Scalia died. We're firmly in the handbasket.

[LeSellers]

1 hour ago, MormonGator said:

I think Taft went from President to Supreme Court, so it can happen.

William Howard Taft is the only one to have been both President of the United States (1909-'13) and Chief Justice of the United States (1921-'30). I could not find any reference to a president who was also an associate justice, but I recall that in the early XIX someone did. I do know that John Quincy Adams left the White House and became a senator.

Lehi

 

[David13]

6 hours ago, MormonGator said:

No, it doesn't on purpose. If someone is really determined to believe that Obama is evil-precious little I say is going to change their mind. Seriously LeSellers, who on the internet asks questions to learn? We ask questions to argue.  

How is it possible that someone who so perfectly distorts truth into lies is not considered evil?  What does it take for you?

dc

[David13]

6 hours ago, MormonGator said:

No, it doesn't on purpose. If someone is really determined to believe that Obama is evil-precious little I say is going to change their mind. Seriously LeSellers, who on the internet asks questions to learn? We ask questions to argue.  

How is it possible that someone who so perfectly distorts truth into lies is not considered evil?  What does it take for you?

dc

[Guest MormonGator]

19 minutes ago, David13 said:

How is it possible that someone who so perfectly distorts truth into lies is not considered evil?  What does it take for you?

dc

What I like most about myself (this will shock you-I'm talking about my favorite topic-myself) is my ability to see the other guys POV. Am I perfect? No. Do I do it all the time? No. But do I at the very least try to see how someone could get to the conclusions they do? You betcha. So, do I agree with Obama? No. Not on a lot. But am I adult/mature/perceptive enough to be able to say the other side isn't evil? Yes. Outside the world of the internet, calling political opponents "evil" is correctly seen as a sign that you don't really understand politics. Goodness, I lean heavily towards the right (especially on economics, guns, death penalty) on many issues, and I didn't vote for Obama either time-but I refuse to sink to the level that the left did when they called Bush evil in the early 2000s

It cheapens the word "evil" 

Edited February 15, 2016 by MormonGator

[mirkwood]

I think Obama is headed to leadership in the UN, not the Supreme Court. 

[Guest]

On Sunday, February 14, 2016 at 7:25 PM, Just_A_Guy said:

The Senate Majority Leader is already rumbling about not confirming anyone this year.  I don't think they'll stick to it--the political costs of leaving a SCOTUS seat open for eleven months are going to be too high--but maybe it can convince the President to pick a more moderate replacement than he would otherwise have done.

I don't know... the political costs of shifting the balance of the Supreme Court leaning is probably worse for the Republicans than to hold the spot open as long as they can - hopefully until the new President is sworn in.

A SCOTUS spot has been open for over 365 days before.  It's not unprecedented.  So, if it breaks the record for longest open SCOTUS spot, it wouldn't be because of the Repubs... it will be because of the Dems.

[Vort]

If it were a Republican/Conservative president with almost a year left, I would absolutely assume -- insist, as far as I had any power -- that he appoint the next Supreme Court justice. Much as I despise our current president, I cannot see any reasonable way beyond pure, unabashed partisan politics that he does not pick the next one.

[Guest]

Would it be possible to merge this thread, my thread, and Jojo's thread into one?  It all seems like the same topic.

I also find it funny that once again I find myself in the middle between Vort and Jojo.  Jojo firmly believes it to be conspiracy.  Vort firmly in the NOT camp.  I'm not saying it IS conspiracy.  I'm not willing to say it ISN'T.

As for the argument about Obama, a bit off topic.  But I'll put my 2 cents in: I don't believe he is evil.  I believe he is the Manchurian candidate.  That doesn't make him evil.  It just means he's not on our (USA) side from a global socio-political perspective.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Guest

[LeSellers]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

As for the argument about Obama, a bit off topic.  But I'll put my 2 cents in: I don't believe he is evil.  I believe he is the Manchurian candidate.  That doesn't make him evil.  It just means he's not on our (USA) side from a global socio-political perspective.

O'bama is not stupid: to the contrary, he's too intelligent (worldly definition). It seems highly unlikely that he doesn't know he's being used.

If he does, as the evidence suggests, then it seems equally unlikely that he is not as evil as those pulling his strings.

Lehi

[LeSellers]

U.S. Constitution, Article II, section 2:

[The president] shall have Power, … by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint … Judges of the supreme Court,…

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Lehi

 

 

Edited February 15, 2016 by LeSellers

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Carborendum said:

Would it be possible to merge this thread, my thread, and Jojo's thread into one?  It all seems like the same topic.

I also find it funny that once again I find myself in the middle between Vort and Jojo.  Jojo firmly believes it to be conspiracy.  Vort firmly in the NOT camp.  I'm not saying it IS conspiracy.  I'm not willing to say it ISN'T.

As for the argument about Obama, a bit off topic.  But I'll put my 2 cents in: I don't believe he is evil.  I believe he is the Manchurian candidate.  That doesn't make him evil.  It just means he's not on our (USA) side from a global socio-political perspective.

I wouldn't go so far as saying he's a Manchurian Candidate either.

 

He is plain and simply an extreme leftist.  That's what he believes is the right path for America.  And he is getting his way despite the opposition.  For somebody who believes that the leftist agenda is the right path for America, he is not doing enough.  For example, people on the left is excoriating him for the disaster that is Obamacare... their reasoning - he allowed the Republicans to sully the bill that caused the mess that we are in now.  He should have put his foot pedal on the metal to single-payer.

