Sad and enraging -- Dems agree to fast-track 15 Trump judges

[sharedvalues]

Link to tweet

Sen. Tester said he's "tickled pink" that the Senate reached a deal on judges (he needs to campaign). But liberal activists are furious: "A bitter pill to swallow so soon after the Kavanaugh fight," says @cdkang76

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/11/senate-democrats-judges-895168

Democrats agree to confirmations of 15 Trump judges
In exchange, Dems facing reelection can go home to campaign.

Senate Democrats accepted an offer Thursday from Senate Republicans to confirm 15 lifetime federal judges in exchange for the ability to go into recess through the midterms, allowing endangered Democrats to campaign.

The calculation by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his caucus was simple: That Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would be able to confirm roughly 15 judges if he kept the Senate in session for the next few weeks anyway. So Democrats OK’d an offer to confirm three Circuit Court judges and 12 Circuit Court judges as the price to pay to go home for election season.


Under Senate rules, even if Democrats fought the nominees tooth and nail and forced the Senate to burn 30 hours of debate between each one, McConnell would have gotten them all confirmed by Nov. 1. Democrats could have conceivably left a skeleton crew of senators in Washington to force the GOP to take roll call votes on the judges over the next few weeks, although that tactic is not typically employed by the minority.

Some liberal activists are urging Democrats to show more fight after Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court; Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos even said that Democrats “need a new Senate leader” after the agreement was struck.

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AGH. Call your Dem senators and tell them to keep a skeleton crew around and OBJECT!
[phone]

[triron]

1. Weak!

[LBM20]

10. They'd get confirmed ANYWAY! WE DO NOT CONTROL THE GOD DAMNED SENATE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sharedvalues]

13. I know. But the fight matters. ESP after Kavanaugh.

Dems need to signal they care. This is a PR war as much as a procedural war. Slow the judges down. Make them work. Get the terrible judges in the news.

[Demsrule86]

17. Campaigning matters more ...we need to win the midterms...these judges will get in

out ability to stop them ended on a dark day in November in 2016 where the those who couldn't abide the 'emails' stabbed our nominee in the back...no reason to fall on our sword for nothing.

[Garrett78]

2. Here's how Rachel framed it:

Republicans wanted the following:

1) Their nominees to get a free pass
2) To be able to go home to campaign

Democrats wanted the following:

1) To be able to go home to campaign

Since both sides want to go home to campaign, what did Democrats really win? Nothing. What did Republicans get? 15 lifetime appointments without any struggle whatsoever.

I know some don't want to hear it, but our party is sometimes worthy of criticism.

[triron]

3. Wimps

[LBM20]

11. THEY WOULD BE CONFIRMED ANYWAY!! WE DO NOT CONTROL THE GOD DAMNED SENATE! GO VOTE!

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Correct.

And the moment we get fighters like Franken, one of the wimps find a way to take him down.

[JHan]

7. Didn't McConnell threaten to drag it out if there was a fight?

I have read about ways Dems could have stalled this, but would delays matter in a case where some judges have bipartisan support?

Do Dems go back home to fight hard, or stay in D.C and incumbents be accused of not being around in a critical midterm election?

I'm just not convinced that the choice here merits outrage.

[Demsrule86]

18. No I don't want to hear it because it is nonsense. They would have kept Dems if not for those deals.

[LBM20]

24. They were gonna get confirmed ANYWAY! Period! This is all a red herring. WE DO NOT HAVE THE VOTES!

[Baitball Blogger]

4. If these judges are particularly terrible, they can be recalled, impeached or whatever the term is.

It's just sad that there will be casualties among the people, before the bad ones out themselves.

[Amishman]

21. For what crimes? Impeachment requires criminal misconduct

We can't remove them without proof of criminal misconduct. These judicial appointments matter.

[Baitball Blogger]

22. We have one judge in Central Florida who stepped down, just this year.

It takes someone watching them, closely and turn them in until they get the message.

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/237422-orlando-area-judge-suspended

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-judge-kim-shepard-resigns-20180824-story.html

[Hassin Bin Sober]

27. Apples and oranges. That's a state elected judge who has to answer to voters.

The judges in the op are lifetime appointments and will likely die in office.

