I am afraid about the future of the Supreme Court and hence America

@wlleiotl: Pointing out hypocrisy is not meant for Republicans...It's meant to hype up democrats, while also getting independents on their side. A lot of states are battleground states, particularly states that should have been easy for Republicans to win. Democrats are banking on using the hypocrisy to make some of these assholes lose their seats. In particular, Lindsay, Lady G, Graham.

@adamalc: I disagree with your premise that everything he has done can be repealed. Not even measuring the damage that he has done to the strength of the country's democracy (largely held together by political norms and a gentleman's agreement that politicians would at least pretend to act in the country's benefit), there are many things that will have lasting effects. Judges are for life, and he has appointed more than his fair share. Their decisions will affect the country for decades. All of the environmental damage already done during his term cannot be reversed, even If restrictions and guidelines are restored. And the legitimization of conspiracy theorist, alt-right groups, and the increased boldness of 2nd Amendment nuts (despite them showing their true colors in failing to stand up against the tyrannical government they had always warned us about) will cause increased violence, especially if there is a change in party control. Most importantly, the Trump administration has outright proven that the laws in this country are useless against those in charge, as they are also the ones responsible for enforcing those laws.

Yes, the country was likely already headed for a major catastrophe at some point, but Trump (and as importantly, McConnell) have accelerated that process tremendously. Even if it does slow down with a Biden election, that distance has already been shortened, and I don't think we can go backwards on the track.

Sorry, but anyone being all relaxed about the situation is really not paying attention. It's no longer a question of what if Trump loses the election and refuses to go. It's when he does that. Because he definitely isn't leaving of his own accord. He's been telling us that for months. His army of brainwashed thugs is fully convinced a Trump loss can't possibly be legitimate, and the cowards that comprise what used to be the Republican party will let him do whatever he wants.

At this point if we get to January without a civil war, I'll call it a win.

It's also kind of fucked how it's open knowledge that 1.voting systems have been breached 2. it's made hard for certain folk to cast their vote 3. Gerrymandering is a thing 4. mail in ballots are getting messed with as we speak. 5. The president is telling people to engage in voter fraud.

When it is said that the numbers are wrong, it's actually true.

R's in Senate and the WH are publicly pushing to get their nominee nominated and maybe even seated before the election. Either because they think they can do it and want it, or they think it will have an effect on the election(Either with turnout or the aftermath). Others have stated here that there simply isn't enough time to do it before the election but I would caution anyone on trusting a conservative politician to live up to the rules they judge anyone else by. While everyone else is crying out "No fair you promised", R's hold press conferences announcing new precedents as rewards for loyalists.

If nothing else the last seven days are only a most-recent reminder of that. D's* are still behaving as the loyal party of the center, waiting for everyone to tucker themselves out and accept that the Democratic party are not the schismatic force they were to the Grampappies and Mammies of current R voters. Meanwhile as I understand it, the SC accepts cases based on the CJ's recommendation and the CJ then draws up the schedule for how long each case has in front of the court?

I don't have any answers as to where next, I'm just worried.

* - Understand I mean the central leadership. Don't know how many elected D's have something to offer other than "But surely now you can see we're less unstable than you thought?". I know there are some, but the tone looks widespread to me.

(edited for spelling)

@onemanarmyy: Because people don't actually give a shit about the country or politics: It's about winning at all costs and hurting people you. hate. The problem with that though is: Trumpers will suffer too. Shit, they'r already suffering not only because of the pandemic, but Trump's shitty trade deals have cost farmers a fortune.

And considering his attacks on welfare and healthcare, a large majority of Trumps base rely on foodstamps, and they're going to to get fucked over. But hey--as long as they have someone to blame, they'll be more than alright with it.

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

They photo-shopped the golden Biggy crown on her head which means she was always hip and cool, and also definitely one of the good guys!

@kornnugget: I am really worried about them overturning the Affordable Care Act and any other attempts at some kind of universal healthcare. I have a disability so the ADA let’s me stay on my father’s health insurance until I get my own even though I’m older than 26. Then there are people with pre-existing conditions...

@birtrum_yonce: What is the point here? Ginsberg was surely not as left leaning as some make her out to be, but I fail to see what this story proves. Would the outcome of that particular case have changed with a more conservative justice on the bench?

Assuming CJ = Chief Justice, then no, that's not how it works. The full SC basically votes on whether or not they want to hear a case. The full SC is involved in these decisions because if they do decide to take a case they may also need to decide whether to issue interim relief, or take some other procedural action.

