Republicans are going to fill this seat.

[BGBD]

That has been very clear from the beginning. They essentially have to. They have become a base-only party since Trump. They have actively pitted their base against everyone else in the country. Their entire political strategy is to turn out their base and hope that the archaic electoral mechanisms of the United States keep them in power. As such, they can't do anything that might turn off their base, which includes not taking this chance to fill a vacancy on the Court. The Catch-22 here is that in doing so, they are going to alienate a significant block of potential voters who don't consider themselves to be conservatives.

In do this, they are making two miscalculations that will hurt them for a very long time. First is that the moderate nature of the country will keep them from being severely punished for their actions. We already see polling showing that 3/5 of the country think they should wait, and while they could get away with that over time, a raw display of this will not be forgotten by the time people cast their votes. Second, is that Democrats will not have the will to use their power if they gain it in the election. After what democrats have witnessed over the past few years, I don't see a way that they don't. The focus of Republicans for the past 40+ years has been the Court; the Democrats focus from here on will be remedying the things that help the minority Republicans retain power. That means adding small, heavily Democratic, states that will offset the electoral college and Senate advantage that Republicans currently enjoy. It will mean investing heavily in state house and governor races to ensure we control redistricting. It will mean eliminating the filibuster and pushing through expansions to the Supreme Court and overall federal judiciary to ensure that conservative justices, gained by years to stonewalling nominees and then pushing underqualified ideologues through later, aren't able to dictate from the bench without being diluted by hundreds of additional judges.

Personally, I am a very moderate member of this group we are all in. Probably one of the more moderate on this board. A month ago I would have been against ending the filibuster and against packing the court, but not now. Now, I'm completely for it. I am surely not the only American with this view.

[sfstaxprep]

1. I Have Far Less Faith In The Average American

I am beginning to realize what we're up against, and we're up against ourselves.

I'll leave it at that.

[C_U_L8R]

2. They're rushing it through because they know Trump is going to lose

How's that for a vote of confidence.

[beachbumbob]

3. You are not alone. This is a historical moment not faced since

the late 1930's as wars overtook the world and US was helpless by our own indifference. FDR pulled every rabbit out of is hat to assist England, Soviet Union against the GOP Isolationist views with empathy with Hitler and the Nazis. Only Pearl Harbor allowed us to enter and fight fascism

Here we are again, excepts we are dealing with American fascism

[Thekaspervote]

4. As I contemplated this yesterday, full well knowing it would happen

I finally concluded for myself that we cannot live under such a repressive system that will undo so much of what we have gained- R v W, the ACA, voting rights, civil rights.

There will be no choice but to increase or as some have suggested decrease the number of SCJ, ditch the filibuster, add DC and hopefully Puerto Rico as states.

A repressive regime that will undo the people’s rights and liberties cannot stand. We must act come 1/20/2021

[CanonRay]

5. If we take the Senate we have to

End the filibuster
Put 10 justices in the SCOTUS
Admit DC and Puerto Rico as states
Recreate the fairness doctrine
Legislate to end Citizens United

If we get control and don't seize the moment, it will all come back worse.

[dem4decades]

6. there needs to be 15 justices on the bench. and 2 more states, maybe 3. All those islands in the

Pacific could be one state.

For good measure make North Dakota and South Dakota one state. Okay that one is a stretch.

[PatSeg]

7. And pass legislation

to strengthen the Voting Rights Act that was weaken so severely by the Supreme Court in 2013.

[moose65]

8. How bout this?

DC becomes a state, of course. That one HAS to be done.

Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands together become a state. We can't leave the USVI out of this.

All the Pacific Islands become a state.

We add seats to the House after the Census to correct a century of neglect.

If we don't have the fortitude to add Supreme Court seats, we at least need to add more justices to the lower courts where the number of cases are bursting at the seams.

We need to do away with the filibuster and that ridiculous "blue slip" rule about confirming judges. The old days of Senate decorum and bipartisanship are LONG gone.

[dem4decades]

9. I saw a guy last night say that McConnell already changed the number of justices from 9 to 8 when he

held up Garland for 14 months. So he started the change in the number of justices, we just do like Mitch.

And he also said if the Republicans change it to 19, big deal, change it to 25 then. The more there are the more it will benefit the country. He made good points.