Here are some of the Democrats who supported Neil Gorsuch in 2006
The Democrats are vowing to filibuster Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, claiming he is a radical and out of the mainstream. Nancy Pelosi went so far as to say, and I paraphrase, if you like air, water, food, or medicine you should oppose the President’s nominee. She also called this a “hostile appointment.”
Considering that Neil Gorsuch was appointed to the appeals court unanimously it seems to me these accusations are not well founded in the truth. So here is a partial look at some of the Democrats who voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch in 2006:
Barack Obama
Joe Biden
John Kerry
Hillary Clinton
Chuck Schumer
Patrick Leahy
Dianne Feinstein
Patty Murray, Ron Wyden
Richard Durbin
Jack Reed
Bill Nelson
Tom Carper
Debbie Stabenow
Maria Cantwell, and
Bob Menendez
That is quite a list, especially the first five, isn’t it? If Neil Gorsuch is so radical why did they support him in the first place and if he was so radical why did they pass him on a voice vote?
One Democratic Senator who voted in favor of Neil Gorsuch is on the record this week as saying the nominee “harkens back to the days when politicians restricted a people’s rights on a whim.” The only question I have is if this is true why did he support Neil Gorsuch in 2006? I guess he did not care about people’s rights back then…
Nancy Pelosi is not on the original list so I suppose she has more street cred than the rest of them but as for the others? They are nothing but a bunch of frauds.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Donald Trump nominates Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court
The wait is finally over as tonight Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court as Justice Scalia’s replacement. I am not going to sit here and tell you this is a good pick and I am not going to sit here and state that this is a bad pick because the truth is I have no idea.
Here is more about this nominee:
His resume sparkles with top-caliber schools (Columbia, Harvard and Oxford). His work background includes time as a partner with the Washington law firm Kellogg Huber Hansen Todd Evans & Figel, a stint with the U.S. Department of Justice and clerkships with Supreme Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy.
“He has grabbed every brass ring,” said David Lat, managing editor of the legal website Above the Law. “He’s brilliant, conservative and impossible to oppose. That’s a deadly combination for Democrats.”
For conservatives, Gorsuch meets conservative standards as an originalist and a textualist — someone who interprets the Constitution and statutes as they were originally written.
Gorsuch is best known nationally for taking the side of religious organizations that opposed parts of the Affordable Care Act that compelled coverage of contraceptives. In one of those cases, Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby Stores, he wrote of the need for U.S. courts to give broad latitude to religious beliefs.
“It is not for secular courts to rewrite the religious complaint of a faithful adherent, or to decide whether a religious teaching about complicity imposes ‘too much’ moral disapproval on those only ‘indirectly’ assisting wrongful conduct,” he noted in a concurring opinion.
I like that he is being described as an “originalist” and a “textualist” but I disagree with the notion he is impossible to oppose. The Democrats have already stated they will oppose anyone Donald Trump nominates because the Republicans refused to even have a hearing on Barack Obama’s nominee and I expect them to make good on that promise. I would do the same if the shoe was on the other foot.
This is going to be a contentious battle and I am sure Neil Gorsuch’s name will be dragged through the mud and I think that in the end it will probably come down to whether or not Mitch McConnell will trigger the nuclear option (known as the Constitutional option when Harry Reid invoked it) to end the filibuster.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Then vs now: Chuck Schumer on pausing Muslim refugees
By now you have all either seen the video, heard the comments, or read the transcript of Chuck Schumer crying while calling Donald Trump’s temporary pause in accepting refugees from some countries with ties to terrorism. Amid tears the new Senate leader claimed this so-called Muslim ban was “mean-spirited and un-American,” however he has not always felt this way.
I do not recall any outrage from Chuck Schumer when Barack Obama halted immigration from Iraq for 6 months back in 2011 but in addition to his silence back then he actually talked about the possibility Barack Obama would have to halt Syrian refugees from coming into the country back in 2015.
Here is more:
Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the third ranking member of the Senate Democratic leadership, on Tuesday said it may be necessary to halt the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the United States.
Schumer, however, declined to take the option off the table ahead of a special briefing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon on the process that is now used to vet refugees entering the United States.
“We’re waiting for the briefing tomorrow, a pause may be necessary. We’re going to look at it,” he said.
And he was not the only Democrat:
Centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) signed a letter to President Obama Monday calling on him not to allow another Syrian refugee into the country unless federal authorities can guarantee with 100-percent assurance they are not connected to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Back then Chuck Schumer apparently thought it might be the responsible thing to do but now it is “mean-spirited and un-American” and will be used as a recruiting tool for ISIS. Isn’t it funny how things change depending on which party is in power?
