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bobbyw24
05-09-2010, 05:51 PM
Solicitor General Elena Kagan is viewed, inside the White House and out, as the favorite to be nominated for the Supreme Court.

She's a favorite in part because she's so confirmable, with many allies on the right whom she made while broadening the ideological diversity of Harvard Law School. And she's taken a couple of fairly hard blows from the left today, the first being the report in USA Today that she was a paid adviser to corporate enemy No. 1, Goldman Sachs, at a time when the White House is trying to cast its court pick as a chance to steer the court toward favoring plaintiffs over corporations.

Four minority law professors, meanwhile, complain in Salon that the diversity in her hiring didn't extend beyond ideology: She hired, they write, "largely white men."

These aren't issues likely to trigger a Republican filibuster. They're aimed to tilt the balance away from her at a decisive moment. And the law professors have another favorite, the same judge most liberal groups quietly say they'd prefer:

"A knowledgeable source tells us that Seventh Circuit Judge Diane Wood has had a splendid history of hiring women and minorities as law clerks," they write.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0510/Kagan_under_fire_on_Goldman_minorities.html

bobbyw24
05-09-2010, 06:11 PM
More Clues That It Will Be Kagan
By David Lat

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Tomorrow President Obama will officially announce his nomination of Elena Kagan, current Solicitor General and former Harvard Law School dean, to replace Justice John Paul Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court. The news might get leaked unofficially tonight, so stay tuned.

We have no reason to question this prediction by Politico — and several reasons support it. The biggest clue is that Judge Diane Wood (7th Cir.), viewed by many as Kagan’s closest competitor, was notified yesterday by the White House that she (Wood) will not be the nominee. [FN1]

UPDATE (7 PM): Some supporters of Judge Wood are denying that she’s out of the running. But, to the extent that Judge Wood hasn’t confirmed her getting dinged to them, I suspect she’s just trying to be a team player, by doing her part not to steal Kagan’s thunder or spoil the White House “surprise.”

UPDATE (7:30 PM): To the Wood supporters who insist she’s still waiting for a call from the White House: if she is the nominee, shouldn’t she know by now? Over at SCOTUSblog, Tom Goldstein is reporting that “[t]he Administration plans to identify its nominee in ‘guidance’ at 7:20am tomorrow morning, with a formal announcement by the President at 11am.”

CORRECTION (7:45 PM): Okay. I’m now hearing, on VERY good authority, that Judge Wood has NOT been officially notified either way about whether she’ll be the nominee. So she is still (technically) in contention.

I continue to believe that Kagan will be the nominee — but I’d be happy to be wrong about this, since I previously predicted that Judge Wood would be nominated. (My colleague Elie Mystal, meanwhile, has been predicting Kagan all along.)

The past few days have brought additional clues that point in Kagan’s direction….

Here are three more clues that it’s going to be Kagan:

1. We know the nominee will be a woman.

The nominee won’t be Judge Wood. Might be it be Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit or Judge Sidney Thomas of the Ninth Circuit, the two other short-listers?

No. The nominee is going to be a woman. Former White House communications director Anita Dunn — who happens to be the wife of White House counsel Bob Bauer, a major player in the process — is coordinating White House contacts with outside organizations on the nomination. As of Friday night, Dunn was circulating talking points about how confirmation of the president’s nominee would result in there being three women on the Court for the first time ever.

2. The Dan Meltzer resignation.

Also on Friday, Daniel Meltzer resigned as principal deputy counsel, to return to his post as a professor at Harvard Law School. What does this mean?

“Meltzer is out — meaning he didn’t get his way,” a source told us. “Expect an announcement Monday that [the nominee will be] Kagan.”

Hold on a sec. Dan Meltzer was on the Harvard Law faculty before joining the White House counsel’s office. Shouldn’t he be playing for Team Kagan?

Actually, no. Meltzer has been trying to sink Kagan throughout the entire process. Why? Because of a grudge dating back to their days in Cambridge. He threw his hat into the ring for the Harvard Law School deanship at the same time as Kagan, but lost out to her — and has never forgiven Kagan for beating him out for the post.

Now Meltzer is headed back to Harvard — where someday he might become dean, perhaps after Martha Minow finishes out her term. With Kagan out of the picture, after her confirmation to a life-tenured position on the Supreme Court, he won’t have to worry about her pesky meddling!

