an article talking about how the death of coal was changing the face of the workforce in coal bastions and that was resulting in women having to work and someone of them rather liking their new found independence and be less tolerant of privileged male bullshit. I mean by 2030, we'll have millennials in their late 40's, Gen Z in their 30's and even if the generation after them is less liberal, I highly doubt they'll be any more tolerant of the idea that some wealthy male asshole is entitled to sexually assaulting people.

    As idiotic as the modern GOP is, they still want to win elections and when Kavanaugh starts to become a liability that costs them elections, they might line up to throw him under the bus. Kavanaugh days on the court are much shorter than people realize. Gorsuch is in a stolen seat, but that isn't going to get the public's ire the way Kavanaugh's rapist antics will. Though since Kavanaugh is a wealthy shit lord of privilege, I suspect he'll resign well before he really has to worry about a possible impeachment, probably claim he needs to spend more time with his family or whine about how people don't appreciate him enough on the court. It let's him avoid consequences and claim he left on his terms.

  • davidsdurionsdavidsdurions Your Trusty Meatshield Panhandle NebraskaRegistered User regular
    Kavanaugh is not going to just roll over and resign from the highest court. He is insulated from all repercussions now. Republicans would have to want him removed enough to actually vote for impeachment and that would require at the very minimum a collective acceptance that they made a mistake in confirming him in the first place.

    That is a version of reality that I find difficult to believe occurs in our present timeline.

  • monikermoniker Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    SCOTUS still has legitimacy with the vast majority of the population. There's an argument to be made that a couple of the 5-4 decisions to come out have been the direct result of Roberts trying to preserve that legitimacy.

    It retains it's legitimacy, but has lost whatever remained of the veneer of impartial nonpartisanship when McConnell packed the Court. Which, Bush v Gore stripped off a lot of it to begin with, but even my centrist 'not wanting to get involved with politics' parents don't think it's impartial anymore.

  • tbloxhamtbloxham Registered User regular
    Kavanaugh is not going to just roll over and resign from the highest court. He is insulated from all repercussions now. Republicans would have to want him removed enough to actually vote for impeachment and that would require at the very minimum a collective acceptance that they made a mistake in confirming him in the first place.

    That is a version of reality that I find difficult to believe occurs in our present timeline.

    He can be rendered pointless at any point by adding two new justices to the court. One of whom votes their understanding of the law. The other of whom votes against whatever Kavanaugh wants, and whose opinion is always, "in my legal judgment, rapists dont get to have a final opinion on what the law means"

    As soon as the public is willing to accept that, we can legally do that with no problem. And of course, this highlights the entire problem OF the court, that there is no way other than the absurd to remove this rapist from power no matter how much public opinion turns against him.

    However. My actually conceit is that noone cares about the supreme court enough to understand what appointing judges means. So just say that you get to appoint some.

    "That is cool" - Abraham Lincoln
  • tbloxhamtbloxham Registered User regular
    And to be clear, I dont think the penis exposing allegations are enough alone to cause him to need to ban himself from.public life. But, those combined with the many other accusations create a pattern of behaviour which make it almost impossible to believe that he is a one time rapist.

    They are enough alone to make me think that he probably shouldn't be on the supreme court without a letter from those women saying, "it's fine, we were all stupid kids", but they create a pattern of behaviour which is proven which cant be denied.

    On the Gorsuch front, he can still be on the court. As soon as he quits and gets nominated again by a democratic president. Kavanuagh is a disgrace. Gorsuch is a better justice, but he shows that there is no point playing fair here. The republicans already stole the damned court. Like, they already completely and utterly cheated, to the exact same level of disregard as is required to nominate anti kavanaugh to the court alongside Michelle Obama.

    "That is cool" - Abraham Lincoln
  • FoefallerFoefaller Registered User regular
    edited September 2019
    Paladin wrote: »
    tbloxham wrote: »
    Hey now, dont forget that Gorsuch is also sitting in a stolen seat. Both he and Kavanuagh should be in jail, not on the bench. They have made the court nothing more than a joke. Pack the court.

    The Supreme Court's power lies entirely in its legitimacy. Packing the court will be meaningless if the court loses that, at which point we'll only have two branches of government.

    Shenanigans for packing the Supreme Court is almost as old as the Supreme Court.

