Senate confirms Neil Gorsuch to Supreme Court

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

The U.S. Senate confirmed Neil M. Gorsuch to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, capping more than a year of bitter partisan bickering over the ideological balance of the nation’s highest court.

Senators voted to confirm Gorsuch, 49, a Denver-based judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, who will become the 113th person to serve on the Supreme Court.

Gorsuch, 49, a Denver-based judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, will become the 113th Supreme Court justice as early as Friday. He replaces the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who’s sudden death in February 2016 sparked a year-long partisan fight over the ideological balance of the court.

Gorsuch is expected to be sworn-in in the coming days, allowing him to join the high court for the final weeks of its term, which ends in June. It’s likely he will want to be sworn-in quickly — even if a ceremonial event is held later — so that he can get to work. The court is scheduled to meet Thursday for a private session to decide whether to accept or reject a long list of cases that would be heard next term. And the last round of oral arguments for this term is scheduled to begin in just 10 days, on April 17.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/senate-set-to-confirm-neil-gorsuch-to-supreme-court/2017/04/07/da3cd738-1b89-11e7-9887-1a5314b56a08_story.html

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[old guy]

1. Good-bye American Pie.

[lark]

19. The day the music died.

Perfect song for this fucked up time. Repugs should not have a majority on SCOTUS, they fucking stole it. I think Dems should just vote no on every single bill, even raising the debt limit. Deny Repugs a quorum, vote no, delay, obstruct, deny, do everything possible to fuck McTurtle and the Traitors while they are doing their utmost best to fuck over everyone not a 1%er.

[iluvtennis]

2. Shameful...nuclear age is here for the Legislative Branch of our gov't nt

[JudyM]

3. Tears for our democracy.

[FakeNoose]

38. Wow today sucks

[JudyM]

61. On a par with November 8, give or take a few horrific projections.

[Initech]

4. Fuck!!!! The coup is complete!

Mitch McConnell needs a boot in his ass for this!

[Miles Archer]

16. It's going to be this way AT LEAST until the midterms.

I wish I had a magic formula for taking back the House and Senate.

I am assuming that what is going to have to happen is that voters will feel so much personal pain between now and then that they can be persuaded to get off the "Trump Train."

I don't know.

For now, there's not a hell of a lot we can do about anything other than to go feral in 2018.

[yallerdawg]

5. One of the greatest thefts in American history...

was just completed.

McConnell will go down in history as a villain, and a traitor to democracy and the people's will.

If there is a hell. he will surely burn for all eternity.

[rurallib]

17. right up there with stealing the white house in 2000

[FBaggins]

11. There wasn't much that Schumer could do

(apart from hold off for the next appointment)

Blame for this loss more clearly belongs with Reid.

[JudyM]

14. +1

[yallerdawg]

21. I disagree on Reid.

The Republican filibusters on Obama nominees were UNPRECEDENTED.

Reid broke the gridlock but held back on Supreme Court confirmations.

McConnell held back Merrick Garland's nomination - again, UNPRECEDENTED.

And reversed the will of the Senate on the Gorsuch nomination - once more UNPRECEDENTED.

This isn't partisan. This is fact.

[FBaggins]

36. Sorry... there is no "we had a better reason" exclusion

Nor can Reid be made to look like the reasonable saint. He made perfectly clear that he would blow the rule up for Supreme Court nominees if one came up and was filibustered.

[yallerdawg]

55. Sorry?

The Republicans under McConnell blew this up.

Not letting Obama nominees have a vote just because they could - more times than all filibusters of all previous presidents combined! - for a couple years! - was just too much.

What Reid did was inevitable given the Republican intransigence.

Then, it wasn't about Merrick Garland. It was about the election.

Whereas, it WAS about Neil Gorsuch, and a more moderate nominee who could get 60 votes.

[dubyadiprecession]

60. McConnell knows he has created a lot of trouble for himself down the road.

[cstanleytech]

29. No, the Repugnants would have still done this regardless of what Reid did or

did not do.

[FBaggins]

37. Except that they didn't

The didn't start with Reid. Some Republicans were threatening to do it a decade or so earlier... until several Senators on both sides forced them to back down to retain the rule. Each successive change in party control has moved the needle closer to midnight.

[cstanleytech]

44. Well its the Repugnants mistake for being so shortsighted because no party ever keeps majority

control of either House and eventually the power will shift back to the Democrats and I suspect the Democrats will probably tell the Repugnants to fuck off and pass alot of shit that should have been passed long ago because the Repugnants have shown that the days of trying to be reasonable with a Repugnant are over.

[FBaggins]

48. That's what some of us here were telling people 3-4 years ago

That we would regret blowing things up... and now we do.

Sure... Republicans will eventually regret it too... but that's not very reassuring if we can't take it back before someone like Ginsburg leaves the court.

