As much as I love what the young Anne wrote, she still ended up dead in a concentration camp. Not exactly how I pictured my last years on earth (I am 73).
That is why the far right wing is doing what they can to ban the 'written word', hoping to erase the words of Ann Frank, and all others whose words instill freedom and the need to preserve it...for everyone.
Celeste, they can burn all the books they want. The truth will always re-emerge, whether as oral history or in writing. The truth outlives them all...
Thanks also to Jon for bringing this up, in his inimical way. No-one wishes that end upon themselves, but funny enough it's one of the few ways to become immortal.
Actually Al, some of the Democratic Governors are meeting and discussing ways to stick together and oppose the dictatorial government the 2025ers are trying to press upon us. There are around 20 or so of these Governors plus the Mayor of DC who will do wshat is necessary to keep us who live in those States safe.
Actually, Fay, I have to keep reminding myself that 50.1% of voters voted for other than Trump; 49.9% of voters voted for Trump. Votes are still being counted, and it is likely that it will still be the case when the counting is over that DJT will have 49% of the vote. You can check it each day at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-president.html .
I like to think about it this way: Almost 258M Americans out of 335M Americans did NOT vote for Trump!
I hold out hope that when the 182M Americans (who didn't vote at all) wake up on January 21, 2025 and discover their freedoms being taken away, their voices being suppressed and their bank accounts being depleted under a corrupt, anti-semitic White Christian dictatorship, they too will oppose the Trump kleptocracy.
I would like to think that a large swath of absent voters could be induced to vote and vote consciously the next time around, but it's not really likely. Yes, many things will happen in the next few years that savvy voters could have predicted and that nonvoters may be surprised about. I think what may happen is that a thin segment of those who opted out this time will return to vote in 2028 if they think there is something in it for them, and it may make a crucial difference. Otherwise all bets are off.
No matter what they say it was not a mandate. More people didn't vote at all than voted for trump or Kamala. We will be stuck for at least 4 years with either trump or jd neither of whom is capable of running a garbage dump let alone a Country. If we can prevent them from tossing the Constitution and imposing an authoritarian or theocratic dictatorship we can change our message and once again take care of ourselves and screw the oligarchy.
So what? Many presidents are elected by less than 50% of the vote. It's totally meaningless. Trump was elected in 2016 and he didn't even have a PLURALITY let alone a majority of the vote.
When Bill Clinton won in 1992, he got 43% of the popular vote. I don't recall any of us saying that somehow he should have lost (he also won the electoral college by a huge majority).
No, Biden can't do much without Congress and they are either too enamored of trump or too wimpy to be of any help. He'll do what he can to protect whom we can. You can thank the majority of voters who refused to vote, the leadership of the DNC, DCCC, and DSCC who would raither raise billions of dollars than win elections.
Please explain what you mean by "the SCOTUS have given him permission". In fact they did no such thing. If you are referring to the immunity ruling. They left the matter in the hands of the judge hearing the Jan 6 case with further review to be given by the SCOTUS itself. You are completely misreading the opinion of the court in that case (as many have including many journalists) if you believe that Biden has some authority to take unilateral action against Trump. That is simply not true.
Celeste, go to www.Indivisible.com. They have a Guide with a section on Blue States. They would be in touch with what those governors are doing. Also, look for a nearby Indivisible chapter to join or the national group will help you start one (or join a Democratic town or city group).
This link goes to a "Wealth Management Company" starting in 2025. (Ominous) Please check again, and repost. I don't think that the political site, "Indivisible" would end in ".com"!
Great! I went to Indivisible.org after I wrote my comment. Unhappily, I found that there is NO active group in my rather large city of Charleston, SC! Fortunately, there is a state organization which I just joined.
Well, this news is disgusting. 🤢Yes, I do not trust Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. 🤔Yes, the vast majority of the people in those countries are decent. 🙏 For many years, Muslims have been very generous to me in Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, and Tunisia. 🙏 Senators Kennedy and Cotton damn well know better. 🤬
Sounds like Senators Sumner and Butler, together with Representative Brooks, in 1856. 😱 I should deem people like Senators Manchin, Cotton, Cruz, Kennedy et too many al. to be a**holes.🖕Since I know some kindly proctologists, I can not drag my neighbors down to the level of M.A.G.A. demagogues. 😉
I don’t know anyone who married an Iraqi. Indonesians and Philippine Muslins yes. Those guys and gals had to convert. I admit my evidence is anecdotal.
Mine, too, in the sense that it involved two people plus four others about whom they spoke. Though the noise of sectarianism blots it out, Iraqi culture was secular by and large.
This requirement is widely accepted among Islamic scholars and schools of jurisprudence; however, it is not the laws of this land, as long as religion and governance remain separate. Go ahead, Bill. But as James probably infers, the poor woman would be "shunned" and reviled by her former community. So, reality might not support your openness, Bill.
I read about this earlier. I don’t understand what is going on with Democrats in Congress. They are capitulating to Trump already-saying they are open to his Cabinet nominees and now not voting for Biden’s judicial nominees. Dems are working with Johnson on the CR. Where is the resistance? Not with our elected leaders. I am thoroughly disgusted. This is not the answer to getting elected in 2026 which has been detailed here on Substack. It is a recipe to giving our country to unpatriotic, American hating liars.
And of course, AOC lost out on the ranking chair of the Oversight Committee to someone in their 70s! Thank you, Ms Pelosi. It truly is time for a change - time for retirement for far too many politicians. Not all - there still are a few who are actually doing (or attempting to do what they came for).
FWIW, the average age of most members of the Democratic caucus is over 58, and it includes some superb left-leaning icons like Maxine Waters and Rosa DeLauro.
Nancy does not like AOC and that is a fact. I do and I am 73! Hell, I was pissed that the Senate Dems voted Schumer in as minority leader…again! Should’ve been Amy Klobuchar. Small but mighty woman.
I didn't like AOC, but then I forget exactly what happened, but I changed my mind. Now I think she's terrific. I think maybe she's gotten more gravitas. But I'm perceiving something as different, in a very positive way.
And, I agree that Klobuchar would have been much better than Schumer.
David, I have always liked AOC (I'm 69 and White), but I do believe she has grown and matured, and become better at her job. My husband started out disliking her, but he has changed too.
Senator Amy Klobuchar is Chair of the Senate Democratic Steering & Policy Committee a powerful position. Nancy Pelosi is in Germany receiving immediate surgery & recovering from from a fall.
Wouldn’t that have been terrific? AOL & Amy know how to do battle. We need more of that. If Pelosi was really responsible for AOC losing that position on the Oversight Commission, I’m stunned. Surely the Democrats must have learned by now it’s time to put forward the next generations. They will have to live under all this crap! Everything that is being put into place now has the potential to harm my children and grandchildren. They would love to be represented. It’s a new world. I don’t understand or like a lot of it, but what’s familiar and comforting to me is not the answer for the younger generations. They need to be encouraged to wield power in Congress and given the opportunity to do so.
They don't always agree but they always pull together for the team.
AOC has become one of Pelosi's proteges.
