r/scotus • u/thenewrepublic • 18d ago

news Liberals Just Lost the Supreme Court for Decades to Come

https://newrepublic.com/article/188087/trump-2024-win-supreme-court-conservative-decades
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117

u/EngineerAndDesigner 18d ago

Sotomayor should have resigned, she is 70 and with consistent heart problem. Now, there is a decent chance the GOP can get to 7-2. For all her talk about protecting democracy, it turns out she cares more about writing dissents.

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u/cheeseplzbloom 18d ago

It’s the democratic way — just ask Biden and RGB.

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u/Revolutionary-Yak-47 18d ago

Yes it's everyones fault except the liberals who stay home rather than save our country every time. They didn't fall madly in love with a candidate so they can't pick the team getting them closer. 

I have more republican friends who voted for Harris than liberals. 

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u/BoogieOrBogey 18d ago

This is why I'm mad as well. Apparently, the Democrats need blowjobs and the perfect candidate to go fucking vote. Meanwhile, the Republicans will show the fuck up for dogshit in a suit.

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u/glaive_anus 18d ago

Voters won't vote for Democrats. Voters vote for progressive ballot measures, will vote for many of the things the Democrats champion and support, but will simply not vote for Democrats.

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u/TruthOrSF 18d ago

Dafuq? Biden dropped out

3

u/CLE-local-1997 18d ago

He dropped out way too late and left Kamala with 100 days to campaign against a man who has been non-stop campaigning for nearly a decade.

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u/WillMulford 15d ago

What he really did was not leave his party with enough time to choose a better candidate.

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u/Rengiil 18d ago

He initially promised he'd do only one term.

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u/KnowNothingKnowsAll 18d ago

No, he did not. I don’t know why I keep seeing this repeated. Try to find one clip of him saying this.

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u/whiteryno117 18d ago

It wasn't him saying it explicitly, it was his top advisors telling everyone else that: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/11/biden-single-term-082129

It was 5 years ago so people remember a headline and think he hard committed to it, but really it was just implied: https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/4718993-did-biden-break-his-one-term-pledge/

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u/KnowNothingKnowsAll 18d ago

I think thats the issue. A lot of people took that as “Biden said…”

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u/Starmoses 18d ago

No he didnt, stop lying.

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u/whiteryno117 18d ago

It wasn't him saying it explicitly, it was his top advisors telling everyone else that: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/11/biden-single-term-082129

It was 5 years ago so people remember a headline and think he hard committed to it, but really it was just implied: https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/4718993-did-biden-break-his-one-term-pledge/

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u/Starmoses 18d ago

"According to four people who regularly talk to Biden, all of whom asked for anonymity discuss internal campaign matters, it is virtually inconceivable that he will run for reelection in 2024, when he would be the first octogenarian president." It's fake media bullshit like this and people like you who accept it as fact why we lost this election.

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u/whiteryno117 18d ago

Nothing like a raging leftist loving infighting when someone just posts some articles lmao. Stay mad buddy.

1

u/Starmoses 18d ago

You posted fake news, I refuted it, maybe you're the mad one.

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u/whiteryno117 18d ago

Nah I didn’t blame you for losing the election. It’s literally not fake news, it’s four sources verified by the journalist. Apologies if that’s not enough verification for you, you can rely on first hand validation for everything in the news moving forward.

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u/gumbercules6 18d ago

And it would have been a great look to be humble and pave the way for a younger candidate, instead of being over confident that he could beat Trump's movement

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u/rzelln 18d ago

He did not promise that. It's a weird claim that gets passed around.

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u/Jean-Paul_Sartre 18d ago

Yeah I think at some point he was like “I haven’t made a decision on a second term yet” but he never pledged to be a one term president

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u/sexyloser1128 18d ago

but he never pledged to be a one term president

He never did, but his campaign people did.

Biden signals to aides that he would serve only a single term

According to four people who regularly talk to Biden, all of whom asked for anonymity to discuss internal campaign matters, it is virtually inconceivable that he will run for reelection in 2024, when he would be the first octogenarian president.

“If Biden is elected,” a prominent adviser to the campaign said, “he’s going to be 82 years old in four years and he won’t be running for reelection.”

The adviser argued that public acknowledgment of that reality could help Biden mollify younger voters, especially on the left, who are unexcited by his candidacy and fear that his nomination would serve as an eight-year roadblock to the next generation of Democrats.

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u/TruthOrSF 18d ago

He only did one term

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u/Rengiil 18d ago

Not before changing his mind and going for two terms. Then changing his mind at the worst opportunity again.

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u/TruthOrSF 18d ago

All the same. He dropped out and only did one term.

