Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Trump Negotiates with Harris and Feinstein on Judge Picks
Since when do Senators get to choose Donald Trump’s nominees for the positions of federal judges? Since now.
In an article on Powerline which references an editorial piece in the Wall Street Journal , Trump has withdrawn three names from his original list of 50 judicial nominees. Imagine the outrage of Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein: all of the judges are considered to be conservative. The irony is that these potential judges and their records would otherwise be admired by people from the Left and Right. Patrick Bumatay is an assistant U.S. Attorney who specializes in drug enforcement; he is also a 40-year old gay Filipino American. Daniel Collins has a private law practice, was an associate deputy attorney general and worked on issues like child exploitation. And Kenneth Lee, also in private practice, was an associate counsel to George W. Bush and has a pro bono practice for the poor and incarcerated.
These are the men that Harris and Feinstein have rejected.
But both Senators offered an alternative for selecting nominees for the three open positions:
The Democrats want to pick one name from the White House list, one from their own and a third consensus nominee.
Both articles suggest reasons that President Trump might have agreed to this request. None of the reasons make any sense to me. They appear to be based on a hope and a prayer that the Democrats will be more cooperative toward future judges.
Consulting Senators in the past was done as a courtesy—you know, when Senators were willing to be more cooperative.
This decision bodes a bad future for our judiciary. Do you see something I might be missing that makes this a good strategy?
Published in Politics
I knew someone would say that. While technically true, which I concede, I guarantee you that, were I the one who did what Max did, someone would report me. And then the Mods would pounce. AT least some.
Yeah, I know. These idiots in the press (and many never-Trumpers) take everything he says seriously.
When the Clemson football team showed up for their White House visit, Trump said something about having burgers “a mile high” waiting for them. One moron TV network actually spent money fact-checking his statement (“Not really a mile high! A lie!”), then showed a graphic of all the food, and how it was laid out.
Zzzzzzz . . .
Because he only insults when he’s right?
Right or wrong, he should set a better example, as an official of Ricochet.
I feel you. :) But on the other hand I find that rules (CoC) are somewhat off-putting. I still don’t see any clear consistent application of them (and it may not be practicable), and yet we all know we all need some sort of laws and codes to help at least decrease friction. I know I have offended people on Ricochet, but I never intended to, and I was not mocking, and I was only stating what I believed to be the truth, submitted for your consideration and critique, essentially.
I don’t like a strongly held opinion or action of mine to be repeatedly called stupid (and it hasn’t happened here on Ricochet), but sometimes that’s the most accurate and poignant way and most honest way of saying it. I guess we have to rely on everyone’s good will through it all. Is this all reasonable of me to say?
@ Flicker
During a class session of a graduate-level course, a student made a statement whose basis was actually a question. The professor replied, “That the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” I was mortified.
“Stupid,” “dumb,” “idiot,” and other such epithets are abhorrent to me. And, for two reasons.
One, I grew up believing these, and worse, described me. It took some years to do with with that. The other pertains to the professor. He had a door opened to enter into a dialogue with the student, a question-and-answer exchange, which might have helped all concerned as to how the student arrived at the position he held.
As it was, his remark was a conversation ender. The student never spoke again in the class for the rest of the semester. I lost what respect I had for the professor. And, he became my prime example of what an educator ought not be.
Question-asking, usually, is relational. Name-calling isn’t.
That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard…
8-)
Thanks you. I
I’ll only add that you don’t ever have to call a person by a derogatory name even once to crush a person in a way they’ll never entirely recover from.
I know a lot of people, some friends, some not, who have had terrible lives thrust upon them, and have not been “overcomers” as some like to exhort. I know one woman who is smart in some ways and not so in others, and her pain is that someone may call her — well, there is a list and it is justified by her experience, stupid, retarded, so on. From this perspective probably no one should say anyone else’s ideas are stupid or idiotic. But the fact is some things that people say and think are genuinely characterized most mildly as stupid.
We shouldn’t call friends stupid, unless there is a whole history of knowing one another to put it into context. So, hm, having said that, yeah, you’re right. Nevermind.
Well said, @thejokewasonme.