a biggie! Feingold slams two of the Supremes

[ensho]

http://progressive.org/wx091710.html


Feingold Slams Supreme Court over "Citizens United," Implies Roberts and Alito Lied Under Oath


Sen. Russ Feingold recently slammed the Supreme Court and strongly implied that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito lied, under oath, to the Senate during their confirmation hearings.

In a speech on Sept. 10, Feingold, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, denounced the “Citizens United” decision that the Court handed down earlier this year.

Feingold called it “a lawless decision.”

-snip-

Without naming any names, Feingold said that George W. Bush’s Supreme Court nominees “came before the Judiciary Committee and promised me, under oath, that they would follow precedent, that they would be neutral umpires calling balls and strikes. Well, of course, they did the opposite.”

-long snip of history, speech-

…I don’t want to kid you. Even if we pass it, it’s only a tiny step. We need to overturn this decision. We need to overturn this decision. That means President Obama needs another appointment either in this term or a second term or this democracy will head dramatically in the wrong direction. We have got to overturn this decision. And as we strategize to do whatever we can do, between now and then, to limit the effects of this decision, I want you to know that I’m committed to this cause because I think it goes to the very core of our democracy.
---------------------------------


we have to protect his back on this so we can get the neo cons out of the Supreme Court bldg.

[saltpoint]

1. Russ, it's ok if you don't name names. We know who

you mean, and you're exactly right.

:thumbsup:

[myrna minx]

2. K&R n/t

[Inuca]

3. Not sure, but I don't think Feingold is the first

to have said something like this. I think that Specter and Schumer, others maybe as well (Durbin?) voiced similar displeasure.

[Golden Raisin]

7. Didn't stop Schumer

from voting for confirmation. He's emblematical of everything wrong within the Beltway.

[pscot]

8. +1

[Inuca]

9. I was referring to comments made much later

probably in the context of Citizen United, Schumer claiming that Roberts/ALito did not tell the truth during confirmation. Not a Schumer fan, but fair is fair.

[blm]

12. Schumer voted against, but, only AFTER he worked AGAINST Dems filibustering.

His office set up smears against Kerry in the press at the time questioning his motives for filibustering Alito. Effing traitor.

[ProSense]

15. They never took the threat of these hacks seriously.

Feingold, for his own reasons, voted for Roberts.

Still, he's exactly right about their deception.

[chimpymustgo]

59. WE knew Roberts and Ito were LYING. Please.

[BrklynLiberal]

22. I cannot WAIT to vote him OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[defendandprotect]

40. agree ..

[druidity33]

17. The ONLY Senator

to vote against the Patriot Act... 99 to 1.

Good interview with Glenn Greenwald here:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/radio/2010/09/14/feingold/index.html


If i wasn't poor as heck i'd donate to his campaign...


:)

[elocs]

29. I hope people can appreciate how easy it would have been for Feingold to vote with the others.

To stand alone like that took courage.

[hootinholler]

4. Lean on Nancy, Russ

If they lied under oath they are not fit to be Justices. It's that simple. Impeach them.

-Hoot

[salinen]

5. Scalia and Thomas

should not be off that list.

[blm]

6. And it didn't help that Schumer was dead set against filibustering these two fascists.

Effing traitor.

[Phx_Dem]

11. He was right. Supreme court nominees should not be fillibustered.

Elections have consequences. They may be the two biggest wingnut assholes in the judicial realm, but they're both qualified to be on the court whether we like it or not.

If Democrats hadn't voted for Ralph Nader in 2000, knowing full well he couldn't possibly win, we won't even know who these two bozo were.

[COLGATE4]

13. These two arguably are qualified to be on the USSCt

but Clarence Thomas wasn't/isn't.

[Phx_Dem]

18. Totally agree!! He's an embarrassment to the judicial branch.

[ProSense]

14. He has his

regrets.

Alito and Reoberts are partisan hacks.

[Phx_Dem]

19. They are partisian hacks, but they're still qualified and

once we start fillibusting Supreme nominees because of ideology, we're screwed. If a this country elects a wingnut as President, he has a right to nominate wingnut candidates to the bench as long as they are qualified and, unfortunately, those two wingnuts are. It's up to the Senate to vote them down if they're too extreme, not fillibuster them.

That's the consequence of not voting (or in Bush's case, voting for Nader).

[ProSense]

21. No,

"once we start fillibusting Supreme nominees because of ideology"

Because of lying and deception.

Kerry spoke at length about his opposition to Alito in part based on the inconsistencies in his confirmation statements and his record.

Also, it's not like Alito and Roberts would have been the first to be blocked.

