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Regarding Gorsuch: “AS A JUDGE FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, HE HAS TWISTED HIMSELF INTO A PRETZEL TO MAKE SURE THAT THE RULES FAVOR GIANT COMPANIES OVER WORKERS AND INDIVIDUAL AMERICANS… JUDGE GORSUCH HAS WRITTEN DISMISSIVELY ABOUT LAWSUITS TO VINDICATE THE RIGHTS OF VULNERABLE PEOPLE… BUT HE’S WILLING TO OPEN THE DOORS WIDE WHEN BIG CORPORATIONS SHOW UP IN HIS COURT TO CHALLENGE HEALTH AND SAFETY RULES THAT THEY DON’T LIKE OR REGULATIONS TO PREVENT THEM FROM POLLUTING OUR AIR AND WATER, POISONING OUR FOOD, UNDERMINING OUR PUBLIC SAFETY, OR JUST PLAIN CHEATING PEOPLE. WHEN THAT HAPPENS, JUDGE GORSUCH IS READY TO GO, TO OVERRIDE THE RULES WITH HIS OWN VIEWS. ON THAT SCORE HE IS EVEN MORE EXTREME THAN JUSTICE SCALIA. THIS IS EXACTLY THE TYPE OF SUPREME COURT JUSTICE THAT GIANT CORPORATIONS WANT, BUT THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN QUITE SO BRAZEN ABOUT IT.” (US Senator Warren, Feb. 1, 2017)

It’s really hard to be worse than Scalia who compared reduction of mercury in the environment to wanting to drive a Ferrari. Judge Kagan in a dissenting opinion called him blinkered: https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/us-supreme-court-dissent-against-blinkered-supreme-court-judge-scalia-et-al Scalia certainly got his just deserts.

Dahlia Lithwick and Sonja West in Slate .com clearly and convincingly argue that the hearings for Trump’s Supreme Court nominee should be delayed: “Postpone the Gorsuch Hearings: His nomination to the Supreme Court cannot be separated from the serious questions that plague the Trump presidency” (March 2, 2017). They point out that the Republicans in the US Senate thought that 8 justices on the Supreme Court were sufficient as they blocked Obama’s nominee. So, if leaving a seat vacant was ok then, it should be ok now, at least until whether or not the US presidency “has been compromised by collusion with an interfering hostile foreign power. If the entire point of not holding hearings for Garland was to let the people be heard through the election, then let’s make sure we actually know what the people said. Because we are pretty sure the people didn’t say, “We’d like Russia to pick a lifetime-tenured Article III Judge.” [1]

TRUMP “HAS REFUSED TO DIVEST HIS BUSINESS INTEREST. HE IS TRYING TO STIFLE A FREE PRESS. THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT’S ROLE IN PREVENTING ABUSES OF EXECUTIVE POWER AND DEFENDING THE CONSTITUTION WILL BE TESTED AS NEVER BEFORE. WE NEED A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE WHO IS INDEPENDENT AND NOT BEHOLDEN TO IDEOLOGY, A JUSTICE WHO WILL DEFEND OUR DEMOCRACY… JUDGE GORSUCH HAS SIDED WITH CORPORATIONS OVER THE ENVIRONMENT, THE DISABLED, THE CONSUMERS… HIS RECORD GIVES EVERY AMERICAN REASON TO BE CONCERNED THAT THE BASIC PROTECTIONS TO KEEP FAMILIES SAFE, HEALTHY, AND PROTECTED, WILL BE AT RISK IF HE IS APPOINTED TO OUR NATION’S HIGHEST COURT. AS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WAGES ITS ASSAULT ON OUR CORE DEMOCRATIC VALUES, WE NEED A JUSTICE WHO WILL UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF ALL AMERICANS AND NOT IMPROPERLY EXPAND THE INFLUENCE OF CORPORATE INTERESTS. ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL, DONALD TRUMP TOLD SUPPORTERS HE WOULD USE AN IDEOLOGICAL LITMUS TEST TO SELECT A NOMINEE WHO WOULD ADVANCE A FAR RIGHT WING AGENDA FROM THE BENCH. PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS DELIVERED AN NOMINATED A CANDIDATE FOR THE SUPREME COURT WHO IS OUTSIDE THE JUDICIAL MAINSTREAM, SO WE MUST ASK OURSELVES — WHO WILL STAND UP TO PRESIDENT TRUMP? IT WILL NOT BE HIS CABINET OF BIG OIL, BIG BANKS, AND BILLIONAIRES. IT WILL NOT BE REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS WHO ARE RUBBERSTAMPING ALL OF THE PRESIDENT’S CABINET NOMINEES AND POLICIES. DONALD TRUMP RAILED AGAINST A RIGGED POLITICAL SYSTEM, BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE — HE IS TRYING TO RIG THE SUPREME COURT AGAINST HARD-WORKING AMERICANS, AND WE CANNOT LET HIM.” (US Senator Markey Feb. 1, 2017).