FWIW, during the most recent vote, Pelosi was undergoing hip replacement surgery at Landstuhl AFB in Germany after falling down a flight of marble stairs during a Congressional bipartisan work session in Luxembourg.
It's sort of bad form to include a dig against Pelosi when she was completely out of the Oversight Committee contest that AOC recently lost (also explains why there were fewer than 200 votes cast by the House Dem caucus in that contest).
I read several news bits (NOT faux) about Pelosi being against AOC's becoming the ranking chair. AS I SAID there are a few who ARE doing what they were sent there to do. LOVE Rosa DeSauro!
BUT there are far too many 80 and even a couple 90 year olds, BOTH Dems and Repubs still collecting their salaries, on top of the ones who exist for their 15/30 minutes of fame on TV and too many of those are not there for public service.
Although I think AOC is great, Pelosi is my Congresscritter and if she actually had a hand in this I wouldn't argue against her. AOC is only in her third term in Congress, a VERY early point to be expecting to be appointed as the ranking member of any major committee. That usually goes to someone who has at least 5 or more terms in Congress. AOC needs to wait a few more years before being put in such a position. She is still one of the youngest members of Congress.
I truly believe that (assuming we all survive the onslaught of Trump for another 4 years) that AOC will be a major leader in Congress for the future and she will serve our country well.
I have no reason to doubt you. But I always feel like I have to correct stuff. I sometimes find errors in published books--and they stick their tongues out at me and go Nyah nyah nyah!
You and Maggie both made the mistake of using your right hand, third finger, instead of your left hand, third finger in typing the third letter of her surname. So it had nothing to do with the girth of your fingers, which I'm figuring is quite normal.
Because this still America at this time where everyone has or is supposed to have the right and ability to go as far as they want for as long as they want, No one has the right to prevent them from enjoying their life the fullest. I know of nothing that says at a certain age, a person is automatically required to give up their livelihood no matter their experience and value. To be wiling to discard another American in America because of age which is a federally protected group like several others that are not discriminated against is not only unAmerican and cruel stripping one of their rights. It is also very uninformed.
We aren't to base our opinions of one's value and worth on any difference which is federally protected. Age does not strip away rights and privileges. People do that without right to do so.! It must be treated with and given the same respect and freedom to chose their future as is given to some of the other federally protected groups. I do not like nor tolerate what seems to be selfish, uninformed discrimination, but it evident that age has been excluded as has every individual determined to be of no value and incapable based on shallow misinformation. It must stop. WE will never win another election without them.
Well, Kay, I'm 86, shortly to be 87 - NOT "discriminating" per age. However, too many older white - mainly men - have had power for far too long. I think there should be actual term limits! Looking at Grassley? Really think I'm selfish & uninformed and discriminating against HIM? Look at his decisions the last decade or so.
Throwing the discrimination title - when there are actual reasons for their retirement. Possibly too many of these older mainly "gentlemen" have had their fingers on the buttons of power for too long.
The only Democrats not working to support Biden's nominees are the usual suspects - lame ducks Manchin and Sinema.
Jacky Rosen felt like she needed to join them on the Mangi vote - it may have been enough to secure her recent reelection in Nevada, where Trump won by a wide margin.
I looked it up as I couldn't remember who voted against Mangi besides Manchin. It was Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto from NV also. Supposedly, the concern was complaints from some members of law enforcement.
"Several law enforcement groups, including the National Sheriffs' Association and the National Association of Police Organizations, have announced they oppose Mangi and have criticized his involvement with the Alliance of Families for Justice.
Republicans and the law enforcement groups opposed to Mangi have portrayed it as an association that advocates for "cop-killers to be freed from prison," as the head of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association said in a Feb. 14 letter."
Has anyone heard the heads of ANY Policemen's Benevolent Associations complaining about Trump possibly pardoning the J6 domestic terrorists who beat Capitol Police officers? I'll be checking on that!
I have not read any statements from the PBS but, Trump has 7 or 8 pending civil cases seeking J6 damages from families of policemen & even cases filed by members of Congress.
I believe one such case is set for trial on or before 1/23/25. That case will NOT be continued per the trial Judge.
I'm assuming the civil cases are from families of the Capitol Police who were attacked? Other law enforcement seems to have abandoned them. And the "Back the Blue" republicans wouldn't give them the time of day! Officer Brian Sicknick's remains are in the columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery just down the hill from where my son is buried. I think of his family every time we visit. I'm so tired of the orange thug not being held accountable!
I was responding to the initial comment in the thread that "Democrats in Congress ... are capitulating to Trump already-saying they are open to his Cabinet nominees and 'now' not voting for Biden’s judicial nominees."
It's actually "old news" in that nearly a half dozen Democrats felt the need to not go out on a limb for Mangi to protect their own political chances according to reports from last March-May.
It's just as bad as Prof White-Vance suggests, but hardly novel.
And according to Courthouse News Service, at least 2 other vulnerable Democrats - Tester of Montana and Casey of PA - also withheld support for Mangi.
Not saying it's right - in fact it probably didn't help either of them; they both lost.
I don't blame Mangi for his protest letter.
Saddest part is that this had been predicted since at least last March, according to this March 20, 2024, well-written report:
If true, I am very disappointed in Jacky to whom I made contributions. I shall research this topic further. If validated, I will not contribute another time.
At least three others were equivocal - Sinema, Tester and Casey.
Still, I'd rather have a Democratic Senate majority than an ideologically pure one.
I initially cut off donations to Dems who said they wouldn't support Biden just before he backed out of the race, but then I realized that hurts me more than them.
If Mangi's nomination wold have come right after the 2022 election, it would not have been such an issue. But it came in the middle of an election year.
I'm not defending what Masto and Rosen did, just explaining why I think they did it: They had a powerful local constituency - Nevada police unions - who didn't like the nomination. Rosen won narrowly. It may have helped her.
Here's what you're looking for (corroborated last March, April, May by other MSM outlets like NBC and WaPo).
"Nevada’s two Democratic senators, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, were dismissive of the antisemitism claims but have said that they would oppose the nomination based on objections raised by local law enforcement groups. A third Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, recently told Politico that he would not support any judicial nominee who did not have at least minimal Republican support."
If the musical "1776" is to be taken as historical truth, as I do, it was Benjamin Franklin who said, "If we do not hang together, then surely we will hang separately." The Library of Congress agrees, so don't @ me.
All signatories to the DOI, including my ancestor, knew if they failed they would all hang.
My grandmother warned me to not speak of his signature as she said if it had all failed he would hang like a horse thief. They risked it all for our future freedoms from Kingly tyrants.
Thank you for the link to his letter, it was well worth reading, quite eloquent. This will stay with me for a while:
"I will not assume the worst possible motivation for their embrace of this attack. But to me that leaves two possibilities: that these Senators lack the wisdom to discern the truth, which exposes a catastrophic lack of judgment; or they used my nomination to court conservative voters in an election year, which exposes a catastrophic lack of principle."
His intelligence and class far surpass the low class MAGAT imbeciles. I am ashamed at how he was treated. Trump has brought us back to the racist era of the Deep South and the vitriol during Hitler’s reign of terror.
