tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8549971354391868786.post6479583495981811303..comments2024-03-28T15:24:53.579-04:00Comments on Rational Nation USA: Pence Believe the American People are Naive... Are They?Les Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01120280762698472496noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8549971354391868786.post-52849382350085773022018-07-12T17:33:27.583-04:002018-07-12T17:33:27.583-04:00Irrelevant as well as false. Irrelevant as well as false. Les Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01120280762698472496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8549971354391868786.post-14402104121182250242018-07-12T17:26:06.078-04:002018-07-12T17:26:06.078-04:00RBG coughed twice today.....Pelosi got the vapors ...RBG coughed twice today.....Pelosi got the vapors and Schumer crapped his pantsRusty Shackelfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14232914458379098036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8549971354391868786.post-40554097386437310402018-07-12T11:03:17.715-04:002018-07-12T11:03:17.715-04:00From The New Republic
Did Anthony Kennedy make a ...<a href="https://newrepublic.com/minutes/149750/anthony-kennedy-make-deal-trump" rel="nofollow">From The New Republic</a><br /><br />Did Anthony Kennedy make a deal with Trump?That’s the question raised by reporting from NBC News on Tuesday morning. Reporters Geoff Bennett and Leigh Ann Caldwell tweeted that the departing justice spent months negotiating with the Trump White House about his replacement, and that Kennedy only retired after he received assurances that it would be Brett Kavanaugh, a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judge and a former Kennedy clerk.<br /><br />On Kavanaugh pick<br /><br />Kennedy and Trump/WH had been in negotiations for months over Kennedy’s replacement. Once Kennedy received assurances that it would be Kavanaugh, his former law clerk, Kennedy felt comfortable retiring, according to a source who was told of the discussions.<br /><br />— Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) July 10, 2018<br />Source familiar tells NBC that Justice Kennedy had been in negotiations with the Trump team for months over Kennedy’s replacement. Once Kennedy received assurances that it would be Kavanaugh (his former law clerk) Kennedy felt comfortable retiring - @LACaldwellDC & @frankthorp<br /><br />— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) July 10, 2018<br />Politico offered a slightly different account of the Kavanaugh selection process, reporting on Monday night that Kennedy, in a conversation with Trump about his imminent retirement, merely suggested his former clerk as a successor. That recommendation then carried great weight with a president eager to leave his mark on the nation’s judiciary.<br /><br />Administration officials said Trump was taken with Kavanaugh even before his conversation with Kennedy. But Kennedy, in leaving the impression with Trump that Kavanaugh would be a great candidate for the job, helped the president make up his mind. <br /><br />There’s nothing unusual about a Supreme Court justice timing his or her retirement to ensure an ideologically similar replacement. But what NBC’s report describes is quite different. Any bargaining between a sitting justice and the White House would immediately raise ethical questions about his or her participation in cases involving the president. Kennedy voted to uphold Trump’s controversial travel ban the day before he announced his retirement, for example.<br /><br />That said, it’s possible that what happened still fell short of an overt quid pro quo between Kennedy and Trump. The president and other conservatives made little secret of their desire to replace the court’s swing justice after the 2016 election. Trump’s selection last year of Neil Gorsuch, another former Kennedy clerk, to replace Antonin Scalia was widely considered to be a not-so-subtle nod at the 81-year-old jurist that Trump would nominate a similar successor to him. Kennedy may have simply taken the hint and offered a suggestion of his own on the way out.Les Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01120280762698472496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8549971354391868786.post-38994289737284288962018-07-12T10:39:56.737-04:002018-07-12T10:39:56.737-04:00Kennedy was probably trying to protect his son.Kennedy was probably trying to protect his son.Jerry Critterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870618647449723147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8549971354391868786.post-83429400863910981152018-07-12T10:23:52.220-04:002018-07-12T10:23:52.220-04:00If true it is definitely a conflict of interests.
...If true it is definitely a conflict of interests.<br /><br />I would be very interested in learning the source of this information as I have not yet seen anything giving it verifiable credibility. That is not to say I don't believe it possible. To do so certainly fits tRump's character profile IMO. Or should I say <i>lack of chatacter</i>?Les Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01120280762698472496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8549971354391868786.post-58509681577599275962018-07-12T09:40:52.516-04:002018-07-12T09:40:52.516-04:00The Federalist Society vetted all the candidates. ...The Federalist Society vetted all the candidates. Nobody has to ask them as to get the recommendation they had to meet the criteria. Not that there were ever any candidates beside Brett. According to what I've been hearing, the Trump administration negotiated with Kennedy and Brett was the replacement he wanted. Such negotiating and deals for who replaces who is obviously a conflict of interest. With Trump administration cases before the court, one naturally wonders if Kennedy ruled the way he did on any of these cases to keep his deal on track. Whether these negotiations influenced his rulings or not is irrelevant. The appearance of a quid pro quo is as much a no-no as an actual quid pro-quo. In that they should absolutely be avoided.<br /><br />And, given how leaky the Trump administration is, is it no surprise that this got out? WTF was Kennedy thinking? I'd have thunk he'd know better. This surely does not look good for him. And should sully his legacy given that he basically took a bribe to step down. Brett should be disqualified for that reason alone.Dervish Sandershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13671865801885224353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8549971354391868786.post-73844038345802335462018-07-11T14:15:31.415-04:002018-07-11T14:15:31.415-04:00I agree Brad. There is nothing like political pres...I agree Brad. There is nothing like political pressure to cause legislators, ececutives, and even sometimes justices to pause and think twice about their actions and decisions. An 80+ percent turnout would bode very well for America and the republic. We are in fact <b>NOT</b> an extreme conservative nation. We are essentially a nation of moderates. Regardless what the conservative and republican pundits and politicians would have us believe.<br /><br />Conservatives and republicans are all about rights. Rights they are comfortable with. Rights they don't approve of and are not comfortable with they will gladly deny everyone else.Les Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01120280762698472496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8549971354391868786.post-21190566899194666922018-07-11T13:00:46.115-04:002018-07-11T13:00:46.115-04:00I remember Chief Justice Roberts saying during his...I remember Chief Justice Roberts saying during his conformation hearings that Row/Wade was settled law and a legal precedent he would not seek to change.<br /><br />Trump said the same thing for decades. <br /><br />The Supreme Court selects the cases it will hear. I expect the Court to select an abortion case now that they have the votes to change Roe/Wade. <br /><br />Even if Democrats get majority again this Fall, or win the White House back in 2020, it will be hard to change a Supreme Court ruling.<br /><br />This is all very sad for future America and hopefully will raise voting participation into the 80% range. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com