Trump Supreme Court Reality Show: The Big Reveal

President Donald Trump, commited opportunist, has pledged to nominate a new Supreme Court Justice this week, six weeks before the presidential election. He expects the Republican toadies of the Senate to confirm his pick with all unseemly haste before November 3rd, Election Day.

Mr. Trump has vowed to nominate a woman to replace Justice Ginsburg, and the former reality TV host is drumming up the drama of his choice before Saturday’s big reveal. He likes surprise endings, so Judge Jeanine Pirro cannot be ruled out, but betting favors other candidates. Front runners include U.S. Appeals Court Judges Amy Coney Barrett, Joan Larsen, Britt Grant, Joan Larsen, Allison Eid, and Allison Jones Rushing and Florida Supreme Court Judge Barbara Lagoa. We certainly hope Mr. Trump has their husbands’ permission.

White House staff hope to restrain President Trump’s tendency to decide on woman candidates through swimsuit cometitions.

There are two real reasons why Mr. Trump is nominating a Supreme Court Justice mere weeks before an election, and neither is about conservative principles, since the man has no principles, conservative or otherwise:

1. He desperately needs to divert voters’ attention from the COVID-19 pandemic and his disasterous negligence that has killed 200,000 Americans; and

2. He is likely to be indicted for corrupt business practices, tax fraud, and corruption in office, and hopes to keep himself and his spawn out of prison by filling the high court with Trump-appointed judges.

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Protesters Outside Mitch McConnell’s House: ‘I Like Beer!’

Beer-swilling protesters … oh wait, it’s a beer festival near DC’s Navy Yard. Great timing.

Demonstrators protesting the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh gathered outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s house in DC this morning, chanting “I Like Beer!” and singing “What do you do with a drunken justice, what do you do with a drunken justice, what do you do with a confirmation early in the morning? Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!” In case you were blacked-out or in a drunken stupor last week, this refers to Judge Kavanaugh’s spirited “I like beer” defense during his Judicial Committee testimony.

There are people drinking PBR from red Solo cups outside Mitch McConnell’s house at this early hour. They are chanting “I like beer.”

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) October 5, 2018

MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt followed-up, sounding a bit disappointed:  “The promised keg did not materialize.”

In a related development last week, the conservative Federalist Society hosted an “I Still Like Beer” party.

More:

“PBR-Drinking Kavanaugh Protesters Chant Outside McConnell’s Home ‘I Like Beer,'” David Rutz, Washington Free Beacon

“Brett Kavanaugh Protesters Bring Beer, Chant ‘Chug’ Outside Mitch McConnell’s House,” Jenna Amatulli, Huffington Post

“Kavanaugh protesters bring beer, chant ‘chug’ outside McConnell’s home,” Aris Folley, The Hill

Update:

“Kavanaugh supporters drink beer to celebrate his confirmation,” Aris Folley, The Hill

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Brett Kavanaugh: Perjury?

When Brett Kavanaugh testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee during 2004 confirmation hearings on his DC Circuit Court nomination, he said, under oath, that he had not seen confidential memos regarding the judicial nomination of William Pryor that were pilfered from Democratic senators by GOP staffer Manuel Miranda, and was not involved in Bush White House discussions about the Pryor nomination. Guess what was in the “committee confidential” emails released at 3AM on Thursday? An email about the Pryor nomination.

Showtime!

It’s spectacle showtime for charlatan-in-chief Donald Trump, who’ll select his prime-time pick for America’s next top model Supreme Court justice tonight at 9PM Eastern. Suspense mounts! Which conservative ideologue will win? Who will go home with a consolation prize?

More:

“How Trump turned the US Supreme Court into prime time television,” Ephrat Livni, Quartz

“Trump pushing for another reality-show reveal of Supreme Court pick,” Andrew Restuccia, Politico

“A ‘Supreme’ show: Trump savors big reveal for court choice,” BY Catherine Lucey and Zeke Miller, AP via Charlotte Observer

“Trump’s New Pageant: SCOTUS Pick Will Have To Look ‘All-American,’ Jibe With Trump,” Nicole LaFond, TPM Livewire

“Trump Is Picking His Supreme Court Nominee Like He’s Casting the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition,” Bess Levin, Vanity Fair