How sad that Mr. Mangi couldn't get confirmed. I do know that the republicans apparently don't care about qualifications. That's obvious in some of the people they've been happy to confirm. I have gotten to know quite a few Indonesian Muslims, and they are wonderful people. They have the same needs and desires that any of us have. Not all Muslims have been radicalized, and I have to say that many so-called Christians have been, and have been/are being really nasty.
Thank you for writing about Adeel Mangi and how the confirmation process failed him and our country. I'm so angry about this that I will not donate to either of the Nevada Senators' campaigns. (Of course I am also angry at the Republicans who blocked him but I would never vote for or donate to any of them.)
It's three democrats, West Virginia's Joe Manchin, Nevada Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez-Masto (NV). Manchin won't be a problem next year, he retired.
Manchin doesnt surprise me in the least - glad hes going to be gone. Its a shame he wont be replaced by a Democrat. On the other hand - WTH is going on with the two Nevada senators - both women - couldnt they have been "convinced" to vote FOR this very well-qualified Judge? I used to think they were both intelligent human beings. But then the same kind of go along to get along seems to run through the Democratic Party.
I don't understand Rosen and Cortez-Masto. Rosen was reelected in November, so she had 6 years to "recover" from supporting Mangi. Cortez-Masto was reelected in 2022 so had only 4 years to "recover" from supporting Mangi. Instead, both ensured that the judgeship in question will be filled by Trump.
Apparently they were both opposed because they are from Nevada where the police organizations have great influence. Those organizations led the charge against Manji and the two NV senators did what was politically necessary, especially Rosen (no remain to me!) who was just up for election and barely won.
It is actually remarkable that two relatively liberal women are Senators from a state like Nevada.
If those two were "purged" believe me their replacements would just as likely be very conservative GOP men.
Be very careful what you wish for, you might not like what you get.
A little more background. Apparently Mangi failed to disclose his leadership in a Muslim legal organization something he ultimately described as inadvertent although that is apparently questioned. This happened mid 2024 while the election was underway and Rosen was in a tight race. As I noted above Mangi was strongly opposed by police organizations and Rosen relief on their support in NV in her Senate election race. That is PROBABLY what caused her to stand against the Mangi nomination.
Ultimately no one voted for or against him because the nomination was withdrawn by Biden in exchange for getting a bunch of District Court nominees voted on which the GOP was holding up. It was complicated political strategy especially after the election.
It sucks but that's politics in the real world especially after you lose a presidential race.
My heart breaks to know that we are now going deeper into the chasm that is the basis for this story. I fear it will only get worse and I had always hoped it would get better in my lifetime.
"There were insinuations that he was antisemitic and anti-Israel, that he was pro-Hamas. Senator Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dismissed the attacks, saying there was no basis for them. While the bulk of them came from Republicans, three Democratic Senators said they would not vote for Mangi."
I wish you had named the Senators -- their behavior is unprofessional, unChristian, and -- in the spirit of equality evoked by our founding principles -- unAmerican.
Manchin has never truly been a Democrat, merely hogged the seat from one. I'm shocked at the other two who certainly must know what aggressively stereotypical bigotry feels like.
Manchin didn't hog a seat from a Democrat LOL! As just happened in the wake of his retirement, he was hogging the seat for many years from a Republican. West Virginia had been one of the most GOP states for several decades but Manchin held on to the only statewide Democratic office in WV.. With Manchin out, WV elected a second GOP senator.
And as I noted elsewhere, the two NV Democratic senators were pushed by local NV police organizations which had supported them to oppose the Mangi nomination and had they not, I expect Rosen might have lost her seat this pay election which she barely won.
I did not know this but should have, given the history of the state. Thanks for explaining it again. Local politics is the essence of democracy, so I'm glad Senators still have respect for that fact.
I don't know why they voted the way they did, but it's possible they both thought that voting for Judge Mangi might sink their campaigns, AND that we (Democrats) needed them to win in order to give us enough power on Capitol Hill to make some progress getting stuff we needed passed in the Senate.
I don't understand Rosen and Cortez-Masto. Their campaigns are over for the present time. Rosen was reelected in November, so she had 6 years to "recover" from supporting Mangi. Cortez-Masto was reelected in 2022 so had only 4 years to "recover" from supporting Mangi. Instead, both ensured that the judgeship in question will be filled by Trump.
If it had been only Manchin not supporting Mangi, the V-P would have cast the vote breaking the tie, and Trump wouldn't have that bench to fill.
I feel like this thread has devolved into a pile on of outrage, and I’m not sure how helpful that is. Rosen and Cortez Masto are Democrats who won election in a state that went heavily for Trump. Would we rather have Republicans in those seats? Politics is messy, and there are always trade offs.
Good points. I'm probably caught up in the emotional statements by the rejected judge. I should have done what he should have done -- wait a bit and then write something.
Several law enforcement groups, including the National Sheriffs' Association and the National Association of Police Organizations, have announced they oppose Mangi and have criticized his involvement with the Alliance of Families for Justice.
Republicans and the law enforcement groups opposed to Mangi have portrayed it as an association that advocates for "cop-killers to be freed from prison," as the head of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association said in a Feb. 14 letter.
As I stated in an earlier post, I've yet to hear any outrage from law enforcement at Trump's possible pardons for J6 thugs who beat police officers!
You are mixing apples with potatoes. Rosen was in the middle of a tough election which she barely won with huge support in NV from police organizations. Having two female relatively liberal Democratic senators in a state like Nevada is very unusual and if giving up on this nomination was necessary to preserve that, we shouldn't use a single issue like this to berate them. Politics is a tough game and you need to balance various things like this when running. People often forget that in the light of some singular event they disagree with.
I wasn't mixing anything with anything. I simply stated what I read as the reason for her vote. I actually donated to Jackie Rosen's campaign from NJ so as to keep a democrat in that seat!
Sorry. I was specifically talking about the last comment you made regarding Jan 6 criminals. I totally agree with your comment but I don't think it is necessarily relevant here, but again my apologies.
In light of who these Senators were, I now understand the complexity of their decisions. Having the other judgeships unrestricted by Republicans is probably a good trade for this one fellow, given that perfect isn't possible.
You are missing the bigger point. The two Democratic senators were both barely elected in a state which had often gone GOP. Trump won in NV while Rosen was being reelected this year. Elections have consequences. It's a balancing act. Please be careful who you attack on single issues you don't like.
Just wait to see the egregious person nominated and installed by T's GOP. Frightened, or themselves crazed, these Senators and Representatives are sycophants who would pervert the functions of our government until they're undermined; unrecognizable. Help, aid, assistance; understanding, insight, kindness, reflection; will be replaced with callous disregard for fellow humans — and willful stupidity fed from a well of vengeful or complacent ignorance."
Agreed. Leonard Leo and his Federalist Society dream team have basically turned SCOTUS (and lower courts) into their personal policy machine, and the GOP is more than happy to play along.
Channeling Marc Elias on federal District courts across our country:
Thousands of district court cases are filed each year & are FULLY adjudicated at the "first" level -- your local District Court or Division of same. These last month Biden appointments are very important.
