She shouldn't have been on the Trump espionage case from the start. She definitely should've recused after Trump announced a presidential run. And there should have been a lot more outrage.
The justice department has mishandled the Trump criminal cases from the beginning. Merrick Garland wasted over a year before he began the prosecution. Jack Smith should have demanded Cannon recuse herself at the very start of the process. Where's Biden's Roy Cohn?
Merrick Garland, from the beginning, was greeted by the brick wall of non-compliance that we've seen in the delays by the supreme court (sic), the Georgia Court's continuing intrusion into Fani Willis's romantic life by the extant GOPer political structure and by Aileen Cannon's incompetence and substantial delays that lack any kind of justification. It's fascinating that these are the venues that deal with the most egregious alleged crimes Orange creature has committed - treason, incitement, purloining of classified documents which I expect are included in Ivana's casket. This is nothing more than facilitating obstruction of justices by those who wear justice's robes.
Mueller, She Wrote, whom I love, defends Merrick Garland. I don't get it. Garland is too much of a Federalist even though, technically, I don't think he is a "member" which, frankly, I think is by design.
Blue win in November = Trump’s downfall judicially. Let’s not despair , he will face justice. Let’s concentrate on giving the Democrats full control, Trump and his corrupt justice system will be collateral damage.
If they give Trump immunity, it will be only for him. They will find a way to just make it so it's for Trump. They don't care. Supreme Court is corrupt.
I agree, let's focus on November. I hope Trump is found guilty but not holding my breath. I will settle for Biden getting re-elected, holding the Senate and taking back the House. Trump can rot in his god awful tacky Mar-A-Lago. Hey, if I am wrong and he gets house arrest, that would also work at this point. He hates losing and that, at least, gives me some satisfaction. He knows he lost 2020 and is still crying about it. His racist base goes along with whatever lies he spews. I think he loathes his racist base - not because they are racist like him, but because frankly, just look at those idiots.
I am with YOU Cindy H, I am rapidly losing confidence in Judicial remedies. I am now believing US righteous folks here in these United States will be the FINAL SOLUTION in purging America of the trunp DEVIL and all the insane rabble that rolls with him. #VoteBLUE !!!
Let us stay focused and determined to encourage straight blue ticket voting for all federal offices. The greater the majority we can garner, the better our chances of wiping out the execrable GOP record that has stripped $50 trillion from the "lower" classes to the uber rich over the last 43 years. And let us be mindful that the GOP has already stacked the deck against Democratic votes. We will have to over perform to ensure victory.
I appreciate politeness and traditions, but Dems have been far too slow to recognize that our opponents will throw it all away to get their corrupt wishes. We can't pretend that Republicans are playing by the rules anymore. One really egregious instance was when Moscow Mitch refused Obama his SCOTUS pick. How come Democrats didn't rise up and howl when that was happening? Politeness toward magas won't cut it in 2024.
SK, you’re so right about the deafening silence of elected D’s, no howls, no people protesting in the streets when Mitch far overstepped the powers given in his job description. Wicked Mitch. “Can’t seat a justice because, was it 8 months?, 12 months?is too close to an election”, then crams Amy C. Barrett in just several weeks before another election. D’s were too quiet, MIA. Is still vexing. Lay down and allowed to have R feet wiped on ‘em like a door mat.
I’m shocked and I shouldn’t be of the prejudicial damage being done to our legal system. How this one man wrecking crew was able to bring it all down. On top of Cannon’s traitorous shit I hear Fani’s case in Georgia will be delayed for months on appeal. For being the greatest country in the world our legal system is an abhorrent. The only way out of this is for uncle Joe to stack the Supreme Court which I don’t think he will ever do.
Well, maybe. One other way out of this, and I'm not kidding, is to take back the House, impeach Cannon based on her record in this case, and either convict her in the Senate or make every Republican who votes to acquit defend that vote.
It's unbelievably frustrating that we lost control of the House in 2022, and more frustrating that the pathetic Speakers managed to hang on to power. If (I think this is correct) two more Republican caucus members resign or are removed ("hi, Matt Gaetz!"), we could do that, starting now.
And Thomas and Alito should be next on the list, just based on known ethical concerns.
I think that Roberts should also be on that list. He's the one that opened up the Court to removing the chapter in the Voting Rights act which stopped gerrymandering, and kept voting rights safe in the (mostly) Southern states. His Supreme Court is the most corrupt I've ever lived through, and I hope to never see one like it again. He could have acted in ways which would have forced Thomas to recuse himself from 1/6 cases, or even resign, but he sits up there like everything is peachy....and I guess it is for him, if you don't mind the Court's 26% approval rating by the American people.