    John Adams nominated his Secretary of State (who continued to serve as SecState) as the Chief Justice during his lame duck, and with the Midnight Judges act the Ferdalists tried to reduce the number of Justices so that Jefferson wouldn't be able to pick his own the next time one retired or died (though Jefferson was able to get that repealed before one did.)

    Also. SCOTUS had 8 justices at the time as their limit, and would go as high as 10 until they settled at 9 today, so at least one President got to appoint one or more SCOTUS justices in to a seat that did not exist until then.

    Said chief justice, btw, was John Marshall, of Mabury v. Madison fame, and was about as influential on how the Supreme Court functions as Washington and Jefferson were for the Presidency. So obviously the facts around his nomination did little to impact the court's legitimacy. (Though one could argue it had a lot to due with how Mabury was ruled.)

    In any case, I figure any court packing scenario (or even if there wasn't one) would be followed by a proposed amendment to set up a new nomination process for federal appeals court and Supreme Court justices to be as nonpartisan as possible. Set it right and then show you want to make sure noone else can break it again. When the GoP tries to fight it hold it up as proof they don't see the judiciary as a separate-but-equal institution by as a subordinate tool for enacting their political will.

    Foefaller on
    steam_sig.png
  • AngelHedgieAngelHedgie Registered User regular
    Ben Shapiro has a galaxy brain take - Kavanaugh's accusers are lying because they can't describe his wang:
    But his bizarre new hangup on this latest development in the assault accusations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is that none of the people who have come forward have spent time describing what Kavanaugh’s genitals look like.

    In a Daily Wire video shared on Twitter today by Media Matters’ Jason Campbell, Shapiro argued that because none of Kavanaugh’s accusers have described how Kavanaugh’s genitalia looks, their accusations of assault may not be legitimate.

    “We’ve had a bevy of public figures in recent years, who have had their genitalia described on national television by people who alleged sexual assault. Right, Stormy Daniels famously described President Trump’s genitalia, Bill Clinton’s genitalia, details of such were talked about,” Shapiro said. “Nobody has yet described Kavanaugh’s genitalia—now that’s not dispositive, maybe they were generic, who knows.”

    Yes, because believing survivors solely rests on their ability to describe the genitals of the person who allegedly committed the assault.

    XBL: Nox Aeternum / PSN: NoxAeternum / NN:NoxAeternum / Steam: noxaeternum
  • AridholAridhol Daddliest Catch Registered User regular
    That is supremely gross. Also, I can't even describe mine and I own them so why would you expect someone who experience trauma because of said genitals to describe them accurately?
    It's just a shitty way of saying "I don't believe you, prove it!"

    Shapiro is a supergoose.

  • discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    Alternatively, Shapiro has just deduced that Kavanaugh has the world's blandest wang.

  • No-QuarterNo-Quarter Nothing To Fear But Fear ItselfRegistered User regular
    Who cares what Shapiro thinks.

  • AridholAridhol Daddliest Catch Registered User regular
    No-Quarter wrote: »
    Who cares what Shapiro thinks.

    I agree but lots of people do unfortunately.

  • ForarForar #432 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    Why does anyone give a shit what Ben Shapiro thinks?

    Unless this is some kind of 'we must know our opponents in order to best them and their rhetoric' kind of thing, I think it's a fairly safe bet that Shapiro's arguments will boil down to 'whatever the goosiest take is possible, then get 20% goosier just 'cause that's who he is', which kind of becomes a 'water is wet' level assessment.

    First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
  • MorganVMorganV Registered User regular
    Aridhol wrote: »
    That is supremely gross. Also, I can't even describe mine and I own them so why would you expect someone who experience trauma because of said genitals to describe them accurately?
    It's just a shitty way of saying "I don't believe you, prove it!"

    Shapiro is a supergoose.

    Just like Trump is a stupid man's idea of a smart person, a poor man's idea of a rich man, and a weak man's idea of a strong man, Ben Shapiro is a conservative's idea of an intellectual.

    It's all surface, and even the barest of investigation shows it to be complete garbage.

