Well, we have recent observation of that…but I suspect now there are no longer any operating norms in US politics, the old collegiality of the Senate is dead.
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seems like the way mcconnell will play it will be to leave the seat open until the election to encourage turnout from evangelicals etc, and then if the republicans lose the senate, fill the vacancy during the lame-duck session. if they don’t lose the senate, then no rush
markey said if they fill the vacancy, ok, we’ll kill the filibuster and pack the court when we take control of the senate. i think this is a better approach than schumer’s appeal to conscience, because everyone knows mcconnell has no conscience, and it just comes off as one of the most powerful people in the country crying ‘MODS?!’
remembered ginsburg calling kaepernick ‘dumb and disrespectful’, but hadn’t realized she called him ‘arrogant’ as well. pretty rich coming from her
That’s not really the point, but I do hate the framing that many of the Dems have presented, as if this IS too late to start the process. It isnt*. But that point is that no Senate lead by McConnell should be allowed to proceed.
*I think you can make a case with covid and the need to still pass Covid protection bills that it is too late to fill this. Except, think about the worst case scaenario now of a contested election that goes to the supreme court. Purgh fuck…I cant even think about.
The worst thing about all of this though is that we havent had any time to stop and reflect on RBG as a person and transformative figure because of the stakes over the consequences of her death
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i think the mythology far outstrips the reality with ginsburg, she’s a mascot for PMC white feminists who consistently ruled on the side of qualified immunity for police & the ‘doctrine of discovery’ to trample indigenous rights. few things scream ‘privilege’ quite like finding something wholesome in her friendship with antonin scalia, who was vile subhuman filth
she had praise for kavanaugh, and racist condescension for kaepernick
her legacy will be that she put her ego ahead of the country, because she wanted a fellow white woman to replace her
seeing the consultant class use her death to urge more money for dead dog candidate amy mcgrath is a window into what the ‘democratic’ party is really about
i want to get a twitter account just to tweet crying mbappe at white women, this is like 9/11 for them
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Why? Better Angels Theory or the U.S. Constitution. There’s nothing about this progression to the bottom over the filibuster that’s at all outside of the Constitution. All perfectly legal, if not advisable.
My biggest fear is a contested election that doesn’t go to the Supreme Court but rather gets decided by armed gangs in the street. Not implausible at this point.
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And yet would have been a nightmare to the people who actually wrote the Constitution. Founders’ Intent indeed.
Several reasons really.
Unlike pretty much any other country, there are global implications to decisions made in the US. From economics to terrorism, trade wars, to global standards. There is a ripple effect that is both direct and indirect.
A poor US ecconomy, is bad for the rest of the world. There are global impacts for the US war on terrorism, the USD is basically the global currency, impacts of protectionism and trade wars affect us all. As do US standards from drugs to health and safety.
The UK in particular takes an even greater interest because of the inherent ties. Our closest ally in terms of culture, intelligence, war, and politics (since WW2). When you add the Tories wishing the emulate American politics, people wish to learn where the UK could be heading.
So if you take the recent Covid response. People are insterest from multiple angles. From a the conditions that allow alternate realities to thrive, personal choice/rights trumping common sense (in an educated society not too different), people are interested from the health care response given many Tories want a private healthcare system. They are also interested because of the parallels in the political response. Never apologise, deny and distract. Heads of state which are celebrities rather than good politicians.
Finally the UK and the US have woefully failed its people. For the most part the world is astonished that for all its advantages (riches, science, healthcare etc) that these countries have failed at every test.
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But to be fair, poor is subjective at times. To alot of us maybe but you be surprised how many people in these countries, even those supposedly suffering from it, think highly of the current regime (not just the US or UK)
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The Coronavirus pandemic was touted as an opportunity to reassess things and, perhaps, start afresh in certain areas.
One thing which should have been done was to give up on western capitalism (or neoliberalism, as it should be called more correctly): a system which has failed countless people globally but is still pushed as the gold standard by the handful of billionaires who profit enormously from it and wield influence over how the world is run.
Part of this reset would be to remove the unmerited and anachronistic American influence, which has always been built on its status as the biggest kid in the playground, over the rest of the world. How? Those countries to which the US owes trillions of dollars should call in their debts. America would be fucked.
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My own government is a prime example of that. 
While this blind obsession is not subjective, people tend to find the most obscure of reasons to hang on to that.
Perhaps, tomorrow would be better. 
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I’m not so sure that they hold such high opinion of the current regime, but more the lack of faith in any alternative option.
Look at the UK, the torries going into the election last year were seen as being almost unelectable. They got lucky in that they were facing an opposition party that was in their own self distruct mode and facing their own issues in regards to being unelectable. Sadly with no other viable and stable party to vote for, the British public had a choice between shit and shit.
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Yes it’s a valid point. This partly explains the falling stocks of mainstream centrist parties (right and left) coinciding with the rise of far right and in some cases Green parties across Europe.
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The Green Party in Germany is totally mainstream centrist now. Urban middle class mostly.
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But they are still seen as some boutique option outside CDU and SDP, right???
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Not really. As I said, total mainstream, actually SPD is a slightly more eccentric choice these days.
Good chance of a CDU (Conservative) and Green coalition after the next election, which would have been unthinkable 15-20 years ago.
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Good insight friend. Don’t get much peek into German politics beyond DW.
Is it feasible because they have mellowed in recent years or because now they can win enough seats to support a government?
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They have ‘mellowed’ for a long time and actually already have been in government before (with the SPD under Schröder), but more importantly the CDU under Merkel has moved considerably to the centre-left, which has kept them/her in power but also helped significantly in the rise of the AfD (refugee crisis in particular). There’s a wing in the CDU that is against that, but even if they manage to get their candidate for chancellor (Merkel is retiring), I doubt he would have a lot of other choices than to go with the Greens.
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Germany has an electoral system which leads to a lot of coalitions and thus consensus building. It’s quite different to the US and the UK where there’s basically a choice between two parties. Having lived in the UK and Germany, I prefer the German system despite its flaws.
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It really looks like the Republicans are going to try to push through their SC pick. Is there anything that the Democrats can do?
Agree completely. The two party system is an anachronism and just leads to childish confrontational and argumentative politics. Building a coalition is both far more mature and better for the country in general.
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