Lorie, yes, Robert’s appearance is like good, honorable, clean, but his ACTIONS and IN-actions tell the truth on who he really is: a justice putting self-interests, self desires above the greater good for nation. What we need if even possible, is Congress to create an outside apolitical or politically balanced governing body overseeing the SC with power to sanction, impeach, remove unethical justices, make sure the 9 know they have to answer to someone and they are not above the law. I understand there are 13 districts they oversee, 13 SC justices sounds like an appropriate work load. But, I don’t know enough about SC, the court system, just tossing ideas out. The bottom line, the 9 need to answer to SOMEONE and not be so smug and puffed up with themselves as “supreme”.
Yes. Yes, it is. I'm an optimist in general, but the situation we're in is EXTREMELY serious, so I'm starting at the shallow end of the pool.
1. Congress punts known corrupt judges, OR
2. Congress changes the size of the Supreme Court AND confirms nominees who aren't vetted by the Federalist Society, OR
3. We each, on our own, solve this problem for ourselves, by either flooding the bluest states (so flooding the Senate with senators from the redest states), or emigrating to a country that will accept us as refugees.
If we can't do 1 or 2, can you think of another plan? Honest question.
I'm 69, so I share 69/80ths of your pain. I hope neither of us is forced to do what we struggle to imagine - perhaps our best short-term plan is to redouble our effort to fight fascism now.
He can't do it alone. The Democrats would need to a majority in the Senate over the long hall and I'm sorry my fellow liberals I don't blame Biden for our powerlessness. When will the left make a decades long effort to insure a favorable SC? Never. We aren't capable of the single-minded focus of the right because we let every tragedy pull our attention away. Time for some cold-hearted calculation. That's how we beat the fascists before.
I think one of our strengths as Democrats is our "big tent", but being such a diverse party can also lessen our resolve to work for long-term goals, such as seats on the Supreme Court. But there WAS a Warren Court, and there can be one again
I just looked at the votes on Cannon's confirmation, and it wasn't overwhelming - 56 Yeas, 21 Nays, 23 Not Voting. Yes, 10 Dems voted to confirm, but there were enough Republicans not voting to put her over the top.
The Dems could have gone scorched earth, but honestly, the legal commentators I read say she had a plausible background, and was young enough that she didn't have a horrific record to defend ("hi, James Ho!"). The most obvious Monday-morning quarterback criticism of Dems who voted to confirm is that they should have tried to block all confirmations by a lame-duck president on general principles, but that's so McTurtle (any Senator who would have done that enthusiastically was probably a Republican).
Seriously, confirming a judge nominated by the other party SHOULDN'T be unthinkable, even if they are Federalist Society-endorsed, and we SHOULDN'T HAVE to demand that all judges who were appointed by a president recuse themselves when that (former) president appears before them. Confirming someone like Cannon SHOULDN'T be an existential threat to democracy in general and the United States in particular. That's why Cannon being so corrupt is so frustrating. I'd bet that even the 20 Dems plus one Independent who voted Nay are stunned at how low she has sunk.
I understand that point of view. What I'm thinking is actually scarier - that Cannon WAS qualified as a candidate, but has chosen to "disqualify" herself by her actions on the bench. At some level, the confirmation process is still able to block unqualified nominees, but the judicial system isn't able to deal with judges who make it past confirmation and then act as if they were never qualified.
We can agree to disagree on whether Cannon was qualified. What Trump's reign has exposed is how much our judicial systems relies on an honor system. I agree there does not appear much that can be done with corrupt judges if those in power do nothing about it. These people act as if they are above the law. Why? Because, unless something changes, they are above the law. Most of the media just goes along with it. Can you imagine if one of the liberal justices had a Black Lives Matter flag hanging on her front lawn?
I agree with you, and I'm sorry if I wasn't clear - it's not whether Judge Cannon was qualified, it's whether progressives could have made a convincing case that she was unqualified during her confirmation hearings. You're exactly right that we rely on the honor of people who turn out to be fine with betraying their oath, apparently without warning. Either the confirmation process needs to change, to detect "qualified" charlatans, or we have to be able to remove charlatans after they uncloak themselves. Maybe reconfirmation, after some number of years?
If I remember correctly, and I could be wrong, but we didn't have the votes to keep Cannon off the bench. What I don't understand is how judges like her can just stay on the bench when they are so clearly in the tank for a defendant they are so clearly biased about (in this case Trump).