    Some More News (sort of like a budget Last Week Tonight) did a show on Ben a while back. Normally a show runs ~25 minutes, +/-5, but the Shapiro clip weighed in at 70.
    https://youtu.be/aDMjgOYOcDw

  • AstaerethAstaereth In the belly of the beastRegistered User regular
    tbloxham wrote: »
    And to be clear, I dont think the penis exposing allegations are enough alone to cause him to need to ban himself from.public life. But, those combined with the many other accusations create a pattern of behaviour which make it almost impossible to believe that he is a one time rapist.

    They are enough alone to make me think that he probably shouldn't be on the supreme court without a letter from those women saying, "it's fine, we were all stupid kids", but they create a pattern of behaviour which is proven which cant be denied.

    On the Gorsuch front, he can still be on the court. As soon as he quits and gets nominated again by a democratic president. Kavanuagh is a disgrace. Gorsuch is a better justice, but he shows that there is no point playing fair here. The republicans already stole the damned court. Like, they already completely and utterly cheated, to the exact same level of disregard as is required to nominate anti kavanaugh to the court alongside Michelle Obama.

    A letter from Kavanaugh’s victims saying “We forgive you for assaulting us” wouldn’t change anything; lying about the allegations is equally disqualifying and he can’t undo that either.

    ACsTqqK.jpg
  • KruiteKruite Registered User regular
    His behavior during the hearings alone was enough to disqualify him. Never mind that he tried to rape a woman.

  • chrisnlchrisnl Registered User regular
    Kruite wrote: »
    His behavior during the hearings alone was enough to disqualify him. Never mind that he tried to rape a woman.

    Yeah like the least bad thing he did during the confirmation process should be enough to disqualify him, plus you know the dozens of other terrible things he did leading up to the hearings. There are so many reasons he should not be a Supreme Court Justice, ranging from the mundane (lying under oath) to the profane (attempted rape at the minimum).

    steam_sig.png
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    And also his questionable finances, which he did not adequately explain and probably lied under oath about, too!

  • AbsalonAbsalon Lands of Always WinterRegistered User regular
    edited September 2019
    All this kvetching from Republicans about the plausibility of the allegations are irrelevant since these people would happily disbelieve and discredit their own daughters if they went public about Kavanaugh trying to rape them. Even if said Republicans had been in the room and seen Kavanaugh make that attempt.

    Absalon on
  • Styrofoam SammichStyrofoam Sammich WANT. normal (not weird)Registered User regular
    Per Politco writer



    Dont hold your breath for impeachment

    wq09t4opzrlc.jpg
  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    I mean right now? Yup, it just isn't going to happen.

    Depending on how November 2020 goes though maybe. I invite folks to go back and try and remember 2008 and just how reeling the GOP were initially. It is not impossible that something happens then. By rushing the confirmation and ignoring these allegations they've provided excellent answers to why it isn't just politically motivated.

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • Styrofoam SammichStyrofoam Sammich WANT. normal (not weird)Registered User regular
    Nothing in life is certain except death, taxes and that they wont be impeaching Kavanaugh after the election

    wq09t4opzrlc.jpg
  • jdarksunjdarksun Struggler VARegistered User regular
    I'm not going to hold my breath, but I am going to demand it of every Congress critter whose district I inhabit.

  • monikermoniker Registered User regular
    Similar allegations couldn't get 51 Senators' support. Nothing has meaningfully changed to cause 67 Senators to suddenly support it.

  • tbloxhamtbloxham Registered User regular
    Then as soon as we retake the presidency every senator who isn't willing to impeach kavanaugh and Gorsuch or pack the court can get the hell out of the party.

    The court is a partisan institution which will never approve needed legislation. If we had the house and presidency, the Senate contributes nothing without the court.

    "That is cool" - Abraham Lincoln
  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User regular
    tbloxham wrote: »
    Then as soon as we retake the presidency every senator who isn't willing to impeach kavanaugh and Gorsuch or pack the court can get the hell out of the party.

    The court is a partisan institution which will never approve needed legislation. If we had the house and presidency, the Senate contributes nothing without the court.

    None of the "liberals" on the Court would agree with this take.

  • tbloxhamtbloxham Registered User regular
    spool32 wrote: »
    tbloxham wrote: »
    Then as soon as we retake the presidency every senator who isn't willing to impeach kavanaugh and Gorsuch or pack the court can get the hell out of the party.

    The court is a partisan institution which will never approve needed legislation. If we had the house and presidency, the Senate contributes nothing without the court.

