Obama picks Elena Kagan as Supreme Court nominee

[TomCat84]

Is it just me or does kagan set off other people's Gaydar?

Lez-dar, yes. Perhaps she can teach the country a softball lesson or two. :biggrin1: J/k guys....I love my lesbian friends!

 

[B_talltpaguy]

^News reports indicate that she is not gay...

 

[Northland]

^News reports indicate that she is not gay...

I really don't care what her sexual orientation is. My concerns are that she may not truly be the best selection- just the frumpiest and least healthy. Although her presentation today had he spiffed up (heck, she was nearly unrecognizable, and has a little bit of a Patti LuPone to her), she's carrying health concerns. I am also bothered by the fact that little is actually known of her views as she has so small a paper trail.

On the positive, we have her work as a clerk for Thurgood Marshall for a spot, so she has a familiarity (albeit, brief and more than 20 years ago) with the Supreme Court.

Addiitionally, were there no candidates outside of New York? Two in a row? And two women in a row? Were there no male candidates?


On a note of coincidence, she shares a birthday with the late Saddam Hussein- April 28 (if the Conservatives latch onto that, she's doomed).

Anyway, 3 boroughs down, 2 to go.

 

[deleted15807]

And two women in a row? Were there no male candidates?

I for one loved Pussy Galore. Even at three pussy is still under-represented.

 

[scotchirish]

I feel that this is a job requiring specialization like any other major position should. A seat on the Supreme Court should be the Apex of a life working in law, not being the head administrator of a law school.

This is a bit of a tangent but I likewise feel the same about the presidency, while a Rep or Senator can be highly successful as the president, I feel that a governor should be the preferred candidate. A doctorate in theology doesn't qualify you to practice medicine.

 

[B_VinylBoy]

I for one loved Pussy Galore. Even at three pussy is still under-represented.

+1 on that, and I haven't slept with a woman in many, many years. :wink:
With that said, not sure how I feel on this nominee yet. I need to do more research.

 

[Industrialsize]

Far-Right Group AFA Demands To Know Kagan’s Sexuality, Since ‘No Lesbian Is Qualified’ To Sit On SCOTUS

...

It’s time we got over the myth that what a public servant does in his private life is of no consequence. We cannot afford to have another sexually abnormal individual in a position of important civic responsibility, especially when that individual could become one of nine votes in an out of control oligarchy that constantly usurps constitutional prerogatives to unethically and illegally legislate for 300 million Americans.
The stakes are too high. Social conservatives must rise up as one and say no lesbian is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. Will they?....


Think Progress Far-Right Group AFA Demands To Know Kagan’s Sexuality, Since ‘No Lesbian Is Qualified’ To Sit On SCOTUS

​

 

[TomCat84]

I feel that this is a job requiring specialization like any other major position should. A seat on the Supreme Court should be the Apex of a life working in law, not being the head administrator of a law school.

This is a bit of a tangent but I likewise feel the same about the presidency, while a Rep or Senator can be highly successful as the president, I feel that a governor should be the preferred candidate. A doctorate in theology doesn't qualify you to practice medicine.

I think that analogy is way off-base: "A senator is to president like a theologist is to a doctor". This logic is SERIOUSLY flawed, and would suggest that, say, John Kerry is as qualified to be President as the Pope is qualified to be a medical doctor, which is to say that he is not at all. While you're probably correct that people with experience in executive positions would most likely be the better choice than someone without executive experience, that shouldn't be construed to mean that people without executive experience are not really qualified to be President.

 

[TomCat84]

Far-Right Group AFA Demands To Know Kagan’s Sexuality, Since ‘No Lesbian Is Qualified’ To Sit On SCOTUS

...

It’s time we got over the myth that what a public servant does in his private life is of no consequence. We cannot afford to have another sexually abnormal individual in a position of important civic responsibility, especially when that individual could become one of nine votes in an out of control oligarchy that constantly usurps constitutional prerogatives to unethically and illegally legislate for 300 million Americans.
The stakes are too high. Social conservatives must rise up as one and say no lesbian is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. Will they?....


Think Progress Far-Right Group AFA Demands To Know Kagan’s Sexuality, Since ‘No Lesbian Is Qualified’ To Sit On SCOTUS

​

I hope to God that conservatives start making hay about her sexuality. Always a fun time when we watch the Republican Party split in two.

 

[Industrialsize]

FWIW:
Historically, ONE THIRD of all Supreme Court Justices were never Judges before they were appointed, it is NOT a requirement.

 

[SilverTrain]

Far-Right Group AFA Demands To Know Kagan’s Sexuality, Since ‘No Lesbian Is Qualified’ To Sit On SCOTUS

...