Right - we didn't have the votes to block acannon. I mentioned at the top of this thread that some Dems did vote to confirm, but even if all of them had voted against confirmation, non-voting Republicans could have mobilized to confirm her anyway. But I can add two more thoughts -
(1) In this case, "being in the tank" for Trump just means that she slow-walks and dithers, making very few actual decisions that could be appealed, and holding individual briefed hearings on myriad bullshit*t motions to dismiss that another judge could have handled on their own. She recently scheduled pretrial hearings through at least mid-July. The 11th Circuit has already overruled her twice, and in the past, that circuit has reassigned cases from judges that they've overruled three times. But judges have to make decisions before their decisions can be appealed, and have a lot of autonomy in handling their schedules. Cannon is proving that we should think about giving them a little less autonomy in that area.
(2) we rely on the judiciary to stand with minorities against a majority that is wrong, so we don't want it to be too easy for powerful groups to force a judge off a case, much less remove them from the bench. Cannon is proving that we should think about making it a little easier to hold judges like her accountable.
Well, I can’t seem to wrap my head around is that when you’re hired as a judge, Supreme Court, A lawyer, etc. aren’t you sworn to an oath? And with that oath shouldn’t be you be following the law? How can they not be following the law and get away with it that I just don’t understand.
It just diminishes their credibility to the public…. Just not in the world they live in.
Cannon has cleverly ( who is advising her?) not made decisions in outstanding fillings by both prosecutors & defense. thus delaying any opportunity for the prosecutor to have the ammunition for a legitimate appeal to the appellate court.
The Supremes are except from the ethics code that covers all other judges. Theoretically, they handle problems internally.
I believe Congress is supposed to impeach and convict lower court judges who need to be removed. Even if Alito or Thomas was convicted of criminal offense, they'd just appeal all the way up, and if Thomas doesn't have to recuse for Ginny-adjacent criminal cases, they probably wouldn't recuse if they were appealing their own convictions.
It is nothing more than corruption, pure and simple. What a breathtaking mess this country is in and there seems to be no standing up to it. Stifling protests regarding Gaza would extend to protests against the Judiciary. The rule of law IS the basis for Democracy and that is what Repugnicans and Orange Hitler are fighting to destroy. This does not bode well considering we are awash with guns in this once great country.
Michelangelo, you are certainly right about there being something ROTTEN with our entire system of ‘justice.’ Slavish sycophants of right-wing, corrupt psychopaths predominate all the way up to the Obscene Court.
Her actions and deliberate delays smack of vanity and self-importance along with cult follower beliefs. She says she’s too busy! What other cases on her docket are more important important. None!
So that is either 1 in 7, or 1 in 11, or one in 17 for the first round, the first hearings.
But then she was ‘randomly’ chosen for the second round too . . . ! No. That’s 1 in 49, or 1 in 121, or 1 in 189.
No.
It was not random.
And if that simple powerful likelihood arithmetic stands after ethical review of the actual process and situation, that should have been, and should still be, the number one story about that case.
It should be the number one story until it is demonstrated with observable recorded evidence that the selection was random — because it is so unlikely.
Everyone else reasonably accused of the same crime, with much less evidence, had been locked up almost immediately, or as part of the indictment process, as I understand the matter.
Lock him up!
The contrast could not be starker.
We have to remove all of the Feudalist Society judges, if they will not resign. Their record could not be more anti-Constitutional, and they are on the record.
All campaigns this year should be about the judiciary, and the members and Senators who select them, with the President, and who are the only ones responsible for sane and timely checks and balances — best luck to US, b.rad
…how fucking pathetic our country is… we went from front runners for civil rights movement of 60-70s to politically passive and finally politically impaired people, NAZIS taking our country state by state and school district by school district WITHOUT ANY RESISTANCE and only NAZIS on the march while democrats applauding Biden and waiting for a “blue wave”, we can’t just live in a democracy from election to election we have to sustain its progress, there’s no such thing as “status quo” in political climate, shit either goes “up” or “down” and we are in a such a deep hole that only delusional people can think elections alone can fix the country
I don't think the people of the U.S. are pathetic, but our corporations are....see "When Corporations Rule the World". The Supreme Court, from the time it became the Rhenquist (sp?) Court in the '90's made many more pro-business decisions than pro-citizen, and now we've turned into a country of giant monopoly businesses that don't really care what we want or need. The WTO and the early trade agreements have all been pro-multi-national corporations.
Do you remember the times when you could complain to a company officer and get taken care of? Yeah, that's so 1985.
Even with what seemed like a simple idea, AIRBNB, people are now buying up apartments and residences and turning them into short-term rentals, exacerbating the lack of all kinds of housing.
We have a hard time making headway on solutions to climate change because of the many vested interests of large corporations.
