# Court Packing: An Idea Whose Time Has Come Around Again? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 4, 2017, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916 "2017-10-04T04:19:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/181 "2017-10-06T19:20:48Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > You can’t be obtuse enough to think that that is actually a good argument. You’ve been wrong before. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/182 "2017-10-06T19:36:30Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Bullshit. We’ll never know what would have happened if a vote had been taken. You assert one possible outcome, and that might even be the most likely outcome, but it’s far from a certainty. Interesting. Here’s the post I responded to: > [@](#): > > You and I know the real answer, because if a vote had happened, Garland would have been confirmed. You know it, I know it, the American people know it. But that post doesn’t garner a reaction of, “Bullshit. We’ll never know what would have happened if a vote had been taken. You assert one possible outcome, and that might even be the most likely outcome, but it’s far from a certainty.” But my denial of that claim with an equally confident counter-claim does. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/183 "2017-10-06T19:38:39Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Because that would be seen as a betrayal of their party on a different level than just voting for a qualified candidate. > > Voting for a qualified candidate, even if most of the party doesn’t isn’t really precedent setting. Teaming up with the opposing party to actually undermine the senate majority leader, that’s gonna get you into some hot water. > > I’m saying that they would have done the right thing, the same thing that senators have done for hundreds of years, you are asking why they don’t go above and beyond to be heroes of the democratic party. You can’t be obtuse enough to think that that is actually a good argument. I don’t agree that enough senators would have broken ranks to confirm Garland, because that, too, would “get [them] into some hot water.” ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/184 "2017-10-06T20:15:39Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I don’t agree that enough senators would have broken ranks to confirm Garland, because that, too, would “get [them] into some hot water.” Republicans broke ranks to not convict Bill Clinton when he was impeached. Republicans broke ranks, twice, recently in refusing to get rid of Obamacare. Those were some big votes, not naming a post office. We’ll never know of course but history, even recent history with this same set of senators, suggests it is reasonable to think Garland might have gotten appointed. Particularly since I doubt many senators seriously thought Trump could win so best to get the somewhat moderate Garland in rather than whoever Clinton might appoint. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/185 "2017-10-06T20:20:00Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Interesting. > > Here’s the post I responded to: > > But that post doesn’t garner a reaction of, “Bullshit. We’ll never know what would have happened if a vote had been taken. You assert one possible outcome, and that might even be the most likely outcome, but it’s far from a certainty.” > > But my denial of that claim with an equally confident counter-claim does. > > Why is that? Excellent question. Why didn’t you say that to him? For what it’s worth I agree that his statement was bullshit, but I am under no obligation to reply to every post that I think is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/186 "2017-10-06T22:02:57Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Excellent question. Why didn’t you say that to him? For what it’s worth I agree that his statement was bullshit, but I am under no obligation to reply to every post that I think is bullshit. Because rather than saying it was bullshit, I accepted it as true and showed the flaws in the method of thinking: a gratuitous assertion may be equally gratuitously denied. Now, by ignoring bullshit that furthers your cause but calling out bullshit that hurts your cause, you reveal that your true interest is not in mitigating bullshit but in advancing your cause. You sound a pious complaint against bullshit, but your real objection is not to bullshit: it’s to bullshit that doesn’t help you. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/187 "2017-10-06T22:04:09Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Republicans broke ranks to not convict Bill Clinton when he was impeached. > > Republicans broke ranks, twice, recently in refusing to get rid of Obamacare. > > Those were some big votes, not naming a post office. > > We’ll never know of course but history, even recent history with this same set of senators, suggests it is reasonable to think Garland might have gotten appointed. Particularly since I doubt many senators seriously thought Trump could win so best to get the somewhat moderate Garland in rather than whoever Clinton might appoint. if that’s true, then I question your “hot water” claim of a few posts back. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/188 "2017-10-06T22:08:03Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Because rather than saying it was bullshit, I accepted it as true and showed the flaws in the method of thinking: a gratuitous assertion may be equally gratuitously denied. > > Now, by ignoring bullshit that furthers your cause but calling out bullshit that hurts your cause, you reveal that your true interest is not in mitigating bullshit but in advancing your cause. You sound a pious complaint against bullshit, but your real objection is not to bullshit: it’s to bullshit that doesn’t help you. I too didn’t bother to rebut the obvious hyperbole. I usually wait for the dead horse to be beat a few times before assuming anyone is trying to sell their hyperbole is literal fact, since they’re usually not. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/189 "2017-10-06T23:10:15Z")
**Bricker:** > [@DragonAsh](#): > > Do you think Garland was unqualified because he was nominated by a President in his last year in office? > > Do you think any candidate Obama may have nominated would have been unqualified because Obama was in his last year in office? > > Is there any time frame within which any nomination by a President is automatically unqualified because of how long the President either has been in office, or has left in office? Perhaps you missed this. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/190 "2017-10-06T23:18:41Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > if that’s true, then I question your “hot water” claim of a few posts back. What "hot water"claim did I make? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/191 "2017-10-06T23:33:34Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The senate does not accurately reflect the population. A state with 10 people gets as many senators as a state with a million people in it. If that 10 person state is red they get two senators same as the million person blue state. Yes, by design. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/192 "2017-10-07T00:20:59Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Yes, by design. Yeah. What’s your point? Just because it was by design does not make it good. The 3/5 compromise in the constitution was by design too. That did not make it a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/193 "2017-10-07T00:43:20Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Yeah. What’s your point? Just because it was by design does not make it good. The 3/5 compromise in the constitution was by design too. That did not make it a good thing. Senators represent states, not the “population”. If you had an ounce of brains, you would know that. P.S. Good luck changing the Constitution to meet your whims. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/194 "2017-10-07T00:48:18Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Senators represent states, not the “population”. If you had an ounce of brains, you would know that. > > P.S. Good luck changing the Constitution to meet your whims. I am perfectly aware of that and never suggested otherwise. If you had an ounce of reading comprehension you would know that but why let that stand in the way of your snark? Also, I am not trying to change how the senate works (as the constitution outlines it). I am pushing back at someone sagely telling me the solution to all this is at the ballot box when it can be shown the ballot box is heavily skewed in a number of ways. If you had any ability to follow what others are talking about you’d have known that too. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/195 "2017-10-07T00:55:02Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Also, I am not trying to change how the senate works (as the constitution outlines it). I am pushing back at someone sagely telling me the solution to all this is at the ballot box when it can be shown the ballot box is heavily skewed in a number of ways. So tilting at windmills, then. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/196 "2017-10-07T01:06:31Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > So tilting at windmills, then. I know the reference but don’t understand what you mean by it here. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/197 "2017-10-07T01:23:54Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I know the reference but don’t understand what you mean by it here. For better or for worse, this is our system of government. Whining about it on a message board isn’t going to change anything. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/198 "2017-10-07T01:27:49Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > For better or for worse, this is our system of government. Whining about it on a message board isn’t going to change anything. I guess you missed the part where **John Mace** told us the solution to this is at the ballot box. Responding to him is exactly what we do on a message board. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/199 "2017-10-07T01:36:13Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I guess you missed the part where **John Mace** told us the solution to this is at the ballot box. Responding to him is exactly what we do on a message board. Changing the Senate is simply not going to happen. Do you understand that? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916/200 "2017-10-07T01:40:22Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Changing the Senate is simply not going to happen. Do you understand that? Wow…your reading comprehension really does suck. Seriously. I mean that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-packing-an-idea-whose-time-has-come-around-again/797916.md?page=11)