Trump summons final two SCOTUS nominees

[Kosh]

Neil Gorsuch has been nominated. All things considered with Trump's first week, I'm relieved.

I'm not sure how to evaluate that statement.  The thing that pops into my mind is "Bigly low expectations".  Or...  We didn't launch any nukes so I'll take that as a win.

[Jackalope]

Hey, at least it's not Steve Bannon.

[Cecelia]

Hey, at least it's not Steve Bannon.

Well, it couldn't very well be Steve Bannon.  How could Steve Bannon be a SCOTUS Justice AND President at the same time?  He just wouldn't find the time to do it.

[Whateverist]

Ima write something up about this tomorrow.  My view is essentially this: we know Trump was going to pick someone with bad policies and jurisprudence (Hardiman would've been better than Gorsuch, but both are wayyy right).

*Given* that, then, I think that Gorsuch is a good enough choice. He's a very good writer, and I think he's going to be a dignified member of the bench.

There will not be a better Trump appointee, I believe. If the options are Gorsuch or four years of vacancy, I vote Gorsuch.

Then again, I'm a lawyer. The kind of lawyer who is very fond of judges. Would like to be myself one day. I give judges - federal far more than state - a lot of leeway, because I think, for the most part, they do a good job regardless of political affiliation.  I will praise Gorsuch when he does something praiseworthy and castigate him when he does something wrongheaded (which I fear will be nearly as often as Scalia). But of all of the possible worlds into which the Trump election has constrained us, one in which Gorsuch is nominated and, after lengthy but meaningful debate, confirmed is likely the best of those possible worlds.

How do you think Gorsuch stacks up against the nominee Barack had put forward .. not that we will get that choice, of course.  Just wondering how much further right you see Gorsuch by comparison.

[Aroura]

I swear I posted in this thread, did it get eaten?

At least he's nominating actual judges, and not CEO's or like, his son, or something. We gotta pick our battles, and we would have ended up with a conservative judge under a normal republican. In fact, this is about the most normal thing Trump has done since taking office.

[Cecelia]

I swear I posted in this thread, did it get eaten?

At least he's nominating actual judges, and not CEO's or like, his son, or something.  We gotta pick our battles, and we would have ended up with a conservative judge under a normal republican.  In fact, this is about the most normal thing Trump has done since taking office.

That'd be all well and good... if Obama had gotten to make his pick.  I doubt if Ginsburg dies, the conservatives will be eager to let the next Democratic President decide.  And then if Kennedy dies, we're pretty much fucked. Especially if Thomas retires too.  If the orange one gets to pick four justices, that's going to be a frightening thought.

[Aroura]

I swear I posted in this thread, did it get eaten?

At least he's nominating actual judges, and not CEO's or like, his son, or something.  We gotta pick our battles, and we would have ended up with a conservative judge under a normal republican.  In fact, this is about the most normal thing Trump has done since taking office.

That'd be all well and good... if Obama had gotten to make his pick.  I doubt if Ginsburg dies, the conservatives will be eager to let the next Democratic President decide.  And then if Kennedy dies, we're pretty much fucked. Especially if Thomas retires too.  If the orange one gets to pick four justices, that's going to be a frightening thought.

Oh no, I get how completely absurd it is that we have sat with 6 judges for a year.  And then they cry foul when we try and even vet their candidates, not even actually obstructing.  It's the very rankest hypocrisy, and it boils my blood as well.
All the same, our country CAN recover even from many years of a conservative SCOTUS.  What we cannot recover from is having whole departments gutted like fish, and everything deregulated and the checks and balances eliminated entirely.  
I get that one affects the other (more likely to get deregulations and effed up rulings with conservative justices), but really, I feel sadly relieved he didn't nominate Bannon or his son!

That's all I meant about picking fights.  I read something about resistance fatigue.  It's a real thing, and the may try and overwhelm us with so many things we can do nothing about but fight over anyway, that we lose the fights we have a chance of winning.

Ugh, all of this is so surreal.  

[NuclearEnergy]

Lets just hope he can interpret the Constitution correctly. It will be a dangerous time for minority rights [And women] here in the U.S. over the next 4 years. It could have been worse though. I was very concerned he'd nominate someone of the likes of Steve Bannon.

[Silver]

At least we still have the ACLU. Trump cannot eradicate that.

[Whateverist]

At least we still have the ACLU.  Trump cannot eradicate that.

But don't give him any ideas.  Maybe they'll start a re-education camp for the liberal leaning?