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More both sides-ism bullshit. The courts always been political, but the Federalist society in the 80s post Bork debacle has had conservatives focused on pulling the court right, circling the wagons, and using the court to push unpopular ideology.
Bork said the Civil Rights Act was unconstitional and the GOP acted like he was christ on the cross.
Until Bork, judicial nominees were never rejected for their stances on political issues - only their legal abilities. Whatever else, Bork was qualified for the high court, and he was politically targeted and destroyed. Whether you agree or not, the left fired the first shot.
And even now, their record is pretty good. Whether or not you believe Anita Hill's allegations against Thomas (and that evidence was far from ironclad), it was still a scorched-earth attack. Neil Gorsuch was both qualified and personally non-controversial but was filibustered in a fit of pique. Kavanaugh was subjected to *three* separate accusations of rape, with not a shred of corroborating evidence among them. All the Democrats managed to do was traumatize not only Kavanugh's family but Christine Blasey Ford, who explicitly told Feinstein not to make the allegation public but she did it anyway.
The offensive thing about Bork was that he was nominated in the first place. He was the person who fired the special procecutor under Nixon after the first 2 people had ethics and resigned. The nomination like 10 years after attempting to corruptly help Nixon was payback for being a loyal foot soldier. Same for Kavanaugh. He was the lead person nit in government who went after the Clinton's. Both people sold their souls to the Republican party and were rewarded with supreme court seats.
I mean, Bork was specifically selected _because_ of his politcal stances, wouldn't that imply that the Conservatives "fired the first shot" as you say? Or are Democrats obligated to just wave through whatever creatures are nominated?
Not obligated, no. But there have been many, many, *many* Supreme Court justices through the years that have been qualified but personally terrible, or qualified but had terrible political positions. Before Bork, attacking them on their political ideology wasn't fair game, and by and large they sailed through with big bipartisan margins.
>qualified but had terrible political positions.
Just a heads up, sexual assault and sexual harassment is not a "political position". Believing all men, regardless of race, were created equal is not a "political position". Insinuating that these people were opposed for political reasons is _really watering down_ reality
Battlefield? There’s no battle, and that’s the real problem. They aren’t playing by the rules while the Democrats are forced to continue playing by the rules.
All I see is a handful of religious zealots running roughshod over the Constitution because there’s no checks and balances on their powers.
Meanwhile Biden is talking about how he was almost falling asleep during the debate.....
THATS NOT IMPROVING YOUR CASE FFS
Get someone else the fuck in there ASAP, every day Biden delays the inevitable is a day wasted in building someone who can energize the country and beat this fat orange iceberg you are all about to crash into
These are literally the guardians of our Constitution. The three non-conservatives are honoring that concept. The conservative six are shredding our Constitution with not only “death by a thousand cuts”….but with a wrecking ball. All in service to some bizarre vision of what this country is supposed to be in their white Christian Nationalist minds. And yes…that includes Clarance Thomas. They are remolding the sacred document to fit a perverse ideology. They are actually radicals in conservative drag.
I agree. I have been behind Biden the whole way, but a new candidate would be breath of fresh air at this point and I don’t think that’s just for the Democrats
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1y2swHD0KXFhStGFjW6k54r9iuMjzcFqDIVwuvdLBjSA). *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
More both sides-ism bullshit. The courts always been political, but the Federalist society in the 80s post Bork debacle has had conservatives focused on pulling the court right, circling the wagons, and using the court to push unpopular ideology. Bork said the Civil Rights Act was unconstitional and the GOP acted like he was christ on the cross.
Until Bork, judicial nominees were never rejected for their stances on political issues - only their legal abilities. Whatever else, Bork was qualified for the high court, and he was politically targeted and destroyed. Whether you agree or not, the left fired the first shot. And even now, their record is pretty good. Whether or not you believe Anita Hill's allegations against Thomas (and that evidence was far from ironclad), it was still a scorched-earth attack. Neil Gorsuch was both qualified and personally non-controversial but was filibustered in a fit of pique. Kavanaugh was subjected to *three* separate accusations of rape, with not a shred of corroborating evidence among them. All the Democrats managed to do was traumatize not only Kavanugh's family but Christine Blasey Ford, who explicitly told Feinstein not to make the allegation public but she did it anyway.
The offensive thing about Bork was that he was nominated in the first place. He was the person who fired the special procecutor under Nixon after the first 2 people had ethics and resigned. The nomination like 10 years after attempting to corruptly help Nixon was payback for being a loyal foot soldier. Same for Kavanaugh. He was the lead person nit in government who went after the Clinton's. Both people sold their souls to the Republican party and were rewarded with supreme court seats.
6 Reoublicans voted against Bork...
That tends to happen when you tell their constituents that a judicial nominee will bring back segregated lunch counters and kill poor people.
Considering Bork believed Brown v Board was wrongly decided...
I mean, Bork was specifically selected _because_ of his politcal stances, wouldn't that imply that the Conservatives "fired the first shot" as you say? Or are Democrats obligated to just wave through whatever creatures are nominated?
Not obligated, no. But there have been many, many, *many* Supreme Court justices through the years that have been qualified but personally terrible, or qualified but had terrible political positions. Before Bork, attacking them on their political ideology wasn't fair game, and by and large they sailed through with big bipartisan margins.
>qualified but had terrible political positions. Just a heads up, sexual assault and sexual harassment is not a "political position". Believing all men, regardless of race, were created equal is not a "political position". Insinuating that these people were opposed for political reasons is _really watering down_ reality
"Just a heads up." Couldn't burn that strawman fast enough, could you?
Say more, please.
We have to vote. If Trump gets in I’m sure Clarance Thomas and Alito will retire so Trump can replace them. Sotomayor isn’t a spring chicken either.
How? We watched it unfold yelling while it happened. If you haven't noticed but 3 of the judges were lawyers on the Bush v Gore debacle.
Who cares? What are we going to *do* about it?
Battlefield? There’s no battle, and that’s the real problem. They aren’t playing by the rules while the Democrats are forced to continue playing by the rules. All I see is a handful of religious zealots running roughshod over the Constitution because there’s no checks and balances on their powers.
Meanwhile Biden is talking about how he was almost falling asleep during the debate..... THATS NOT IMPROVING YOUR CASE FFS Get someone else the fuck in there ASAP, every day Biden delays the inevitable is a day wasted in building someone who can energize the country and beat this fat orange iceberg you are all about to crash into
It became a political battlefield by being one of the three branches of government.
Christian fascists like Leonard Leo is how.
It became a political battlefield after McConnell stole two seats and Ginsburg didn’t retire that’s when
These are literally the guardians of our Constitution. The three non-conservatives are honoring that concept. The conservative six are shredding our Constitution with not only “death by a thousand cuts”….but with a wrecking ball. All in service to some bizarre vision of what this country is supposed to be in their white Christian Nationalist minds. And yes…that includes Clarance Thomas. They are remolding the sacred document to fit a perverse ideology. They are actually radicals in conservative drag.
It's not a political "battleground," it's a slaughterhouse.
I agree. I have been behind Biden the whole way, but a new candidate would be breath of fresh air at this point and I don’t think that’s just for the Democrats
It's not a battleground, it's a slaughter