[OhioBlue]

6. Oh cheese and rice, what do you expect them to do? They do not have the votes.

There is no filibuster. The Rs have 51 votes. What do you want them to do? Drag out the inevitable and risk more Senate seats? All we could hope for is to delay which takes time away from campaign activities for our 26 incumbents trying to save their seats only to see those 15 confirmed in the lame duck.

Edit to add: It is done and over. Put your efforts into GOTV for Dems. The Senate is a long shot but our only shot to block judicial nominations.

[JHan]

8. And I suspect some of the judges have bipartisan support.

I can't manage to get worked up over this either.

[PCIntern]

9. Yes. One of them has been a patient of mine

For many years. He’s ok. Believe me...we’ve had many talks over the years.

[LBM20]

12. IT DOES NOT FUCKING MATTER!! THE R'S CONTROL THE SENATE AND WOULD CONFIRM THEM ANYWAY!!!!!

[sharedvalues]

14. Fighting matters. You have to fight even when you may lose.

[Demsrule86]

19. That is where you are wrong. Fighting when there is no possibility of a win is a waste of time...

and could have caused additional losses in the senate. We are defending many more seats than the GOP ...more than a few in red states.

[sharedvalues]

26. Hey, have you rethought this?

You know, now that the GOP has predictably broken the truce AFTER the Dems approved the deal?
Now that the GOP is using the time to hold hearings on other judges??

It was a HUGE mistake to fold. The Dems should have sent a rotating cast of safe-seat Sens to object and drag out hearings last week.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016218189

Fighting was important. We should have fought.

[Demsrule86]

38. It was our only move that made sense. The GOP has 51 votes for judges...no reason to risk a possible

win in congress.

[sharedvalues]

31. Hey, any comments now?

https://mobile.twitter.com/SoundPolicy/status/1055107081735409665

Grassley is fast tracking a racist judge because Dems agreed to the deal. I understand the thinking but next time we fight.


YOU ALWAYS FIGHT UNAMERICAN CORRUPTION.

You can’t win if you don’t fight.

[Demsrule86]

37. Regardless of what we do, they get their judges. Unless we could stop them, there is no

reason to stay in Washington for a fight we can't win and possibly lose seats in congress as a result...so my comment is that changes nothing.

[GulfCoast66]

29. Respectfully...that's bullshit

The only thing that matters are results.

Only a fool gets into a fight they know they can’t win.

[sharedvalues]

30. Respectfully, no way. Fighting matters.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-critical-question-facing-democrats-and-the-court

I think the exact argument Democrats fight on isn’t the most important thing. The most important thing is that Democrats need to fight this hard both to take some minuscule chance to defeat it and also to show that they know this is not a normal political moment. The last SCOTUS Justice was stolen through a corrupt act. Now, this compounds it. We have a sitting President who is the subject of multiple criminal investigations who is about to appoint a Justice who will likely judge whether the rule of law should apply to him. That is not remotely okay. That should not be allowed to happen both for the safety of the Republic and for basic principle.

But what if doing this actually damages Democratic numbers in Washington? Here’s my reasoning. You don’t win fights by not fighting. That applies to battles and wars. Democrats are asking voters, a significant number of whom may not ideologically be Democrats, to vote for them as a check on Donald Trump. I don’t think you can convincingly make that argument when you’re not doing everything to provide a check while you’re making the argument. To put it more specifically, you cannot go into an election in which enthusiasm and motivation is everything and in which numerous Democratic constituencies have key issues on the line and start the process by demoralizing them. That will not work. So I think you have to fight and fight in a way that signals clearly that you don’t regard this as a normal political situation. You have to take the risk of that paradoxically backfiring situation.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-critical-question-facing-democrats-and-the-court

[Demsrule86]

42. The Kavanaugh fight cost us...maybe the Senate. I still think we have a chance. But we had a shot

of maybe getting votes from so called moderate GOP types so it was worth it...there is no such chance now ...fighting for the sake of fighting because it makes you feel like you are doing something with no chance of winning is a waste of time...better the Dems are campaigning for the Senate where we still have close races and a chance.