Also, note when Meltzer’s departure takes effect, which is significant. Charlie Savage of the New York Times wrote as follows:

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/05/more-clues-that-it-will-be-kaganjudge-wood-learned-yesterday-that-she-isnt-the-nominee/

bobbyw24
05-10-2010, 05:24 AM
IT'S OFFICIAL

Nice-a friend of Goldman Sachs on the court that construes the Constitution.

catdd
05-10-2010, 06:28 AM
We're screwed.

Cowlesy
05-10-2010, 06:55 AM
Best we could hope for I guess.

We need to seal Scalia/Alito/Thomas/Roberts and even Kennedy in a safe-room until Obama is out of office.

low preference guy
05-10-2010, 06:58 AM
jesus fuck. this is the most incompetent president we could have.

Inflation
05-10-2010, 07:30 AM
jesus fuck. this is the most incompetent president we could have.

and the fugliest!

bobbyw24
05-10-2010, 08:17 AM
It's anything but surprising that President Obama has chosen Elena Kagan to replace John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court. Nothing is a better fit for this White House than a blank slate, institution-loyal, seemingly principle-free careerist who spent the last 15 months as the Obama administration's lawyer vigorously defending every one of his assertions of extremely broad executive authority. The Obama administration is filled to the brim with exactly such individuals -- as is reflected by its actions and policies -- and this is just one more to add to the pile. The fact that she'll be replacing someone like John Paul Stevens and likely sitting on the Supreme Court for the next three decades or so makes it much more consequential than most, but it is not a departure from the standard Obama approach.

The New York Times this morning reports that "Mr. Obama effectively framed the choice so that he could seemingly take the middle road by picking Ms. Kagan, who correctly or not was viewed as ideologically between Judge Wood on the left and Judge Garland in the center." That's consummate Barack Obama. The Right appoints people like John Roberts and Sam Alito, with long and clear records of what they believe because they're eager to publicly defend their judicial philosophy and have the Court reflect their values. Beltway Democrats do the opposite: the last thing they want is to defend what progressives have always claimed is their worldview, either because they fear the debate or because they don't really believe those things, so the path that enables them to avoid confrontation of ideas is always the most attractive, even if it risks moving the Court to the Right.

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Why would the American public possibly embrace a set of beliefs when even its leading advocates are unwilling to publicly defend them and instead seek to avoid that debate at every turn? Hence: Obama chooses an individual with very few stated beliefs who makes the Right quite comfortable (even as they go through the motions of opposing her). As Kevin Drum writes:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/05/08/kagan/index.html

cindy25
05-10-2010, 09:33 AM
why are they afraid to filibuster her?

catdd
05-10-2010, 10:59 AM
jesus fuck. this is the most incompetent president we could have.

And we thought nobody could be worse than GWB. :confused:

bobbyw24
05-10-2010, 12:38 PM
By LAURA MECKLER

WASHINGTON—The White House said Friday that Elena Kagan's membership on an advisory panel for the securities firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc. wouldn't disqualify her for a position on the Supreme Court.

Ms. Kagan, the solicitor general, is considered a top contender to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. President Barack Obama is expected to announce his nomination next week. An announcement could come "at any moment," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday.
New Face for the Court


From 2005 to 2008, Ms. Kagan was a paid member of the Research Advisory Council of Goldman Sachs Global Markets Institute, according to financial-disclosure reports she filed after being appointed to her current job. The form shows she was paid $10,000 in 2008, when she was dean of Harvard Law School.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703338004575230602921084726.html

Brian4Liberty
05-10-2010, 12:49 PM
Goodbye Bill of Rights...and goodbye US citizenship for anyone they want to disappear. :(


http://lieberman.senate.gov/index.cfm/news-events/news/2010/5/lieberman-statement-on-kagan-nomination

LIEBERMAN STATEMENT ON KAGAN NOMINATION
05.10.10

WASHINGTON – Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) today issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court:

“I commend President Obama’s nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan for the position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. I begin the process with very positive thoughts about this nominee. Elena Kagan is a distinguished lawyer and legal scholar with a lifelong commitment to public service. I am hopeful that we will see a strong bipartisan effort to undertake a thoughtful and fair confirmation process in the Senate.”

BlackTerrel
05-10-2010, 05:28 PM
There is nothing about this woman that I like.