2004 Election & the Supreme Court / Democratic Press Conference

This is a panel discussion/posse cut.

Nina Totenberg is freestyling.

Walter "Rick" Dellinger just said that 52 senators represent 17 percent of the population. He was the Solicitor General of the Clinton Admin from 96 to 97.

Stuart Taylor is a senior writer at the National Journal. He's talking about the "nuclear option." (According to the Washinton Monthly, "This involves asking the Senate parliamentarian to simply declare judicial filibusters against the rules...")

Apparently the nuclear option is a really big deal, and it it was "deployed" then the Beltway would go haywire. I fail to see why, but I'll take their word for it.

There is some other lady on the panel but she isn't rapping that much.

Now they're guessing who Bush will nominate for the Supreme Court.

Stu - J. Harvey Wilkenson would be a conciliatory

Tote says Harvey wouldn't be conciliatory.

Oh oh, the other lady is talking. She says John Roberts is her guess. Now Tote is saying John Roberts wouldn't be that conciliatory either. She's feisty. She just contradicted Stu again. She has no qualms about telling people they are wrong.

Ricky says Bush will move Scalia to chief justive and add someone else to a lower rank.

What is the fourth circuit?

The "other lady" is Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor at slate.com

Tote just said that if the republicans get three court nominations that Roe might be in jeapardy. Wow, I didn't think that was really a possibility no matter what.

Now Bert Brandenburg is introducing the next panel, which is going to be about state judges.

The panel is Deborah Goldberg, Samantha Sanchez, and Jan Baren.

Crap. I just reset the treadmill accidentally. I was at something like 4.7 miles.

Ok, I'm taking a break from c-span to play poker online, there is a free tournement at pokerroom.com every day at 9 am.

This poker tournament is taking forever. It's been two hours and it's still going on. It started with 2000 people and now it's down to 79, so that's pretty sweet. I'll let you know what happens.

Wow. That was exhausting. I finished 55th out of 2000 people. If I had made it into the top 50 I would have made some money. Oh well. I don't know if I'll do that again. It's nice that it's free, but that's 2 and a half hours of my life we're talking about.

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Oooh, Nancy Pelosi is preaching on c-span uno, now we're talking.

Oh, and by the way, there is a Rep. named Ron Blunt. So I think that people should call blunts "Representative Ronalds." How sweet would that be.

Now Rep. Steny Hoyer from Maryland is at the podium. He's the Minority Whip. What is that? I should really know that. Google time. "The Minority Whip is a member of the minority party in the U.S. House of Representatives who assists the Minority Leader in coordinating the party caucus in its responses to legislation and other matters." There you go.

I'm at 11.7 miles now and still feeling pretty good, except my right knee hurts a little. Oh yeah! And I walked my dog, Molly, for like a mile this morning! But I won't count that because I wasn't watching c-span.

I think there should be a political manuever called "caucus blocking."

Rep. Robert Menendez from Jeeerrssseeey is spouting. He's the Dem Caucus Chairman. Hahahha, someone's cell phone just went off at the press conference and it sounded like Super Mario just got an extra life. It really changed the tone of the meeting for a second. He just mentioned how soldiers don't have enough flak jackets. I think "flak jacket" would be a great phrase for a rap song. "You're rhymes are wack like Bob Saget so you betta wear a flak jacket." I think that's pretty good.

Rep. James Clyburn from South Carolina is speaking the truth, he's Vice Chairman of the Dem caucus. He has a great voice. He sounds a bit like Martin Luther King. Great annunciation, an awesome low, booming voice. I could listen to him talk all day. I think his voice is a real asset to the Democratic party. A speech by him would have so much more weight than a speech by someone with a thin, unengaging voice.

R. John Spratt from South Carolina is the Assistant Minority Leader. He has a pretty good voice too. Why aren't these people out there on a national stage, talking in the affect and cadence that people in Red states love? Southern Democrats should be the mouthpiece of the Democratic party. Because people in blue states will mostly pay attention to what their saying, regardless of how they say it. And the people in red states will pay more attention to what they are saying because they will like the way it sounds. Someone like Nancy Pelosi is just a sitting duck for pundits on the right. Look at her. She's wearing pearls the size of a baby's head. She's wearing a blazer that she borrowed from MC Hammer. She just said "promulgate." This is disgraceful. When will Democrats learn? Don't use fancy words, don't wear pearls, and don't go wind surfing. Ever. Just don't. Instead of promulgate say declare; instead of wind surfing go bowling; instead of pearls wear, well, anything, a noodle-necklace your daughter made in kindergarden, anything but pearls.

Now someone's asking about the DeLay rule change. Sten-bomb called it "ironic."