Private equity is eating the lunch of Americans every day. They've bought real estate, newspapers, ERs, senior communities and nursing homes, you name it, and then they load them up with debt, layoff half the company, and bankrupt them, while they make off with the proceeds. Massive corporations leave a state to either off-shore or go to a right-to-work state, leaving behind cities and towns with the unemployed and the small businesses that counted on their business. Wall Street is where the REAL rot is, not at the border (so stupid);; or in a woman's uterus (also stupic af), or because of the Democrats, or because of energy-saving appliances, or whatever other stupid stuff the GOP makes up to camouflage all the money changing hands between the GQP and the uber wealthy.
That has been some of the very funniest stuff I've ever heard on Michelangelo's show, Cindy! I've been in my car a couple of times, and almost had to pull off the road listening to the "Liberty for Laundry" lines.. LMAO. And Mike has also detailed which appliances are in the bill, and it was proposed by some (R) woman who thought it was such a great bill...LOL LOL. Jesus, what will these MAGA people think of next? I guess it's anything to hide what they're really doing to try to shove more of our money to corporations and the uber rich.
OMG While driving, I heard a clip of a woman going on passionately about ... appliances! 😂. I honest to God thought it was a joke. When it went on, I thought okay it's funny, kind of going on too much, and then realized, oh wait, this is REAL??? 😂😂😂😂. So so stupid.
Mike, I heard one talking head on MSNBC suggest that Cannon may not be the sole person behind her decisions, that she could be taking certain cues from someone on the Trump side. Another legal scholar on MSNBC suggested last night that this is a bad time for Jack Smith to request that Cannon recuse herself - the reason was a very complicated legal one, based on the issues that are before the Court right now. I know that all the MSNBC commentators last nght really tore into Cannon for her non-decision decision on when the case could start. She should be (and rightfully so) feeling under tremendous pressure.
I believe that before her appointment, Cannon had only heard four criminal cases as a judge.
A piece of good news today is that Biden has paused some weapons shipments to Israel! We are currently providing 15-20% of their arms. Netanuyuhu and his far-right government are the ones refusing to the ceasfire agreement, natch. Bibi doesn't want to go to court (and jail) on his own corruption charges, and that might happen if the war ends.
Thank you for expressing the outrage that so many of us feel and so eloquently. Jack Smith never should’ve accepted her as the presiding judge, but imagine the uproar if he had opposed her. I used to think having woman in power was what we needed boy was I naïve.
Yeah, a lot of women think there wouldn't be war if women ruled....bunk! Think Cleopatra, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi. The world would probably be better if the child-bearers were leaders, but look at MTG and Kristi Noem and ask yourself, really....??
As a feminist, I hate to think that increasing equality has brought us such disasters as MTG, the slimy woman senator from Mississippi, and the wives of the Trumps, but there it is.,,,,
Between the interminable, reprehensible delays of a flaccid, weak-kneed DOJ and befuddled justice system in general, and the unquestionable corruption of the SCOTUS and courts lorded over by Trump appointees, I am becoming more pessimistic by the day. I think it is time for those of us not only on the progressive left but also among "normals" to begin to make plans about how we will respond and profoundly resist if the fascists steal our government.
Talking about taking the trash out of the system. You all know that she's buying/shielding dear leader before the elections in hopes to get a seat in the already trashy-corrupted Supreme Court. The worst of the worst. Trump is like a cancer, the entire system is contaminated, infected with this disease and we paying with the symptoms. Vote BLUE. Blue is the cure to this cancerous tumor, lump, cyst in America.
The justice department has mishandled the Trump criminal cases from the beginning. Merrick Garland wasted over a year before he began the prosecution. Jack Smith should have demanded Cannon recuse herself at the very start of the process. Where's Biden's Roy Cohn?
Merrick Garland is basically Weekend at Bernies
Merrick Garland, from the beginning, was greeted by the brick wall of non-compliance that we've seen in the delays by the supreme court (sic), the Georgia Court's continuing intrusion into Fani Willis's romantic life by the extant GOPer political structure and by Aileen Cannon's incompetence and substantial delays that lack any kind of justification. It's fascinating that these are the venues that deal with the most egregious alleged crimes Orange creature has committed - treason, incitement, purloining of classified documents which I expect are included in Ivana's casket. This is nothing more than facilitating obstruction of justices by those who wear justice's robes.
Mueller, She Wrote, whom I love, defends Merrick Garland. I don't get it. Garland is too much of a Federalist even though, technically, I don't think he is a "member" which, frankly, I think is by design.
Too bad that Eliot Spitzer left public life because he would have been a great AG.
Ya'all can go to my Substack: for more uninterrupted clarity, sagacity, and wisdom. :)
https://diogenescandle.substack.com
Blue win in November = Trump’s downfall judicially. Let’s not despair , he will face justice. Let’s concentrate on giving the Democrats full control, Trump and his corrupt justice system will be collateral damage.