So the 8-10Judges Biden has been able to get approved this month are crucial for a powerful Bench - double entendre intended. Biden has taken special steps to get Judge Murillo fast tracked into a life-time judgeship in the Central District of CA. I hope this qualified Latina makes it as she may be Biden's last appointment.
Onward with Marc Elias' analysis -- some but not a great number of cases make it to the U.S. Courts of Appeal. ONLY 80-85 cases get granted CERT & make it to SCOTUS where they are often remanded back to the first District Court level.
Biden's appointments now exceed Trump 1.
*****
PS: Marc's platform "Democracy Docket" is expanding rapidly & hopefully to reach the level of Lawfare, Civil Discourse & others. But, nobody has beautiful chickens like Joyce! Nobody.
Absolutely. I awaken to that fact every time these peculiar six of the nine reveal the convoluted reasoning to arrive at their predetermined "decision". They seem to believe legalese disguises the tortured logic perpetrated to arrive at their irrationally held, personal beliefs. They are guided solely by personal instinct, not law; and certainly not precedent or tradition. They are extra-legal wraiths to the Constitution clothed in serious-looking robes who, at the pinnacle of American law and invested with irreversible power, are decapitating the principles of the Constitution from its body.
Now Trump will appointment a yes man or woman to that appellate court judgeship. How can those four Democrats justify their actions? Our government is filled with many honest hardworking public servants, but it is also filled with many who should never have been elected to their positions. Why in this day and age are so many supposedly educated politicians still biased against anyone who is not like them?
Those Democrats especially Jackie Rosen needed to get elected, Rosen just this year. People seem too miss that politics is a complicated game. Had Rosen supported Msngi, she might have lost the election (which she just BARELY won) and then we'd have ANOTHER GOP senator. That would have been much worse than losing one single appellate court Justice.
Respectfully, I disagree. The point is , they won at the cost of being a sellout — refusing to acknowledge the end game. Additionally, we don't know for sure that it would have made a difference. People must stop capitulating!
Well sorry but again I totally disagree. Nobody capitulated here. The Democrats who opposed the Mangi nomination had solid reasons for their opposition. You may not agree with their reasons but it was hardly capitulation. At the same time it was clearly ALSO in light of their own particular electoral reality. Principles are worthless in terms of actual effect on the country if you lose and are out of power. Kamala Harris knows that for sure. Politics is certainly about ideals but it is ALSO about winning. The best ideals are useless if you are not able to implement them. Compromise is about understanding when to back off and live to fight another day.
Like the Rolling Stones sang, "You can't always get what you want. "
Which is probably why you would never get elected for anything especially at the state level. Anyone who believes that "I would never sacrifice my integrity" stuff doesn't understand politics at all. You need to remember that a Senator represents an entire state with many different constituencies who may hold conflicting views. A a senator represents all of those people. Deciding who to support for a judgeship is hardly a "global principles" decision. Mangi made some mistakes and he lost some support. I think every one here is making too much of this. I don't believe Jackie sacrificed her integrity just because she made a decision that wasn't perfect for the party line. You simply don't understand how complex things can be.
That is a cop out. The man was lumped in with terrorists because of his religion. That is wrong. I am not naive, I know people have to make compromises, but you don’t sell your soul for an election or any other job! I would not put my faith in a person like that. It has absolutely nothing to do with Party line.
Sorry you are just wrong here. Every politician makes compromises. Sure you don't sell your soul but deciding to not support a single judge is hardly at that level.
And Mangi made a major mistake by not disclosing his support of a pro Muslim organization that is somewhat anti police. He very well might not have been nominated if Biden had known about that association. In the end Biden withdrew the nomination.
You of course can disagree with me, just please make sure you understand the entire issue rather than just responding to a post here on Vance's Substack. If you read more about this and still believe that Rosen (again no relation to me!) should be slammed for it, just realize that such opposition probably would have caused us to lose another Democratic Senate seat something we can ill afford right now.
I am not a child, Mr.Rosen. I am probably older than you, so you don’t need to educate me. If either of these two politicians truly thought that Mr Mangi was not qualified for the position or had ties to an organization that was not appropriate for an appellate court judge, that is one thing. However, if it was simply to appease some bigoted constituents, I still say it would be wrong.
Sure, they've been named. So what? Jackie Rosen hat elected Senator this election from Nevada where Trump won. She might have lost if she had supported Msngi.
BIGGER PICTURE please. Politics is not a bunch of single issues.
We are in dark times. There’s no one coming; there’s no plan to save us. It’s work we must do ourselves.
I have finally started to recover from my post-election blackout.
It remains crucial to keep hope alive.
If Anne Frank could do it, so must we all.
As much as I love what the young Anne wrote, she still ended up dead in a concentration camp. Not exactly how I pictured my last years on earth (I am 73).
In her written word she remains alive forever, while others are already dead even though they still give signs of life...
That is why the far right wing is doing what they can to ban the 'written word', hoping to erase the words of Ann Frank, and all others whose words instill freedom and the need to preserve it...for everyone.
Celeste, they can burn all the books they want. The truth will always re-emerge, whether as oral history or in writing. The truth outlives them all...
Thanks also to Jon for bringing this up, in his inimical way. No-one wishes that end upon themselves, but funny enough it's one of the few ways to become immortal.
Jon Rosen - Great post ... I totally agree ... Thank You !!
She did not survive. We MUST!!
She never gave up hope, and neither must we, whether we survive or not.
That's the thing about sacrifice...MUST WE? Who says...!
I just sighed.
Actually Al, some of the Democratic Governors are meeting and discussing ways to stick together and oppose the dictatorial government the 2025ers are trying to press upon us. There are around 20 or so of these Governors plus the Mayor of DC who will do wshat is necessary to keep us who live in those States safe.
Actually, Fay, I have to keep reminding myself that 50.1% of voters voted for other than Trump; 49.9% of voters voted for Trump. Votes are still being counted, and it is likely that it will still be the case when the counting is over that DJT will have 49% of the vote. You can check it each day at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-president.html .
I like to think about it this way: Almost 258M Americans out of 335M Americans did NOT vote for Trump!
I hold out hope that when the 182M Americans (who didn't vote at all) wake up on January 21, 2025 and discover their freedoms being taken away, their voices being suppressed and their bank accounts being depleted under a corrupt, anti-semitic White Christian dictatorship, they too will oppose the Trump kleptocracy.
Just hope it's not too late.
I would like to think that a large swath of absent voters could be induced to vote and vote consciously the next time around, but it's not really likely. Yes, many things will happen in the next few years that savvy voters could have predicted and that nonvoters may be surprised about. I think what may happen is that a thin segment of those who opted out this time will return to vote in 2028 if they think there is something in it for them, and it may make a crucial difference. Otherwise all bets are off.
I just am hopeful that in 4 years that there will be a vote possible.
I think it's quite possible that the majorities in the House and Senate can be changed in 2026. One step at a time.
I'll be out there pointing this out until then, reminding people how to exact change by voting in the midterms.
I believe it's never too late. Keep reminding them when that happens. They'll need to hear it, especially on line at a grocery store.
