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 Souter retires!
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 05/01/2009 :  05:51:32  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
This could be interesting, especally if the Senate Republicans behave as expected.




"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

Simon
SFN Regular

USA
1992 Posts

Posted - 05/01/2009 :  07:33:13   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Simon a Private Message  Reply with Quote
He; Obama would appoint Benito Mussolini and the GOP would still yell from the rooftops as how too liberal he is!

In fact, Souter being a liberal, that would only be 'fair and balanced' to appoint a similarly leaning judge.
Sotomayor seems like a great pick!

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996
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Kil
Evil Skeptic

USA
13477 Posts

Posted - 05/01/2009 :  08:35:01   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Kil's Homepage  Send Kil an AOL message  Send Kil a Yahoo! Message Send Kil a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Too bad the only persons who might retire are mostly on the liberal side of the bench, except for Kennedy who is a swing vote. His retirement while Obama is president would be best case scenario, I think.

I'd add that Souter was a surprise and a jurist. He was appointed by a Republican but has been one of the most liberal of the judges on the court.

Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Why not question something for a change?

Genetic Literacy Project
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HalfMooner
Dingaling

Philippines
15831 Posts

Posted - 05/01/2009 :  15:20:45   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send HalfMooner a Private Message  Reply with Quote
What I find hilarious is two-fold. First, that the GOP thinks the present Supreme Court is "liberal." Second, that the Republicans seem to actually think that their opposition (which doubtless will be to whoever Obama nominates) is going to make any difference, or be the GOP's “... path back to the majority.”

Impotence and irrelevance are not only hard for the GOP to deal with, they're impossible for them to even see. Cognitive dissonance seems to be at the heart of the GOP's death spiral.


Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive.
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Robb
SFN Regular

USA
1223 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  07:54:29   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Robb a Private Message  Reply with Quote
He will pick someone that is liberal and that is ok, but I am not confident that he will pick someone that is qualified based on recent comments.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington
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Dude
SFN Die Hard

USA
6891 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  08:27:37   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Dude a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Robb

He will pick someone that is liberal and that is ok, but I am not confident that he will pick someone that is qualified based on recent comments.


"Qualified" is republican code for anti-abortion.


Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson

"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin

Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth
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Robb
SFN Regular

USA
1223 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  09:37:05   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Robb a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Dude

Originally posted by Robb

He will pick someone that is liberal and that is ok, but I am not confident that he will pick someone that is qualified based on recent comments.


"Qualified" is republican code for anti-abortion.


No. I said the new justice will be liberal and certainly be pro abortion and thats ok. But with Obama's comments about empathy, women, gay could be requirements to fill the position bother me. Shouldn't he nominate someone that understands the justice system, constitution etc as well?

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington
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Dude
SFN Die Hard

USA
6891 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  10:28:16   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Dude a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Robb, you didn't even listen to or read Obama's remarks did you? No, it's clear you didn't. Turn off your radio, because the wing-nuts you are getting your info from are demented, delusional, dickweeds with only one thought in their petty little powerhungry heads: Obstructionsism.


Also, Robb, didn't your jesus command you to Love thy neighbor as thyself? Isn't that EMPATHY in a nutshell?

So I'm not sure how you lot see empathy as a negative character trait... oh, wait, you don't really care about empathy! You just want some linguistic construct that can be shot off the lips in two seconds, is memorable, and with the right tone and scorn applied becomes an insult.

Congratulations! The wing-nut lignuistic consultants (who don't give a fuck about your jesus, btw, just keeping power and wealth concentrated in the hands of a few) have done it again. They have turned a positive character trait into a slur.

Empathy?! What are you, some baby killing homo commu-fasci-socialist pig fucker? DOWN WITH EMPATHY!


Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson

"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin

Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth
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Kil
Evil Skeptic

USA
13477 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  12:22:32   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Kil's Homepage  Send Kil an AOL message  Send Kil a Yahoo! Message Send Kil a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Robb

Originally posted by Dude

Originally posted by Robb

He will pick someone that is liberal and that is ok, but I am not confident that he will pick someone that is qualified based on recent comments.


"Qualified" is republican code for anti-abortion.


No. I said the new justice will be liberal and certainly be pro abortion and thats ok. But with Obama's comments about empathy, women, gay could be requirements to fill the position bother me. Shouldn't he nominate someone that understands the justice system, constitution etc as well?
Do you really think all of those things can't be found in one person? Why do you think that? This may come as a newsflash for you but Obama is not an idiot.


Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Why not question something for a change?

Genetic Literacy Project
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Robb
SFN Regular

USA
1223 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  12:47:26   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Robb a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Dude

Robb, you didn't even listen to or read Obama's remarks did you? No, it's clear you didn't. Turn off your radio, because the wing-nuts you are getting your info from are demented, delusional, dickweeds with only one thought in their petty little powerhungry heads: Obstructionsism.


Also, Robb, didn't your jesus command you to Love thy neighbor as thyself? Isn't that EMPATHY in a nutshell?

So I'm not sure how you lot see empathy as a negative character trait... oh, wait, you don't really care about empathy! You just want some linguistic construct that can be shot off the lips in two seconds, is memorable, and with the right tone and scorn applied becomes an insult.