It’s time we got over the myth that what a public servant does in his private life is of no consequence. We cannot afford to have another sexually abnormal individual in a position of important civic responsibility, especially when that individual could become one of nine votes in an out of control oligarchy that constantly usurps constitutional prerogatives to unethically and illegally legislate for 300 million Americans.
The stakes are too high. Social conservatives must rise up as one and say no lesbian is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. Will they?....


Think Progress Far-Right Group AFA Demands To Know Kagan’s Sexuality, Since ‘No Lesbian Is Qualified’ To Sit On SCOTUS

​

Wow. :eek22:

 

[TomCat84]

FWIW:
Historically, ONE THIRD of all Supreme Court Justices were never Judges before they were appointed, it is NOT a requirement.

Another random factoid: being a member of Congress is NOT a requirement to be Speaker of the House

 

[deleted15807]

Far-Right Group AFA Demands To Know Kagan’s Sexuality, Since ‘No Lesbian Is Qualified’ To Sit On SCOTUS

This really shouldn't be a surprise at all. I mean really.

 

[b.c.]

Oh and another thing, Obama has clearly made this moderate pick to try and win favor with Republicans, thereby claiming a 'bipartisan' victory that he can point to this fall (as if anyone cares about bipartisanship these days?).

The problem is, I suspect that Senate Republicans won't hardly vote in favor of her, if at all, because they know full well that the Dem caucus itself will vote her in (only 51 votes are needed, and I seriously doubt Obama has lost 9 Dems/Inds with this nomination)... So once again, the Republicans will bludgeon Obama with his own self-created weakness. They get a moderate, possibly conservative USSC Justice without having to sacrifice a damn thing themselves, AND they get to make him look like a jackass for doing so.

This will especially be true, if Republicans can manipulate nomination discussions to be about her time spent at Harvard and how she hired and promoted a bunch of conservatives to foment ideological diversity (generally a good thing, unless you're a Dem who wasn't sure if you were going to bother voting this fall)... Plus they can curry favor with IND minorities by pointing out how Kagan hired 29 professors during her tenure as Harvard Law School dean, and 28 of them were white and one was part-Asian. She didn't hire a SINGLE black or Latino professor. Republican strategists are salivating as I write this.

The USSC bench is NO PLACE to learn as you go...

...Her greatest 'qualifications' appear to all be attributable to political calculations on Obama's part...

I'm afraid, pending any newer revelations on this, that I'd have to agree with much of what you've said.

 

[HazelGod]

Wow.

Um...yeah. Wow, indeed.

 

[nudeyorker]

While I agree that a judicial background is not a prerequisite; I find her resume very unimpressive. I don't believe a lifetime appointment to this position should include on the job training.

 

[swordfishME]

I am not at all surprised by this nomination. Obama has picked a person that should get some bipartisan support-He would have been asking for a filibuster with someone like Diane Wood.

Kagan is not a died in the wool anything. She has views that both the right and the left would find troubling. As she ages there is no guarantee that a Justice Kagan wouldn't swing to either the far right or the far left.

This pick, to me, confirms one thing- Obama even after almost 18 months as President remains an idealist.

 

[B_VinylBoy]

Far-Right Group AFA Demands To Know Kagan’s Sexuality, Since ‘No Lesbian Is Qualified’ To Sit On SCOTUS

...

It’s time we got over the myth that what a public servant does in his private life is of no consequence. We cannot afford to have another sexually abnormal individual in a position of important civic responsibility, especially when that individual could become one of nine votes in an out of control oligarchy that constantly usurps constitutional prerogatives to unethically and illegally legislate for 300 million Americans.
The stakes are too high. Social conservatives must rise up as one and say no lesbian is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. Will they?....


Think Progress Far-Right Group AFA Demands To Know Kagan’s Sexuality, Since ‘No Lesbian Is Qualified’ To Sit On SCOTUS

​

Wow... it's like "show us your birth certificate", with a homosexual twist!

 

[B_talltpaguy]

This pick, to me, confirms one thing- Obama even after almost 18 months as President remains an idealist.

Certainly not a bad thing in a President imho... It's part of why I voted for the guy... But it would have been really nice if he didn't choose his restocking of the USSC to find out if his brand of idealism will be as 'ideal' as he thinks it is.

 

[deleted15807]

The WSJ editorial staff has come out firmly (surprise) against her which means she is the right choice :wink:

Elena Obama

Another reliable liberal who could transform the Supreme Court.

In selecting Elena Kagan to be the country's next Supreme Court Justice, President Obama has tapped the legal world's version of himself: a skillful politician whose cautious public persona belies a desire to transform the court and shape a new Constitutional liberalism
​