No matter what they say it was not a mandate. More people didn't vote at all than voted for trump or Kamala. We will be stuck for at least 4 years with either trump or jd neither of whom is capable of running a garbage dump let alone a Country. If we can prevent them from tossing the Constitution and imposing an authoritarian or theocratic dictatorship we can change our message and once again take care of ourselves and screw the oligarchy.
So what? Many presidents are elected by less than 50% of the vote. It's totally meaningless. Trump was elected in 2016 and he didn't even have a PLURALITY let alone a majority of the vote.
When Bill Clinton won in 1992, he got 43% of the popular vote. I don't recall any of us saying that somehow he should have lost (he also won the electoral college by a huge majority).
So happy to read this. May the Universe protect and aid them!
It sure as hell isn’t coming out of Washington, it seems.
No, Biden can't do much without Congress and they are either too enamored of trump or too wimpy to be of any help. He'll do what he can to protect whom we can. You can thank the majority of voters who refused to vote, the leadership of the DNC, DCCC, and DSCC who would raither raise billions of dollars than win elections.
Biden could and should do more than he is; he could stop this , the SCOTUS gave him permission to do so and he should at all cost.
Please explain what you mean by "the SCOTUS have given him permission". In fact they did no such thing. If you are referring to the immunity ruling. They left the matter in the hands of the judge hearing the Jan 6 case with further review to be given by the SCOTUS itself. You are completely misreading the opinion of the court in that case (as many have including many journalists) if you believe that Biden has some authority to take unilateral action against Trump. That is simply not true.
As I said, dark times. 🖖
I'd like to know how to support this effort. I'll be contacting the Governors office about it, but if you have any info, I'd love to hear it.
Celeste, go to www.Indivisible.com. They have a Guide with a section on Blue States. They would be in touch with what those governors are doing. Also, look for a nearby Indivisible chapter to join or the national group will help you start one (or join a Democratic town or city group).
This link goes to a "Wealth Management Company" starting in 2025. (Ominous) Please check again, and repost. I don't think that the political site, "Indivisible" would end in ".com"!
Thanks. I'll be contacting my governors office to get the right info.
Great! I went to Indivisible.org after I wrote my comment. Unhappily, I found that there is NO active group in my rather large city of Charleston, SC! Fortunately, there is a state organization which I just joined.
Only with support from all of us.
Well, this news is disgusting. 🤢Yes, I do not trust Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. 🤔Yes, the vast majority of the people in those countries are decent. 🙏 For many years, Muslims have been very generous to me in Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, and Tunisia. 🙏 Senators Kennedy and Cotton damn well know better. 🤬
Sounds like Senators Sumner and Butler, together with Representative Brooks, in 1856. 😱 I should deem people like Senators Manchin, Cotton, Cruz, Kennedy et too many al. to be a**holes.🖕Since I know some kindly proctologists, I can not drag my neighbors down to the level of M.A.G.A. demagogues. 😉
I would have no problem marrying a Muslim woman.
I could not stand a Muslin man who wanted me to be submisive. One of us would end up dead.
LOL!
If she were a true believer she wouldn’t have you unless you converted (ostensibly or otherwise)
That is not true. A number of Iraqi women I knew married Americans and Brits. They remained faithful Muslims; their husbands never converted.
I don’t know anyone who married an Iraqi. Indonesians and Philippine Muslins yes. Those guys and gals had to convert. I admit my evidence is anecdotal.
Mine, too, in the sense that it involved two people plus four others about whom they spoke. Though the noise of sectarianism blots it out, Iraqi culture was secular by and large.
Nope. My ole man didn’t believe and my mother was a devoted Roman Catholic Italian.
You'd have to convert. :-)
Nope. I don’t believe in God but she would be welcome too.
This requirement is widely accepted among Islamic scholars and schools of jurisprudence; however, it is not the laws of this land, as long as religion and governance remain separate. Go ahead, Bill. But as James probably infers, the poor woman would be "shunned" and reviled by her former community. So, reality might not support your openness, Bill.
Exactly, Bruce. I’ve seen it happen. A gut falls so much in love that he has no choice but to convert
Nope. lol. Nope! Nope!
Guy
Still waiting to hear from Biden re the nature and extent of Russian involvement in our demise.
The silence is astounding…
I read about this earlier. I don’t understand what is going on with Democrats in Congress. They are capitulating to Trump already-saying they are open to his Cabinet nominees and now not voting for Biden’s judicial nominees. Dems are working with Johnson on the CR. Where is the resistance? Not with our elected leaders. I am thoroughly disgusted. This is not the answer to getting elected in 2026 which has been detailed here on Substack. It is a recipe to giving our country to unpatriotic, American hating liars.
And of course, AOC lost out on the ranking chair of the Oversight Committee to someone in their 70s! Thank you, Ms Pelosi. It truly is time for a change - time for retirement for far too many politicians. Not all - there still are a few who are actually doing (or attempting to do what they came for).
What makes you think Pelosi drove that vote?
FWIW, the average age of most members of the Democratic caucus is over 58, and it includes some superb left-leaning icons like Maxine Waters and Rosa DeLauro.
Nancy does not like AOC and that is a fact. I do and I am 73! Hell, I was pissed that the Senate Dems voted Schumer in as minority leader…again! Should’ve been Amy Klobuchar. Small but mighty woman.
I didn't like AOC, but then I forget exactly what happened, but I changed my mind. Now I think she's terrific. I think maybe she's gotten more gravitas. But I'm perceiving something as different, in a very positive way.
And, I agree that Klobuchar would have been much better than Schumer.
David, I have always liked AOC (I'm 69 and White), but I do believe she has grown and matured, and become better at her job. My husband started out disliking her, but he has changed too.
Interesting! That makes two of us who've grown to like her.
Senator Amy Klobuchar is Chair of the Senate Democratic Steering & Policy Committee a powerful position. Nancy Pelosi is in Germany receiving immediate surgery & recovering from from a fall.
Wouldn’t that have been terrific? AOL & Amy know how to do battle. We need more of that. If Pelosi was really responsible for AOC losing that position on the Oversight Commission, I’m stunned. Surely the Democrats must have learned by now it’s time to put forward the next generations. They will have to live under all this crap! Everything that is being put into place now has the potential to harm my children and grandchildren. They would love to be represented. It’s a new world. I don’t understand or like a lot of it, but what’s familiar and comforting to me is not the answer for the younger generations. They need to be encouraged to wield power in Congress and given the opportunity to do so.
Pelosi and AOC get along just fine.
They don't always agree but they always pull together for the team.
AOC has become one of Pelosi's proteges.
FWIW, during the most recent vote, Pelosi was undergoing hip replacement surgery at Landstuhl AFB in Germany after falling down a flight of marble stairs during a Congressional bipartisan work session in Luxembourg.
It's sort of bad form to include a dig against Pelosi when she was completely out of the Oversight Committee contest that AOC recently lost (also explains why there were fewer than 200 votes cast by the House Dem caucus in that contest).
Pelosi, age 84, was whipping votes from her hospital bed, for a 74 yr old white guy with throat cancer, who said he's fatigued.
https://www.jezebel.com/exciting-a-74-year-old-who-recently-said-hes-fatigued-will-lead-the-war-against-trump
I read several news bits (NOT faux) about Pelosi being against AOC's becoming the ranking chair. AS I SAID there are a few who ARE doing what they were sent there to do. LOVE Rosa DeSauro!