Unfortunately with the Supreme Court we have a victory will still be a battle. The right wing will contest everything and they will go along with it.
These traitors are seriously considering giving Trump immunity.
If they give Trump immunity, it will be only for him. They will find a way to just make it so it's for Trump. They don't care. Supreme Court is corrupt.
You are well-named.
Reported disgusting comment - hope it's taken down
How do you tell when a "Right Wing AssHOLE" is trying to be valid?
The asshole has a name like "Professor LuLu Fuzzbean, his/her/ words are so stupid/worthless IT refuse to be associated with them, what an asshole !!!
Ray - heard on the radio a couple of days ago: "Your spirit animal is an asshole!" ............
Reported disgusting comment - hope it's taken down
AS long as one of US GOOD guys responses to a disgusting comment, I say leave it up we are not afraid of assholes !!!!
#VoteBLUE !!
I agree, let's focus on November. I hope Trump is found guilty but not holding my breath. I will settle for Biden getting re-elected, holding the Senate and taking back the House. Trump can rot in his god awful tacky Mar-A-Lago. Hey, if I am wrong and he gets house arrest, that would also work at this point. He hates losing and that, at least, gives me some satisfaction. He knows he lost 2020 and is still crying about it. His racist base goes along with whatever lies he spews. I think he loathes his racist base - not because they are racist like him, but because frankly, just look at those idiots.
I am with YOU Cindy H, I am rapidly losing confidence in Judicial remedies. I am now believing US righteous folks here in these United States will be the FINAL SOLUTION in purging America of the trunp DEVIL and all the insane rabble that rolls with him. #VoteBLUE !!!
Vote Blue and just keep talking to people we know to not give up or lose hope - to Vote Blue
Let us stay focused and determined to encourage straight blue ticket voting for all federal offices. The greater the majority we can garner, the better our chances of wiping out the execrable GOP record that has stripped $50 trillion from the "lower" classes to the uber rich over the last 43 years. And let us be mindful that the GOP has already stacked the deck against Democratic votes. We will have to over perform to ensure victory.
As usual, the problem is having good manners. Grandma could never have anticipated our current situation. However failure is not an option.
I appreciate politeness and traditions, but Dems have been far too slow to recognize that our opponents will throw it all away to get their corrupt wishes. We can't pretend that Republicans are playing by the rules anymore. One really egregious instance was when Moscow Mitch refused Obama his SCOTUS pick. How come Democrats didn't rise up and howl when that was happening? Politeness toward magas won't cut it in 2024.
SK, you’re so right about the deafening silence of elected D’s, no howls, no people protesting in the streets when Mitch far overstepped the powers given in his job description. Wicked Mitch. “Can’t seat a justice because, was it 8 months?, 12 months?is too close to an election”, then crams Amy C. Barrett in just several weeks before another election. D’s were too quiet, MIA. Is still vexing. Lay down and allowed to have R feet wiped on ‘em like a door mat.
That was outlandish. Mitch is responsible for some of the worst damage we took under the trump "administration."
Mary I agree
I’m shocked and I shouldn’t be of the prejudicial damage being done to our legal system. How this one man wrecking crew was able to bring it all down. On top of Cannon’s traitorous shit I hear Fani’s case in Georgia will be delayed for months on appeal. For being the greatest country in the world our legal system is an abhorrent. The only way out of this is for uncle Joe to stack the Supreme Court which I don’t think he will ever do.
Well, maybe. One other way out of this, and I'm not kidding, is to take back the House, impeach Cannon based on her record in this case, and either convict her in the Senate or make every Republican who votes to acquit defend that vote.
It's unbelievably frustrating that we lost control of the House in 2022, and more frustrating that the pathetic Speakers managed to hang on to power. If (I think this is correct) two more Republican caucus members resign or are removed ("hi, Matt Gaetz!"), we could do that, starting now.
And Thomas and Alito should be next on the list, just based on known ethical concerns.
I think that Roberts should also be on that list. He's the one that opened up the Court to removing the chapter in the Voting Rights act which stopped gerrymandering, and kept voting rights safe in the (mostly) Southern states. His Supreme Court is the most corrupt I've ever lived through, and I hope to never see one like it again. He could have acted in ways which would have forced Thomas to recuse himself from 1/6 cases, or even resign, but he sits up there like everything is peachy....and I guess it is for him, if you don't mind the Court's 26% approval rating by the American people.
