President Biden has chosen for top positions at the Justice Department three advocates who have spent their lifetimes in the civil rights arena and the last four years in particular combatting the Trump-era’s most egregious assaults on democracy.
This is great… BUT… until something is done about John Roberts, vote suppressor-extraordinaire, nothing will happen. He already dealt a blow to voting rights, before he was joined by the Republican Toadies, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, so I don’t expect anything GOOD will come about in the near future.
The Court is in sad shape, I agree, but it’s good to have Karlan, Gupta, and Clarke at DOJ. They and others will undo some of Team Trump’s vileness – and have a chance to do some good of their own.
Speaking of justice, I’m posting this here since there are no minimum wage stories on the site
Good news but damn the apoplexy’s gonna hit 9.9 on the Richter Scale. Pearl dust is coming and the smelling salts will be needed by the truckload. Go get a bottle of your favorite beverage because here comes the shit storm.
It’s fine to avoid expectations, but it’s naive to assume that every impactful defense of voting rights will even GET as far as SCOTUS. IANAL, but remember that, with an expert and aggressive Biden DOJ, there will be expert and aggressive lawyers and investigators writing those defenses.
This isn’t like the Trump/Barr DOJ, whose sole purpose was to concentrate power in Donnie’s hands. Even a Roberts-led majority can be reined in by expert and aggressive case-prep.
I appreciate TPM (@tierney) taking the time to develop the backgrounds and profiles for these three “heavy hitters”.
It’s a refreshing change from mocking the politics of grievance of the right, that we also enjoy.
Howdy, ma’am. I’m right pleased to make your acquaintance and I shore am glad you’re here.
[Garland] later added that they were part of a leadership team that he would need to be a successful attorney.
There is no need for debate or delay. Approve them now.
The President has a right to the team he wants. Or so Republicans claim to believe.
That’s what I was going to post about, different version, same story. He and others like him need to be called out - and loudly.
Thank you.
This makes me at least a little hopeful about all the voter-suppression bills making their ways through republican-controlled legislatures. The DoJ team will have their hands full.
Ditto.
If you’ll pardon the expression.*
*Those of a certain age may recall using the ditto mark in long-hand or on type-writers long before a certain dead person was born.
Another marker of age:
“And, in other news, Rush Limbaugh is still dead.”
They can’t get them confirmed soon enough.
I know at the rate individual states are passing slates of voter suppression laws that Marc Elias and Democracy Docket is going to need some help. 
"
What can they do about the efforts of Republicans at the state level? That’s where much damage is being done. Especially Georgia.
The supremes under roberts gutted preclearance, so DoJ has to file suit individually. But it can certainly do that, and like will, along with other organizations. This is where trump judges come into play, of course. But DoJ can also open investigations and make life unpleasant for voter-suppression types. The legislative history of most of these voter-suppression bills is rife with false statements, which helps the DoJ’s case.
Even SCOTUS is cognizant of public opinion
Secondly, we need a National Voting Rights Bill ASAP
Thanks. It’s also rife with bad reasoning. If you ask state legislators why they think a law is required you will get a flimsy answer. For example, in Georgia, they are trying to pass a law that you can’t give food or water to people waiting in long lines to vote. They are also trying to eliminate voting on Sundays. What possible reasons could there be for these measures? Ask the question and wait for these idiots at the state level to trip all over themselves and give it away completely. It shouldn’t be too hard to get some of them to openly admit what they are doing.