BUT there are far too many 80 and even a couple 90 year olds, BOTH Dems and Repubs still collecting their salaries, on top of the ones who exist for their 15/30 minutes of fame on TV and too many of those are not there for public service.
Although I think AOC is great, Pelosi is my Congresscritter and if she actually had a hand in this I wouldn't argue against her. AOC is only in her third term in Congress, a VERY early point to be expecting to be appointed as the ranking member of any major committee. That usually goes to someone who has at least 5 or more terms in Congress. AOC needs to wait a few more years before being put in such a position. She is still one of the youngest members of Congress.
And it was as relatively close vote - 111+ to 80+.
Pretty impressive that AOC got that many votes.
And she took it like a pro - said she would live to fight another day.
I truly believe that (assuming we all survive the onslaught of Trump for another 4 years) that AOC will be a major leader in Congress for the future and she will serve our country well.
Rosa's last name is DeLauro. And she deserves the love!
Believe it or not I knew that! typing thing, I guess.
I have no reason to doubt you. But I always feel like I have to correct stuff. I sometimes find errors in published books--and they stick their tongues out at me and go Nyah nyah nyah!
How about Rosa DeLauro our sweet, purple-haired rep.
I think you meant Rosa DeLauro, of Connecticut.
Rosa DeLauro is a force!!
Yes, I did mean DeLauro.
Blame my fat fingers.
Corrected. Thanks.
You and Maggie both made the mistake of using your right hand, third finger, instead of your left hand, third finger in typing the third letter of her surname. So it had nothing to do with the girth of your fingers, which I'm figuring is quite normal.
Because this still America at this time where everyone has or is supposed to have the right and ability to go as far as they want for as long as they want, No one has the right to prevent them from enjoying their life the fullest. I know of nothing that says at a certain age, a person is automatically required to give up their livelihood no matter their experience and value. To be wiling to discard another American in America because of age which is a federally protected group like several others that are not discriminated against is not only unAmerican and cruel stripping one of their rights. It is also very uninformed.
We aren't to base our opinions of one's value and worth on any difference which is federally protected. Age does not strip away rights and privileges. People do that without right to do so.! It must be treated with and given the same respect and freedom to chose their future as is given to some of the other federally protected groups. I do not like nor tolerate what seems to be selfish, uninformed discrimination, but it evident that age has been excluded as has every individual determined to be of no value and incapable based on shallow misinformation. It must stop. WE will never win another election without them.
Well, Kay, I'm 86, shortly to be 87 - NOT "discriminating" per age. However, too many older white - mainly men - have had power for far too long. I think there should be actual term limits! Looking at Grassley? Really think I'm selfish & uninformed and discriminating against HIM? Look at his decisions the last decade or so.
Throwing the discrimination title - when there are actual reasons for their retirement. Possibly too many of these older mainly "gentlemen" have had their fingers on the buttons of power for too long.
The only Democrats not working to support Biden's nominees are the usual suspects - lame ducks Manchin and Sinema.
Jacky Rosen felt like she needed to join them on the Mangi vote - it may have been enough to secure her recent reelection in Nevada, where Trump won by a wide margin.
I looked it up as I couldn't remember who voted against Mangi besides Manchin. It was Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto from NV also. Supposedly, the concern was complaints from some members of law enforcement.
"Several law enforcement groups, including the National Sheriffs' Association and the National Association of Police Organizations, have announced they oppose Mangi and have criticized his involvement with the Alliance of Families for Justice.
Republicans and the law enforcement groups opposed to Mangi have portrayed it as an association that advocates for "cop-killers to be freed from prison," as the head of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association said in a Feb. 14 letter."
Has anyone heard the heads of ANY Policemen's Benevolent Associations complaining about Trump possibly pardoning the J6 domestic terrorists who beat Capitol Police officers? I'll be checking on that!
I have not read any statements from the PBS but, Trump has 7 or 8 pending civil cases seeking J6 damages from families of policemen & even cases filed by members of Congress.
I believe one such case is set for trial on or before 1/23/25. That case will NOT be continued per the trial Judge.
I'm assuming the civil cases are from families of the Capitol Police who were attacked? Other law enforcement seems to have abandoned them. And the "Back the Blue" republicans wouldn't give them the time of day! Officer Brian Sicknick's remains are in the columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery just down the hill from where my son is buried. I think of his family every time we visit. I'm so tired of the orange thug not being held accountable!
No argument from me -
I was responding to the initial comment in the thread that "Democrats in Congress ... are capitulating to Trump already-saying they are open to his Cabinet nominees and 'now' not voting for Biden’s judicial nominees."
It's actually "old news" in that nearly a half dozen Democrats felt the need to not go out on a limb for Mangi to protect their own political chances according to reports from last March-May.
It's just as bad as Prof White-Vance suggests, but hardly novel.
And according to Courthouse News Service, at least 2 other vulnerable Democrats - Tester of Montana and Casey of PA - also withheld support for Mangi.
Not saying it's right - in fact it probably didn't help either of them; they both lost.
I don't blame Mangi for his protest letter.
Saddest part is that this had been predicted since at least last March, according to this March 20, 2024, well-written report:
https://www.courthousenews.com/for-third-circuit-nominee-adeel-mangi-an-ever-steepening-path-to-confirmation/
PLEASE REPORT BACK YOUR FINDINGS!!!
Shameful, spineless, politically motivated fools. This makes me sick.
We should send Joyce’s newsletter to those three traitors.
I call the two of them Manchenema.
If true, I am very disappointed in Jacky to whom I made contributions. I shall research this topic further. If validated, I will not contribute another time.
At least three others were equivocal - Sinema, Tester and Casey.
Still, I'd rather have a Democratic Senate majority than an ideologically pure one.
I initially cut off donations to Dems who said they wouldn't support Biden just before he backed out of the race, but then I realized that hurts me more than them.
If Mangi's nomination wold have come right after the 2022 election, it would not have been such an issue. But it came in the middle of an election year.
I'm not defending what Masto and Rosen did, just explaining why I think they did it: They had a powerful local constituency - Nevada police unions - who didn't like the nomination. Rosen won narrowly. It may have helped her.
Here's what you're looking for (corroborated last March, April, May by other MSM outlets like NBC and WaPo).
"Nevada’s two Democratic senators, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, were dismissive of the antisemitism claims but have said that they would oppose the nomination based on objections raised by local law enforcement groups. A third Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, recently told Politico that he would not support any judicial nominee who did not have at least minimal Republican support."
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/05/us/adeel-mangi-judge-biden.html
The coming years will be known as the Dark Age of the American experiment. I feel such shame for our republic.
So do I.
If the musical "1776" is to be taken as historical truth, as I do, it was Benjamin Franklin who said, "If we do not hang together, then surely we will hang separately." The Library of Congress agrees, so don't @ me.
All signatories to the DOI, including my ancestor, knew if they failed they would all hang.
