monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Not that I think it will stop his confirmation but Democrats have the votes to filibuster Neil Gorsuch.

Not that I think it will stop his confirmation but Democrats have the votes to filibuster Neil Gorsuch.

The logic behind the filibuster and the 3/5 majority was to insure that the party in power couldn't just nominate a partisan hack and confirm him, in the worst case scenario, with a 51-50 vote, the v.p. breaking the tie. Gorsuch, fortunately, is a qualified jurist, if not as moderate as some might have hoped, a worse choice could have been made...and probably will be before this regime is out of power.

hightor wrote:

Gorsuch, fortunately, is a qualified jurist, if not as moderate as some might have hoped

You seem to have a penchant for euphemisms, eh, Hi?

Democrats are not looking for a "moderate" nominee (which Gorsuch is).

They want a radical left-wing judicial activist who ignores the constitution, and law enacted by elected representatives, when it does not advance the agenda which they would personally prefer to "be" the law.

Identity politics, as a mode of organizing, is closely connected to the concept that some social groups are oppressed (such as women, ethnic minorities, sexual minorities, etc.); that is, individuals belonging to those groups are, by virtue of their identity, more vulnerable to forms of oppression such as cultural imperialism, violence, exploitation of labour, marginalization, or powerlessness. Identity politics starts from analyses of oppression to recommend a restructuring of the existing society.

Identity politics is a phenomenon that arose first within the radical margins of liberal democratic societies in which human rights are recognized, and the term is not usually used to refer to dissident movements within single-party or authoritarian states. The elements of identity politics can be seen to be present in many of the earliest statements of feminists, ethnic movements, and gay and lesbian liberation.

The term identity politics has been applied retroactively to varying movements that long predate its coinage. Historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. discussed identity politics extensively in his book The Disuniting of America. Schlesinger, a strong supporter of liberal conceptions of civil rights, argues that a liberal democracy requires a common basis for culture and society to function.

In his view, basing politics on group marginalization fractures the civil polity, and therefore works against creating real opportunities for ending marginalization. Schlesinger believes that "movements for civil rights should aim toward full acceptance and integration of marginalized groups into the mainstream culture, rather than...perpetuating that marginalization through affirmations of difference."

Susan Rice requested to unmask names of Trump transition officials, sources say

Susan Rice....former national security adviser under then-President Barack Obama, requested to unmask the names of Trump transition officials caught up in surveillance.

When names of Americans are incidentally collected, they are supposed to be masked, meaning the name or names are redacted from reports – whether it is international or domestic collection...Americans are supposed to be protected from incidental collection.

The names were part of incidental electronic surveillance of candidate and President-elect Trump and people close to him, including family members, for up to a year before he took office.

The unmasked names, of people associated with Donald Trump, were then sent to all those at the National Security Council, some at the Defense Department, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan – essentially, the officials at the top, including former Rice deputy Ben Rhodes.

As the Obama administration left office, it also approved new rules that gave the NSA much broader powers by relaxing the rules about sharing intercepted personal communications and the ability to share those with 16 other intelligence agencies.

Well, sure, and you can bet he was behind Rice on the unmasking aspect, too, eh? She was his "advisor" on "national security." They spoke frequently, and she wouldn't have done this without his knowledge and consent.