C-Span (mostly) uncorrected transcript:
“FEBRUARY 1, 2017
Elizabeth Warren 05:18:09
“MS. WARREN: … AND WE KNOW THAT AMERICAN VALUES ARE THREATENED WHEN A PRESIDENT TRIES TO STACK HIS GOVERNMENT WITH BILLIONAIRES AND INSIDERS WHO HAVE A HISTORY OF GRINDING WORKING PEOPLE INTO THE DIRT.

YESTERDAY SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT IS A THREAT TO OUR AMERICAN VALUES. THE PRESIDENT NOMINATED JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH TO SERVE ON THE SUPREME COURT.

FOR YEARS NOW I REPEATED THIS WARNING. AMERICA’S PROMISE OF EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER THE LAW IS IN DANGER.

OVER THE LAST THREE DECADES AS THE RICH HAVE GROWN RICHER AND THE MIDDLE CLASS HAVE FAMILIES HAVE STRUGGLED, THE SCALES OF JUSTICE HAVE ALSO TILTED, TILTED IN FAVOR OF THE WEALTHY AND THE POWERFUL. THIS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT. IT’S PART OF A DELIBERATE STRATEGY TO TURN OUR COURTS INTO ONE MORE RIGGED GAME FOR FOLKS AT THE TOP AND ITS EFFECTS HAVE BEEN DEVASTATING.

RECENT COURT DECISIONS HAVE PROTECTED GIANT BUSINESS — PROTECTED GIANT BUSINESSES FROM ACCOUNTABILITY, MADE IT HARDER FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN INJURED OR CHEATED TO GET A HEARING, GUTTED LONG-STANDING LAWS PROTECTING CONSUMERS WHO HAVE BEEN SWINDLED, AND UNLEASHED A FLOOD OF SECRET MONEY INTO OUR POLITICS THAT’S RAPIDLY TILTING THE ENTIRE GOVERNMENT IN FAVOR OF THE WEALTHY.

BILLIONAIRES AND CORPORATE GIANTS HAVE LAUNCHED A FULL-SCALE ATTACK ON FAIR MINDED, MAINSTREAM JUDGES. IT’S HAPPENED AT EVERY LEVEL OF OUR JUDICIARY, BUT THE BEST EXAMPLE WAS THE UNPRECEDENTED BLOCKADE OF JUDGE MERRICK GARLAND’S NOMINATION TO THE SUPREME COURT.

JUDGE GARLAND WAS AN OBVIOUS CONSENSUS NOMINEE AND A STRAIGHT SHOOTER WHO FOLLOWED THE LAW. SO WHY BLOCK IT? THE PROBLEM WAS THAT JUDGE GARLAND’S CAREER DIDN’T REFLECT A SUFFICIENT WILLINGNESS TO BEND THE LAW TO SUIT THE NEEDS OF THE RICH AND POWERFUL, AND FOR THAT SIN FAR RIGHT GROUPS FINANCED BY BIG BUSINESS INTERESTS SPENT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ATTACKING HIM TO TORPEDO HIS NOMINATION AND KEEP THAT SEAT OPEN. BUT THEY DID SOMETHING ELSE THAT IS EVEN MORE DAMAGING.

