Just received in my email:
Today, the Senate voted on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. If I were in the Senate, I would have voted no.
The events of the past two weeks — including Dr. Ford’s courageous, powerful, and credible testimony and Judge Kavanaugh’s temperament in his response — have only added to my concern that he does not meet the bar to serve on the Supreme Court.
I am disappointed that he was confirmed. I know that today’s news and the headlines we’ve seen over the last few weeks have been extremely difficult for many Texans and especially painful for survivors of sexual assault and sexual harassment — so many of whom bravely spoke out, shared their stories, and continue to lead the way. The news has also been hard on those who might feel let down after making their voices heard by calling their senators, organizing with one another, uniting for what we believe in. Today, we are going to come together for one another.
But tonight and tomorrow and in the days that follow, I want you to know that we are going to meet this disappointment weighing on many of us with the power of people who want to make sure that our government represents all of us. In a democracy, the government is the people and the people are the government. If the government does not represent the will of the people, we will change the makeup of the government.
We will ensure that the senators voting on lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court fight for people, for our rights, for our future. That they put country over party. That they bring a sense of civility and decency to what is supposed to be the greatest deliberative body in the world.
Together — not as Democrats or Republicans but as Texans and Americans — we will ensure that the next nominee to be confirmed to the Supreme Court represents all of our interests.
We will do it because in a state that is last in voter turnout — not by accident but by design — we understand the importance of voting rights.
We will do it because in a state that is the epicenter for the maternal mortality crisis — three times as deadly for African American women — we understand that Roe vs. Wade is the decided law of the land and that women should be able to make their own decisions about their own bodies, and have access to the healthcare that will save their lives.
We will do it because in a state where you can be fired for being gay and where the justice system does not serve everyone, we understand the importance of civil rights and equal justice under law.
And we will do it because we understand the need to put people over PACs, people over corporations, and people over special interests.
Thank you for staying strong for one another, for Texas, and for this country. We will not let one another down.
Beto

I feel a tiny bit better. Thanks!
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What a powerful statement. I see he is running against Ted Cruz for Senate. His creds are amazing: he won primary w/62%; he has been able to raise same as Cruz from small donations, no PAC $; he is polling very close to Cruz.
RE: “We will do it because in a state that is last in voter turnout — not by accident but by design — we understand the importance of voting rights”… To what is he referring — how has Texas been suppressing voter rights?
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I noticed that comment about voter turnout as well. What is he basing that conclusion on? Is Texas really the last in voter turnout? I thought Kentucky had that dishonor.
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“The state [or in this case anti-choice zealots] must declare the child [this case the fetus] to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government [again anti-choice zealots] is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.”
― Adolf Hitler
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I would have voted “Hell No!”
And then explained precisely why.
Trump is an illegitimate president* who won* office with lots and lots of Russian intelligence agency help. Kavanaugh is a political hack who subscribes to an intellectually lame judicial ideology – “originalism ” – that has no historical basis from the early Republic. Kavanaugh lied and lied and lied. Under oath.
Sexual assault researchers say that only about 8-12 percept of rapes and attempted rapes are reported. Some Kavanaugh supporters whined that 6 percent of all reported rapes are false allegations (a figure considered high by researchers). So, if 90 percent of all rapes and attempts go unreported, then we’re talking about 5 percent of 10 percent, and if we extrapolate that to ALL rape and attempted rapes, then we’re at this: 0.005 percent of rapes and attempted rapes are alleged falsely. Statistically, Dr. Ford’s allegations are more than a little credible, and her allegations are backed up Kavanaugh’s calendars, by the memoirs of his high school buddy, by Kavanaugh’s yearbook page, by his evasiveness and lies, and by his complete unwillingness to submit to a thorough FBI investigation or an FBI-administered polygraph.
It seems more than likely that Kavanauagh was a participant – directly or masked – in the absurd, phony doppelganger theory put forth by Republican operative Ed Whelan, who is tight with Federalist Society nabobs and Kavanaugh, that blamed a high school chum of Kavanaugh’s for the attack. It seems accurate that Kavanaugh reached out to friends at Yale to discredit Deborah Ramirez months before her allegations became public, trying to discredit her and set the narrative, and then lied about it under oath. And it defies belief that Kavanaugh knew nothing about the in-chamber use of pornography and the rampant sexual harassment of women his judicial mentor, Alex Kozinski, who was forced from the bench for such behavior and for whom Kavanaugh clerked.