“The Supreme Court Show,” Ross Douthat, New York Times

“The most interesting late development in Trump’s Supreme Court derby,” Aaron Blake, Washington Post

Inside Baseball:

“The Five Frontrunners,” Adam Feldman, Empirical SCOTUS

“Trump’s 2018 Supreme Court Shortlist and Their Views on Administrative Law,” Chris Walker, Notice & Comment

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Trump Narrows Supreme Court Picks Down to Three

Drama! Suspense mounts on the reality-TV show known as the Trump presidency as we near the prime time Monday night announcement of Mr. Trump’s nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Whatshisname. The president has narrowed the list prepared by the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society to three possible nominees, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Raymond Kethledge. While Republicans argue about which one is the most stalwart conservative ideologue, Mr. Trump makes personnel decisions based on a candidate’s looks. That’s certainly worked out well for him so far!

More:

“Trump pushing for another reality-show reveal of Supreme Court pick,” Andrew Restuccia, Politico

“Trump’s New Pageant: SCOTUS Pick Will Have To Look ‘All-American,’ Jibe With Trump,” Nicole LaFond, TPM Livewire

“Trump Is Picking His Supreme Court Nominee Like He’s Casting the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition,” Bess Levin, Vanity Fair

“The Supreme Court Show,” Ross Douthat, New York Times

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Trump Supreme Court Pick: Worst TV Game Show Ever

President Donald Trump has accepted the resignation of Supreme Court Justice Whatshisname, and scheduled the announcement of his replacement nominee for July 9th. The president will ponder this momentous decision while spending the July 4th weekend in his Fortress of Solitude Trump Bedminster National Golf Club in New Jersey. There is said to be a shortlist of 5 possible contenders, none of them Gary Busey or Meat Loaf. “I may have two of them come up, like the old days to Bedminster,” said the president, “could be this weekend…It is exciting.” Suspense! Imagine the ratings. May the best conservative ideologue win!

There will be no swimsuit competition, even though two of the candidates are women. Senate Democrats and civil rights groups are asking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to delay the confirmation vote until after the midterm elections, but he just smiles.

More:

“Supreme Court Announcement Scheduled Just Like The World’s Worst Game Show,” Joe Patrice, Above the Law

“It’s ‘The Apprentice, Supreme Court Edition,’ as Trump Summons Finalists to White House,” Maggie Haberman, Michael M. Grynbaum, and Ron Nixon, New York Times

“Online bettors see Kavanaugh as likely U.S. Supreme Court nominee,” Reuters

“Chuck Todd: GOP ‘may fully pull that hypocrisy muscle’ by confirming SCOTUS pick in election year,” Jacqueline Thomsen, The Hill

“Mitch McConnell shows there’s no honor among Supreme Court thieves,” Scot Lehigh, Boston Globe

Updates:

“Trump Narrows Supreme Court Shortlist To 3 — With 2 On The Inside Track,” Nina Totenberg, NPR

“Gamblers betting on Kavanaugh as Trump’s Supreme Court pick,” Matthew Nussbaum, Politico

Related:

“Just Like LeBron James, Justice Anthony Kennedy Is Now A ‘Free Agent,’” Staci Zaretsky, Above the Law

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Republican Party Bends Knee to Trump

At the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, Reality TV star, celebrity golf cheat, and overgrown spoiled rich kid Donald J. Trump was confirmed as the 2016 Presidential Candidate of the Republican Party. He achieved this position by espousing ethnic cleansing, violence, racism, and isolationism. The Republican Platform supports his policies that would crash the world economy, destroy the environment, spread nuclear weapons among nations, and build concentration camps on American soil.

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The Press Weighs in on Chris Christie

There’s a big, fat political story in America: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s weight. Mr. Christie cuts an impressive figure compared to the lightweights competing for the 2012 Republican presential nomination; despite his protestations, he’s being touted as a contender with heft.

Chris Christie’s career in elective office stretches all the way back to January 19, 2010, a tenure nearly as long as that of former Alaska Temp-Governor Sarah Palin. Mr. Christie wants to put his state’s government on a diet by starving the poor and middle class, he is a former registered lobbyist for big corporations, and his legal background is littered with skeletons and controversy. Despite all this factual fodder, it is the governor’s personal avoirdupois that has media pundits salivating.

The feeding frenzy has only started, but here’s the first course: