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US Supreme Court Tag

Just a few weeks ago, Democrats were vowing to do whatever it takes to keep Judge Brett Kavanaugh from being confirmed to the United States Supreme Court. They played to their base by dialing the rhetoric up to ten, as usual. Now it looks like that effort is beginning to fade.

Last year, we covered Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court, including their misguided insistence on using the filibuster in an attempt to stop the nomination.  At that point, former Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had eliminated the filibuster on lower court nominations but since there was no Supreme Court vacancy during his tenure as majority leader, Reid preserved the filibuster for the Supreme Court.

The world is ending, Armageddon is nigh, and it's all because Judge Kavanaugh was nominated to take Justice Kennedy's place on the Supreme Court. Progressives are actively exploiting civics ignorance to raise money oppose Kavanaugh's nomination. In almost every instance where abortion and Roe v. Wade are mentioned, it's supposed that Kavanaugh HIMSELF will overturn Roe and all the poor women will die in back-alley abortions.

So this is my quick take on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. My overwhelming focus as the drama unfolded tonight was not Kavanaugh's record. I'm not sufficiently familiar with Kavanaugh's record to reach an independent judgment on him. But Kavanaugh has passed muster with a wide range of conservatives who are familiar with his record and background, particularly Leonard Leo of The Federalist Society. I'll rely on, and accept, their judgment on future Justice Kavanaugh.

It's getting crazy out here on the internet. Trump names his nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy at a live press conference at 9 p.m. tonight. Trump did a pretty good job keeping the selection on the quiet with Neil Gorsuch, and as of this writing, there have been no definitive leaks. Just a lot of "insider" speculation as to who the finalists and top 2 are.

Most people assume that when the Supreme Court decides a case, it's over. Final. That's usually how it is, but not always. Sometimes when Court issues an opinion, it also sends the matter back to the lower courts for further consideration in light of the new guidance. For procedural reasons I'll explain soon, this is the path the Court took two weeks ago when it upheld Travel Order No. 3 in a bitterly divided 5-to-4 vote. So that means the case of Trump v. Hawaii will be returning to the lower courts which, altogether, have struck down the order, in its various iterations, a total of not one, not two, not three, not four, but five times. 

As the July 9 date for Trump to announce his pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy nears, there is a vicious multi-front war evolving. Of course, Democrats are attacking every likely nominee, with the anti-Catholic bigotry against Amy Coney Barrett the most prominent. Barrett would be the most finger-in-the-liberals-eye pick, and not just because of her Catholicism. She has seven (7) children -- that is a provocation in the minds of liberal feminists and the people who love them that cannot be abided.

Neil Gorsuch was an incredibly safe pick for Trump. Despite the plaintive wails of Democrats about a "stolen" seat, they didn't have much with which to go after Gorsuch on the merits. Nonetheless Democrats filibustered Gorsuch, forcing Republican's to play the nuclear option for a SCOTUS nominee (as Democrats did in 2013 for all lower courts and made clear they would do if Hillary won and they regained the Senate).