FAR RIGHT GROUPS ALSO DREW UP A LIST OF ACCEPTABLE SUPREME COURT NOMINEES, PEOPLE WHO DEMONSTRATED THAT THEY WERE SYMPATHETIC TO THE RICH AND THE POWERFUL. JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH MADE THE CUT, AND HIS NOMINATION IS THEIR REWARD. JUDGE GORSUCH IS INTELLIGENT AND ACCOMPLISHED. HE IS POLITE AND RESPECTFUL AND ARTICULATE, BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE. HIS PROFESSIONAL RECORD WHICH I HAVE REVIEWED IN DETAIL CLEARLY AND CONSISTENTLY FAVORS THE INTERESTS OF BIG CORPORATIONS OVER WORKERS, BIG CORPORATIONS OVER CONSUMERS, AND BIG CORPORATIONS OVER PRETTY MUCH ANYBODY ELSE.

LET’S NOT MINCE WORDS. THE NOMINATION OF JUDGE GORSUCH IS A HUGE GIFT TO THE GIANT CORPORATIONS AND WEALTHY INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE STOLEN A SUPREME COURT SEAT IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM WORKS FOR THEM. WHAT I’M SAYING SHOULDN’T BE CONTROVERSIAL. THEY HAVEN’T MADE A SECRET OF WHAT THEY WERE DOING. THIS IS EXACTLY WHY JUDGE GORSUCH HAS BEEN ON THEIR LIST FOR FOUR MONTHS.

HE IS THE PAYOFF FOR THEIR MULTIMILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT. THROUGHOUT HIS PROFESSIONAL CAREER, JUDGE GORSUCH HAS SHOWN A TRULY REMARKABLE REMARKABLE INSENSITIVITY TO THE STRUGGLES OF WORKING AMERICANS AND AN EAGERNESS TO SIDE WITH BUSINESSES THAT BREAK THE RULES OVER WORKERS WHO ARE SEEKING JUSTICE.

EVEN BEFORE HE BECAME A JUDGE, JUDGE GORSUCH FAMOUSLY ARGUED IN FAVOR OF LIMITING THE ABILITY OF INVESTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS TO BRING LAWSUITS WHEN COMPANIES COMMIT FRAUD, WHINING ABOUT HOW ANNOYING IT IS FOR BILLIONAIRE CORPORATIONS TO HAVE TO FACE THEIR INVESTORS WHEN THEY CHEAT THEM.

AS A JUDGE FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, HE HAS TWISTED HIMSELF INTO A PRETZEL TO MAKE SURE THAT THE RULES FAVOR GIANT COMPANIES OVER WORKERS AND INDIVIDUAL AMERICANS. LET ME JUST COUNT SOME OF THE WAYS.

HE HAS SIDED WITH EMPLOYERS WHO DENY WAGES, EMPLOYERS WHO IMPROPERLY FIRE WORKERS, EMPLOYERS WHO RETALIATE AGAINST WHISTLE-BLOWERS FOR MISCONDUCT. HE’S SIDED WITH EMPLOYERS WHO DENIED RETIREMENT BENEFITS TO THEIR WORKERS. HE SIDED WITH BIG INSURANCE COMPANIES AGAINST DISABLED WORKERS WHO WERE DENIED BENEFITS. HE HAS RULED AGAINST WORKERS IN ALL KINDS OF DISCRIMINATION CASES.

HE’S EVEN ARGUED THAT THE RIGHTS OF CORPORATIONS OUTWEIGH THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE WORKING FOR THEM. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, ALLOWING BUSINESSES TO ASSERT RELIGIOUS BELIEFS SO THEY CAN LIMIT THEIR EMPLOYEES’ ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE. LISTEN TO THAT ONE AGAIN. HE THINKS THAT A COMPANY CAN ASSERT A RELIGIOUS BELIEF AND DECIDE WHETHER FEMALE EMPLOYEES GET ACCESS TO BIRTH CONTROL. AND LET’S BE CLEAR. THAT MEANS A LOT OF EMPLOYEES WILL BE LIVING AT THE WHIM OF THEIR EMPLOYERS.

