I Do Not Support Elena Kagan's Supreme Court Nomination

[erpowers]

From the very beginning I have not been very supportive of the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. I have recently finished listening to this week's edition of Counterspin and as a result I am firmly against the appointment of Elena Kagan as the next Supreme Court justice.

From what I learned today this woman is completely unqualified to be on the Supreme Court. The debate about Kagan does not even have to go as far as her political ideas. It can just stop at a discussion of her qualifications. Although Kagan is a lawyer her first time arguing a case was when she was Solicitor General. In addition, during her time as Solicitor General she apparently was not aware of certain legal concepts.

Kagan is not the type of person who should be appointed to the Supreme Court. She does not have the experience or the knowledge to be on the Supreme Court.

[Richardo]

1. Noted.

I'll alert the media.

[TexasObserver]

2. I don't, either.

I doubt she'll get bounced, though.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

3. Please expound upon these legal concepts that she was not aware of.

[NJmaverick]

9. The ranters on counterspin didn't expand on them so I doubt you will get an answer

[sharp_stick]

23. I will be very surprised if you

actually see anything resembling proof or evidence of any kind.

[erpowers]

46. Reply 43

Check Reply 43 for evidence.

[erpowers]

43. Here It Is

JUSTICE KENNEDY: So you don't think this is a Bartkiss-like case, like Bartkiss v. Illinois?
GENERAL KAGAN: I -- I am not familiar with that case, Justice Kennedy, but I do think that the double jeopardy clause -- JUSTICE
KENNEDY: That a State prosecution doesn't bar a later Federal prosecution.

http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/08-6261.pdf

[SemiCharmedQuark]

47. Not being familiar with one case is equivelent to not being familiar with legal concepts?

Is that your only evidence or do you have more?

[Dappleganger]

61. You've still failed to argue your point.

Posting a single case isn't enough. The burden of proof is on you since you made the allegations in your OP.


*pours herself an iced tea and waits*

[Dappleganger]

71. Don't bother...

I've gone to see a two and a half hour movie, had dinner and believe you've effectively proved my point.

[rudy23]

4. I'm with you. n/t

[mfcorey1]

5. I fully support the President's nominee and feel she is as qualified as the rest of the jurist.

Perfection and utopia will never be reached in this country. Whoever is nominated will come with flaws. We will be able to nitpick them out of contention. If you continue to let Clarence Thomas sit there, there should not be any objection to anyone else. The rethuglicans always succeed in getting us to eat our own with their innuendos project of destruction.

[Bluenorthwest]

53. How does anyone 'let' Thomas sit there?

What a stupid statement.

[Mojeoux]

69. I know what is meant. It's freepish to call people stupid

on small semantic word use.

[joeybee12]

6. I agree, ehr only qualification seems to be "Well, she won't get filibustered."

A very cynical move on Obama's part, and what we've come to expect from him.

[NJmaverick]

8. Yeah, it's not like she worked for two presidential administrations

or was like the Dean of Harvard Law or something

[joeybee12]

11. Or she argued a case, or she sat on the bench...n/t

[NJmaverick]

18. Yeah it's not like she hasn't argued cases in front of the Supreme Court or something

[joeybee12]

19. Or anywhere...n/t

[joeybee12]

20. Or anywhere...n/t

[erpowers]

41. After Being Appointed Solicitor General

She only gained exprience arguing a case before the Supreme Court or any other court until she was appointed to the Solicitor General post.

[cali]

40. funny, people like Professor Lessig and Spitzer think she's qualified.

but what do they know? You, of course are just sooo much more qualified to pass judgment on her qualifications than Lessig or Pat Leahy or Eliot Spitzer.

I would have much preferred someone like Wood, but it's patently ridiculous to say she's not qualified.

[joeybee12]

54. I'm so sorry...I guess I'm not allowed an opinion, and you are the decider

of whose opinions are valid...thanks ever so much for the clarification.

[NJmaverick]

7. It's sad to see people forming opinions based on unqualified rantings at counterspin

I would have been much happier if this post had read- "After extensive research into Kagan's background and views...."