Lorie, yes, Robert’s appearance is like good, honorable, clean, but his ACTIONS and IN-actions tell the truth on who he really is: a justice putting self-interests, self desires above the greater good for nation. What we need if even possible, is Congress to create an outside apolitical or politically balanced governing body overseeing the SC with power to sanction, impeach, remove unethical justices, make sure the 9 know they have to answer to someone and they are not above the law. I understand there are 13 districts they oversee, 13 SC justices sounds like an appropriate work load. But, I don’t know enough about SC, the court system, just tossing ideas out. The bottom line, the 9 need to answer to SOMEONE and not be so smug and puffed up with themselves as “supreme”.
That’s a lot of wishful thinking
Yes. Yes, it is. I'm an optimist in general, but the situation we're in is EXTREMELY serious, so I'm starting at the shallow end of the pool.
1. Congress punts known corrupt judges, OR
2. Congress changes the size of the Supreme Court AND confirms nominees who aren't vetted by the Federalist Society, OR
3. We each, on our own, solve this problem for ourselves, by either flooding the bluest states (so flooding the Senate with senators from the redest states), or emigrating to a country that will accept us as refugees.
If we can't do 1 or 2, can you think of another plan? Honest question.
I have an eye on a great community in British Columbia! But seriously, I can't imagine changing countries aa an 80 yr old.
I'm 69, so I share 69/80ths of your pain. I hope neither of us is forced to do what we struggle to imagine - perhaps our best short-term plan is to redouble our effort to fight fascism now.
He can't do it alone. The Democrats would need to a majority in the Senate over the long hall and I'm sorry my fellow liberals I don't blame Biden for our powerlessness. When will the left make a decades long effort to insure a favorable SC? Never. We aren't capable of the single-minded focus of the right because we let every tragedy pull our attention away. Time for some cold-hearted calculation. That's how we beat the fascists before.
I think one of our strengths as Democrats is our "big tent", but being such a diverse party can also lessen our resolve to work for long-term goals, such as seats on the Supreme Court. But there WAS a Warren Court, and there can be one again
I just looked at the votes on Cannon's confirmation, and it wasn't overwhelming - 56 Yeas, 21 Nays, 23 Not Voting. Yes, 10 Dems voted to confirm, but there were enough Republicans not voting to put her over the top.
The Dems could have gone scorched earth, but honestly, the legal commentators I read say she had a plausible background, and was young enough that she didn't have a horrific record to defend ("hi, James Ho!"). The most obvious Monday-morning quarterback criticism of Dems who voted to confirm is that they should have tried to block all confirmations by a lame-duck president on general principles, but that's so McTurtle (any Senator who would have done that enthusiastically was probably a Republican).
Seriously, confirming a judge nominated by the other party SHOULDN'T be unthinkable, even if they are Federalist Society-endorsed, and we SHOULDN'T HAVE to demand that all judges who were appointed by a president recuse themselves when that (former) president appears before them. Confirming someone like Cannon SHOULDN'T be an existential threat to democracy in general and the United States in particular. That's why Cannon being so corrupt is so frustrating. I'd bet that even the 20 Dems plus one Independent who voted Nay are stunned at how low she has sunk.
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1162/vote_116_2_00228.htm
Cannon was and is unqualified. Dems follow decorum, norms and republicans don't care; they just do whatever they want. Vote Blue.
I understand that point of view. What I'm thinking is actually scarier - that Cannon WAS qualified as a candidate, but has chosen to "disqualify" herself by her actions on the bench. At some level, the confirmation process is still able to block unqualified nominees, but the judicial system isn't able to deal with judges who make it past confirmation and then act as if they were never qualified.
Does that make sense?
We can agree to disagree on whether Cannon was qualified. What Trump's reign has exposed is how much our judicial systems relies on an honor system. I agree there does not appear much that can be done with corrupt judges if those in power do nothing about it. These people act as if they are above the law. Why? Because, unless something changes, they are above the law. Most of the media just goes along with it. Can you imagine if one of the liberal justices had a Black Lives Matter flag hanging on her front lawn?
I agree with you, and I'm sorry if I wasn't clear - it's not whether Judge Cannon was qualified, it's whether progressives could have made a convincing case that she was unqualified during her confirmation hearings. You're exactly right that we rely on the honor of people who turn out to be fine with betraying their oath, apparently without warning. Either the confirmation process needs to change, to detect "qualified" charlatans, or we have to be able to remove charlatans after they uncloak themselves. Maybe reconfirmation, after some number of years?
If I remember correctly, and I could be wrong, but we didn't have the votes to keep Cannon off the bench. What I don't understand is how judges like her can just stay on the bench when they are so clearly in the tank for a defendant they are so clearly biased about (in this case Trump).
