# Can Democrats actually stop the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 4, 2018, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733 "2018-09-04T12:49:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 32
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/621 "2018-09-12T15:58:13Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Nominated one month before he was out of office. NEXT! > > Nominated a few weeks before the election of his successor. NEXT Except it was held up a couple of months not a year and a half.The same hated Tyler from before, right? > > Fine, back in the years leading up to the fracturing of our country and a bloody Civil War to put it back together, this type of hyper-politicized refusal to act on nominees was more common. I suppose everything is fine, then. Carry on. Today we also have a fractured political sphere. I’d say the Senate choices are a symptom, not a cause. But they are not “unprecedented,” or “once, a long time ago.” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/622 "2018-09-12T15:59:54Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > How so? He was a perfectly formed and eliminated bowel movement in the system. Keep saying that. And I’ll keep cheering for new textualist appointments to the federal bench. I get the judges; you get the pithy rejoinders! It’s win, win! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/623 "2018-09-12T16:02:26Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Is Kavanaugh rich? Then it might be little more than a case of sucking up and currying favor. Its a point of pride to the oinking class not to carry money and to toss each other minor gifts in the lower tens of thousands of dollars. Throw it on the plastic, who cares? MasterCare doesn’t call them to demand payment, they call to wish “Happy Birthday”. Kavanaugh well-off but not filthy fucking rich. > [@](#): > > …A financial statement that was filed last month as part of the Senate vetting process reveals that Kavanaugh’s net worth, the calculation of what an individual owns minus debts, is around $942,000. The threshold for the top 1 percent of net worth in the United States is more than $10 million, according to recent survey data from the Federal Reserve. > > Kavanaugh has government retirement accounts worth about $480,000 and more than $400,000 in equity in his home, which has a mortgage of $815,000. > > He holds roughly $27,000 in cash accounts and drives a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which he values at $25,000. > > … > > In Kavanaugh’s case, the forms are revealing for another reason: They offer a glimpse into personal finances that have appeared shaky at times, including a recent year when Kavanaugh’s reported debt ranges could have exceeded what he had available in high-liquidity assets such as money-market or cash accounts. > > If confirmed, Kavanaugh would become the justice with the fewest reportable assets, by a long shot. > > … > > By the nation’s standards, Kavanaugh is decidedly wealthy, with an annual salary of $220,000 that reaches far beyond the median income for a typical U.S. household. He also has resources that other families may not — familial wealth and the option, if needed, to forgo his government job and return to private practice. Kavanaugh’s father drew a hefty salary working for a cosmetics trade group and received a $13 million payout in 2005, as first reported by the New York Times. > … > [Cite](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-brett-kavanaughs-personal-finances-credit-card-debts-and-a-92000-country-club-fee/2018/08/09/2820fee6-8e9f-11e8-8322-b5482bf5e0f5_story.html?utm_term=.8c15f82f1c40) The article has more detail, if you’re interested. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/624 "2018-09-12T16:04:29Z")
> [@](#): > > …But they are not “unprecedented,” … Dammit! If only we hadn’t made “unprecedented” the central point of our arguments! Now all we got left are slimy, disgusting and corrupt! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/625 "2018-09-12T16:05:12Z")
> **[Evidence of Kavanaugh Perjury Mounts After Durbin Releases More...](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/09/12/evidence-kavanaugh-perjury-mounts-after-durbin-releases-more-confidential-documents)** > > "This is a theme that we see emerge with Judge Kavanaugh time and time again—he says one thing under oath, and then the documents tell a different story." More documents dropped that allegedly support the allegations of perjury against Kavanaugh. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/626 "2018-09-12T16:14:50Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Keep saying that. > > And I’ll keep cheering for new textualist appointments to the federal bench. I get the judges; you get the pithy rejoinders! It’s win, win! It takes a special breed of person to applaud the appointment of Justices who can’t make a decision without genuflecting to the obsolete wisdom of men a century or more dead, as opposed to actually interpreting the current extant situation and thinking for themselves. I _got_ your pithy rejoinder. So, pith off. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/627 "2018-09-12T16:18:32Z")
I get it too - this Federalist Society is a historical re-enactment club, focusing on the 1850’s. At their functions, they probably wear waistcoats and dip snuff, while the darkie servants bring more glasses of port, while they denounce the perfidy of the abolitionists. Maybe, in a generation or two, they’ll be debating bimetallism, tariffs, and the Yellow Peril. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/628 "2018-09-12T17:14:44Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Keep saying that. > > And I’ll keep cheering for new textualist appointments to the federal bench. I get the judges; you get the pithy rejoinders! It’s win, win! Then why did you just make what you consider a “pity rejoinder”? More projection? Huffing that short term thinking again? Sure feels good don’t it? Good luck in November(s, all of them from now on. You could burn your whole party down after all. Why not?). ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/629 "2018-09-12T17:16:56Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > It takes a special breed of person to applaud the appointment of Justices who can’t make a decision without genuflecting to the obsolete wisdom of men a century or more dead, as opposed to actually interpreting the current extant situation and thinking for themselves. NO! That’s not the job of judges. Judges are here to interpret the law, not impose their own ideas about wisdom. If we are a democratic republic that vests sovereign power in the people, then we must change the law by way of the legislature, the elected leaders, not by way of the unelected, lifetime appointed judges. My goodness, I’m so happy your view is on the decline. We aren’t supposed to enshrine wise philosopher kings on the bench. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/630 "2018-09-12T17:19:15Z")
