two reasons Hardiman was not chosen....

[mrmpa]

1. He's Catholic. Not of the ultra ludicrous cardboard church types Trump' s supporters belong to.

2. His in-laws are from a prominent Democratic family in Pittsburgh. His brother-in-law is the County district attorney & his father-in-law is a retired common pleas judge. You wouldn't want there to be the possibility of Hardiman being influenced

[jmg257]

1. Maybe next time...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I don't think the Catholic thing would be a big deal,

considering that the current right-wingers on the court are also Catholic, as was "Fat Tony" Scalia. What matters to the Bible-thumpers is that a judge has to be anti-choice and anti-gay. The connection to Democrats might have been more of a factor.

[Drahthaardogs]

4. I despise Scalia but why the obvious mafia slur?

You do realize that until 1965 a law very much like the present EO was out there prohibiting Italians bfrom immigrating to the USA?

We were made white by decree in the early 70's. It's repulsive and a slur and a stereotype.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Whatever are you talking about? What Mafia slur?

I never thought Scalia was a member of the Mafia.

[Drahthaardogs]

6. "Fat Tony" is what they gave Scalia as a "mob" name

What did you think it was?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. I guess I'm obtuse. I just assumed it was because he was fat.

I will not use it any longer if it means something else.

[Drahthaardogs]

8. Anthony Salerno was a mob boss nicknamed

Fat Tony - though I doubt they ever called him that to his face. When they use it for Scalia it is an obvious stereotype of his Sicilian ancestry and a way to say some he is a Sicilian he has to be in La Costa nostra

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. I didn't know that; I've never heard of Anthony Salerno.

I've also never heard anybody suggest Scalia (whom I also didn't know was Sicilian) was in the Mafia. I just thought he was a crappy, fat justice. But I will avoid that usage in the future.

[Drahthaardogs]

12. Thanks. The Sons of Italy would be happy.

Italian stereotypes abound in America . They are so common, people do not even realize they are doing it.

[braddy]

3. The same as Steve Bannon, Catholic from a Democratic family.

[JI7]

9. does he have a mustache ?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

10. BUT...if we block now we may end up with Hardiman. Think its a trap.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. Is Hardiman worse? I don't know anything about him.

Frankly, I'm a little surprised he didn't nominate that loon Roy Moore, the former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

Roy Stewart Moore (born February 11, 1947) is an American judge and Republican politician. Moore was elected to the position of Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2001, but removed from his position on November 13, 2003 by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary for refusing to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments commissioned by him from the Alabama Judicial Building despite orders to do so by a federal court. Moore was again elected to be Chief Justice in 2013, but was suspended in May 2016 for directing probate judges to enforce the state's unconstitutional ban on same-sex marriage. On September 30, 2016, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary finalized its decision and suspended Moore without pay for the rest of his term running through January 2019.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Moore

He'd have been perfect: lunatic-fringe right winger and incompetent to boot.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. Well, if he went to DC, that could really help the state :) Guess we don't

know if Hardiman would be his choice anyway. It's a chess game. If we could take back the Senate, would help.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. No, we'll end up with Pryor.