[BrklynLiberal]

23. and I wonder what would happen if Obama nominated an eminently qualified person, who just

happened to be very progressive. I am sure the repukes would "NEVER" consider filibustering....LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[Phx_Dem]

38. He has and they didn't.

[Dr.Phool]

28. Roberts was caught flat-out lying during his confirmation hearings.

He claimed that he had never heard of the Federalist Society. He was in fact, on of their leaders.

And Alito had no problem hearing suits and making rulings in cases where he had a direct monetary conflict of interest.

[austin78704]

37. That meme is stil bullshit.

"That's the consequence of not voting (or in Bush's case, voting for Nader)."

As long as so many waste their time attacking non-enemies and blaming non-problems, as a party we'll continue to fail at confronting real enemies and addressing real problems.

[molly77]

57. The 2000 and 2004 elections were both stolen.

[Jackpine Radical]

39. And that is precisely why Russ has generally voted for

any President's nominees, unless the appointment is obviously and grossly wrong. He has taken a lot of heat for that, and lots of people don't share his view, but he has always stood on principle and voted according to hi lights.

That's why they're spending so much to get rid of him.

[blm]

16. They are beyond partisan and are actually FASCIST HACKS - they needed to be filibustered.

Fascists are NOT qualified to be SUPREME COURT JUSTICES.

[sulphurdunn]

43. Ya Know,

I don't think votes cast for Ralph Nader had nearly the effect on the outcome of the 2000 election as did fraud and voter suppression.

[suzie]

53. Then you haven't looked at the results in Florida 2000, where Nader's voters would have made

the difference.

There's only so much outright voter supression that you can do without it being obvious.

So, Republicans needed Ralph Nader to help deliver the 2000 election, which he did.

[Jim Sagle]

52. Yes they should and MUST be filibustered. It's called separation of powers. Check into it.

[Phx_Dem]

10. I agree, and thanks for saying it, Russ. n/t

[rug]

20. Presidential impeachment is a red herring. Impeachment of a SC Justice for perjury is the real deal.

[femrap]

24. Impeach them. nt

[RedCloud]

34. And imapple them too!

[femrap]

42. And don't forget Impear!!! nt

[Jackpine Radical]

61. I remember in about '73 when I had this big Impeach Nixon sign

over my desk. Somebody put another one up right below it: "Impear Agnew!"

[femrap]

63. We still had 'shame'

in our country back them. He had the 'decency' to resign. I really wanted him in jail. Now, they don't even answer a subpoena. It's a lawless nation for the elitists.

ETA: Was this at school or at work? Today, some reteablican would come around and rip the sign up. Somehow 'god' has emboldened them.

[Jackpine Radical]

64. It was in my office.

I was a grad student and teaching assistant in a liberal department on a liberal campus (UW-Madison) at the time. The addition was compliments of another grad student.

I also had a cartoon featuring these two chickens in a henyard, one with a worried look on her face saying "You know, with all the eggs we lay, there should be a lot more of us."

[Faygo Kid]

25. Roberts is one of the worst chief justices in history, and a lying SOS.

As a lawyer myself, I held out hope that his undeniable intelligence would shine through.

He's a political hack.

[harun]

46. He is ruling FAR to the right of what I thought he would. I think the Republican's

have figured out how to get trojan horse corpo-fascist's on the SC.

[calimary]

51. Intelligence? After the way he botched the Presidential Oath of Office? Undeniable intelligence?

Excuse me????????????????????????????

Where??????? roberts has NO intelligence. He's an idiot. One of the biggest idiots EVER to walk the earth.

ANYBODY ANYWHERE, who knew his job was to swear in the next president, ESPECIALLY when it became clear the next president was going to be historic as all-get-out, would try to make sure he knew what the Presidential Oath of Office was and how it went. You'd think when the first Tuesday in November, 2008, had come and gone, and the winner was well-known, that roberts would have at least rehearsed it a little. Epecially since he literally had MONTHS to rehearse the damn thing. MONTHS! Two-and-a-half MONTHS. From early November to the following January 20th. He cannot say he didn't have time to prepare for such a momentus career moment, or that it took him by surprise, or that it snuck up on him at the last moment and he didn't have time to prepare and no heads-up that it was coming. It would be one of THE most momentus moments in his entire career, in his entire LIFETIME. MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR day in his life as Chief Justice - to swear in the FIRST black president in American history - and he fucks it up. He ruined the soundbite for all eternity and all the historical record forever, he botched it so badly they had to do it over afterwards. You'd think somebody in roberts' position, knowing what his job duties and privileges entailed, and with two-and-a-half MONTHS advance notice after Obama got elected, would at least have practiced in the bathroom mirror for a few minutes, or taken a 3x5 card with him, with the Oath written out in case he was too nervous to remember, or SOMETHING. There was, and is, NO EXCUSE IMAGINABLE for such a landmark fuck-up. An HISTORIC fuck-up. An EPIC fuck-up. Cue the video - which will speak for this card-carrying IDIOT for all time. I'm surprised he even has the guts to show his miserable simpering wuss-face in public after that. Probably too STOOOOOpid even to recognize the magnitude of what he did, what a colossal national embarrassment he was and still is.