Then the declaration made would have had some credibility.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

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[Mojeoux]

70. Yup I agree. nt

[VMI Dem]

10. Her work on welfare reform delights the centrists and DLC'ers.

[marshall]

13. She's as qualified as Harriet Meirs for the Supreme Court!

Let the media have its say.

[sandnsea]

14. Oh god, more Glenn Greenwald

Surprise, surprise. He doesn't like Kagan.

Do you realize there isn't one fact in your post?

[dionysus]

25. i should have figured it was more of greenwald's bullshit....

:rofl:

[Romulox]

57. Anybody seen Rb McTexas? Just one shy of that brain trust!!!!! nt

[dionysus]

63. that douchebag?!?!? ooooh, cheap shot dude! ouch! what are you gonna do for an encore, call me

lozocollo?

:rofl:

[Romulox]

58. Anybody seen Rb McTexas? Just one shy of that brain trust!!!!! nt

[WeDidIt]

31. So Counterspin had Lord High Douchenozzle rant against Kagan?

and the OP actually bought his spin.

Sad.

Just sad.

[Warren Stupidity]

15. Lucky for us you don't get a vote.

"this woman is completely unqualified to be on the Supreme Court"...

what exactly are the qualifications?

[notesdev]

17. She's Obama's Harriet Miers

Obama trying to put members of his inner circle on the Court just like Bush did.

The question is, do we have the same fortitude that the Right had when they raised such an unholy stink about the obvious corruption that Miers had to bow out?

In my eyes this is a key test of who controls the Democratic Party. Either it is the rank-and-file - in which case we will reject this oligarchical nomination - or it is the elites who have time and time again promised one thing and delivered another?

Some days I can't help but wonder if the REAL President is Larry Summers, and Obama just a pretty face for the cameras.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

21. Please explain how Elena Kagen is in Obama's inner circle as Harriet Miers was in Bush's inner

circle.

[dionysus]

28. glen greenwald told me so!!1!!!1 and i bet chris hedges hates her too!

:rofl:

[notesdev]

32. Larry Summers' protege @ Harvard for six years

The same Summers who has been telling Obama to do everything that the investment banks want.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

33. That is nowhere near on the scale of the relationship that Miers and Bush had

That doesn't even qualify as Obama's "inner circle".

[notesdev]

38. It is

when you understand that it is the money men and not Obama who are really calling the shots. Goldman Sachs didn't give him a million dollars because they thought he'd exhibit wise and independent judgment. The #1 money man in the administration is Larry Summers.

Geez, people, how can you not see her Goldman Sachs and Summers associations and not pick up on whose 'man' she really is? (Hint: it ain't you and me.)

[mmonk]

51. She is his Solicitor General. She has argued, as his DOJ has,

for powers not afforded the executive branch by the US constitution when questioned. She may not be his personal lawyer but close enough as far as I'm concerned.

[sharp_stick]

22. Total and absolute bullshit

I can't really think of where to start with a reply so I'll just leave it with the subject line.

I have to say I'm surprised at the number of posters around here using the old Obama=Bush line somewhere in their posts.

[HughMoran]

24. Everything you post is an assault on Democrats & Obama

I have no idea why I took you off ignore - I can go to Freeperland if I want to be assaulted!!one!!

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[notesdev]

35. The record clearly shows that is not true

Everything (or close to it) I post is an assault on the oligarchy. Where Democrats serve the oligarchy they will be in the line of fire.

The plain fact of the matter is that very few policies of importance have changed since Democrats took over. We are still pursuing pointless wars across the globe; still pursuing the war on drugs; still bailing out the rich at the expense of the middle class and the poor; still eviscerating civil rights for the alleged purpose of pursuing phantom terrorist boogeymen.

I have not changed; I still oppose all the things that the Bush regime did, and where Obama pursues the same policy I will be opposed to him; where other Democrats do the same I will be opposed to them.

Those of you acting out of blind faith or party loyalty need to ask yourselves, "if Bush did this, how would I feel about it?"