    None of the "liberals" on the Court would agree with this take.

    And many republicans would tell you they represent the true voice of the much maligned silent majority in this country. Believing something doesn't make it true.

    "That is cool" - Abraham Lincoln
  • MillMill Registered User regular
    Honestly, I'm surprised these idiots put Kavanaugh on the bench. Goes to show how fucking stupid and craven they were. They could have easily found someone that wasn't a rapist, that would have a very similar and shitty record as Kavanaugh. There was an outside chance the dems could have taken the Senate in 2018, but the odds were very good and that would have been a better risk to take than sticking with Kavanaugh. Trump would have thrown his hissy fit, but they wouldn't be heading into the mess they are heading into now. Where as long as Kavanaugh is on the bench, anyone can easily argue that the republicans are the rapist enabling party. That fucks the party with anyone that isn't willing to tolerate that shit and a that includes the big demographic that is women.

    Given how dumb they are, it's possible they assumed they could some how play games to make Kavanaugh's confirmation seem legitimate enough with enough people to not have it bite them in the asses. AKA they assumed it would be just like the bullshit with Gorsuch, where there was enough tuff that they could convince enough people that they didn't steal the seat. If so, it speaks volumes of just have fucking shitty the GOP is, as in a ton of them are shitty wealthy men that feel they are entitled to women. Going forward, Kavanaugh is going to come across as less and less legitimate and there are no number of games the GOP can play to sell people on the idea that it's fine for SCOTUS to have a rapist on the bench.

  • tbloxhamtbloxham Registered User regular
    Hell, since kavanaugh is certainly a repeated sexual harasser, and almost certainly a rapist he will almost certainly reoffend. So perhaps the question of this past transgressions will become moot in the eyes on new ones.

    "That is cool" - Abraham Lincoln
  • TryCatcherTryCatcher Registered User regular
    edited September 2019
    Nah, is about winning, no matter the price. A lot of culture war defeats of the right have come from SCOTUS, so the plan is to put any warm body, since "the Dems will hate any guy we put anyways". Also, there's the highly likely possibility of a fresh from reelection Trump getting to also name RBG's replacement.

    Also, any take of "they will repent of their sins" is dumb. Trump is all about pushing as much as he can get away with, and the answer so far is "a lot".

    TryCatcher on
  • MillMill Registered User regular
    Thing is Trump's shit is driving people out of the power. Ensuring that the rapist doesn't get removed from the bench or made irrelevant by new additions to the court, will require that the GOP is still able to win enough elections to be relevant to those decisions. Kavanaugh posses a real risk for the GOP because he isn't going to become less of an issue, nor is it exactly something people can brush aside. The fucker Gorsuch is going to get to keep his seat because at the end of the day, there isn't going to be enough interest to kick him out; especially, with a sizable chunk of the public buying into the idea that the seat was stolen for him. Kavanaugh is rapist on the highest court, that won't cease to be an issue until he is off of it. That's an issue that's going to drive a wedge between republicans and many women. It's an issue that will drive a wedge between the GOP and anyone that is sick of the double standard that wealthy white men to have. It'll be a wedge between the GOP and anyone that cares about not rewarding rapists.

    Also worth noting that the shit lord retiring or resigning isn't always "they learned to repent." Often the resigning and retiring is just a petty power play by them because they know they'll either be booted or their presence is having an undesired effect on their goals. They don't leave because they found shame, they leave so they either avoid consequences or as a result of not achieving what they want.
    tbloxham wrote: »
    Hell, since kavanaugh is certainly a repeated sexual harasser, and almost certainly a rapist he will almost certainly reoffend. So perhaps the question of this past transgressions will become moot in the eyes on new ones.

    This is also something that has been on my mind. It's probably a matter of time before we find out that this piece shit is still unable to keep his hands to himself and that he still feels that he is entitled something, when he is told no. This is the other thing that absolutely floors me about the GOP's move here. That's a ticking time bomb, that will make them wish they had a fucking spine to tell Trump no and enough sell control, to get the shit lord that won't leave them with a massive scandal that tanks them in an election cycle. It's worth pointing out that that the GOP had three pro-rape candidates on the ballot in 2012 and none of those shit birds got elected. The wealthy men of the GOP may not understand limits, but there does seem to be a line that their voters won't tolerate.