No one will EVER convince me, after that utterly disgraceful and pathetic little episode, that john roberts has even a scintilla of "undeniable intelligence." I can deny he has intelligence all day long! He is a disgrace. A disgrace to the law, to the courts, to the Supreme Court, to the legal profession and everyone in it, a disgrace to this entire country, for all our history, and for all time.

[wundermaus]

26. Too Late Russ, the dastardly deed has already been done.

Democracy has been murdered by the methodical acts of treason from Bush and his appointed Supreme Court goons.
Let's cut the crap about Corporate's Resident Obama being pivotal to "fix" the death of Democracy.
Voting is not enough.
Dollars equal votes now.
Democracy died January 21, 2010.
Traitors and criminals of our generation circumvented and corrupted the rule of law.
So now the real question is: What CAN We do about it?
Vote? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbzkhu1CiVU">That is not enough.

[JDPriestly]

27. Good for Feingold. For once, a Democrat dares to tell the truth.

[Kolesar]

30. The Republican Supreme Court rationalized that corporations are the same as people and hence ...

... have First Amendment rights.

Rights that are not delegated to the Federal government or the states are supposed to be retained by the people, not by the corporations.

[NewJeffCT]

58. I say if we consider corporations to be people

then, a corporation should have the same contribution limit as a person - I think that is around $3,000, right?

So, if NewJeffCT can donate a maximum of $3,000 to Obama 2012, then ExxonMobil can donate a maximum of $3,000 to Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney or whoever.

[DFLforever]

31. The President, Sen Feingold, Pres Clinton all in the same

week going after the Citizens United decision.

I like this coordination. Please, keep it going up to election day!

[inna]

32. kr. gotta love russ.

[book_worm]

33. I was there at the Barrymore for that rally of the Fighting Bob festival and yes, he got

a huge response.

[DebJ]

35. Wish he made the national news more often. It's so

comforting to see a man with a brain and courage in Congress.

[Snotcicles]

36. Makes my Cheddarbomb the other day some much better. Thanks Russ nt

[Zambero]

41. Looking at the header, for a second I thought you meant..

..that he had the goods on Diana Ross, and probably Mary Wilson as well.
Just another Motown moment I guess.
Anyway, that bit of truth should give Alito another excuse to to shake his head and mutter under his breath.

[bertman]

44. Impeach them.

Imapple them.
Impear them.
Imavacado them.
Imkiwi them.

Just fucking get them off the Supreme Court.

Thank you, Senator Feingold for standing up and telling the truth. Now, if we just had enough other Senators with consciences.

[midnight]

45. K&R

[TxVietVet]

47. Sen. Feingold is a great progressive Senator

If I'm not correct, please correct me, but I believe he was the ONLY Senator to vote against the "patriot" act, which opened the door for all kinds of intrusions into our lives. The ONLY one.

He's got an uphill battle against a lying conservanazi, who thinks he can buy the election.

Senator Feingold will need help.

He stood up for us.

Let's give him a little financial help. Any contribution is greatly appreciated. We need to stand up for him NOW.

[Jackpine Radical]

62. You're absolutely right about the Patriot Act vote.

The vote was 99-Russ.

[earcandle]

48. Back Bone is found on Heroes and people like Feingold!

[Ter]

49. They did, but so did Sonia Sotomayor

Said she respected the 2nd Amendment, then votes in the minority in McDonald vs. Chicago. It's not impeachable, so be on.

[raouldukelives]

50. K&R

[indimuse]

54. KNR! n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

55. Russ Feingold is a patriot.

I agree with him more than anyone else in Washington.

[Enthusiast]

56. Sen. Russ Feingold is spot on

in his criticism. The supremes chose to ignore precedent to do the bidding of their corporate masters. They are certainly in violation of their oath.

[Overseas]

60. K&R.

I remember those nominees' lies. The Republican appointees are very activist judges, proven by the appalling Citizens United decision, which I hope will be overturned soon.

Smiley Roberts, who had voted in favor of corporate interests for most of his career, being promoted as a moderate.

I remember how excited we were that Harry Reid would filibuster the nomination of alarming activist Alito, but he caved under threat of the Nuuuuclearrrr Opppptionnnn! How surprising that political professionals couldn't guess at the time that Republicans would not invoke that option because they intended to filibuster every piece of legislation the expected incoming Democratic president and continued Democratic majorities (very likely because Bush had screwed up so much) would introduce.