My grandmother warned me to not speak of his signature as she said if it had all failed he would hang like a horse thief. They risked it all for our future freedoms from Kingly tyrants.
Wait a holy minute. Are you going to keep the name of your great ancestor to yourself? Please do speakith.
Franklin may indeed have written or said it - but it's not original.
It's an old Flemish proverb dating from the 1600s, one Franklin probably knew well, as he was very widely read.
Exactly what I thought of - Ben Franklin in "1776"!
Thank you for the link to his letter, it was well worth reading, quite eloquent. This will stay with me for a while:
"I will not assume the worst possible motivation for their embrace of this attack. But to me that leaves two possibilities: that these Senators lack the wisdom to discern the truth, which exposes a catastrophic lack of judgment; or they used my nomination to court conservative voters in an election year, which exposes a catastrophic lack of principle."
His intelligence and class far surpass the low class MAGAT imbeciles. I am ashamed at how he was treated. Trump has brought us back to the racist era of the Deep South and the vitriol during Hitler’s reign of terror.
Wow! Wow! Wow! Kudos to him.
Thank you. This is a beautifully written paean to our wide and broadening American culture. May we all dig in to defend it.
I am afraid we missed the deadline.
That ship has sailed; may it hit a flotilla of icebergs for two years to puncture its facade and slow its progress. Then the midterms.
Amen!
How sad that Mr. Mangi couldn't get confirmed. I do know that the republicans apparently don't care about qualifications. That's obvious in some of the people they've been happy to confirm. I have gotten to know quite a few Indonesian Muslims, and they are wonderful people. They have the same needs and desires that any of us have. Not all Muslims have been radicalized, and I have to say that many so-called Christians have been, and have been/are being really nasty.
Thank you for writing about Adeel Mangi and how the confirmation process failed him and our country. I'm so angry about this that I will not donate to either of the Nevada Senators' campaigns. (Of course I am also angry at the Republicans who blocked him but I would never vote for or donate to any of them.)
The four Democrats who wouldnt vote for him need to be purged
Or at least embarrassed!
It's three democrats, West Virginia's Joe Manchin, Nevada Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez-Masto (NV). Manchin won't be a problem next year, he retired.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/adeel-mangi-biden-nominee-appeals-court-judge-rcna145507
Manchin doesnt surprise me in the least - glad hes going to be gone. Its a shame he wont be replaced by a Democrat. On the other hand - WTH is going on with the two Nevada senators - both women - couldnt they have been "convinced" to vote FOR this very well-qualified Judge? I used to think they were both intelligent human beings. But then the same kind of go along to get along seems to run through the Democratic Party.
I don't understand Rosen and Cortez-Masto. Rosen was reelected in November, so she had 6 years to "recover" from supporting Mangi. Cortez-Masto was reelected in 2022 so had only 4 years to "recover" from supporting Mangi. Instead, both ensured that the judgeship in question will be filled by Trump.
Apparently they were both opposed because they are from Nevada where the police organizations have great influence. Those organizations led the charge against Manji and the two NV senators did what was politically necessary, especially Rosen (no remain to me!) who was just up for election and barely won.
It is actually remarkable that two relatively liberal women are Senators from a state like Nevada.
If those two were "purged" believe me their replacements would just as likely be very conservative GOP men.
Be very careful what you wish for, you might not like what you get.
A little more background. Apparently Mangi failed to disclose his leadership in a Muslim legal organization something he ultimately described as inadvertent although that is apparently questioned. This happened mid 2024 while the election was underway and Rosen was in a tight race. As I noted above Mangi was strongly opposed by police organizations and Rosen relief on their support in NV in her Senate election race. That is PROBABLY what caused her to stand against the Mangi nomination.
Ultimately no one voted for or against him because the nomination was withdrawn by Biden in exchange for getting a bunch of District Court nominees voted on which the GOP was holding up. It was complicated political strategy especially after the election.
It sucks but that's politics in the real world especially after you lose a presidential race.
Agreed!! They have been on my boycott radar for some time.
Who are they?
What a letter. I know it is beyond them, but they should feel ashamed. He is a bigger man than all of them.
My heart breaks to know that we are now going deeper into the chasm that is the basis for this story. I fear it will only get worse and I had always hoped it would get better in my lifetime.
"There were insinuations that he was antisemitic and anti-Israel, that he was pro-Hamas. Senator Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dismissed the attacks, saying there was no basis for them. While the bulk of them came from Republicans, three Democratic Senators said they would not vote for Mangi."
I wish you had named the Senators -- their behavior is unprofessional, unChristian, and -- in the spirit of equality evoked by our founding principles -- unAmerican.
Manchin, Rosen, and Cortez Masto are the names.
Manchin has never truly been a Democrat, merely hogged the seat from one. I'm shocked at the other two who certainly must know what aggressively stereotypical bigotry feels like.
My opinion, too.
Supposedly some pressure from law enforcement. Which unfortunately doesn't really surprise me! It infuriates me!
Manchin didn't hog a seat from a Democrat LOL! As just happened in the wake of his retirement, he was hogging the seat for many years from a Republican. West Virginia had been one of the most GOP states for several decades but Manchin held on to the only statewide Democratic office in WV.. With Manchin out, WV elected a second GOP senator.
And as I noted elsewhere, the two NV Democratic senators were pushed by local NV police organizations which had supported them to oppose the Mangi nomination and had they not, I expect Rosen might have lost her seat this pay election which she barely won.
Local politics is VERY important even for Senators.
I did not know this but should have, given the history of the state. Thanks for explaining it again. Local politics is the essence of democracy, so I'm glad Senators still have respect for that fact.
Thank you for the explanation -- I had known it, but forgot it. Bitter pill instead of poison....
I don't know why they voted the way they did, but it's possible they both thought that voting for Judge Mangi might sink their campaigns, AND that we (Democrats) needed them to win in order to give us enough power on Capitol Hill to make some progress getting stuff we needed passed in the Senate.
I don't understand Rosen and Cortez-Masto. Their campaigns are over for the present time. Rosen was reelected in November, so she had 6 years to "recover" from supporting Mangi. Cortez-Masto was reelected in 2022 so had only 4 years to "recover" from supporting Mangi. Instead, both ensured that the judgeship in question will be filled by Trump.
If it had been only Manchin not supporting Mangi, the V-P would have cast the vote breaking the tie, and Trump wouldn't have that bench to fill.
It's hard to argue against your thinking here. How to keep track and balance all these considerations including timelines is daunting.
Name them, shame them!
I feel like this thread has devolved into a pile on of outrage, and I’m not sure how helpful that is. Rosen and Cortez Masto are Democrats who won election in a state that went heavily for Trump. Would we rather have Republicans in those seats? Politics is messy, and there are always trade offs.
Thank you! THIS!!!
Good points. I'm probably caught up in the emotional statements by the rejected judge. I should have done what he should have done -- wait a bit and then write something.
Did they have any particular statements to make about why they were against him?
This is supposedly the reason:
Several law enforcement groups, including the National Sheriffs' Association and the National Association of Police Organizations, have announced they oppose Mangi and have criticized his involvement with the Alliance of Families for Justice.
