Is there a silver lining to Kennedy retiring?

[BigmanPigman]

Yes, bad that he is leaving during the age of the moron but....
It wasn't a strong liberal judge like Ginsberg
This could get more women to vote liberal in the midterms
This could get more millennials to vote. Period.


*In the meantime CALL and WRITE your reps and "spread the word" via social media, etc.
[phone]

[bearsfootball516]

1. I've thought the same thing.

If nothing else, this could cause the Blue Wave to be even larger this November.

[exboyfil]

7. I have heard that the Evangelicals are going to

be so happy about getting two Justices that they will be fired up for the election. Anything to keep the good times rolling.

[realmirage]

24. Evangelicals have already been voting in high numbers

All it takes is a small wave of women voters to show up to erase the evangelical vote. If women think roe v wade is in jeopardy, I could see that happening.

[exboyfil]

26. I wish my group - white men

had showed up and voted for the sane candidate in the last election.

[spanone]

2. If this doesn't incentivize democrats......we're really screwn

[lapfog_1]

17. double edged sword

in as much as this may infuriate the left, it will also energize the right for 2018

[spanone]

18. we can't control anything they do....we have to do what we do.

Plus. WE HAVE THE MAJORITY

[lapfog_1]

21. only on a national scale

which should mean that we control the House... however, due to years of repuke gamesmanship and our own failures to pay attention to local and state elections, we can't even reliably hold the House.

As for the Senate... well... 579,000 people that live in Wyoming have the same number of senators as 39.54 MILLION people in California. And I can tell you that more than 50% of the people in Wyoming are RWNJ.

And it is the Senate and Presidency that count as far as the SCOTUS goes.

[exboyfil]

29. I wonder how much longer that drift can continue

I might have to move, but I am ready to sign up for a greater Canada that includes the blue electoral map. The west coast and Nevada, the east coast to Virginia, and MN/IL and maybe WI/MI.

[realmirage]

25. The right has already been energized. They're close to peak

The left is the side that has gotten a bit complacent and unfocused. If the left gets energized, control will swing back to the democrats.

[B Stieg]

3. I hope so because Roe is now back on the table!

Where are you, Bill Baird?

[ADX]

4. No, there isn't...

[Vinca]

5. No, unless 2 or 3 conservative judges drop dead after the next Democratic POTUS is elected.

A lifetime appointment can be a very, very, very long time.

[exboyfil]

10. Pelican Brief?

Such a thing would destroy the country.

[Vinca]

13. I wasn't suggesting anything criminal. I was thinking more divine intervention and fate.

[lapfog_1]

19. roberts had some sort of seizure a long time ago

and fell off his rooftop of his house as I recall.

so you never know. But we can't count on divine intervention or luck.

[Horse with no Name]

28. Thanks for destroying my fantasy. n/t

[Salviati]

15. They say that if you can't not wish a brain aneurysm on someone, you shouldn't say anything at all..

n/t

[Vinca]

16. Okay. Makes sense. LOL.

[Azathoth]

6. If it does happen, the silver lining will be a delayed effect

The people who genuinely understand and care about SCOTUS nominations already vote consistently. The apathetic Democratic voters who only come to the polls for charismatic presidential nominees aren't going to tune in emotionally until they start feeling the pain of SCOTUS decisions.

[eissa]

8. I've been grasping at straws trying to think of something

I guess your analysis is as good as any. But honestly, I haven't felt this down in a long time. Drained, defeated, pessimistic.....I hold out hope for November, but given how flaky we are when it actually comes to voting, I'm more anxious than optimistic.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. He wasn't a very good justice.

https://thinkprogress.org/kennedy-was-a-bad-justice-76e464024d78/

As this article explains, the opinions he wrote that are somewhat "liberal" are full of so many holes that they could be overruled fairly easy in the future.

The journey from Kennedy’s 1996 opinion in Romer v. Evans—which struck down a Colorado constitutional amendment that “withdraws from homosexuals, but no others, specific legal protection from the injuries caused by discrimination,”—to marriage equality took 19 years. Along the way, Kennedy fretted about whether the Court was wading into “uncharted waters” by expanding equal marriage rights too much, too fast.

And even when Kennedy did embrace marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges, he tiptoed right up to the line of holding that discrimination against gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans is subject to “heightened scrutiny” under the Constitution, without ever writing those magic words. At every stage of the journey from Romer to Obergefell, Kennedy used his decisions to dole out just a little bit — but never too much —more equality to sexual minorities.

In fairness, Kennedy’s actions can potentially be attributed to fear of a backlash that could have set LGBTQ rights back further than when he started — and he’s not the only member of the Court who shared this fear. But where was Kennedy’s cautious nature when Citizens United was before the Court? Or when he was asked to weigh in on the single most important piece of social welfare legislation in a generation?

His retirement won't really change the fundamental balance of the court - he was never a reliable swing vote - but the real problem is that he opens the door for someone even more extreme and who is likely to be there for at least 30 years.

[greymattermom]

11. Maybe someone will try to get the court to outlaw

birth control. Folks will pay attention then.

[madinmaryland]

20. Maybe the court will just outlaw birth. The human race has not been good

to this planet.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

12. You're kidding, right?!

[Salviati]

14. The only other thing I'm thinking is that this is going down now because the repubs are worried

about losing the senate in November.

I have no doubt that this is a coordinated action, even though it would break with all norms, the repubs have shown that nothing is beneath them.

It will still cause an untold amount of damage over the next several decades.

[BigmanPigman]

22. I think the GOP, including the moron and McConnell,

were in on this decision. I do not trust them, never have and never will. This will damage generations in the future along with Climate Change and the enormous national debt. I an glad I chose not to have kids more and more every day.

[Garrett78]

23. No, because we're going to get another Gorsuch, who will be on the court for the next 30+ years.

And, as mentioned above, this will also fire up the Republican base.

Kennedy's retirement is just awful, awful shit.

[wasupaloopa]

27. Vote for what the horse that just ran out of the barn!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????

The time to vote was the last election and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that