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Donald Trump signs Executive Order designed to cut regulations
Donald Trump seems to be on a mission to implement all of his campaign promises as soon as possible and he has been doing it through Executive Order rather than wait on the Congress. Regular readers of America’s Watchtower know that I am not a fan of governing through Executive Order but I guess this is the country we live in now.
I do not like it but to date it does not seem as if Donald Trump has exceeded his authority. The left would say his so-called “Muslim ban” is an unconstitutional power grab because Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution grants the Congress the right to create naturalization laws, however the courts have always given the President leeway on immigration and this has nothing to do with naturalization. But I digress…
Senate Democrats to filibuster Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee
Donald Trump is scheduled to announce his nominee to the Supreme Court tomorrow night and according to this story Senate Democrats are going to try to filibuster his pick no matter who it is. Here is more:
Senate Democrats are going to try to bring down President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick no matter who the president chooses to fill the current vacancy.
With Trump prepared to announce his nominee on Tuesday evening, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said in an interview on Monday morning that he will filibuster any pick that is not Merrick Garland and that the vast majority of his caucus will oppose Trump’s nomination. That means Trump’s nominee will need 60 votes to be confirmed by the Senate.
“This is a stolen seat. This is the first time a Senate majority has stolen a seat,” Merkley said in an interview. “We will use every lever in our power to stop this.”
This is obviously payback by the Democrats for the Republicans refusing to even give Barack Obama’s choice to replace Antonin Scalia a hearing and to be perfectly honest I do not blame them one bit because if it were me I would likely do the same thing.
Sunday, January 29th open thread: ‘Birdhouse in Your Soul’
Here is the open thread for Sunday, January 22nd. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
Last week we discussed 10 stories, did you miss any of them? If so there is an easy way to make sure it does not happen again. I understand that all of you are busy and cannot always find the time to check the blog for updates so why not subscribe to America’s Watchtower and receive email updates whenever I write a new post? That is the easiest way to follow the blog to ensure you never miss another post.
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For the third week in a row I thought I would stick to the Boston theme for the musical selection. This week I have chosen a song called “Birdhouse in Your Soul” by a band called They Might be Giants.
I saw TMBG many years ago when they were just a quirky two piece with lots of backing tracks, as you can see here they eventually expanded to have a full band.
frui diem
Elizabeth Warren failed to disclose a $1.3 million line of credit
Elizabeth Warren has a long history of not being who she claims to be and now she is at it again. Boston radio talk show host Howie Carr sums her up like this:
“Another example of this shady lady in action — she claims to fight for the downtrodden, but checks the box to claim minority status, takes zero-interest loans from Harvard to buy her mansion, says in 2012 that she doesn’t own stocks, only mutual funds, claims to be the ‘intellectual mother’ of the Occupy movement until it turns into a PR disaster — is anyone surprised by this latest?” Boston talk radio king Howie Carr tells Breitbart News.
He forgot to mention that she also was buying foreclosed homes and flipping them but let that go, you get the point. But what is “this latest” example that Howie Carr is speaking about? This:
Rep. Keith Ellison refuses to give Donald Trump credit for ending the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Earlier this week Donald Trump killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership by announcing the United States would withdraw from the controversial free trade agreement. While this agreement was being debated it was interesting that the Republicans in the Congress gave Barack Obama fast-track authority to pass the secretly negotiated deal while many Democrats opposed the deal.
Because of this you would think that Democrats would be hard-pressed not to give Donald Trump at least a little bit of credit for siding with them, however Rep. Keith Ellison stated that the President did not deserve the credit for this. Here is more:
I still remember Harry Reid and the Democrats saying that Republicans should thank them for ending the filibuster on lower court nominees and some cabinet appointees but somehow I do not think they are laughing any more now that Donald Trump is the President and the Republicans have a majority in both the House and the Senate.
Now the Democrats might really be regretting their decision with the news that Donald Trump supports ending the filibuster on Supreme Court nominees, here is more:
President Donald Trump and some Senate Republicans are now openly threatening to kill the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees — a pronouncement sure to inflame a brewing battle with Democrats over Trump’s choice to replace the late Antonin Scalia.
Trump said Thursday that he would encourage Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to deploy the “nuclear option” — changing Senate rules on a majority vote — if Democrats block his Supreme Court pick. The president’s stance could amplify pressure on McConnell — a Senate institutionalist who is reluctant to further erode the chamber’s supermajority rules — to barrel through Democratic resistance by any means necessary.
While it is unclear if Mitch McConnell will go along with this it is gaining support with some Republicans:
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