We know that Republicans wanted aka anaugh to be confirmed to avoid the risk that Democrats might somehow win control of the Senate and block judges as conservative as Kavanaugh.
But, wait, there are more reasons. Five cases are coming up this term where Kavanaugh’s vote will be crucial.
Law Professor Marjorie Cohn explains the five consequential cases.
Republicans are hoping to ensure the outcome of several hot-button cases, including those involving double jeopardy, immigration, age discrimination and the Endangered Species Act. Moreover, there is the possibility that the Supreme Court could also decide to take up additional cases affecting gerrymandering, gay and transgender rights, and the separation of church and state.Below is an in-depth explanation of these top five reasons for the GOP’s rush to confirm Kavanaugh in time for him to affect the cases currently on the Supreme Court docket.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Judge Kavenaugh was chosen precisely because he has been an extremely reliable, partisan proponent of an ultra-right-wing POV, one who has, in his opinions, out-Scalia’d Scalia. Forget judicial impartiality. He’s the Repugnican mob’s muscle. Want a guy who will ensure that efforts to gerrymander or make it more difficult for brown people to vote will continue to be successful? For citizens to join together in class action suits? Want to keep the indigenous in their place? To protect the rights of property owners against actions by the people to limit spill-over externalities? He’s your man.
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cx, sp. Kavanaugh
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Diane The Republicans controlled the conversation from the start and **democrats bought it:*
Instead of the GOP ACTUALLY distorting the confirmation process in order to finish before the mid-term election, the argument became that the DEMOCRATS where using DELAY TACTICS to keep the confirmation from happening until after the election.
Instead of trying to change the state of that argument, democrats got defensive because the GOP played into what dems actually wanted politically; and even though dems were right to delay, not because they wanted it, but precisely because of (a) the timing of the confirmation and (b) the decades-long commonly accepted procedures for getting there. By their politicized defensiveness, they lost the whole argument and, along with it, negated the substance of the hearings.
When is Charlie Brown going to learn about Lucy and her gameball? And further, I have to note the supreme irony of Stephens’ timing for leaving the court coupled with his later-rejection of that duplicitous frat-boy-K. There’s a place in hell . . . . CBK
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It’s so appalling, so disgusting that I am at a loss for words. The K-man will most likely be on the court for decades to argue for the far right/libertarian side of any case or issue brought before the SCOTUS. It’s entirely possible that Trump will get to appoint another vampire to the SCOTUS, given the ages of Breyer and Ginsburg. Vote Democratic on Nov. 6th, I will be voting for Menendez, warts and all because we certainly don’t need another corporate GOPer (Hugin was CEO of Celgene) in the Senate who will rubber stamp all of Trump’s agenda, proposals and court appointments. Legal abortions are at stake; Missouri now has only 1 abortion clinic for the whole state along with 5 or 6 other states. The right wing/libertarian cabal has won big time.
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Ginsberg should have retired in 2013 after Obama’s second election, when she was 80. He could have nominated a highly qualified judge of 50 and protected that seat for 30 years. If she dies, the hard right gets a third seat.
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Diane Such irony that Stevens retired when he did, inviting a conservative replacement, and then saying that the frat-boy political-hack wasn’t up for the job. You can’t make it up. CBK
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It was Kennedy that retired and Stevens who said that K was unqualified because of his intemperate testimony
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Diane: Thanks–I stand corrected. CBK
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Ginsberg has and will continue to do a lot of good since 2013. Her only mistake is not realizing that the Republicans would condone any illegal action and allow foreign actors to subvert our democracy in order to push America to become a fascist rubber stamp for an all-powerful Republican Party and whatever makes their leaders richer.
I have no doubt that the Republican Party would have found a way to subvert democracy no matter when she retired.
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Republicans have taught me what it means to hate. I’m starting to get why people engage in civil wars.
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I have feared very much, Greg, that the leaders of the New Feudal Order here in the US will keep pushing their toy until it breaks entirely. My Lord, how very awful that couple be!!!