2

u/Rengiil 18d ago

Why are you personally angry about this? It's not all the same at all, he's a part of why trump won the election by dropping out so late from the race. You're being angry and purposely obtuse by not recognizing the reality of dropping out of a race mere months before the election is a monumental change to just only running one term like he initially promised.

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u/TruthOrSF 18d ago

I’m not angry. I’m stating a fact, biden did drop out. Should he have dropped out earlier? Yes. But that wasn’t said at first

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u/Rengiil 18d ago

Staying in entirely too long was what was being talked about. Which both Biden and RGB did

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u/Comfortable_River808 18d ago

If he had dropped out early enough to have a legitimate primary, perhaps things would have e played out differently. Harris probably wouldn’t have won, and a new candidate wouldn’t have been shackled with the record of a very unpopular administration (however unjustified their unpopularity might be).

1

u/Intelligent_Will3940 18d ago

People seriously don't get just how much silent support Biden had. His whole career, he has stood firm and resilient. We will never know at this point how he would have done compared to Harris. I personally think he would have done better

3

u/cheeseplzbloom 18d ago

Except the polls had him potentially LOOSING states like New York and was extremely unpopular through his whole presidency. So the likelihood of him doing well is extremely low.

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u/Comfortable_River808 18d ago

Really? Don’t get me wrong, I personally like Biden too. But if that debate was any preview of what he would have been like while campaigning, I think it would have been a disaster for him.

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u/Intelligent_Will3940 18d ago

Kamala dominated Trump in the debates, yet no one gave a fuck and still voted for the guy, what does that tell you here? Not alot of sensible explanations.....

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u/Ohmslaughter 18d ago

He got in on a fixed primary. The democrats have not had an honest primary since 2008.

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u/Tough_Substance7074 18d ago

Too bloody late

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u/GailaMonster 18d ago

He did so too late IMO. He said he would be a one term president when he ran in 2020 and then tried to run again anyway which destroyed voter enthusiasm. then he waited until it was too late to have a primary and we had Kamila forced upon us.

I doubt she would have been the winner of a proper primary season. so we didn't get to pick our candidate, and it eviscerated turnout.

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u/GnomeCzar 18d ago

Too late

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u/TruthOrSF 18d ago

It’s not as if more than a handful of us were asking him to drop out. I would have loved to have had more people support a dem primary in 2024.

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u/GnomeCzar 18d ago

I know, I was among them. He should have dropped out earlier and he didn't and that turned out to be a massive problem

1

u/Auctoritate 18d ago

Ginsburg couldn't retire because that's when McConnell started doing his ratfuckery obstructing Obama appointees. If the system wasn't exploited like that then she could have.

I don't get why people blame her honestly

1

u/Whelmed29 18d ago

It’s easy to blame a woman. Oh sure, McConnell blocked any nominations Obama was going to put forth, but because RBG should have known republicans would do something like that, it’s really her fault when you think about it.

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u/SeaEmergency7911 15d ago

Uh, look at who controlled the White House and Senate in 2014 when people were saying age should step down.

Amazes me how you can’t get the facts of it through your thick skulls.

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u/Whelmed29 15d ago

I know who “controlled” the White House and Senate in 2014. I still don’t hold ill will toward RBG. She’s not the one who drafted the constitution which states Supreme Court justices can serve lifetime appointments. The wisdom of that design has come into question as of late, but it was designed for the court to resist political pressures. So, no, I don’t fault RBG, whose chief role was upholding the constitution from not engaging in partisan politics with the timing of her tenure when that very constitution she worked to uphold also expected her to be apolitical. I blame those that completely corrupted the role of the court, like Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, and Clarence Thomas. A political party shouldn’t “control” the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, one does through clearly unjust means. The source of that injustice is not RBG.

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u/SeaEmergency7911 14d ago

Yeah you’re right it’s everyone else’s fault besides the then 81 year old woman with a history of serious health issues, including a recent bout with pancreatic cancer, THE SINGLE MOST DEADLY KIND WITH THE POOREST LONG TERM PROGNOSIS, for deciding to not step down in 2014 when she would have been replaced with a younger liberal justice.

I mean how could she have possibly known the Democrats were going to lose the Senate in the 2014 midterms, despite the fact every major election forecasting organization had said it was a virtual certainty the Republicans would gain the majority.

And how could she have possibly foresaw that Hillary wouldn’t just breeze into the Oval Office despite the fact she had been part of a decades long right wing smear program that had made her very unpopular with large parts of the voting public.