Congratulations! The wing-nut lignuistic consultants (who don't give a fuck about your jesus, btw, just keeping power and wealth concentrated in the hands of a few) have done it again. They have turned a positive character trait into a slur.

Empathy?! What are you, some baby killing homo commu-fasci-socialist pig fucker? DOWN WITH EMPATHY!


I can always count on Dude for an unreasonable response, the f-word and insults. Never said empahy was a bad trait. But it may be bad to base supreme court descisions on it.

Obama Said:
Now, the process of selecting someone to replace Justice Souter is among my most serious responsibilities as President. So I will seek somebody with a sharp and independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity. I will seek someone who understands that justice isn't about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a case book. It is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people's lives -- whether they can make a living and care for their families; whether they feel safe in their homes and welcome in their own nation.

I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles as an essential ingredient for arriving as just decisions and outcomes. I will seek somebody who is dedicated to the rule of law, who honors our constitutional traditions, who respects the integrity of the judicial process and the appropriate limits of the judicial role. I will seek somebody who shares my respect for constitutional values on which this nation was founded, and who brings a thoughtful understanding of how to apply them in our time.

As I make this decision, I intend to consult with members of both parties across the political spectrum. And it is my hope that we can swear in our new Supreme Court Justice in time for him or her to be seated by the first Monday in October when the Court's new term begins.


The two statements I bolded are good attributes but how does a supreme court justice use them to arrive at descisions? Shouldn't they only consider the law and not their empathy for others when making a descision?

Jesus did say love your neighbor as yourself and love your enemies. But, loving someone does not mean to render a descision for a group of people that may make them happier but it is in violation of the laws of our country. I can love someone and then render a decision against them based on the law. What I fear is the decisions will be made on emotion and not the law.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington
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Robb
SFN Regular

USA
1223 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  12:50:30   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Robb a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Kil

Originally posted by Robb

Originally posted by Dude

Originally posted by Robb

He will pick someone that is liberal and that is ok, but I am not confident that he will pick someone that is qualified based on recent comments.


"Qualified" is republican code for anti-abortion.


No. I said the new justice will be liberal and certainly be pro abortion and thats ok. But with Obama's comments about empathy, women, gay could be requirements to fill the position bother me. Shouldn't he nominate someone that understands the justice system, constitution etc as well?
Do you really think all of those things can't be found in one person? Why do you think that? This may come as a newsflash for you but Obama is not an idiot.


What has he done to make you come to that conclusion?

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington
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Kil
Evil Skeptic

USA
13477 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  13:18:07   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Kil's Homepage  Send Kil an AOL message  Send Kil a Yahoo! Message Send Kil a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Robb quoting Obama:
I will seek somebody who is dedicated to the rule of law, who honors our constitutional traditions, who respects the integrity of the judicial process and the appropriate limits of the judicial role.


How come you didn't bold this part too? Hell, based on your argument, I'm rather surprised that you even left it in.

Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Why not question something for a change?

Genetic Literacy Project
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Robb
SFN Regular

USA
1223 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  13:29:40   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Robb a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Kil

Robb quoting Obama:
I will seek somebody who is dedicated to the rule of law, who honors our constitutional traditions, who respects the integrity of the judicial process and the appropriate limits of the judicial role.


How come you didn't bold this part too? Hell, based on your argument, I'm rather surprised that you even left it in.
Yes, I agree with that. That is what judgements should be based on. Not how you feel about a persons plight at any one moment.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington
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Kil
Evil Skeptic

USA
13477 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  14:03:19   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Kil's Homepage  Send Kil an AOL message  Send Kil a Yahoo! Message Send Kil a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Robb

Originally posted by Kil

Robb quoting Obama:
I will seek somebody who is dedicated to the rule of law, who honors our constitutional traditions, who respects the integrity of the judicial process and the appropriate limits of the judicial role.


How come you didn't bold this part too? Hell, based on your argument, I'm rather surprised that you even left it in.
Yes, I agree with that. That is what judgements should be based on. Not how you feel about a persons plight at any one moment.

But Robb. Considering a persons plight and how a judge rules, based on the judges interpretation of the constitution, is done all the time, both on the conservative and liberal side of the bench.

Just so you know, Mr. Spock is a fictional and last I heard, is not in the running.

Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Why not question something for a change?

Genetic Literacy Project
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Dude
SFN Die Hard

USA
6891 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  14:29:34   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Dude a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Robb said:
I can always count on Dude for an unreasonable response, the f-word and insults. Never said empahy was a bad trait. But it may be bad to base supreme court descisions on it.

No, Robb, you said the character trait of EMPATHY bothers you. I'll go back and quote you with a link to the specific post if you like.

The only reason it probably bothers you is because you have been bombarded by bloated buffoons babbling about how bad empathy is. ITS LIBERAL CODE FOR ACTIVIST JUDGE! OHHH NOES! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

Whatever.

If you accept empathy as a positive character trait, then you can't reject it as a desired trait for one of the most powerful people in the world. Not and remain rational anyway.


Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson

"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin

Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 05/05/2009 :  15:30:07   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Robb

I said the new justice will be liberal and certainly be pro abortion and thats ok.
No, it's not. Nobody is pro abortion.

Except perhaps a few really bizarre victims of Munchausen's Syndrome.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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