@tds418: tyty for the clarification. If the court is stacked in a way that makes it clear that votes will be settled in fairly partisan manner(Let's say "along party lines"), then unless the individual justices get veto or special admittance powers to put their own pet cases on the docket then I don't know how it would be different? What I'm saying is that I was wrong and it isn't solely the Chief Justice(CJ) who decides that, but it seems that if appointees are made in sufficient volume as to make it clear that the court will vote for CJ's recommendations, then D-leaning J's will be lucky to write the dissenting opinion. (Also seems to be the same as the request some have floated, for the D's to add more J's to the bench) If the individual J's have such powers then that's less bad?

More clarification welcome.

Yes, this is correct of course. However, because the justices are never up for re-election, they usually are more concerned with their legacies and how history will view them than they are with the partisan arguments of the day. They do tend to line up left vs. right when highly controversial and polarizing issues come up, but SC justices (usually) toe the party line far less than, say, legislators. It depends on the individual justice though. Alito and Thomas, for example, are reliable votes for GOP priorities, whereas Gorsuch and Roberts (Rs appointed by Rs) have shown a willingness to buck their party and anger conservatives.

edit: also, justices don't need permission to write a dissenting opinion. If they don't agree with the majority, they have the right to write a dissent,

@tds418: Ah, numerous inaccuracies on my part. tyty again. Here's hoping the court at least continues to meet the expectations you lay out.

Just because I think it needs to be said ... We have been watching democrats make mockery of the constitution for years. This is long overdue. Trump 2020!

@mars: I need you to know how this looks to me.

Ah, yes. Refusing to accept election results and sparking a Constitutional crisis to own the libs. Trump 2020.

@mars: This is a very constructive and insightful comment. Particularly after Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses. A great example of upholding the Constitution, as the Founders intended.

We all know that the best way to figure out what the country truly wants, is when there are roadblocks being placed on the voting process and deadlines put in place. It's an important question after all, so it doesn't deserve to be done thoroughly.

I would love to know just one example of what you consider to be democrats making a mockery of the constitution. I'm sure it won't be racist or sexist or homophobic at all!

So Amy Coney Barrett will be the one coming up to bat then. Roe v. Wade won't be dead but it looks like she's completely for absurd restrictions (she didn't think that the Indiana abortion law should have been taken down). Also the ACA law (Obamacare) is ready for the death knell Republicans have wanted for about a decade if she gets confirmed by November. This is all shit.

@robertforster: Im as left as they come but know better than to get too political on my wonderful GB (shit where you eat and whatnot), but all I can say is only worry about whats in your control, vote in every damned election local and large, and condemn hate and violence wherever you see it, while offering love and forgiveness whenever you can. We'll be okay, there is some real nasty shit going on right now but we've also all been somewhat radicialized and are sitting in our isolation fueling our respective fires. People that retweet nasty shit are still unlikely to be anything less than gracious in real life. live laugh love motherfuckers

e.g.: Schools in England told not to use anti-capitalist material in teaching

If this were another time I would have been prepared to hear people saying "Oh it's just to rattle the 'sensitive' opposition which in turn riles the base, it'll never".

That said, it's been 6 months since Breonna Taylor was killed in her own home by police serving a "No-Knock" warrant, based on information they said the post office supplied about a suspect package(Which turned out to be made up, paragraph 2). 6 months later and while this one cop is no longer with that police force, the only punishment was for the cop who was so bad at cop that he was a risk to the neighbourhood when on-site.

That’s it. I’m throwing in the towel. Pack the courts!

A lot will depend on next week, but the Republicans will be in for a shock if they lose the Senate. The fact that packing the courts is part of the political discourse was unheard of until now. Personally, I’m into 18 year terms for Justices. Keeps them from aging on the bench.

GOP is going to challenge every ballot, in every county, in every state, and try get as many dem votes thrown out as possible. Kavanaugh has already quoted Bush v Gore in justifying late ballots not being counted. If enough legislative chaos is sown, there will be an ultimate push to invalidate the results of the entire election, and the Supreme Court will rubber stamp it.

If the Trump admin stays in power, it will because of the invalidation of the election, not because they won it. If it goes all the way to the supreme court, and they agree with him, then it is legal, and there is no comeback. The two months between losing the election and inauguration is plenty of time to pull this off.

If this sounds ridiculous and like it would never happen, think of all the things they have done that people said they would never do.

Voting rights, labor rights, civil rights, women's right to choose all absolutely on the table and under attack now.

It already happened in this country before on a less obvious scale and framing/messaging when Bush "won" so its definitely not far fetched at all.

Roe v Wade is so big that I think they will simply work around it and make abortion inaccessible as possible, and leave it entirely up to states rights as they can, and push there within states to ban abortion.