I suspect the Democrats will probably tell the Repugnants to fuck off and pass alot of shit

The legislative filibuster is unaffected by the change - and would be much harder to kill.

[cstanleytech]

49. Do you really think that after the varies shit the Repugnants have

pulled that the Democrats will sit idle when they have the majority next time? I kind of doubt it, no I think they will jettison having to have Repugnants on board for anything the next time.

[Alpeduez21]

65. Clearly you don't understand how vast Republican obstructionism was

[7962]

67. I warned of this when Reid went down that road. No majority is forever

And one day, the Dems will do the same to the GOP, who now thinks THEY will always be in charge

[inwiththenew]

7. Well whatever happens to the Trump presidency his impact on the court will be felt

For the next probably two decades. Wonderful.

Let's hope there are no more vacancies between now and January 2019.

[FBaggins]

8. That's odd. I thought that they couldn't do that until this evening

Democrats must have elected to not use their remaining hours of debate? Perhaps related to the attack in Syria?

[BumRushDaShow]

12. They dispatched of the debate

per the WaPo article -

By 1 p.m. on Thursday, most of the drama was over. On a vote of 55 to 45, all Republicans and three Democrats voted to proceed to final debate on Gorsuch. Senators at that point had the option of using as many as 30 hours for debate.'

But they opted to cut it short — with a recess looming, Gorsuch was set for confirmation during the lunch hour on Friday, allowing senators to start leaving Washington for a two-week recess.

[FBaggins]

15. Heaven forbid that their weekend be disrupted

[BumRushDaShow]

18. Yup since the House already left yesterday.

They are gone until April 24th I believe, where they have a week to maybe do something with the debt ceiling and make an attempt to keep the government from shutting down when the FY17 Continuing Resolution expires April 29th.

[FakeNoose]

39. They're taking their Easter break, starting today.

Time for these guys to all go home and catch hell from their constituents.

[shenmue]

9. Oh, shit.

[groundloop]

10. Make no mistake, this is a huge victory for the right and the aftershocks will be felt for decades.

Not only did they keep a well qualified Obama appointee out of the Supreme Court, they crammed through a right wing hack with questionable credentials. I see Gorsuch as being roughly equivalent to Clarence Thomas in both intellect and ideology.

[jeffreyi]

13. Shame.

[Blue_Tires]

20. This is what happens when Dem voters stay home...

[NBachers]

32. This is what happens when "alternative" candidates siphon away Democrat votes.

[sprinkleeninow]

45. That also. n/t

[Baitball Blogger]

22. Why do I know this man isn't going to be as silent as Clarence Thomas.

He will become a right-wing activist judge.

[hamsterjill]

23. Goodbye, Roe v. Wade

Back alleys, here come womenkind!

Absolutely sickens me!

[rurallib]

24. Almost wonder if contraception will still be left

by the time these clowns get done.

[hamsterjill]

26. Probably not.

Women will need a burka and to be escorted by a male relative before these clowns are happy. Exhibit A? Mike Pence.

[totodeinhere]

58. As long as Kennedy remains on the Court I think that Roe will be safe.

But if Kennedy retires while Trump is in office and the GOP controls the Senate then watch out.

[NYC Liberal]

68. I'm not so sure they actually want Roe v. Wade gone.

Not the Republicans in office, anyway. It's one of their red-meat wedge issues they use to get their base -- who does care -- to the polls. No Roe v Wade, less incentive to show up at the polls.

[hamsterjill]

69. I can only hope you're right!!!

n/t

👍

[MFM008]

25. Donald J Maggot

Has had a huge week.
He's "presidenting" now.
Huge" wins" after almost 75 days of utter FAIL.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

27. I'm clearing out old papers. I came across this:

It was in the Washington Post magazine for Sunday, June 18, 2006. The title on the cover was "Pfc. John Hart Didn't Have to Die."

Fatal Inaction

By April Witt
Sunday, June 18, 2006

The world's most powerful military failed to provide the armor that would have saved scores of American lives. One father wouldlike to know why

Private 1st Class John Hart whispered into the phone so he wouldn't be overheard. It was just a matter of time, he said, before his buddies and he bumped down some back road in Iraq right into an ambush. They were so exposed, the somber young soldier told his dad, back home in Bedford, Mass. They were riding around in unarmored Humvees with canvas tops and gaping openings on the sides where doors should be. That seemed pretty stupid now that people were shooting at them and lobbing rockets. John, a 20-year-old gunner whose job it was to keep his head up and return fire, felt hung out in the breeze. ... As John's father, Brian Hart, remembers the conversation, he listened with growing alarm, then stepped into his home office so his wife, Alma, wouldn't hear. It was October 11, 2003.
....