And yet that’s what the Supreme Court is _for_, dispensing justice and, inevitably, making law. Don’t like it, take it up with Mr. Marbury. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/631 "2018-09-12T17:27:50Z")
“On the decline”? The past is yours, Counselor. The rear guard defense, the stubborn refusal, these are yours, be content, gloat while you still can. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/632 "2018-09-12T17:41:58Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > It takes a special breed of person to applaud the appointment of Justices who can’t make a decision without genuflecting to the obsolete wisdom of men a century or more dead, as opposed to actually interpreting the current extant situation and thinking for themselves. The constitution is so quaint. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > [Evidence of Kavanaugh Perjury Mounts After Durbin Releases More "Confidential" Documents | Common Dreams](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/09/12/evidence-kavanaugh-perjury-mounts-after-durbin-releases-more-confidential-documents) > > More documents dropped that allegedly support the allegations of perjury against Kavanaugh. No, this is bullshit. Simply discussing a judicial candidate in an email is not the same thing as being the one who handles the nomination. > [@elucidator](#): > > Before the Garland nomination actually happened, if you had asked Americans across the country if any nominee to a major position deserved a hearing, I have every confidence the answer would be “Yes”. Tell that to Miguel Estrada. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/633 "2018-09-12T17:44:46Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > NO! > > That’s not the job of judges. Judges are here to interpret the law, not impose their own ideas about wisdom. If we are a democratic republic that vests sovereign power in the people, then we must change the law by way of the legislature, the elected leaders, not by way of the unelected, lifetime appointed judges. It’s Captain Obvious and his faithful sidekick, Platitude! Yes, interpretation of the law is their job. You and I disagree fundamentally on what “interpret” means. I define it, at least partially, on how laws impact the modern world as opposed to how it was done in days of powdered wigs and buttoned shoes. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/634 "2018-09-12T17:48:04Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > The constitution is so quaint. _That’s_ what you took from my statement? :smack: Uh, no. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/635 "2018-09-12T17:57:52Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > It’s Captain Obvious and his faithful sidekick, Platitude! > > Yes, interpretation of the law is their job. You and I disagree fundamentally on what “interpret” means. I define it, at least partially, on how laws impact the modern world as opposed to how it was done in days of powdered wigs and buttoned shoes. If a law that worked fine for wigs and carriages doesn’t work for mohawks and Teslas, CHANGE THE LAW with the legislature. Your plaintive complaint is simple: you want the laws changed but can’t garner the necessary popular support. Women can’t vote! Do we (a) decide that the language of the Constitution, which was passed with everyone agreeing it did not mean that women have the right to vote, now suddenly is revealed to mean that women have a right to vote? Or (b) amend the Constitution to correct what is now seen as an injustice? I know which one is the proper choice for a representative democracy, and I know which choice is the proper choice for a nation governed by philosopher-kings. I imagine you do, also. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/636 "2018-09-12T18:00:38Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > The constitution is so quaint. “Establish justice” > [@](#): > > Tell that to Miguel Estrada. Who did get his hearing but, as an extremist, could not get enough votes to be confirmed, right? Where do all these names of irrelevantly failed Republican nominations come from - does Hannity have a researcher working on it? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/637 "2018-09-12T18:07:30Z")
And if a pure interest in representative democracy does not sway you, then this thought experiment should: Trump is, like it or not, the President. Which judge should he appoint? (1) A judge that says, “I dispense justice as I see it. I’m not concerned about the opinions of dead men in wigs. I will deliver results that make this country better!” And remember: Trump picked this judge. (2) A judge that says, “My ideas about wise legislative choices and policies have no place in my opinions. I deliver a reading of the law as written, applied to the facts before me.” I know that you WANT Judge 1 picked by Obama. But that’s not an option right now. So are your interests better served by Trump-picked Judge 1 or Trump-picked Judge 2? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/638 "2018-09-12T18:08:53Z")
Why does the concept of justice annoy you so? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/639 "2018-09-12T18:42:11Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > …Tell that to Miguel Estrada. I only read the Wiki, I must have missed the part of how exemplary was the behavior of the Republican Party. Though I _was_ impressed that Justice Kagan thought so highly of him, not quite so impressed by the approval of “Anne of Green Goebbels” Coulter. And we would be wise not to forget that his took place before the rise of the Republican Party 2.0 and the Great Tea Party Purification. An event I suspect you regret almost as much as I do. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/640 "2018-09-12T18:45:12Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > And if a pure interest in representative democracy does not sway you, then this thought experiment should: > > Trump is, like it or not, the President. Which judge should he appoint? > > (1) A judge that says, “I dispense justice as I see it. I’m not concerned about the opinions of dead men in wigs. I will deliver results that make this country better!” And remember: Trump picked this judge. > > (2) A judge that says, “My ideas about wise legislative choices and policies have no place in my opinions. I deliver a reading of the law as written, applied to the facts before me.” > > I know that you WANT Judge 1 picked by Obama. But that’s not an option right now. So are your interests better served by Trump-picked Judge 1 or Trump-picked Judge 2? Door #1, obviously. We need justices that will Make America Great Again. Hey, that’s kind of a snappy catch-phrase! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=31) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=33)