That way its the same result (for everyone but the rich) without the big hub bub of killing off the ruling.

@splodge: While I definitely am worried about that and it is contributing to my overall never ending existential dread:

In theory (and historically), that only happens if the race is close and current polling data suggests it won't be. Worst case scenario obviously being a heavy favoring of republicans in day of voting and democrats in early/mail-in. But even that doesn't seem super likely

Similarly: One of the few good things about the lifetime appointments is that the justices aren't politicians trying to get reelected. Senate would go all in on that because they want to maintain their power. SC are already in power and will be even if Democrats sweep everything. Even Scalia tended to vote more along conservative interpretation of the constitution lines rather than party. Whether our new hell is going to do that seems unlikely, but the other conservative judges are likely to maintain that.

To paraphrase John Oliver: We lost and are going to feel this for decades to come. But we haven't lost everything and have a good feel for what will and won't be coming at us from this particular loss.

Republicans have no souls and I guarantee you Trump will use his new Supreme Court majority to contest the election results and get what he wants.

Hi guys,

Canadian here, and I have to be honest your country is more than little on the disconcerting side.

It's like watching a slow motion car wreck as nothing can be done.

I can not imagine Trump winning again, but then I sincerely thought Americans would be able to recognize so obvious a conman and 4 years later there are still people that think he is a strong leader.

Vote. Vote. Vote. Pack food, water, and a good book. Stare down anyone trying to intimidate poll workers or voters, and call the FBI if you see anything really crazy. Don't leave the polling place, make your vote count.

Vote.

@bmccann42: While I do not live in the US, about 50 percent of my family does, and after a recent accident where my sister in NC needed brain surgery, healthcare is on my mind a lot. So yes, please please please my beautiful yanky duder dandies,

VOTE

This is probably the right answer, but unfortunately it requires a change to the Constitution. Pretty much impossible in the current and foreseeable political climate.

Adding justices can be done with a simple Congressional majority.

We're in the election period for the U.S.A. which means(As with most countries), I have rules and committments to myself about not telling people from other countries which way to vote when they vote(Which also means I cannot more directly put my thoughts on this thread, for now). If you think things suck when you get to vote and have it not matter, imagine how much worse it would feel if you didn't even get the chance. In a democracy everyone should vote. If you don't know why you should vote, then that isn't a reason you shouldn't vote it's a reason you should ask why you don't already feel like voting, and who has benefitted from your complacency.

I am having trouble not being mentally depressed about the state of the things in this country. I am thinking about not reading anything about politics for the next week in case it gets worse, but I also feel like it's my duty as a citizen of this country to be informed. Has anybody fought with this at all?

@cubbielover: I have been on (partial) sick leave for my PhD since April because I'm really struggling to juggle: COVID, US politics, and living in Europe while everyone in my family is in the States and there isn't a realistic way to see them until some time next year.

It sucks.

I really, really, really hope it at least starts to get a little better in ~9 or 10 days or so.

@rohsiph: I am sorry to hear about your struggles, Rohsiph. The world is a handful these days, but I really hope, like you, that by next Thursday, things will start to clear up.

Nah man see to yourself before you worry about duty to the country or whatever. If the news is harmful then take a breather.

@cubbielover: I've typed this and re-typed this a few times now and each time...Look, I can understand people wanting to cut trauma out of their lives. A lot of things these days are traumatic, and it is undoubtedly the human response to trauma - to try to extinguish the feeling by removing the source of it. Speaking from experience, following politics will not make you happy unless you're waiting to see investments pay off. However it is something that a plurality of people render themselves ignorant of, in order to prevent frown lines.

I am in no way of a mind to think that I have a right to give you the answer of how to deal with the time and place you find yourself in. Personally tho, as much as so much hurts to read and hear everyday now, I refuse to shun it. Politics/Governance is something that people are told is boring, and many other reasons that convey a message that it is pointless to go there. Speaking exclusively of my own nation here, allowing the image that paying less attention to politics works out for the best for everyone, has not worked. Make the best deciscion for you. Truly.

@petesix0: It is not just a matter of 'preventing frown lines'. I try to keep politics, especially US politics (I live in Canada), at arms length as much as possible. It's not as if I'm trying to avoid 'frown lines' or 'unpleasantness'. As a new immigrant to North America and a new parent, every time I pay any attention to US politics or a listen to a clip of US politicians (especially that one) speak, I:

1. want to punch a wall, not figuratively, it's impulsive;
2. become depressed, and worried about my family's future, especially my daughters;
3. experiences chest tightness and sometimes shortness of breath;
4. become irritable and hard to be in the same room with.