Well, Bush did exactly this, and I feel the exact same way about it now as I did then: The Supreme Court is not an appropriate venue for political patronage.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

39. You accused Sotomayor of being racist. How is that an assault on the oligarchy?

[Romulox]

59. And everything you post is a personal attack. nt

[Moondog]

49. + 1

[MilesColtrane]

50. Then you should rest easy.

If Kagan is as unqualified as Miers, she will fold in her personal interviews with key senators, and on the questionnaire she must submit to the Senate Judiciary Committee, just as Miers did.

Her nomination will have to be withdrawn and you will be vindicated.

[Romulox]

56. Came here to post this. Left happy. nt

[tammywammy]

27. What legal concepts was she not aware of? Please detail. n/t

[spanone]

30. i'll bet she's worried about your support.

:eyes:

[orwell]

34. I guess she just lost...

...the critical erpowers endorsement.

She might as well pack it in...

[Dappleganger]

36. What legal concepts was she not aware of?

You've said pretty much the same thing repeatedly with no substance whatsoever. Please link to and specify exactly what legal concepts she was not aware of and in which case?

[erpowers]

48. Reply 43

Check reply 43.

[MadBadger]

37. Put up of shut up

You say she isnt knowledgeable enough to be on the Supreme. Show us why. Dont just tell us she apparently was not aware of certain legal concepts. Like what?

[erpowers]

44. Check Reply 43

I have put the information in reply 43. As you will be able to see there is also a link to the website where the information can be viewed.

[sabrina 1]

42. Me neither ~ there were far better candidates

but then this is just one more disappointment in a long and growing list.

[SidDithers]

45. What "certain legal concepts" was she unaware of?...nt

Sid

[struggle4progress]

52. Yeah, she has a damn thin resume: schooled at Princeton, Oxford, and Harvard Law;

clerked with a Supreme Court justice; worked for a DC law firm; tenured at University of Chicago; served as Associate White House Counsel under Clinton; full professor then dean at Harvard Law; Solicitor General under Obama

So I'm glad the gallery isn't afraid to ask whether she's ever drafted a tort ...

[Romulox]

55. Going to Harvard is about class and personal connections, not intellect.

And getting a tenured track law professorship is about going to Harvard. :hi:

[struggle4progress]

64. Your accusation requires evidence. Her mother and siblings worked as

teachers in the public schools -- a career which is nominally middle class but usually not regarded as upper middle class. That an institution like Harvard frequently serves the interests of the ruling elite is well-known, but that is also an incomplete assessment about a first-rate university. I should rather have seen a nominee with the temperament of William O Douglas, but (not being offered that option) I will say that Kagan appears experienced, intelligent, qualified, and dedicated to public service

[Starbucks Anarchist]

66. What were Obama's personal connections?

[Ikonoklast]

67. That's a steaming pantsload.

Kid I went to school with got into Harvard on his intellect alone. He was the first child in his family to graduate high school, and was poor as dirt.

He is now a famous surgeon.

[sharp_stick]

68. Yeah

my dad is a finishing carpenter, my mom an RN and I got my PhD there. There are a lot of people that get into Ivy because of connections but I don't think Kagan is one of them.

[jxnmsdemguy65]

60. I felt that way at first...

she's definitely NOT the type of person I'd hang around with - no use for legal nerds here. But I do think she's the best chance we've got to get Citizens United vs. FEC overturned. For that reason alone I support her.

[cbdo2007]

62. You made this decision after watching something called "Counterspin"?

Which sounds like a show who's main purpose is to persuade you heavily in the opposite direction of someone else who is persuading you.

Rather than listening to other people's arguments on news shows, who would try as hard as they possibly can to discredit ANY Obama appointee, you should read honest non-persuasive articles that focus on Kagan's character rather than your guess on how she'll vote on specific issues.

[greencharlie]

65. Would you categorize her as a left leaning Harriet Miers? nt

[ZombieHorde]

72. I have nothing against her. nt

[donheld]

73. Well then, I guess that's settled.