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Until this year, I have never felt such utter contempt for some people while, on the the other hand, feeling even closer to others. And for those who I can’t and won’t try to understand anymore, I care less when bad things happen to them and their children. In fact I wish them the very worst of consequences when policies they support produce bad results. My patience and open-mindedness is reaching its extreme limits.
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Related to this—I apologize in advance because I know we don’t want to rehash the 2016 election—KCRW’s Warren Olney podcast with Kathleen Hall Jamieson about how Russian meddling (far too tame a term) influenced the election. It is an admirable argument Jamieson makes because it is dispassionate, empirical and based on actual time lines. I’m new to podcasts, but anything with Olney will get a second look from me.
https://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/to-the-point/how-russian-cyberwar-elected-trump
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Kathleen Hall Jamieson is excellent. I really hope her excellent book gets more attention.
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GregB A friend recently said to me, in guarded fashion, how surprised she was by feelings and thoughts she has never felt or thought before. CBK
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LOL. I misspelled the K-person’s name in my post, above, and it went through. My correction of the spelling is in moderation. Fascinating. And a bit scary. “He sees you when you’re sleeping. . . .” Welcome to the Panopticon.
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We are playing a wait and see game. I pray that this appointment doesn’t bite this country in the you know what.
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There’s always hope – the Bills won today – by just one point, but Buffalo fans will take what they can get.
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Irony- a former Yale law school dean found fault with K___ ‘s temperament on display in the hearings. And, he wrote strongly against K_____ (Huffpo). What the public saw in K____was the way, a lifetime of entitlement affects a person. Yale won’t even agree to a verification about the advantage that legacies have in admission. K____’s grandfather went to Yale. K______was a graduate of Georgetown Prep, which we assume has legacy admission. So, an official at a college that has institutionalized privilege throws rocks at one of its privileged graduates who behaves as though he is privileged.
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Those are five cases on the horizon. Dreadful all. Five long run reasons, though, why the Republicans pulled crazy shenanigans to get the last two SCOTUS picks: $ $ $ $ $.
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How rude…”repressive Leftist”. Care to tell and explain what you believe?
Diane has a large following of people and we agree with what she says. It is her blog. If you can’t stand what we think I’m sure there are other places that would love to hear more from you.
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Carol,
This man used to lurk here and post nasty comments. He returned today to insult every one who reads the blog for their failure to appreciate the terrible victimization of K, who now has a lifetime appointment at a current salary of $250,000. He added gratuitous insults about my own children. He is banished forever. His hallmark is insult.
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JW
When are Mitch McConnell, Grassley, Nunes and Lindsay Graham going to oppose oligarchy and a Russian-owned American President?
No one expects that they will convert to a management approach appropriate for a representative democracy any more than their money guys, Charles and David Koch, will. They show contempt for the sacrifices made for American democracy.
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Politico’s Harris jumped on the Dem establishment’s bandwagon of Avenatti criticism.
(Avenatti, a fighter, might throw a monkey wrench in the neoliberal takeover of the party.)
Presumably, wanting to curry favor with investment bankers, Harris restated the myth that the Third Way is “centrist”.
And, presumably, wanting to perpetuate the myth that a group that works to privatize America’s most important common good (an agenda shared with DeVos) is “liberal”,
Harris quoted a past CAP President and the current CAP President (2011 to present). Both were heavily involved in Hillary’s campaign. Evidently, Harris did not want to leave out the hedge fund interests, Rahm Emanuel was also quoted. DFER, which is described as CAP’s sister) loves Rahm Emanuel.
Why wouldn’t Harris ask those at the highest levels, who were held unaccountable for the 2016 Presidential campaign debacle, to explain what went wrong and what they are going to do differently? The answer was fully expected, the loss had nothing to do with the campaign and the new, catchy, ever so compelling, Democratic PR message will be, improve the voting process.
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John Webster,
You are a MAGA man. I find your hero to be a despicable crook. I hope I live long enough to see him locked up.