Yeah, I would have voted against Kavanaugh with a “Hell NO” vote.
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That was inspiring and beautiful. Wish all members of Congress cared as much for our rights and had the ability to look beyond party lines. Hope he wins. This country desperately needs people like him.
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Texas desperately need Beto O’Rourke. The poor in Texas live in the shadows and are conveniently ignored. Beto will work to help those that cannot speak for themselves.
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You are right. The only way he can be elected is if those who are eligible to vote but totally discouraged turn out to vote. Texas has a very large Hispanic population. Beto speaks fluent Spanish. Cruz, born in Canada of Cuban parents, does not speak Spanish. Hispanics usually have the lowest turnout. The state turned deep red with horrible politicians who serve the interests of the oil and gas industry, not the people.
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and sadly the old tongue-in-cheek adage “as goes Texas, so goes the nation” is too often the case where education is concerned
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Hasn’t Texas been striking voters off the rolls — specifically voters who live in blue areas and not red ones.
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Thanks for posting this, Diane. I am disgusted.
Maybe that is the goal, to make the people of this country even more disgusted with this Pay to Play environment of deceit and corruption.
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He has risen in voice and has inspired those who have felt hopeless and helpless before the rising tide of hypocrisy and deceitful attitudes of those that claim ownership over women, minorities, immigrants, and country. Never have we seen such a betrayal of our Constitution as this moment. Children taken from the arms of their families, housed like live stock in a profit bearing facility so laughingly called a private public partnership, civil rights being crushed before the education rights the mandates without concern for due process, a hypocrisy of religious beliefs intentions and moral law, and an insult of rhetoric from an imposter of a president who believes he can insult and make victims his fodder whether sexual assault, disabled, or other, children being lead poisoned by a government which shows little to no remorse, and it goes on and on. It is a breath of fresh air to be pulled into our lungs on reading and hearing this mans remarks for the good of society. He is not claiming ownership but principles of ethics and standards worthy of our Constitution and We The People. I hope his future will move us all forward and his voice will rise above those that will surely try to drown him out. God Bless America with Beto.
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A few cases currently on the docket of the Supreme Court. But that 5-4 majority also gets to decide what cases it will consider in the future.
Death Penalty
Bucklew v. Precythe
What is the evidentiary burden of an inmate challenging a state’s method of execution and seeking an alternative execution method?
Presidential Pardons (and More)
Gamble v. United States
Should the “separate sovereigns” exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause be overruled? This will affect whether Presidential pardons apply both to federal and state crimes.
Indigenous Rights
Herrera v. Wyoming
Did Wyoming’s admission to the Union or the establishment of the Bighorn National Forest abrogate the Crow Tribe of Indians’ 1868 federal treaty right to hunt on the “unoccupied lands of the United States,” thereby permitting the present-day criminal conviction of a Crow member who engaged in subsistence hunting for his family?
Death Penalty
Madison v. Alabama
Does the Eighth Amendment prohibit a state from executing an inmate whose mental disability renders him unable to remember the crime for which he is to be executed or understand the circumstances of his scheduled execution?
Immigration
Nielsen v. Preap
Does a noncitizen released from criminal custody become exempt from mandatory detention if, after the noncitizen is released from criminal custody, the Department of Homeland Security does not take the noncitizen into immigration custody immediately?
Foreclosures and Debt Collection
Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP
Does the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act apply to non-judicial foreclosure proceedings?
Endangered Species
Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service
(1) Does the Endangered Species Act prohibit designation of privately owned land as unoccupied critical habitat that is neither habitat nor essential to species conservation? (2) Is an agency determination not to exclude an area from critical habitat due to the economic impact of designation subject to judicial review?
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My FB post on the day this nomination was approved:
“Rhymes with luck”
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You beat me to the punch. See the 1 pm post
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There once was a judge named Kavanaugh
Whose regressive views on the law
Left Republicans in aew
While Democrats said “Nah”
And the public yelled “Pshaw!”
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lol
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