Republicans and the law enforcement groups opposed to Mangi have portrayed it as an association that advocates for "cop-killers to be freed from prison," as the head of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association said in a Feb. 14 letter.
As I stated in an earlier post, I've yet to hear any outrage from law enforcement at Trump's possible pardons for J6 thugs who beat police officers!
You are mixing apples with potatoes. Rosen was in the middle of a tough election which she barely won with huge support in NV from police organizations. Having two female relatively liberal Democratic senators in a state like Nevada is very unusual and if giving up on this nomination was necessary to preserve that, we shouldn't use a single issue like this to berate them. Politics is a tough game and you need to balance various things like this when running. People often forget that in the light of some singular event they disagree with.
I wasn't mixing anything with anything. I simply stated what I read as the reason for her vote. I actually donated to Jackie Rosen's campaign from NJ so as to keep a democrat in that seat!
Sorry. I was specifically talking about the last comment you made regarding Jan 6 criminals. I totally agree with your comment but I don't think it is necessarily relevant here, but again my apologies.
In light of who these Senators were, I now understand the complexity of their decisions. Having the other judgeships unrestricted by Republicans is probably a good trade for this one fellow, given that perfect isn't possible.
Shame on Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez-Masto for being so short-sighted. I long ago stopped relying on DINO Joe Manchin
You are missing the bigger point. The two Democratic senators were both barely elected in a state which had often gone GOP. Trump won in NV while Rosen was being reelected this year. Elections have consequences. It's a balancing act. Please be careful who you attack on single issues you don't like.
Mangi’s loss is a stark reminder that we must urgently depoliticize judicial appointments and restore the integrity of our courts.
Just wait to see the egregious person nominated and installed by T's GOP. Frightened, or themselves crazed, these Senators and Representatives are sycophants who would pervert the functions of our government until they're undermined; unrecognizable. Help, aid, assistance; understanding, insight, kindness, reflection; will be replaced with callous disregard for fellow humans — and willful stupidity fed from a well of vengeful or complacent ignorance."
Agreed. Leonard Leo and his Federalist Society dream team have basically turned SCOTUS (and lower courts) into their personal policy machine, and the GOP is more than happy to play along.
Channeling Marc Elias on federal District courts across our country:
Thousands of district court cases are filed each year & are FULLY adjudicated at the "first" level -- your local District Court or Division of same. These last month Biden appointments are very important.
So the 8-10Judges Biden has been able to get approved this month are crucial for a powerful Bench - double entendre intended. Biden has taken special steps to get Judge Murillo fast tracked into a life-time judgeship in the Central District of CA. I hope this qualified Latina makes it as she may be Biden's last appointment.
Onward with Marc Elias' analysis -- some but not a great number of cases make it to the U.S. Courts of Appeal. ONLY 80-85 cases get granted CERT & make it to SCOTUS where they are often remanded back to the first District Court level.
Biden's appointments now exceed Trump 1.
*****
PS: Marc's platform "Democracy Docket" is expanding rapidly & hopefully to reach the level of Lawfare, Civil Discourse & others. But, nobody has beautiful chickens like Joyce! Nobody.
I subscribe to Marc’s “Democracy Docket” - an important read
Absolutely. I awaken to that fact every time these peculiar six of the nine reveal the convoluted reasoning to arrive at their predetermined "decision". They seem to believe legalese disguises the tortured logic perpetrated to arrive at their irrationally held, personal beliefs. They are guided solely by personal instinct, not law; and certainly not precedent or tradition. They are extra-legal wraiths to the Constitution clothed in serious-looking robes who, at the pinnacle of American law and invested with irreversible power, are decapitating the principles of the Constitution from its body.
Russell: very explicitly said.
Words, “integrity” and “our courts” are oxymorons.
If only there was an OMNIPOTENT God to hear prayers!!
Now Trump will appointment a yes man or woman to that appellate court judgeship. How can those four Democrats justify their actions? Our government is filled with many honest hardworking public servants, but it is also filled with many who should never have been elected to their positions. Why in this day and age are so many supposedly educated politicians still biased against anyone who is not like them?
Those Democrats especially Jackie Rosen needed to get elected, Rosen just this year. People seem too miss that politics is a complicated game. Had Rosen supported Msngi, she might have lost the election (which she just BARELY won) and then we'd have ANOTHER GOP senator. That would have been much worse than losing one single appellate court Justice.
Respectfully, I disagree. The point is , they won at the cost of being a sellout — refusing to acknowledge the end game. Additionally, we don't know for sure that it would have made a difference. People must stop capitulating!
Well sorry but again I totally disagree. Nobody capitulated here. The Democrats who opposed the Mangi nomination had solid reasons for their opposition. You may not agree with their reasons but it was hardly capitulation. At the same time it was clearly ALSO in light of their own particular electoral reality. Principles are worthless in terms of actual effect on the country if you lose and are out of power. Kamala Harris knows that for sure. Politics is certainly about ideals but it is ALSO about winning. The best ideals are useless if you are not able to implement them. Compromise is about understanding when to back off and live to fight another day.
Like the Rolling Stones sang, "You can't always get what you want. "
No matter how badly I would want to win an election, I would never sacrifice my integrity. I would never trust anyone who would do so.
Which is probably why you would never get elected for anything especially at the state level. Anyone who believes that "I would never sacrifice my integrity" stuff doesn't understand politics at all. You need to remember that a Senator represents an entire state with many different constituencies who may hold conflicting views. A a senator represents all of those people. Deciding who to support for a judgeship is hardly a "global principles" decision. Mangi made some mistakes and he lost some support. I think every one here is making too much of this. I don't believe Jackie sacrificed her integrity just because she made a decision that wasn't perfect for the party line. You simply don't understand how complex things can be.
That is a cop out. The man was lumped in with terrorists because of his religion. That is wrong. I am not naive, I know people have to make compromises, but you don’t sell your soul for an election or any other job! I would not put my faith in a person like that. It has absolutely nothing to do with Party line.
Sorry you are just wrong here. Every politician makes compromises. Sure you don't sell your soul but deciding to not support a single judge is hardly at that level.
And Mangi made a major mistake by not disclosing his support of a pro Muslim organization that is somewhat anti police. He very well might not have been nominated if Biden had known about that association. In the end Biden withdrew the nomination.
You of course can disagree with me, just please make sure you understand the entire issue rather than just responding to a post here on Vance's Substack. If you read more about this and still believe that Rosen (again no relation to me!) should be slammed for it, just realize that such opposition probably would have caused us to lose another Democratic Senate seat something we can ill afford right now.
I am not a child, Mr.Rosen. I am probably older than you, so you don’t need to educate me. If either of these two politicians truly thought that Mr Mangi was not qualified for the position or had ties to an organization that was not appropriate for an appellate court judge, that is one thing. However, if it was simply to appease some bigoted constituents, I still say it would be wrong.
“While the bulk of them came from Republicans, three Democratic Senators said they would not vote for Mangi.”
We need to start naming names.
Sure, they've been named. So what? Jackie Rosen hat elected Senator this election from Nevada where Trump won. She might have lost if she had supported Msngi.
BIGGER PICTURE please. Politics is not a bunch of single issues.