JUDGE GORSUCH HAS WRITTEN DISMISSIVELY ABOUT LAWSUITS TO VINDICATE THE RIGHTS OF VULNERABLE PEOPLE. EQUAL MARRIAGE, ASSISTED SUICIDE, KEEP THOSE ISSUES OUT OF HIS COURTROOM.

BUT HE’S WILLING TO OPEN THE DOORS WIDE WHEN BIG CORPORATIONS SHOW UP IN HIS COURT TO CHALLENGE HEALTH AND SAFETY RULES THAT THEY DON’T LIKE OR REGULATIONS TO PREVENT THEM FROM POLLUTING OUR AIR AND WATER, POISONING OUR FOOD, UNDERMINING OUR PUBLIC SAFETY, OR JUST PLAIN CHEATING PEOPLE. WHEN THAT HAPPENS, JUDGE GORSUCH IS READY TO GO, TO OVERRIDE THE RULES WITH HIS OWN VIEWS. ON THAT SCORE HE IS EVEN MORE EXTREME THAN JUSTICE SCALIA. THIS IS EXACTLY THE TYPE OF SUPREME COURT JUSTICE THAT GIANT CORPORATIONS WANT, BUT THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN QUITE SO BRAZEN ABOUT IT.

SPENDING MILLIONS TO SLIME A CONSENSUS STRAIGHT SHOOTER NOMINEE LIKE MERRICK GARLAND AND STEAL A SUPREME COURT SEAT, THEN DRAWING UP A PUBLIC LIST OF ACCEPTABLE ALTERNATIVES AND HANDING IT OVER TO A BILLIONAIRE PRESIDENT SO HE CAN DO HIS BUDDIES A FAVOR, THAT’S BOLD.

THAT’S BOLD AND THAT IS NOT HOW AMERICA IS SUPPOSED TO WORK. OUR COURTS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE NEUTRAL ARBITERS DISPENSING JUSTICE BASED ON THE FACTS AND THE LAW SHES NOT PEOPLE — AND THE LAW, NOT PEOPLE CHOSEN TO ADVANCE THE INTERESTS OF THOSE AT THE TOP.

LET’S BE CLEAR. THIS FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE MIGHT BE MORE IMPORTANT TODAY THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN IN MODERN HISTORY. EVERY DAY OUR NEW PRESIDENT FINDS MORE WAYS TO DEMONSTRATE HIS HOSTILITY FOR AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY, FOR A CIVIL SOCIETY, AND FOR THE RULE OF LAW.

THAT IS PRECISELY THE REASON THAT OUR CONSTITUTION GIVES US A NEUTRAL, INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY. WE DON’T NEED JUDGES WHO HAVE BEEN HAND PICKED FOR THEIR WILLINGNESS TO COWTOW WITH THOSE — TO THOSE WITH MONEY, POWER AND INFLUENCE. WE NEED JUSTICES WHO WILL STAND UP TO THOSE WITH MONEY, POWER AND INFLUENCE. JUDGE GORSUCH MAY OCCASIONALLY RIGHT IN VAGUE TERMS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF INDEPENDENT COURTS, BUT TODAY, RIGHT NOW, THAT’S SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

NOW MORE THAN EVER THE UNITED STATES NEEDS A SUPREME COURT THAT PUTS THE LAW FIRST EVERY SINGLE TIME. THAT MEANS JUSTICES WITH A PROVEN RECORD OF STANDING UP FOR THE RIGHTS OF ALL AMERICANS, CIVIL RIGHTS, WOMEN’S RIGHTS, LG LGBTQ RIGHTS AND ALL THE PROTECTIONS GUARANTEED BY OUR LAWS. WE CANNOT STAND DOWN WHEN AMERICAN VALUES AND CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES ARE ATTACKED. WE CANNOT STAND DOWN WHEN THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HANDS OUR HIGHEST COURT OVER TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER, AND THAT IS WHY I WILL OPPOSE JUDGE GORSUCH’S NOMINATION. THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. I YIELD AND I SUGGEST THE ABSENCE OF A QUORUM” https://www.c-span.org/video/?423332-1/us-senate-confirms-rex-tillerson-secretary-state
Youtube Link: http://youtu.be/lrnnQaG9taY