[sharedvalues]

43. 100% NO. Kavanaugh helped us.

Read TPM.

The GOP was going to push BS like the false caravan to fire up their base no matter what happened with Kavanaugh.

This is a national emergency. You fight. You fight to signal the seriousness of the problem.

Freaking LISA MURKOWSKI voted no and said it wasn't about Kavanaugh, it was about all the judges. That's what we needed from Dems. And from you and me.

[Demsrule86]

44. Not with the Senate... it hurt red state senators...I don't doubt we needed to try with Kavanaugh's

history but it may have cost us the Senate.

[sharedvalues]

32. Where are you at on this now?

https://mobile.twitter.com/SoundPolicy/status/1055107081735409665

Grassley is fast tracking a racist judge because Dems agreed to the deal. I understand the thinking but next time we fight.


YOU ALWAYS FIGHT UNAMERICAN CORRUPTION.

You can’t win if you don’t fight.

[GulfCoast66]

35. Unchanged

Don’t take that to mean happy or even sanguine about the situation.

But unless we win the Senate nothing will change.

Even if we clean up and dominate the house, it will not slow down the Senate republicans from confirming every nominee trump sends them.

They can read the demographic tea leaves. They know stacking the courts is the only hope to have influence into the 2030s and 2040s. Especially with the restrictions on gerrymandering that are spreading around the country.

But the 2 Senator rule will favor them for at least 50 more years.


It fucking sucks.

[sharedvalues]

36. DC and PR statehood ASAP.

Just takes a law to add new states.
DC DESPERATELY wants to be a state with senators. Those two Senators will help us.
PR too.

We’re not gonna get to 60 Senators again soon, but if we don’t win the Senate in 2018 we should hold it 2020 on- as long as we keep up the voter turnout.

[Demsrule86]

39. It takes a house and the senate to make laws as you noted...not sure about DC, but

PR should be added immediately.

[sharedvalues]

25. Hey, so have you rethought this?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016218189

So, you were wrong. Fighting was important. We should have fought. Care to admit the error?

[sharedvalues]

33. Any thoughts now?

https://mobile.twitter.com/SoundPolicy/status/1055107081735409665

Grassley is fast tracking a racist judge because Dems agreed to the deal. I understand the thinking but next time we fight.


YOU ALWAYS FIGHT UNAMERICAN CORRUPTION.

You can’t win if you don’t fight.

[DeminPennswoods]

15. FTR, there were 2 of these judges in PA that were known to and approved

by both Sens Casey and Toomey.

[sharedvalues]

16. Approved by Toomey: judges we don't want

No judge Toomey likes is a good judge for working people. The only thing Toomey cares about is his rightwing billionaire donor network.

[DeminPennswoods]

20. Not just Toomey, Casey knows them as well

Believe it or not, both senators work in a bi-partisan way to select judges for nomination. Both judges are current sitting jurists in the state.

But, I understand this doesn't fit your preferred narrative.

[sharedvalues]

23. No. Pat Toomey is owned by the Koches.

And he is untrustworthy.
Honestly: no judge approved of by Toomey is one we should back.
Toomey is in the Koch inner circle.

The Republican Party is now an authoritarian cult. Compromise with them is a fool’s errand. Bipartisanship, except for suckers, died decades ago.

Listen to Max Boot. Th GOP must be destroyed to save the country.

[sharedvalues]

34. Any thoughts now?

See posts above. Don’t want to repeat again.

[Grasswire2]

28. this is why they kept all those judgeships vacant.

So they could use them as chips.

The system was weaponized by McConnell.

[Demsrule86]

40. And when voters failed to turn out in 14..,so disappointe in Pres. Obama and al..l they gave him the

tools. Vote in all election including midterms.

[Demsrule86]

41. By the way ...not calling Senators ... activist should consider the reality of our situation and

face facts. We can't stop judges...no point in falling on our sword. Taking back the house is crucial to stop a raid on social security and the GOP's determined attacks on the ACA, Medicaid and Medicare.