Now, is single-payer evil?  Of course not.  Even though I believe it is the wrong path for America, it is not evil.  Nothing about single-payer healthcare is in direct opposition to gospel principles.

[Guest Godless]

12 hours ago, David13 said:

How is it possible that someone who so perfectly distorts truth into lies is not considered evil?  What does it take for you?

dc

Politicians lie. Period. Democrats do it. Republicans do it. It's not right, but it's the way of the world we live in. Personally, I feel that Obama is a little less guilty than most. That's just my opinion though. I imagine you feel about Obama close to how I do about W. Bush, though I wouldn't go so far as to call him evil. The system, as it's built, corrupts people. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Godless

[Vort]

2 hours ago, LeSellers said:

O'bama

I notice that you commonly include an apostrophe when writing Obama's name. Just curious: Do you think that he is Irish? Or is this a mere mockery of his name? I am hoping it is not the latter. I am very far from an Obama fan, but making fun of someone's name seems a particularly puerile level of insult.

[LeSellers]

2 hours ago, Vort said:

I notice that you commonly include an apostrophe when writing Obama's name. Just curious: Do you think that he is Irish? Or is this a mere mockery of his name? I am hoping it is not the latter. I am very far from an Obama fan, but making fun of someone's name seems a particularly puerile level of insult.

He is Irish. He even went to Moneygal to celebrate his Irish family background. I can't afford to go to Ireland, but I can afford a few billion electrons to remind everyone that he is not "Black", he's multiracial.

Lehi

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, LeSellers said:

He is Irish. He even went to Moneygal to celebrate his Irish family background. I can't afford to go to Ireland, but I can afford a few billion electrons to remind everyone that he is not "Black", he's multiracial.

Lehi

LeSellars... he is Irish on his mother's side.  He got his name Obama from his Father's side.  Obama is a common Luo name that spans Africa from Sudan through Kenya.  There's no apostrophe in that name.

And yes, he is Black.  Just like my kids are Filipinos even as their dad is white bread white.

[Guest MormonGator]

15 minutes ago, anatess said:

LeSellars... he is Irish on his mother's side.  He got his name Obama from his Father's side.  Obama is a common Luo name that spans Africa from Sudan through Kenya.  There's no apostrophe in that name.

And yes, he is Black.  Just like my kids are Filipinos even as their dad is white bread white.

Exactly.  
He's also the president, and calling him O'Bama is just insulting. Don't lower yourself to that . 

[Guest MormonGator]

2 hours ago, Vort said:

I notice that you commonly include an apostrophe when writing Obama's name. Just curious: Do you think that he is Irish? Or is this a mere mockery of his name? I am hoping it is not the latter. I am very far from an Obama fan, but making fun of someone's name seems a particularly puerile level of insult.

Vort and I aren't fans of the president either. But both of us realize making fun of someones name is wrong. 

[kapikui]

3 hours ago, Godless said:

Politicians lie. Period. Democrats do it. Republicans do it. It's not right, but it's the way of the world we live in. Personally, I feel that Obama is a little less guilty than most. That's just my opinion though. I imagine you feel about Obama close to how I do about W. Bush, though I wouldn't go so far as to call him evil. The system, as it's built, corrupts people. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

I would disagree, the system does not corrupt people so much as it attracts corrupt people.  The more power there is in government, the more corrupt it is. Everyone wants to give the government ever more power to try to counteract this corruption, but a moment's thought will show that such action can NEVER work, only result in an ever increasing spiral of corruption. 

[LeSellers]

27 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

Vort and I aren't fans of the president either. But both of us realize making fun of someones name is wrong. 

You assume I'm making fun of it. I am not.

The reason, stated above, I use an apostrophe, is to remind people that he is not 100% Black, as many assume and even promote, but that he is something else: he's half Black, and half White. (Just between us, it's his Black half that I could admire, if it, too, were not so shrouded in mystery.)

He was raised by a set of White grandparents and their daughter (when she could spare time to do it), and a not-Black step father (for a short while).

But, since my views on anything here tend to rile people, I'll just stop talking about him altogether.

Lehi

Edited February 15, 2016 by LeSellers

[NightSG]

"As long as judges tinker with the Constitution to 'do what the people want,' instead of what the document actually commands, politicians who pick and confirm new federal judges will naturally want only those who agree with them politically."   --  Scalia, 2004

[Guest]

1 hour ago, LeSellers said:

You assume I'm making fun of it. I am not.

The reason, stated above, I use an apostrophe, is to remind people that he is not 100% Black, as many assume and even promote, but that he is something else: he's half Black, and half White. (Just between us, it's his Black half that I could admire, if it, too, were not so shrouded in mystery.)

He was raised by a set of White grandparents and their daughter (when she could spare time to do it), and a not-Black step father (for a short while).

But, since my views on anything here tend to rile people, I'll just stop talking about him altogether.

Lehi

That would make sense if in this forum - and especially in this thread - people assume and promote that he is nothing but Black.  It is quite very common knowledge that he is multi-racial.  It is so common, in fact, that my 12-year old knows it.  But in this thread - and in any of the threads recently opened about him in my memory - whether he is black or white or gray or yellow is altogether irrelevant.

But even then, reminding people by mocking his surname is not a decent way to do it.

[LeSellers]

16 minutes ago, anatess said:

reminding people by mocking his surname is not a decent way to do it.

Did you read the last line of my response? You won, get over it. Take yes for an answer. I lost, is that enough?

Lehi

[mordorbund]

How likely is it that the new appointee(s) will get asked JaG's question?

• Name one ruling you gave in the last 5 years that you found particularly distasteful, but felt compelled to give based on standing law.