  • MorganVMorganV Registered User regular
    IIRC, the reason for Kavanaugh was the time crunch.

    Trump nominates Kavanaugh.
    Senate Republicans have doubts.
    Trump doubled down.
    Senate Republicans had to weigh up a conservative judge vs pissing off Trump.
    The Blasey Ford allegations came out.
    No time to reject, and get a new judge confirmed, before the Senate might flip.

    As @Mill said a couple posts ago, it shows how stupid and craven they were. They weren't willing to stand up to Trump to even save themselves in general elections. They're ride or die with Trump, because they're afraid Trump will sink them personally, if they step out of line. And you KNOW Trump will go batshit on the first one to try. It's clear that 2020 is going to be a problem for Republicans, but noone wants to tackle the issue that the biggest hindrance to their own campaigns, is the guy at the top of the ticket.

    Fucking cowards, the lot of them. Would rather bootlick or resign, rather than fight for principle (even if I find that principle abhorrent).

  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    The accusations made them more likely to confirm Kavanaugh because they want us to feel like shit.

    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
  • discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited September 2019
    Remember that Trump nominated Kavanaugh because Kavanaugh wrote opinions that Presidents can't be charged with crimes.
    It's possible that the GOP couldn't find anyone else willing to go to the same extreme, and Trump wouldn't accept anyone who wouldn't defend him in that manner.

    When you want a crooked judge, perhaps you can't help but find a crooked judge.

    discrider on
  • MorganVMorganV Registered User regular
    edited September 2019
    discrider wrote: »
    Remember that Trump nominated Kavanaugh because Kavanaugh wrote opinions that Presidents can't be charged with crimes.
    It's possible that the GOP couldn't find anyone else willing to go to the same extreme, and Trump wouldn't accept anyone who wouldn't defend him in that manner.

    When you want a crooked judge, perhaps you can't help but find a crooked judge.

    Yeah, I couldn't remember why Trump doubled down on Kavanaugh, but that was the reason.

    Because for Trump, his own personal interest supersedes all. Throwing the entire Republican party under the bus, just to save his own ass? Absolutely "on brand".

    MorganV on
  • Fleur de AlysFleur de Alys Biohacker Registered User regular
    Today's the big day for LGBTQ+ / QUILTBAG+ cases beginning in the SCOTUS. Affected people can expect extra hate going around, so check in on anyone in your life that may be having a particularly hard time today.

    Apparently the court was evacuated today because of a pair of suspicious packages. So things are starting out great.

    https://www.advocate.com/news/2019/10/08/breaking-supreme-court-evacuated

    Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/10/10/20906610/supreme-court-transgender-discrimination
    The very first succession of questions, from Chief Justice John Roberts, was about bathrooms and dress codes. “In other words, if the objection of a transgender man transitioning to [a] woman is that he should be allowed to use, he or she, should be allowed to use the women’s bathroom, now, how do you analyze that?” he asked immediately.
    They can't even get the language right.

  • Phoenix-DPhoenix-D Registered User regular
    Couscous wrote: »
    https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/10/10/20906610/supreme-court-transgender-discrimination
    The very first succession of questions, from Chief Justice John Roberts, was about bathrooms and dress codes. “In other words, if the objection of a transgender man transitioning to [a] woman is that he should be allowed to use, he or she, should be allowed to use the women’s bathroom, now, how do you analyze that?” he asked immediately.
    They can't even get the language right.

    And bathrooms aren't relevant.

    Gorsuch was whining about "social effects" of the decision if they side with LGBT people. Once again proving that no, the conservatives are not "just calling balls and strikes" and never have been.

  • Fleur de AlysFleur de Alys Biohacker Registered User regular
    edited October 2019
    The rebuttal was solid and sensible - some states have already made this discrimination illegal while other businesses choose not to fire trans employees, and there hasn't been a gender cataclysm - but the fact that the justices started with the goddamn bathrooms doesn't fill me with a lot of hope.

    The sliver of light was Gorsuch stressing how "close" he saw the case being. I don't normally read these transcripts, so I'm not sure of his "usual" behavior, but to me that sounded like a declaration that he was pretty open to either side on this case. That puts us in coin flip territory, which is like 3x the chance I expected going in.

    Fleur de Alys on
    Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
This discussion has been closed.