"I LOVE THIS GREEN," Brian says. He and Alma are walking hand in hand on Lexington Green. It is dusk the next evening. Brian points to the statue of John Parker, who led the town's minutemen. "I love that statue." ... "Over there is where Paul Revere rode," he says, pointing out Battle Road, which leads to Concord. John, when he was preparing for basic training, used to run that road carrying 20 pounds of books in a rucksack. ... "This is where the Revolution started," Brian says. "Forty Minutemen against 700 British. Twenty-to-one, just facing off. The farmers didn't give up."

Brian comes often to the green. He thinks about what it must have felt like to be one of those farmers. "You know you can only last so long, and then somebody's got to come and help you," he says.

Brian thinks John must have known, in his final moment, how those farmers felt. "I think courage is fighting a battle that you know you are probably going to lose," Brian says. "I think that's what John did. You realize you are going to lose that fight, but you fight it anyway."

April Witt is a staff writer for the Magazine. She and Brian Hart will be fielding questions and comments about this article Monday at noon at washingtonpost.com/liveonline.

[Rhiannon12866]

31. Good Grief!

So much for a balanced court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs to be in this for the long haul...

[Solly Mack]

34. I'll give her a kidney if needed.

[Rhiannon12866]

47. We all need to sign up!

[onenote]

41. Balanced Court? Other than for the past year, when did we last have a "balanced" court?

And why would we want a "balanced" court? Some day down the line, I hold out hope that a Democratic president could have the opportunity to replace Roberts and/or Thomas and/or Alito and/or Kennedy. I would hope to high heaven that president didn't seek to maintain some "balance" if he/she had the opportunity to make the court have a 6/3 or 7/2 divide with liberals in the majority.

[Rhiannon12866]

46. I figure that was the best we could hope for

Alito, Thomas and Roberts are there for life. Garland wasn't exactly a liberal, but he had a lot of support from both "sides" until the president nominated him. He really deserved a hearing. This Gorsuch is a nightmare.

[Solly Mack]

33. What a fuck move.

[ffr]

35. Republicans confirm or Republican held senate confirms. Fixed.

Thanks a lot Mr. and Mrs. Hoodwink. You fucked us really hard when you fell for all the fake news headlines about what a bad person Hillary Clinton was. But I'm sure things would be just a terrible had she still won, right? FU.

[YOHABLO]

42. Let's just be real about this: fake news only effects those who are ignorant.

[YOHABLO]

40. Does anyone have info on the voting? I haven't been doing my homework...sorry.

[onenote]

43. as previously announced, three Democrats voted to confirm

Heidi Heitkamp
Joe Manchin
Joe Donnelly

One repub didn't vote because he is recovering from surgery.

[cab67]

50. we have to do everything in our power to keep Ginsburg and Kennedy on the court.

Retirement of either would be catastrophic.

[minstrel76]

51. NOT MY PRESIDENT, NOT MY SUPREME COURT JUSTICE!!!!

May the Republican hypocrite tyrants and those who support them pay dearly for their power grab. They represent everything that it antithetical to what America should stand for. NOLI OLVIDERE!

[Turbineguy]

52. They got the power.

Might as well use it t fuck up the country.

[CrispyQ]

53. Our republic is toast. The GOP is in control. Shock Doctrine coming soon!

The dems will not have any influence for decades, if ever.

[stuffmatters]

63. Yep, Shock Doctrine, sell off any public asset to their overlords..always been their "long game"

[sdfernando]

54. Not a great day in the U.S.A....but

I predict now that Gorsuch has been confirmed we will start to see the abandoning of the orange one by the rethuglican party. Won't happen all at once but it will start and pick up steam quickly.

[mountain grammy]

59. Maybe, but I don't think they're quite finished with us.

[Freethinker65]

56. Sad

[LisaM]

57. This makes me feel completely helpless as a citizen.

This guy is an absolute dirtbag.

[Alpeduez21]

66. NO. no No NO NNNOOOO!!!!!

"This guy" is part and parcel of a republican administration. A republican administration that is an absolute dirtbag.

It is not just one guy. It is many old white racist pieces of crap. Voted in by racist pieces of crap.

[stuffmatters]

62. Gorsuchs ALEC Bill Mill Walking

Last edited Sat Apr 8, 2017, 12:03 AM - Edit history (2)

It is a tragedy for America and our Democracy. I never ever would have imagined 50 years ago that the John Birch Society could be in charge of all three arms of our government They were the crazy people!

[Portland_Anni]

64. I really hope that Democrats take control of Congress in 2018 and get to shove...

... a few decent nominees to other open seats on the high court down the throats of the disingenuous and conniving GOP.

[YOHABLO]

70. It really is our only hope at this point. Unless of course we go to war with Russia.

then it's all over.

[onenote]

71. How can we shove nominees down the repubs throats while Trump is president?

The Senate doesn't pick the nominees. The best the Democrats can do is refuse to confirm a nominee. At best we can force certain offices to remain vacant.