An interesting idea. But, again, I don’t know what this does to shape current SCOTUS policy.

8 or 10 sounds okay

But why? Like, what’s the reasoning of 10 years rather than 12 or 6 or 24? It seems like we’re trying to apply a magic number to a policy problem. If the SCOTUS judges come to the same rules with different term limits, are we going to come back here and say we need to fiddle with the magic number some more?

I don’t want mummies holding office forever to cement precedent

I think one of the upshots of lifetime term limits has been younger and younger bench appointees. Roberts was 50 when he took the job.

H.J.Res. 174: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to provide for term limits for justices of the Supreme Court.

Well, there’s the damned thing. Not great that it has zero co-sponsors. But I guess people are talking about it, which is nice.

“The tenure in office of a justice of the Supreme Court may not exceed 18 years. In the case of any justice who is serving as of the ratification of this amendment, if the tenure in office of that justice is 18 years or more, that term of that justice shall be terminated. If such a justice is the Chief Justice, the position shall be filled in accordance with law.”

Ah, I see he’s got balls enough to put the right kind of language in there. Wish he could rally some other reps behind this idea before he launched it.

Way too long

With no limits on tenure, the average Supreme Court term since 1993 has reached 28 years — over twice as long as most peer countries. I would say that knocking 10 years off this average - particularly when three of the worst judges are already over the limit would yield an immediate and dramatic improvement in court functions. I also don’t know what the optimal SCOTUS tenure should be. 8 years? 12 years? 2 years? Presumably, you want extended terms to cement court precedent. But, idk, maybe you don’t?

Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find any actual text of this bill. Just a bunch of headlines announcing the announcement.

So it’s very possible he’s grandfathered sitting SCOTUS judges in, at which point the bill would be worse than performative.

They’re salesmen.

What they’re saying is only “crazy” if it fails to move units. And this guy seems to have been very successful at moving merch

Is there anything more Protestant than worshipping a golden calf, then getting mad when someone suggests that might be heresy.

democrats had no choice but to follow suit

Democrats had a number of opportunities to outlaw gerrymandering at the national level. They also had a number of opportunities to pack the SCOTUS, admit several more states (DC, Puerto Rico, American Samoa if they were feeling really feisty) guaranteed to put more Dem House Reps into Congress. They even had opportunities to just turn out more liberal voters by dumping financial resources into highly successful GOTV organizations like ACORN.

At every turn, they balked and made excuses and complained about optics. “When they go low, we go high!” was always just empty rhetoric. Dems never went anywhere.

Newsom ain’t gonna be president

I remember people saying the same shit about a low-rent NYC real estate tycoon.

She’s a prodigious fundraiser and a fantastic “this left and no further” stalking horse

two decent candidates in the last election on the Democrat side: Gavin

decent candidate

Gavin Newsom

Clickbait headline is Clickbait.

News at 11

Thanks for that and falling for the right-wing spoiler

Funny how that was actually RFK Jr, but he got so much traction with liberals Trump just on boarded him to his own campaign.

Plenty of the American WW2 veterans moved on to fighting in Korea and then Vietnam.

Better than 2000 Dr. Ozs!

Given how much they seem to agree on policy, it’s hard to say.

all the more reason to get involved

Just Donate More Money!

you better be voting Democrat

1000 John Fettermans!

The highest was Kennedy, who made out fanatically in his first term, adjusted for inflation

The lowest guy?

George W. Bush January 2005-January 2009 36.5

Richard Nixon January 1973-August 1974 34.4

Harry Truman January 1949-January 1953 36.5

Trump’s still got a ways to go. Meanwhile, all of these Presidents got a glow-up following their departure. Modern day elected Democrats will periodically issues hagiographies for Bush Jr and Truman.

I think heads of state should be prosecuted more often

I mean, I think the problem is that they’re doing crimes more than their frequency of prosecution.

I’d like to believe “more prosecutions will discourage politicians from doing crimes”. But there’s a gap in enforcement, wherein you can get all the way up to the PM/Presidency by committing crimes with impunity. And then you only get caught when you finally lose an election.

It’s funny, because Trump could easily make the same claim.

It feels pretty easy when all you have to do is observe and give occasional instructions.

When you have well-developed muscles, a thing can be trivial to accomplish for which others struggle.

On the flip-side, if you refuse to do a thing because it is hard, you never develop the muscles that make the job easier.

However you slice it, I’m sensitive to a trend of “This is too hard!” that stands in for “Someone should do this for me!” (or “I shouldn’t have to do this at all”), often without the thing being complained about in the mention.

Unfortunately, some people will still think a headache is painless because they are not the one experiencing it.

My mom used to have sudden-onset headaches and dizzy spells. And I remember growing up, picking up more and more of an adult role to compensate for her infirmities. Eventually, she figured out a routine of medication and habit that helped minimize the pain. And I was happy to help her along the way, until she was on her feet and able to take care of herself and the household at large without me being at her side constantly.

Then I started dating and met someone who also regularly complained of sudden onset headaches. And, initially, I was incredibly sympathetic. I leapt to help. I offered time to relax and whatever they needed to heal. I - again - started picking up a bunch of extra chores and tasks to afford a loved-one an opportunity to recover. But when the onsets became difficult to manage, I started suggesting things they could do that helped my mom that this person found annoying and patriarchal. And that turned headaches - particularly ones that I wasn’t able to adequately provide support for - into relationship disputes. Eventually, we broke up over the fighting that precipitated from me saying “We need a long term solution” and getting vitriol back in response.

So I don’t think headaches are painless. But I also don’t think “I’m entitled to your care, not your input” ends well for anyone involved.

He released his presidential memoir in November of 2020.

Try again.

Bibliography of Barack Obama