Right - we didn't have the votes to block acannon. I mentioned at the top of this thread that some Dems did vote to confirm, but even if all of them had voted against confirmation, non-voting Republicans could have mobilized to confirm her anyway. But I can add two more thoughts -
(1) In this case, "being in the tank" for Trump just means that she slow-walks and dithers, making very few actual decisions that could be appealed, and holding individual briefed hearings on myriad bullshit*t motions to dismiss that another judge could have handled on their own. She recently scheduled pretrial hearings through at least mid-July. The 11th Circuit has already overruled her twice, and in the past, that circuit has reassigned cases from judges that they've overruled three times. But judges have to make decisions before their decisions can be appealed, and have a lot of autonomy in handling their schedules. Cannon is proving that we should think about giving them a little less autonomy in that area.
(2) we rely on the judiciary to stand with minorities against a majority that is wrong, so we don't want it to be too easy for powerful groups to force a judge off a case, much less remove them from the bench. Cannon is proving that we should think about making it a little easier to hold judges like her accountable.
Well, I can’t seem to wrap my head around is that when you’re hired as a judge, Supreme Court, A lawyer, etc. aren’t you sworn to an oath? And with that oath shouldn’t be you be following the law? How can they not be following the law and get away with it that I just don’t understand.
It just diminishes their credibility to the public…. Just not in the world they live in.
Cannon has cleverly ( who is advising her?) not made decisions in outstanding fillings by both prosecutors & defense. thus delaying any opportunity for the prosecutor to have the ammunition for a legitimate appeal to the appellate court.
IS Cannon that clever, or is someone like Bill Barr pulling the strings on her decisions?
She is absolutely bring coached
The Supremes are except from the ethics code that covers all other judges. Theoretically, they handle problems internally.
I believe Congress is supposed to impeach and convict lower court judges who need to be removed. Even if Alito or Thomas was convicted of criminal offense, they'd just appeal all the way up, and if Thomas doesn't have to recuse for Ginny-adjacent criminal cases, they probably wouldn't recuse if they were appealing their own convictions.
It is nothing more than corruption, pure and simple. What a breathtaking mess this country is in and there seems to be no standing up to it. Stifling protests regarding Gaza would extend to protests against the Judiciary. The rule of law IS the basis for Democracy and that is what Repugnicans and Orange Hitler are fighting to destroy. This does not bode well considering we are awash with guns in this once great country.
Michelangelo, you are certainly right about there being something ROTTEN with our entire system of ‘justice.’ Slavish sycophants of right-wing, corrupt psychopaths predominate all the way up to the Obscene Court.
To me, all she has done to prop Trump up has been premeditated! She should be disbarred for her shenanigans!
She's an example of the rot and corruption in our society.
She's also an example of the voters of the most conservative district in the nation, in NW Georgia.
Her actions and deliberate delays smack of vanity and self-importance along with cult follower beliefs. She says she’s too busy! What other cases on her docket are more important important. None!
I don't believe for a minute that she was "randomly" chosen.
Thanks! That has been my main point from the beginning . . .
We are told that there are 7 judges, or 11 with part time . . . I see 17 active judges on ballotpedia. <https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Southern_District_of_Florida>
So that is either 1 in 7, or 1 in 11, or one in 17 for the first round, the first hearings.
But then she was ‘randomly’ chosen for the second round too . . . ! No. That’s 1 in 49, or 1 in 121, or 1 in 189.
No.
It was not random.
And if that simple powerful likelihood arithmetic stands after ethical review of the actual process and situation, that should have been, and should still be, the number one story about that case.
It should be the number one story until it is demonstrated with observable recorded evidence that the selection was random — because it is so unlikely.
Everyone else reasonably accused of the same crime, with much less evidence, had been locked up almost immediately, or as part of the indictment process, as I understand the matter.
Lock him up!
The contrast could not be starker.
We have to remove all of the Feudalist Society judges, if they will not resign. Their record could not be more anti-Constitutional, and they are on the record.
All campaigns this year should be about the judiciary, and the members and Senators who select them, with the President, and who are the only ones responsible for sane and timely checks and balances — best luck to US, b.rad
…how fucking pathetic our country is… we went from front runners for civil rights movement of 60-70s to politically passive and finally politically impaired people, NAZIS taking our country state by state and school district by school district WITHOUT ANY RESISTANCE and only NAZIS on the march while democrats applauding Biden and waiting for a “blue wave”, we can’t just live in a democracy from election to election we have to sustain its progress, there’s no such thing as “status quo” in political climate, shit either goes “up” or “down” and we are in a such a deep hole that only delusional people can think elections alone can fix the country
https://www.idea.int/news/voting-no-longer-enough
I don't think the people of the U.S. are pathetic, but our corporations are....see "When Corporations Rule the World". The Supreme Court, from the time it became the Rhenquist (sp?) Court in the '90's made many more pro-business decisions than pro-citizen, and now we've turned into a country of giant monopoly businesses that don't really care what we want or need. The WTO and the early trade agreements have all been pro-multi-national corporations.