So, I keep US politics away from my life. Canadian politics, as civil as it can be, is all I can deal with right now.

Sorry, about the rant~

Entirely relatable, tbh. I promise I was not trying to dismiss anyone tending their own Mental Health garden, just to be aware that the only people who benefit from looking away are the people who offer it as disgusting while working in media/public office. Not that there aren't "decent people" working in media/electoral politics, but so much of it turns into teamsports that it becomes either a raison d'être or too toxic for people to pay attention.

Perhaps my own perspective actually needs to be spoken of a little. I'm crazy jealous that a nation gets to shift talk away from judgement based on "competency" of handling the COVID pandemic. Apparently 39% of my people believe it has been handled adequately in the UK by the government(Same survey, US: 34%), which I can only lay at the feet of people who checked the f out a long time ago(plz be aware I'm not accusing anyone here of this).

Everyone needs to keep their own heads, that is absolutely necessary. I needed to say that it still goes on, and not knowing about it only means there's more later.

I feel horrible for forgetting who I am paraphrasing this from but:

Being able to ignore politics is a sign of privilege. Even if you can, you should not because so many people's entire livelihoods or existence are dependent on which industries get subsidies, let alone what basic human rights are being extinguished. But also, it is important to live your life in spite of that.

Stay aware. Stay angry. Stay stressed out. The moment you stop is the moment evil (and the American Repuiblican Party is basically evil at this point) takes hold. There is a reason folk point out that Democrats don't vote but Republicans do and it isn't JUST voter suppression.

But also, keep it at arm's length. Stay angry but not TOO angry.

---

Like, my biggest fear is that we actually DO pack the courts and people think the problem is solved and switch back to being angry that the politician they wanted to win didn't so "nothing fucking changes". And we'll be right back where we started with a Republican controlled house/senate stopping any and all forms of progress and biding their time until they can really push some horrible stuff.

We have a long road ahead of us and there is a good chance we fail and things will get REALLY bad. But there is no way to succeed without trying and fighting to not be a country of hate and incompetence. Electing Democrats this cycle is just one step on that road. Keeping an eye on those Democrats and making them stick to their promises is the next. And doing all of this during the midterms is going to be required to not backstep. And so forth

Fair enough. Also tbh, the pandemic times has been a crash course for me about the Canadian government and politics. As I'm still just a permanent resident and do not get to vote, I sometimes dream about the day that I might get to when/if I become a citizen. I'm originally from China~

Have a good one

@thomaswangzisu: And you, friend.

Obama's presidency was a massive failure of getting anything meaningful done and went on to lose a massive amount of seats. Imagine if he was actually effective and did the things he said back in his 08 run. What's going to happen is Biden will get in easily and fail to get anything done again and we will be in the same position of rotten sellout candidates in 4-8 years but somehow worse. Most Republican (representatives) are morons who shouldn't be able to get anything yet they get almost everything because Democrats are so weak.

The loss of the House in 2010 can't be solely pinned on the Obama administration. The entire Democratic party took a nap after 2008 and convinced themselves that taking 2 years to pass the ACA was a good idea. The only thing I will blame Obama for is not bringing back white collar crime division of the FBI to deal with the non-sense on wall street. But if he did that, I'm sure that the Republicans would have thrown a fit. Because, as much as I like to fault the Obama administration, the Republicans were always going to leverage low key racism to attack anything he did.

Yeah, with you on that. I hope this is the low-point, but there's a pretty good chance it's not. We could crest a hill just to fall into a much deeper chasm.

I'm a philosopher focused on new and emerging tech. For my master's about 4 years ago, almost half of it was about existential risk--especially climate change. We're years past the point-of-no-return to skate through the rest of the century without major consequences... but there's plenty of time for things to get way, way, way worse.

Of course: a philosopher is not an empirical scientist. I focus on the ideas to try to navigate possible futures, honestly knowing not that much about the specificities and details driving many of the changes I speculate about. Hopefully everything will work out much better than the nasty predictions I see all over my field. Time will tell.

Humans tend to be pretty damn terrible at scoping out the best choices for long-term survival... so I'm not terribly optimistic. But I'll try doing my part, and doing my best not to worry too much about all the pieces that are fully beyond my (or, in many cases, anyone's) control.

Life is absurd.

@uranaltruce: Keep in mind that a big reason why Obama couldn't get anything done is "because" of Republicans. Republicans were dead set on fighting Obama because he was black and a democrat (in that order).

People need to be aware that even if Biden wins the election, we all have a long fight ahead of us. A democracy only works if the people are active. That means staying engage, and voting in all big and local elections. No one is coming to save us--we have to do the work ourselves.