# \[If\] Ginsburg dies, Trump nominates far-righter, what's the opposition strategy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 29, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159 "2017-06-29T19:54:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/61 "2017-06-30T17:55:12Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > If this is so simple, can you answer my question about flag burning? Is that a “right” issue or a “left” issue. Check only one box. It’s a different issue. If that’s the actual reason why he can’t/won’t answer my question as to where he would draw the line, I’m sure he’ll tell me. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/62 "2017-06-30T18:03:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, **HurricaneDitka** , let me get this straight: You haven’t looked into Dredd Scott or Plessy v. Ferguson in much depth, and are only just now giving them a cursory glance? And yet you consider yourself qualified to make any statement at all about American politics? What % of the US population would you say had looked “in depth” into those court cases? I thought his answer was clear enough: From what he knows, he disagrees with those rulings. But he doesn’t know about the overall judicial philosophy of those justices back in the day to make a general statement about them. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/63 "2017-06-30T18:07:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It’s a different issue. If that’s the actual reason why he can’t/won’t answer my question as to where he would draw the line, I’m sure he’ll tell me. It’s part of the same issue, and illustrative of the difficulty in parsing left and right politics into so-called left and right judicial philosophies. It is also many of orders of magnitude simpler to answer than the the question you have posed. We’re several posts into this and no answer on your part, so perhaps that might illustrate what’s going on here. But I’ll let **Señor Ditka** answer for himself. I see this going round in circles, and I’ve said all I care to say on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/64 "2017-06-30T18:14:34Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It’s part of the same issue, and illustrative of the difficulty in parsing left and right politics into so-called left and right judicial philosophies. It is also many of orders of magnitude simpler to answer than the the question you have posed. We’re several posts into this and no answer on your part, so perhaps that might illustrate what’s going on here. > > But I’ll let **Señor Ditka** answer for himself. I see this going round in circles, and I’ve said all I care to say on the subject. The fact that you seem to have difficulty in differentiating between judges that lean right and those that lean left isn’t my problem nor does it have much to do with what is going on here, in my opinion. Nice try, though. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/65 "2017-06-30T18:30:54Z")
Too late to add: If your actual difficulty is that telling right-wing judges from left-wing judges can’t realistically be done, why did you wait until my post to bring it up? From the OP: > [@](#): > > If Ginsburg dies before January 2021 and the GOP still holds a Senate majority, and Trump nominates a far-right justice as her replacement… ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/66 "2017-06-30T19:02:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > When asked of someone who would have no trouble with 9 identical judges that wouldn’t bother to ask questions and would have no need to spend time debating, finding out who wouldn’t be suitable for this position because their positions are generally too far to the right as that person defines the term is an easy enough question to answer…unless of course the actual answer is embarrassing because there is _no_ current candidate that person finds too far right for the job. You have a talent for muddying the waters. Your original question was: > [@Czarcasm](#): > > How far “right” would be too far for you? Are there any on that side of the scale that would be too much for you to accept… What do you mean by “any”? Any current Supreme Court justices? Any past SCOTUS justices? Any judges (at any level)? Any elected official? Any public figure? Any _person_? Whats the pool I’m supposed to select from? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/67 "2017-06-30T19:22:11Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > You have a talent for muddying the waters. Your original question was: > > What do you mean by “any”? Any current Supreme Court justices? Any past SCOTUS justices? Any judges (at any level)? Any elected official? Any public figure? Any _person_? Whats the pool I’m supposed to select from? Let’s make it easy and say any judge or any elected official of note(use your own judgement as to what “of note” means). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/68 "2017-06-30T19:30:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **John Mace** : > > What % of the US population would you say had looked “in depth” into those court cases? If by “in depth” you mean “in enough depth for a person to be 100% sure of which side was in the right”, then that’s something that’s part of my basic expectations of all citizens. Now, I’m sure that there are a distressingly-large number of citizens who don’t even know that much, in which case I’ll reiterate that any such person has no business participating in political discussion. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/69 "2017-06-30T19:50:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If by “in depth” you mean “in enough depth for a person to be 100% sure of which side was in the right”, then that’s something that’s part of my basic expectations of all citizens. Now, I’m sure that there are a distressingly-large number of citizens who don’t even know that much, in which case I’ll reiterate that any such person has no business participating in political discussion. First, you may be disappointed to learn that your thoughts on which such persons have business participating in political discussions or not counts for very little. Secondly, **John Mace** did such a good job of answering this back in post #62, that I didn’t think a follow-up was necessary. I think I’ll just quote him here: > [@John\_Mace](#): > > … I thought his answer was clear enough: From what he knows, he disagrees with those rulings. But he doesn’t know about the overall judicial philosophy of those justices back in the day to make a general statement about them. **John Mace** nailed it. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/70 "2017-06-30T20:48:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Let’s make it easy and say any judge or any elected official of note(use your own judgement as to what “of note” means). OK, there are probably quite a few that are too far right for me. I haven’t cataloged and ranked _all_ judges, or _all_ elected officials, but off the top of my head I think Rodrigo Duterte is too far right wing for me to be comfortable supporting his (hypothetical) nomination to the Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/71 "2017-06-30T20:58:12Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > OK, there are probably quite a few that are too far right for me. I haven’t cataloged and ranked _all_ judges, or _all_ elected officials, but off the top of my head I think Rodrigo Duterte is too far right wing for me to be comfortable supporting his (hypothetical) nomination to the Supreme Court. Is he even eligible for the job? I sort of assumed you would stick to people that could actually take the job(y’know-U.S. citizen/resident, alive etc.) Got another _serious_ candidate to offer up? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/72 "2017-06-30T21:08:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is he even eligible for the job? I sort of assumed you would stick to people that could actually take the job(y’know-U.S. citizen/resident, alive etc.) Got another _serious_ candidate to offer up? Yes, he is eligible for the job. Uh… there is no legal limit on citizenship to be nominated and confirmed to the Supreme Court. There are age requirements for the House, the Senate, or the presidency, but not for the court. There are citizenship and residency requirements for the PotUS but not SCotUS. The only actual constitutional qualification of a member of SCotUS would seem to be that a nominee has not been previously impeached and removed from office with a sanction barring holding future office. It may be unlikely to place a foreign leader on the SCotUS, but Duterte is, in theory, eligible. And \*\*HurricaneDitka \*\* says this is an example of someone he could not support on the high court. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/73 "2017-06-30T21:11:07Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > Yes, he is eligible for the job. > > Uh… there is no legal limit on citizenship to be nominated and confirmed to the Supreme Court. There are age requirements for the House, the Senate, or the presidency, but not for the court. There are citizenship and residency requirements for the PotUS but not SCotUS. The only actual constitutional qualification of a member of SCotUS would seem to be that a nominee has not been previously impeached and removed from office with a sanction barring holding future office. > > It may be unlikely to place a foreign leader on the SCotUS, but Duterte is, in theory, eligible. And \*\*HurricaneDitka \*\* says this is an example of someone he could not support on the high court. Apologies to **HurricaneDitka** and thanks to **Iggy** - I did not know that the qualifications for the job was _that_ wide open. I’m shocked. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/74 "2017-06-30T21:54:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Got another _serious_ candidate to offer up? As far as “_serious_” candidates, it’s probably going to depend on how we define “_serious_”, but, for example, of the 20 or so remaining names that Trump offered during the campaign, I don’t know all that much about all of them, but from what I do know, none of them are “too far right” for my tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/75 "2017-06-30T23:47:35Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I think opposition to Trump will drive Democrats out to vote. The states where Dems are most vulnerable are swing states, and Trump’s popularity has declined in these areas while the anti-Trump sentiments have ticked up. I would agree, however, that talk of a blue wave, as some armchair pundits have suggested, is also not likely to happen. As you correctly pointed out, Dems are the ones defending their territory this time. If any chamber is up for grabs it won’t be the Senate. The House just might be in play, but that’s hardly a given at this point. I’d be satisfied with Dems picking up enough seats to be able to occasionally block Republicans in the House. That has not been the case as the Dems are 0-4 in house elections despite spedning record amounts. 5% of middle-class white Americans have abandoned the Democratic party. Trump’s pro-USA union like message to bring jobs back here and lighter taxes both personal and for business to the many former Democratic fence jumpers is a powerful message. These service oriented jobs just don’t pay as well as the old-time manufacturing type of jobs. Historical speaking, Democrats do poorly in midterm elections. The protests in Washington DC ( 90% Democratic ) mean little. If they start happening in red states, then maybe the tides will turn against Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/76 "2017-07-01T00:27:55Z")
I don’t expect all citizens to know the details of the judicial philosophies of the judges behind Plessy v. Ferguson or Dred Scott v. Sandford. But you don’t need to know the details of their philosophies to judge those men, because the outcomes of those cases should be sufficient evidence that whatever philosophies those judges had, they were bad ones. Now, knowing the details of their judicial philosophies is of value, in that it enables you to make judgements on _other_ judges who hold those same philosophies. Like, say, the current right-wingers that **HurricaneDitka** approves of, who hold the same judicial philosophy that led Justice Taney to decide against Scott. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/77 "2017-07-01T13:17:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Apologies to **HurricaneDitka** and thanks to **Iggy** - I did not know that the qualifications for the job was _that_ wide open. I’m shocked. A Supreme Court justice doesn’t even have to be a _lawyer_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/78 "2017-07-01T13:48:06Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A Supreme Court justice doesn’t even have to be a _lawyer_. It feels like this should’ve been a movie by now. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/79 "2017-07-01T15:10:32Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A Supreme Court justice doesn’t even have to be a _lawyer_. I think I’m more worried that a Supreme Court Justice doesn’t have to pass any sort of security check, be a non-felon, have to be a citizen of the United States, or even reside in the United States for a minimum amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159/80 "2017-07-01T16:13:28Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > It feels like this should’ve been a movie by now. “There’s no rule that says a Justice _cant’t_ be a dog!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-ginsburg-dies-trump-nominates-far-righter-whats-the-opposition-strategy/790159.md?page=5)