You are not welcome here. This is my blog, and your loathsome attacks don’t belong here.
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Ms. Ravitch, you were once a thoughtful person but for whatever psychological reasons you have descended into fanatical crackpotism. I have been severely critical of Trump’s demeanor and several of his policies. You can’t tolerate any kind of disagreement, which you call “loathsome attacks”. You are not a democrat in any meaningful sense; you want your political foes destroyed. For your own sake, get psychiatric help – you desperately need it to overcome your extreme bitterness. Your blog is now a pure echo chamber, not worth the time of any serious person.
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John Webster: “For your own sake, get psychiatric help – you desperately need it to overcome your extreme bitterness. Your blog is now a pure echo chamber, not worth the time of any serious person.”
I love reading Diane’s blogs. She is insightful and knows a tremendous amount about the dangers that our democracy faces. Unfortunately, there are also people who work to destroy this country. People who tell lies, falsify and write hurts to demean others and who create an atmosphere of fear. This is not the country we need nor want. That is the country that Trump and his loyal followers want…white power. Nobody else matters.
I personally believe in justice for ALL people. I believe that we are all created equal in the sight of God. We are all deserving of a decent home, clean water, healthy food, a good education, freedom of speech, a job that pays a living wage and the goal of living in a healthy environment, free of the pollution that is destroying our planet.
Surely you believe in Trumpism…destroy public schools & especially underfund ones that teach brown or black students. Destroy the environment bit by bit and defund the EPA. Cancel any advances that gays have made for equality of marriage and the rights to work unharmed. Create fear and hatred for immigrants who need to be blamed for all the problems of our economy. See that all of the destroyers get top administrative jobs so the continuation of that destruction never stops. K is such a man. Forget the help that workers get from joining unions, the rights of corporate wealthy means more. Forget about sharing and helping average or poor people. None of them need healthcare, especially if they have a pre-existing condition. The wealthy need ever more money while all social benefits need to be cut. Who needs ACA, Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security? This country doesn’t have money for such worthless expenses. Forget about having a minimum wage that allows families to exist without the breadwinner working 2-3 jobs. Cut funding for SNAP. Who needs food as a give-away to the greedy? More money for the military means that the US can continue to destroy and kill ever more people in more and more countries. Why have gun control when the lives of innocent children and adults mean nothing to those who love their guns? Who needs allies since the US can stand totally alone in the world?
Forget about the people who make up the majority of this country. They don’t need a voice since wealthy campaign contributors know exactly what is good and important. Lobbyists should rule. Big Pharm, Big Oil and corporate bought politicians know what is best.
I had psychiatric help for five years. What is your problem? Don’t attack Diane or her family. Surely you can speak without destroying…or maybe you can’t?
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Diane, I just put in a reply to John Webster that totally disappeared.
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John Webster Do you have anything else? I’m keeping a list of cheap shots for possible publication. Yours will go into the chapter on “Rehashes of the ‘Crazy Woman’ Insult in History.” CBK
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CBK,
I have banished John Webster from the blog because of his constant insults. I am a forgiving host, but I will not tolerate personal insults, either to teachers in general or to myself.
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Diane, I put in a reply to John Webster that totally disappeared. It is not in moderation.
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Diane: Ditto: the disappearance of my reply to Webster. CBK
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When I deleted his last insult to me, your comment went with it.
He is lurking.
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The link has the K word….moderation!!
Brett K Cannot Have It Both Ways
As the former dean of Yale Law School, I’m shocked by the judge’s partisan turn.
By ROBERT POST October 06, 2018
…K stoked the fires of partisan rage and male entitlement. He had apparently concluded that the only way he could rally Republican support was by painting himself as the victim of a political hit job. He therefore offered a witches’ brew of vicious unfounded charges, alleging that Democratic members of the Senate Judicial Committee were pursuing a vendetta on behalf of the Clintons. If we expect judges to reach conclusions based solely on reliable evidence, K’s savage and bitter attack demonstrated exactly the opposite sensibility.