Senator Markey, C-Span, (mostly) uncorrected transcript: TRUMP “HAS REFUSED TO DIVEST HIS BUSINESS INTEREST. HE IS TRYING TO STIFLE A FREE PRESS. THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT’S ROLE IN PREVENTING ABUSES OF EXECUTIVE POWER AND DEFENDING THE CONSTITUTION WILL BE TESTED AS NEVER BEFORE. WE NEED A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE WHO IS INDEPENDENT AND NOT BEHOLDEN TO IDEOLOGY, A JUSTICE WHO WILL DEFEND OUR DEMOCRACY. THIS WEEK, PRESIDENT TRUMP NAMED JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH TO FILL THE VACANCY ON THE SUPREME COURT. I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, WHAT IS AT STAKE WITH THIS NOMINATION, ONE OF THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL IN OUR NATIONS HISTORY.

JUDGE GORSUCH HAS SIDED WITH CORPORATIONS OVER THE ENVIRONMENT, THE DISABLED, THE CONSUMERS. HE HAS SIDED WITH CORPORATIONS THAT WITHHOLD NEEDLES PAY AND IMPROPERLY FIRE WORKERS. HE HAS SIDED WITH CORPORATIONS OVER THE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND HEALTH OF WOMEN. WHEN TRUMP REPEATEDLY PROMISED TO SIT — TO APPOINT A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE TO OVERTURN ROE VERSUS WADE, HE HAS FOUND A POTENTIAL ALLY IN JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH.

HIS RECORD GIVES EVERY AMERICAN REASON TO BE CONCERNED THAT THE BASIC PROTECTIONS TO KEEP FAMILIES SAFE, HEALTHY, AND PROTECTED, WILL BE AT RISK IF HE IS APPOINTED TO OUR NATION’S HIGHEST COURT. AS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WAGES ITS ASSAULT ON OUR CORE DEMOCRATIC VALUES, WE NEED A JUSTICE WHO WILL UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF ALL AMERICANS AND NOT IMPROPERLY EXPAND THE INFLUENCE OF CORPORATE INTERESTS.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL, DONALD TRUMP TOLD SUPPORTERS HE WOULD USE AN IDEOLOGICAL LITMUS TEST TO SELECT A NOMINEE WHO WOULD ADVANCE A FAR RIGHT WING AGENDA FROM THE BENCH. PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS DELIVERED AN NOMINATED A CANDIDATE FOR THE SUPREME COURT WHO IS OUTSIDE THE JUDICIAL MAINSTREAM, SO WE MUST ASK OURSELVES — WHO WILL STAND UP TO PRESIDENT TRUMP? IT WILL NOT BE HIS CABINET OF BIG OIL, BIG THANKS, AND BILLIONAIRES. IT WILL NOT BE REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS WHO ARE RUBBERSTAMPING ALL OF THE PRESIDENT’S CABINET NOMINEES AND POLICIES. DONALD TRUMP RAILED AGAINST A RIGGED POLITICAL SYSTEM, BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE — HE IS TRYING TO RIG THE SUPREME COURT AGAINST HARD-WORKING AMERICANS, AND WE CANNOT LET HIM. MY DEMOCRATIC COLLEAGUES IN THE SENATE WILL DO THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY AND SUBJECT JUDGE GORSUCH TO THE MOST RIGOROUS SCRUTINY THAT ANY SUPREME COURT NOMINEE HAS EVER RECEIVED, AND SENATE DEMOCRATS ARE GOING TO INSIST THAT JUDGE GORSUCH IS SUBJECT TO THE SAME 60-VOTE THRESHOLD THAT PRESIDENT. ” https://www.c-span.org/video/?423439-1/weekly-democratic-address

[1] http://www.slate. com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/03/neil_gorsuch_s_supreme_court_confirmation_hearings_must_be_postponed.html (Link intentionally broken because their linking policy can’t be found. Please either do a search for the title or reconstitute link to read the article. Most of our broken links are intentional either because linking is forbidden (usually due to web traffic issues) or the policy cannot be found or they are considered hopeless enemies that we don’t wish to lure into our site, or believed to have Trump-Putin moles.