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Oh Yay Susan Collins Is The Most Important Person On Earth Again As Usual
Your Sunday Show Roundup!
Hello Wonks! Welcome back to another Sunday Show Roundup! Before we are faced with Trump's new season of The Apprentice: SCOTUS , let's make fun of an idiot and feel momentarily better!
We begin with resident CNN contributor and Secret Mike Huckabee son David Urban on "State of the Union." This week, Urban treats us to his Pavlovian praise of the Trump administration's lasting effects on the legal system.
Urban: Listen, today in the front page of "The New York Times," a big article by our friend Jonathan Martin, talking about howconsequentialthis is. This president is soconsequentialthat Dick Durbin says that he's reshaping the Democratic Party, OK? And the court this week -- this past week too and Janus, the decision in Janus, cutting the funding saying that public sector unions no longer are allowed to take money from their employees for dues. That's going to debilitate the party because that's a top-down function. The parties govern from top-down. It's going to eviscerate public sector unions. You're going to lose that support as well. And, as Amanda earlier pointed about this president in the judiciary, Dana Bash, your colleague here, had a report up in the website, had a piece done where 12 judges in 2017, no other president has appointed more judges in one year than this president, 12. He's 88 waiting in the Senate to be confirmed and they did about 50 -- 45 more on the circuit and the district court.
David Urban doesn't talk good, is what we are saying with that.
Urban seems to perceive that Trump being "consequential" is a good thing while running down the horrible stuff Trump has accomplished in the legal system. But it's a simple mistake to make:
But Urban didn't stop there. He also had "helpful" advice for the Democratic Party after the victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:
Urban: Listen, you know, where I'm sitting, I love -- I love that movement. I'm so happy that we have a new congresswoman in the Queens, right? Her victory is great because it ensures that that gap closes, right? When you're Conor Lamb in Western Pennsylvania, much harder to win with anabolish ICE movement, that says, you know, no borders, no nations, end deportation, right? So there is a radical left movement which is going to make it much, much tougher for the Democrats to take over in 2018 and all but ensure President Trump's victory in 2020.
Well, I'm sure "Radical Left" should get right on that and listen to your sage and unbiased advice, Urban....
Of course, the argument that Democratic nominees should be centrist to capture the elusive "undecided voters" is idiotic. This is clearly evident by the Tea Party takeover of the Republican Party and the Congress in 2010 midterm elections. It's about time liberals fought for their values like conservatives have been for decades. As far as ICE is concerned: It's 15 years old. If it was a kid, it would barely qualify for a quinceañera. It has only lasted two years more than the Volstead Act which created Prohibition. If ICE is abolished, we'll have a new agency that will deal with immigration. This idea that getting rid of the "long-standing" (15 years old) institution of ICE is advocating for "no borders, no nations, end deportation" is as idiotic as it is misinformed.
Let's move on from the naked partisan to the disappointingly naïve. Maine Senator and Aunt Clara from "Bewitched" Susan Collins was on both "State of the Union" and ABC's "This Week with George StepItOffTwoElectricBugaloo" to tell us why we should not be worried about a corrupt and idiotic president installing the crucial fifth deciding vote on the Supreme Court of the United States:
COLLINS: Well, the president told me in our meeting that he would not ask that question. And that is what he has most recently said, on the advice of his attorney. So, I think what he said as the candidate may not have been informed by the legal advice that he now has, that it would be inappropriate for him to ask a nominee how he or she would rule on a specific issue.
TAPPER: With all due respect, the Supreme Court, as we know, it overturns its own rulings all the time. It has overruled more than 200 of its own decisions, once just last week. And it is a stated goal of President Trump and Vice President Pence to appoint Supreme Court justices who will vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
Well if Collins can't trust the word on Donald Trump, she has an astonishing Plan B (pun unintended):
COLLINS: It involves a constitutional right and has been reaffirmed by the court 26 years ago. Indeed, Justice Roberts has made very clear that he considers Roe v. Wade to be settled law. I would not support a nominee who demonstrated hostility to Roe v. Wade, because that would mean to me that their judicial philosophy did not include a respect for established decisions, established law. And I believe that that is a very important, fundamental tenet of our judicial system, which, as Chief Justice Roberts says, helps to promote stability and even-handedness.
TAPPER: So, you will not support anyone who has demonstrated hostility towards Roe vs. Wade, but there are plenty of justices that The Federalist Society and other experts likely think will vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade, but they don't have a record of hostility towards Roe vs. Wade. For instance, don't you think, just as an academic matter, Neil Gorsuch, for whom you voted, don't you think he is probably going to vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade if given the chance?
COLLINS : I actually don't. I had a very long discussion with Justice Gorsuch in my office, and he pointed out to me that he is a co-author of a whole book on precedent. So, someone who devotes that much time to writing a book on precedent, I think, understands how important a principle that is in our judicial system.
Hey, remember two blockquotes ago, when Jake Tapper said "With all due respect, the Supreme Court, as we know, it overturns its own rulings all the time. It has overruled more than 200 of its own decisions, once just last week"? Neither does Susan Collins!
Maybe what Maine needs to do is have a good Democratic challenger for this senate seat in 2020. Because we are constantly finding ourselves hoping for the best decisions of "moderate" Republicans like Collins or Senator Lisa Murkowsi of Alaska, who have been played by and with Senate Majority LeaderYertle theMitch McConnell.
Susan Collins's trip through the Total Perspective Vortex gonna turn out just fine.
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Oh Yay Susan Collins Is The Most Important Person On Earth Again As Usual
I lived in Wyoming for many years, m'friend...
" … Gorsuch … pointed out to me that he is a co-author of a whole book on precedent. So … ."So? So what did he have to say about precedent in his book? Or didn't you bother to read it before you voted to confirm him, Senator?
Roberts has pleasantly surprised me a few times, which leads me to think he's not as doctrinaire as the Grumpy Old-folks Party had hoped when he was confirmed. Still a bit too far to the right of center for my tastes, but hope springs eternal.