With calculation and skill, K stoked the fires of partisan rage and male entitlement. He had apparently concluded that the only way he could rally Republican support was by painting himself as the victim of a political hit job. He therefore offered a witches’ brew of vicious unfounded charges, alleging that Democratic members of the Senate Judicial Committee were pursuing a vendetta on behalf of the Clintons. If we expect judges to reach conclusions based solely on reliable evidence, K’s savage and bitter attack demonstrated exactly the opposite sensibility.
I was shell-shocked. This was not the Brett K I thought I knew. Having come so close to confirmation, Kavanaugh apparently cared more about his promotion than about preserving the dignity of the Supreme Court he aspired to join. Even if he sought to defend his honor as a husband and father, his unbalanced rantings about political persecution were so utterly inconsistent with the dispassionate temperament we expect from judges that one had to conclude that he had chosen ambition over professionalism.
His performance is indelibly etched in the public mind. For as long as Kavanaugh sits on the court, he will remain a symbol of partisan anger, a haunting reminder that behind the smiling face of judicial benevolence lies the force of an urgent will to power…
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/06/kavanaugh-confirmation-temperament-yale-dean-221086
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Here’s Trump at work. Is there a World Book of Records for number of lies told?
It’s interesting that the former dean of Yale Law School says that the only way he [K] could rally Republican support was ‘by painting himself as the victim of a political hit job.”
………………………………..
Trump ‘100 Percent’ Certain Christine Blasey Ford Named The Wrong Man In Her Assault
He also called women “extremely happy” about K’s confirmation, apparently because it means the men in their lives won’t be accused of assault.
By Mary Papenfuss
…“This is one of the reasons I chose him is because there is no one with a squeaky clean past like Brett K,” added Trump, who was thrilled that K was confirmed as a Supreme Court justice Saturday. “We’re very honored that he was able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats.”
Trump also insisted women were “extremely happy” about K’s confirmation because they’re apparently relieved the men in their lives are less likely now to be accused of sexual assault. “Women were outraged at what happened to Brett K,” he added, according to pool reports.
He called protests against K “all phony stuff.”..
Article: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-100-percent-certain-christine-blasey-ford-named-wrong-man-in-assault_us_5bb92c3ae4b01470d051d443
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The Orange One is not the model of determining who is guilty. He said the Central Park 5 were guilty in spite of being exonerated by DNA evidence and a confession by the actual attacker.
I’m sure he now knows with 100% certain that Stormy Daniels named the wrong man.
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Facebook is aggressively pushing ed tech product into public schools – our schools are a huge new market for them:
“Equally as bad for the social network, however, are the “optics” of the situation, or how Kaplan’s support makes the social network look. Because Kaplan is a high-level Facebook executive — one originally hired to help bring a conservative perspective to the social network — his personal endorsement of the embattled Supreme Court justice and Republican party member appeared tantamount to a wider Facebook endorsement.
“He [Kaplan] shouldn’t have been there in such a public position,” argues Dean Crutchfield, CEO of the New York brand consulting firm Crutchfield & Partners. “He wasn’t thinking about his role in the company. This goes against what real leadership is about. Is this the face of Facebook? Does this define who Facebook is?”
Maybe it isn’t a good idea to turn our public education system over to tech companies, no matter how much “free” money they bribe you with? Maybe ed reform shouldn’t be mindlessly cheering this on?
It’ll only get worse as Facebook hires more and more ed reformers. They don’t criticize or examine any of these ideas because they’re all wholly dependent on the ed reform funders.
Please don’t fall for this, public schools. Please don’t spend billions of dollars on the cheap junk these people are selling. Do your own thinking.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/facebook-execs-appearance-kavanaugh-hearing-big-mistake-123027873.html
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I was surprised that so many GOP Senators treated binge drinking on high school and college as a joke.
I don’t know about the private high schools they attend but at my son’s public high school it’s taken very seriously.
It’s a horrible message to send to young people= “ha ha! Get black out drunk!”