Do you remember the times when you could complain to a company officer and get taken care of? Yeah, that's so 1985.
Even with what seemed like a simple idea, AIRBNB, people are now buying up apartments and residences and turning them into short-term rentals, exacerbating the lack of all kinds of housing.
We have a hard time making headway on solutions to climate change because of the many vested interests of large corporations.
Private equity is eating the lunch of Americans every day. They've bought real estate, newspapers, ERs, senior communities and nursing homes, you name it, and then they load them up with debt, layoff half the company, and bankrupt them, while they make off with the proceeds. Massive corporations leave a state to either off-shore or go to a right-to-work state, leaving behind cities and towns with the unemployed and the small businesses that counted on their business. Wall Street is where the REAL rot is, not at the border (so stupid);; or in a woman's uterus (also stupic af), or because of the Democrats, or because of energy-saving appliances, or whatever other stupid stuff the GOP makes up to camouflage all the money changing hands between the GQP and the uber wealthy.
When I heard about the arguments about appliances, I seriously thought it was a joke.
That has been some of the very funniest stuff I've ever heard on Michelangelo's show, Cindy! I've been in my car a couple of times, and almost had to pull off the road listening to the "Liberty for Laundry" lines.. LMAO. And Mike has also detailed which appliances are in the bill, and it was proposed by some (R) woman who thought it was such a great bill...LOL LOL. Jesus, what will these MAGA people think of next? I guess it's anything to hide what they're really doing to try to shove more of our money to corporations and the uber rich.
Let My Appliances Run Free!!!! hahahahaha
OMG While driving, I heard a clip of a woman going on passionately about ... appliances! 😂. I honest to God thought it was a joke. When it went on, I thought okay it's funny, kind of going on too much, and then realized, oh wait, this is REAL??? 😂😂😂😂. So so stupid.
LOL LOL LOL!! We have to watch our driving as long as our appliances are at risk!
😂😂😂
Mike, I heard one talking head on MSNBC suggest that Cannon may not be the sole person behind her decisions, that she could be taking certain cues from someone on the Trump side. Another legal scholar on MSNBC suggested last night that this is a bad time for Jack Smith to request that Cannon recuse herself - the reason was a very complicated legal one, based on the issues that are before the Court right now. I know that all the MSNBC commentators last nght really tore into Cannon for her non-decision decision on when the case could start. She should be (and rightfully so) feeling under tremendous pressure.
I believe that before her appointment, Cannon had only heard four criminal cases as a judge.
A piece of good news today is that Biden has paused some weapons shipments to Israel! We are currently providing 15-20% of their arms. Netanuyuhu and his far-right government are the ones refusing to the ceasfire agreement, natch. Bibi doesn't want to go to court (and jail) on his own corruption charges, and that might happen if the war ends.
Thank you for expressing the outrage that so many of us feel and so eloquently. Jack Smith never should’ve accepted her as the presiding judge, but imagine the uproar if he had opposed her. I used to think having woman in power was what we needed boy was I naïve.
Yeah, a lot of women think there wouldn't be war if women ruled....bunk! Think Cleopatra, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi. The world would probably be better if the child-bearers were leaders, but look at MTG and Kristi Noem and ask yourself, really....??
As a feminist, I hate to think that increasing equality has brought us such disasters as MTG, the slimy woman senator from Mississippi, and the wives of the Trumps, but there it is.,,,,
Hey lorie, LOL, just believe stupidly is NOT based on gender...really :)
Between the interminable, reprehensible delays of a flaccid, weak-kneed DOJ and befuddled justice system in general, and the unquestionable corruption of the SCOTUS and courts lorded over by Trump appointees, I am becoming more pessimistic by the day. I think it is time for those of us not only on the progressive left but also among "normals" to begin to make plans about how we will respond and profoundly resist if the fascists steal our government.
I think that’s a good idea…. Cause things aren’t going well SCOTUS will be sorry. I hope they have to hear 150 cases when trump loses.
Talking about taking the trash out of the system. You all know that she's buying/shielding dear leader before the elections in hopes to get a seat in the already trashy-corrupted Supreme Court. The worst of the worst. Trump is like a cancer, the entire system is contaminated, infected with this disease and we paying with the symptoms. Vote BLUE. Blue is the cure to this cancerous tumor, lump, cyst in America.