Late Monday, a week before Election Day, in the dead of night, Senate Republicansconfirmed Amy Coney Barrett as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. She was sworn inquickly, in the dark, behind the White House on the South Lawn. President Trump did most of the talking.
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:
South Carolina’s Senatorial Trump toady Lindsey Graham once professed to be a man of principle. In 2016, when President Obama nominated Judge Merritt Garland to the Supreme Court, Mr. Graham pontificated:
“I want you to use my words against me. If there’s a Republican president … and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.”
“If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait to the next election.”
In 2020, now that a Supreme Court vacancy has opened six weeks before the election, however, he says he will support confirming Mr. Trump’s nominee to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Ginsburg. Mr. Graham says this time is different, probably because he’s in a tight re-election race himself.
In the last day of the session, the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump cannot block New York State prosecutors from examining his tax documents and presenting their findings to a grand jury. Grand jury proceedings are confidential, so don’t expect to see details in the news before election day. Nevertheless, Mr. Trump Twitter-screamed in all caps about “PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT!“
More:
“Supreme Court Rules Trump Cannot Block Release of Financial Records,” Adam Liptak, New York Times
“Supreme Court Gives Trump Legal Loss, Tactical Win in Tax Cases,” Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine
On Thursday, in a literal 11th-hour brief, an hour before a midnight deadline, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, and strip healthcare from 23 million Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thursday also marked the largest single-day increase in diagnosed Coronavirus cases in the U.S. to date, the day when the CDC admitted that coronavirus cases may be 10 times higher than reported.
More:
“Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Strike Down Affordable Care Act,” Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times
“Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare,” Meagan Flynn and Tim Elfrink, Washington Post
“Trump, Intent on Self-Destruction, Asks Supreme Court to Kill Obamacare,” Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine
Update:
“Obamacare Versus the G.O.P. Zombies,” Paul Krugman, New York Times
Mark Judge and “Squi” didn’t show up, but Justice Brett Kavanaugh hung out at Georgetown Prep’s Reunion last weekend, attending Friday’s Stag Night and the Homecoming game on Saturday. There was plenty of beer, but not for the judge:
“At one point during the football game, Justice Kavanaugh prepared to pose for a picture with former classmates. First, though, he instructed everyone to put down their beers, according to a person who witnessed the exchange (Justice Kavanaugh didn’t appear to be drinking.). “
— “Back at Georgetown Prep, Kavanaugh Is Hailed as a Hero,” Kate Kelly, New York Times
More:
“Justice Brett Goes To High School Reunion, Class Praised For Its ‘Loyalty,’” Elie Mystal, Above the Law
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.”