The Trump Administration is one big “good, bad example” for me. I spend all my time telling my son NOT to do anything these people do. I;m not alone. Anti-drinking programs have been in public high schools since I was in school and I’m around Kavanaugh’s age.
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Youngster! 😉
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This is a sad day when the GOP and Trump are ruining all trust for the media. They are not perfect but this is just plain destruction. Trump has told over 5,000 partial or complete lies and he continues to give out more each day and then gets away with it. Example: Trump, “This is one of the reasons I chose him is because there is no one with a squeaky clean past like Brett K.” This probably is Trump’s version of ‘squeaky clean’.
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45 percent say media coverage was biased against Kavanaugh..From TheHill.com:
Forty-five percent of voters said news coverage of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings was biased against him, according to a new American Barometer survey.
The poll, conducted by Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling company, also found that 20 percent considered the media’s coverage biased in his favor, with 35 percent saying it was neutral.
“I think it tells you this is an incredibly divisive topic,” Democratic pollster Molly Murphy, a partner at ALG Research, told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on “What America’s Thinking.”
“People don’t trust the media very much,” she added. “I think that they tend to think that there is bias.”
https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/410409-45-percent-say-media-coverage-was-biased-against-kavanaugh
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What is sad is that some people believe this ranting IDIOT. I’m proud to say that I’m part of the angry mob that has become ‘dangerous’.
………………………
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
You don’t hand matches to an arsonist, and you don’t give power to an angry left-wing mob. Democrats have become too EXTREME and TOO DANGEROUS to govern. Republicans believe in the rule of law – not the rule of the mob. VOTE REPUBLICAN!
8:21 PM – Oct 6, 2018
212K
120K people are talking about this
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Donald Trump believes in the rule of law? I feel so much better now. CBK
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We all know that the republican’s don’t care one way or the other about the American people unless we are there servants. We show up to vote and get our friends registered, show all at marches, show up at community meetings and vote on every local level to get people in who care about us the true Americans. They cant take away our vote and if they do we need to find good ACLU lawyers to push our cause to the courts. I don’t know about you but I am showing up.
I am showing up for all of my friends who have passed on and cared about the country they have left behind
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I just received a LONG letter from Senator Todd Young [R-IN] explaining why the choice of K for the Supreme Court was justified and correct. Young is a sycophant who follows the GOP line faithfully. This is only part of the email letter. I am ALWAYS so thrilled that he compliments me by saying, “It is an honor to represent you in the United States Senate.” Barf.
……………………..
…I have no reason to doubt that there was some trauma in Dr. Blasey Ford’s past. However, there was no substantiated or corroborative evidence with respect to Judge Kfrom any of the individuals named as witnesses by Dr. Blasey Ford, or in any of Judge K’s seven FBI background investigations. Furthermore, while some argue that Judge K’s temperament was discreditable for a Supreme Court nominee, it is highly appropriate for someone wrongly accused of sexual misconduct to demonstrate more than a measure of conviction in their defense.
On October 6, 2018, the Senate confirmed Judge K to the Supreme Court, with my support, by a vote of 50 to 48. As I said initially, Hoosiers care deeply about the Constitution and want justices who apply the law as written, not impose their own policy preferences. Judge K’s theory of statutory interpretation is based on his broader views about the separation of powers, arguing that the Constitution requires jurists to serve as “neutral, impartial judges who say what the law is, not what the law should be.”…
As a D.C. Circuit Judge for the last 12 years, he has carried out his constitutional duties faithfully and consistently. Through his hundreds of opinions, days of intense testimony, and thousands of pages of documents, he has proven his commitment and dedication to preserving liberty and its governing principles.
I understand the importance of the Supreme Court in our constitutional system and will ensure that the individuals chosen to serve understand their role in our unique and unparalleled democracy. I am hopeful we can now move beyond the heightened rhetoric and political gamesmanship we have seen throughout this confirmation process and resume working together in a bipartisan way to deliver results for the American people.
Again, thank you for contacting me. It is an honor to represent you in the United States Senate.
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