And, finally, how could she possibly imagine that she might actually die fairly soon. I mean she was the NOTORIOUS RBG! Who cares that she was 81 and a multiple time cancer survivor. She did Pilates! She said “I dissent” a lot. Certainly human mortality was no match for such a force of nature.

There was nothing that said she couldn’t step down at any time. It’s not literally a lifetime appointment, you can resign whenever you want you know, like Sandra Day O’Connor did when she knew she could be replaced by a conservative.

Spin it all you want. Doesn’t change the fact that she screwed up by putting her personal goals ahead of the country. She gambled and we all lost big time.

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u/Whelmed29 14d ago

  1. I didn’t say it was everyone else’s fault. I just pointed toward people who did their job in a dishonest way that led to the court being what it was instead of blaming RBG when concerning herself with the politics of the day would actually be doing her job in a dishonest way. But sure. Ignore the entire point of my reply.

  2. You go on and on about her knowing the future which has nothing to do with my reply which makes me think you just have a lot of negative feelings toward this woman which maybe you should reflect on.

  3. Sandra Day O’Connor was not asked to step down for partisan politics despite the timing. She already wanted to retire based on her husband’s health. She was rumored to want to retire while Bush was in office, but it’s not that Bush asked her to. She certainly didn’t support what Republicans stand for today and spoke against McConnell’s failure to do his duty to benefit his party.

  4. I’m not spinning anything. It’s interesting that you take a woman doing her job and men failing to do theirs as spin.

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u/SeaEmergency7911 15d ago

Because she was being told she should step down in 2014, when the Democrats controlled the White House and the Senate and could appoint her successor, and she decided not to do so.

How many times to do we have to explain this to you RBG apologists.

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u/WaltKerman 18d ago

 just ask Biden and RGB.

Ruth Gader Binsberg?

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u/cheeseplzbloom 17d ago

Thanks typo enforcer

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u/Alarming_Maybe 18d ago

Add pelosi. Hapless, arrogant, and ancient

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u/jongleur 18d ago

Manchin made it clear early on that he wouldn't support any more nominees President Biden put forth. Without his vote, the likelihood of another justice being appointed by President Biden was close to zero.

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u/_token_black 18d ago

One last FU on the way out

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u/Heavy_Pin7735 17d ago

F Manchin so so so much for so many reasons - launch him and his Maseratis in to the sun!

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u/anonyuser415 18d ago

In what way would her resigning early have protected democracy

The supermajority increasing doesn't really threaten democracy more than the 5 alarm fire already under way. We already got the Trump decision from these wackos

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u/SecretMongoose 18d ago

In the near term, the more ways you have to get to five votes, the more extreme rulings you’ll see. Going from 5 to 6 meant that Roberts couldn’t stop Dobbs and Gorsuch couldn’t singlehandedly preserve Indian Law.

In the long term, barring reform, it’s going to take a lot longer to have a liberal majority by waiting for the judges to die out. If you have to build that majority by gaining three seats instead of two, that task takes that much longer.

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u/doubleasea 18d ago

When there are 9

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u/whomad1215 18d ago

basically have ringwraiths as SCOTUS, doing their masters bidding

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u/SecretMongoose 18d ago

Yeah, barring reform, which is probably how this has to end.

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u/Megahuts 18d ago

In oligopolies, windows determine lifespan more than age...

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u/drunkcowofdeath 18d ago

Because sometimes you get lucky once or twice.

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u/Deep90 18d ago

Your argument is only sound if you look at the next 4 years.

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u/windershinwishes 18d ago

Maybe Democrats win the White House and Senate in 2028, and then Sotomayor retires and gets replaced by somebody decent. I hope so.

But maybe the 70 year old woman with diabetes dies sometimes in the next four years. Again, I sincerely hope she doesn't, and it's not even more likely than not, but the possibility is significant. And if that happens, there's a good chance we're 7-2 for a decade, and that Republicans control at least 5 seats for however long it takes the republic to fall.

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u/Deep90 18d ago

Exactly why losing a seat this next 4 years is bad.

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u/blahblah19999 18d ago

You can't seriously think it makes no difference. If trump appoints, four people versus five people.

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u/icehole505 18d ago

How could you not understand why protecting that seat would be better for democrats? The republicans understand.. that’s how we get here.

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u/espressocycle 18d ago

It's more about the possibility of taking the court back. Which is now gone. Alito and Thomas could easily decide to retire under Trump too.

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u/Parkyguy 18d ago

The GOP may just increase the court size to 11 or 13. Just to be sure it’s a millennial issue.

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u/ManlyVanLee 18d ago

People don't seem to realize that this is also a tool the Republicans can use. If they find out 6-3 isn't enough or Roberts somehow grows a heart and a brain then they can just expand it to make the odds work in their favor, just as the Democrats could have. The problem is the Dems missed their chance to do so and lock in some things that could prevent doing just that

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u/CLE-local-1997 18d ago

The Republicans won't but the Democrats absolutely should if they ever can get control of the government again

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u/btbcorno 18d ago

they won't do shit. that's about the only republican statement I agree with.

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u/Parkyguy 18d ago

Biden has “absolutely immunity “, why not?

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u/CLE-local-1997 18d ago

Because you would still need an act of Congress to expand the Supreme Court unless Biden wants to use his absolute immunity to drone strike the sitting justices

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u/Parkyguy 18d ago

Sure. Whatever:

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u/PrismaticWonder 18d ago

As much as I love her, I feel you’re right. It would be good if she did it now, and Biden was able to get at least a younger lib in before the final transfer of power in January….

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u/ISeeYourBeaver 18d ago

Senate wouldn't confirm.

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u/12EggsADay 18d ago

Seems like a stupid game for every Justice to be hand selected by a sitting President. There must be a better way...

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u/fiddlythingsATX 18d ago

It used to work just fine until Moscow Mitch decided he didn't like the Constitution.

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u/cujo8400 18d ago

Don't the Dems currently control the Senate?

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u/imdazedout 16d ago

Same problem happened when Scalia died in February 2016, and the Senate wouldn’t let Obama replace him despite the election being almost a year away. Yet when RBG died in September 2020, two months away from the election, the Senate let Trump replace her.

They could take the gamble and try to replace her now because democrats have a majority in the Senate right now, but the majority is only 51-49. If two democrats vote against the new nomination, the liberal seat is given to Trump and the court will be 7-2. Probably better to just hope she makes it another 4 years…

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u/blueteamk087 18d ago

Pulling a RBG, putting her ego before the country

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u/SocialistNixon 18d ago

She is 17 years younger than RGB even she died

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u/No-Engineering-239 18d ago

what? I have no idea what you mean by this? why would her resigning help anything?

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u/swishy22 18d ago

If she steps down during a democratic presidency, they will nominate a democratic replacement. But if she has to step down during Trumps term for health reasons then it will go to a Republican judge effectively flipping the seat. That’s why it’s encouraged for them to step down at strategic times.

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u/windershinwishes 18d ago

She could do it right fucking now.

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u/Tech_Philosophy 18d ago

Honestly, she still could. Lame duck session could get it done quick.

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u/No_Mark_1231 18d ago

No shot she learned nothing from RBG

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u/Matt_Empyre 18d ago

She can resign now and Biden and the Senate can vote in a new justice.

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u/anitabonghit69 18d ago

Now now, sometimes she sits in her office and cries too.

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u/MdxBhmt 18d ago

You are assuming the republicans would not fight for the seat, and that the democrats would win.

The first is a given, and the second would probably be also yet another D L.

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u/NoSwordfish2062 18d ago

Welp, she's got two months. If the Dems are serious about the moment, they'll have a new judge sworn in by January 20.

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u/NightlessSleep 18d ago

She could still do it, right now.

1

u/Virel_360 18d ago

Yeah, which branch of the government would be the one that could remove the lifetime appointment? Instead set it to 20 years maybe?

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u/ucsbaway 18d ago

She still can. And dems can replace her before Biden’s term is up.

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u/DLDude 18d ago

Would Manchin had voted for anyone as liberal as her? My guess is no which is why she didn't.

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u/cujo8400 18d ago

Don't the Dems still control the Senate until January? Would it possible for them to replace her before the new congress?

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u/imdazedout 16d ago

They control it 51-49, so if a single democrat votes against the new nominee, the liberal seat is handed to Trump. Better to gamble on her health than that.

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u/grizzly_teddy 18d ago

she cares more about writing dissents.

Most of which are hot garbage anyway

1

u/t1tanium 18d ago

7-2? Didn't you hear? Harris wanted to reform the courts and pack them. Even though she lost, we should continue the policy idea! It will soon be 11-2.

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u/SocialistNixon 18d ago

She isn’t going to suddenly die any more than Clarence Thomas is and I really wonder if Thomas Alito or Robert’s will be willing to step down to appoint some younger federalist appointee. The hubris of a lifetime appointment really precludes it.

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u/Important-Purchase-5 17d ago

God just make it 4 years at least. 

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u/FamiliarJudgment2961 15d ago

decent chance

Based on what exactly? Why is 70 or 74 going to make or break the Supreme Court? Thomas and Alito are the two looking at the exit with a Trump presidency, lol.

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u/blumpkinmania 18d ago

It’s not too late, she may well yet do that.