Dang; that’s even better news than the prison thing!
Ever since ACB was sworn in – and especially since the Georgia senate vote – I’ve comforted myself imagining that Thomas would step down. Maybe Alito, too. Although Breyer is the oldest.
Thomas and Alito will hang on to their robes to their dying breath as long as there is a Democrat in the White House. Especially Biden for Thomas — he chaired the confirmation hearings that called Anita Hill to testify. And voted against him in committee and in the floor.
Of course, Biden has also taken some crap over the way he ran the Anita Hill hearings. But I agree, Thomas and Alito both are going to hang on until their last dying day if there is a Dem in the White House. Though, I would anticipate that that is the case for nearly all the current Supreme Court Justices.
This really stands as one of the primary reasons I would support the idea of limiting the terms of Justices (e.g. 18 years, a figure I have heard bandied about). It would allow the court to change with the times, and make things more predictable.
During the Trump administration, Mitch McConnell sent letters or memos or something to Republican-leaning judges suggesting that if they were looking to retire, given that the Republican Senate could ensure a conservative replacement, now would be a good time. Not sure how many took him up on the offer.
My feeling is: if a Circuit or SCotUS judge is approved by a majority, ten years; if 2/3rds majority, 20 years; if >80%, no limit; with extension, upon term expiration, by the original margin required for the length of the term.
This one’s especially for ThelmaLou:*
*(Please note that this photo has, for humorous effect, had words added to it that suggest what President Biden may have been thinking as he signed multiple executive orders. Those words did not appear in the air in real life and we have no way to know what President Biden may have been thinking other than his words.)
“And get rid of that fucking picture of Andrew Jackson.”
Just started listening to the press briefing for today. Jen Psaki announced that Biden signed an Executive Order opening up ACA open enrollment for Feb. 15 - May 15 to increase time for people struggling with Covid to get health insurance. Trump had decreased open enrollment down to 6 weeks to limit access to the ACA. In 2020, 8.2M people signed up on healthcare.gov.
More than 8.2M signed up on HealthCare.gov during open enrollment: CMS
This is like living in opposite world from the last 4 years where there’s good or better news instead of bad news every.single.day.
That is exactly right! And I’m loving it even while I’m feeling disoriented. The other day I scanned the list of stories in my local paper on Biden’s activities, and it was one positive thing after another-- very weird and wonderful.
Vice President Kamala Harris spent time yesterday talking to local media outlets in West Virginia and Arizona. It took me a moment to realize the obvious—she was applying local pressure on recalcitrant Democratic senators Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema! Why did it take me a moment to see what was right in front of me? Because Democratic presidents, at least in my lifetime, never put the screws on their own party!
President Barack Obama certainly didn’t, and it allowed asshat senators like Max Baucus of Montana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to undermine his presidency. President Joe Biden is having none of that, having learned the right lessons, and has dispatched his popular Vice President to make the case (in this case, for COVID relief, which shouldn’t be in the least bit controversial) directly to their constituents.
…
Time to learn from the Lyndon Johnson playbook?
For many Americans, the presidency of Lyndon Johnson is a distant memory marked by tragedy—the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and social turmoil. But it was also one of history’s most legislatively active presidencies.
…How did he do it? There is a wonderful photo of Lyndon Johnson and Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas. Johnson is towering over Fortas, smiling and invading his space as the jurist uncomfortably leans back and clinches his arms to his chest. That photo has become emblematic of what became known as the Johnson Treatment—Lyndon Johnson’s persuasive tactics described by Mary McGrory as “an incredible, potent mixture of persuasion, badgering, flattery, threats, reminders of past favors and future advantages.”
…So how did LBJ persuade? First, he’d establish a vision and a purpose. In Mark Updegrove’s Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency , Jack Valenti recounts how, the evening of Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, Johnson sat at home with his team and spent five hours mapping what would become the Great Society agenda. “He knew with stunning precision the mountaintop to which he was going to summon people,” Valenti recalled.
…With a vision in mind, Johnson would master the details. In Johnson’s case this applied both to the facts of the case and the process needed to drive change. During the PLS program in Austin, Bill Moyers noted that Johnson regularly told his team, “Your judgment is only as good as your facts.” And former Johnson aide Tom Johnson (no relation to the president) noted, “It’s impossible to overstate his consumption of information.” He’d immerse himself in the facts of a situation—reading hundreds of pages on a topic and speaking to everyone he could about it—so that he could make the most persuasive case possible. Then he’d obsess over the process of making the change. He knew the rules of government, the personalities and motivations of public officials, and the flow of the legislative process better than anyone. This mastery of detail was a hallmark of Johnson’s effectiveness.
…He also knew to identify and mobilize the right people. Making the right arguments isn’t enough to persuade. You have to rally those who can effectively influence a decision. Johnson did this consistently, particularly in the run-up to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
…
It’s a long article, not paywalled. Very informative, probably especially for those too young to remember Johnson as President.
He’d immerse himself in the facts of a situation—reading hundreds of pages on a topic and speaking to everyone he could about it—so that he could make the most persuasive case possible.
Imagine this today. Especially after the last four years with President Gut Feeling and 74 million voters who approved of his ignorance.
I always admire this quote attributed to Johnson when one of his aides tried telling him pursuing the Civil Rights Act immediately after Kennedy was assassinated and less than a year away from the 1964 election could jeopardize his chances of winning a full term.
"Well, what the Hell is the Presidency for?"
And you can be assured that the Republicans will do whatever it takes to make sure that Biden is unable to fill a single one of these vacancies. They won’t be successful; but they’ll try.
[Republican Spin] Judges resign en mass rather than endure Biden presidency! [/Republican spin]
IMO the Press Secretary is a wee bit over her head. She doesn’t have answers and says I’ll circle back, or deflect. The big thing recently is about Snowden. The press pushed her on freedom of speech and she had no answer. Also then candidate Biden saying using XOs is close to being a dictatorship, with his interview with George S. With ABC. She deflected again. I’m glad the press is pushing back a bit. And Not asking about what Pres. Biden’s favorite Ice cream is.
Do you expect the Press Secretary to know everything about everything? (Maybe you do.) I assume she is admitting she doesn’t know? And that she’s not just MAKING UP LIES when she doesn’t know something?
I’ve been watching the press conferences for both Trump and Obama occasionally. She seems on par with the ones I’ve seen. They all say they’ll circle back or deflect. Nothing unusual. But her press briefings are a lot less contentious than some of the others I’ve seen.
This is what an honest person does when they don’t have a factual or substantiated answer. Of course, she could just bluster and make shit up, as the series of briefers from the previous administration did, but as Ms. Psaki has made clear, this President has made a point of directing the people he in his administration to be honest and admit when they do not know or are unsure of something rather than to blatantly lie or dissemble.
Stranger