Biden Is Still Not Radical Enough For Me

“Some on Biden’s team have been aggravated by the calls on the left to expand the court, expressing particular annoyance with Markey for urging Democrats to abolish the filibuster and add more justices.” @WaPoSean @mviser @AnnieLinskey https://t.co/IHSKvV7Mwp

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) September 21, 2020

...but that’s okay.

Circuit courts have large benches which can do en banc when the need arises, so it’s not like 11 or 13 Justices is “too many.” “Court packing “ is a stupid term, and I think the celebrity of RBG could lead to radical change that we could learn to live with. Just as, I think, the country is finally ready to accept the consequences of the civil rights movement of 60 years ago. Increasing the size of the court would probably end up as controversial as same sex or mixed race marriage. We still can’t accept voting rights or equal rights, on the other hand.

Besides, I think increasing the Court’s bench is the right response to McConnell’s determination. If there is no response now, the Republicans will just wait their turn and continue on with what Trump wrought. Danielle Pletka has already made it clear she prefers Trump to any Democrat. Is it any surprise she worked for Jesse Helms? She despises Trump, but when it come down to her vote, she can’t cast it for a Democrat.

Why a Never Trumper Changed Her Mind via ⁦@IChotiner⁩ https://t.co/4WOoIIwT7m

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 21, 2020

Is Biden going to reason with her? Or is he going to lead? Dixiecrats weren’t happy with LBJ, either. But he was right, even though 60 years later we’re still fighting about it.

This captures the moral logic of today’s GOP. We’re doing it because we know our opponents would do it. It’s a perpetual motion machine of payback for things you imagine would happen in the future or which seem obvious because everyone believes solely in power and force. https://t.co/k0Q81RnxaE

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 21, 2020

Actually it’s because there was a perception there was a price to be paid. LBJ understood that when he said he’d signed away the South for a generation. He just didn’t realize how Southern the country would become. Now the people are coming to collect and demand payment, and still the politicians don’t see it. Some of them still think LBJ acted solely for power, and they’ve been getting back their own ever since (pretty much McConnell’s reason to pack the courts.). This is where Ginsburg’s celebrity changes the calculation. How many people can name the sitting Chief Justice, or any justice on the Court? But they know who RBG was. That’s a load of dynamite that may well explode the best laid plans of the GOP.

And Joe Biden needs to be ready to follow up on that, by any means necessary.