Since: 1. Definitions no longer matter... 2. We aren't using our brains at all...
I am going to proclaim that David Souter stole a seat for liberals from conservatives, and therefore, the Sotomayor seat is illegitimate.
The best part:
The nine senators voting against Souter included Ted Kennedy and John Kerry. These senators, along with seven others, painted Souter as a right-winger in the mold of Robert Bork.
Wall Street Journal opinion piece called Souter a "liberal jurist"...
"... and said Rudman took "pride in recounting how he sold Mr. Souter to gullible John Sununu as a confirmable conservative. They both sold the judge to Bush, who wanted above all else to avoid a confirmation battle."
100%: "A key piece of our professional training involves identifying and addressing the blind spots caused by our beliefs...It’s crucial to do this if we want to build effective partnerships with communities and cultures that differ from our own."
"Most Republicans support mask-wearing and other protective measures. The social capital and deep traditions of service within religious communities are powerful public health assets, as are defining conservative values of personal responsibility."
One of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's wishes is that nobody in America would ever, ever consider packing the Supreme Court... And she had the courage to say that.
Today's Democrats and Republicans don't deserve people like RBG and Scalia.
"Nine seems to be a good number. It's been that way for a long time," she said, adding, "I think it was a bad idea when President Franklin Roosevelt tried to pack the court."
"Several Democratic candidates have indicated an openness, if they were to win the presidency, to adding to the number of justices on the Supreme Court to reduce the power of the current conservative majority. Some would also like to enact term limits for Supreme Court justices."
Literally anyone that says that appointing someone when a seat is OPEN, and then have the Senate confirm or reject, is COURT PACKING...
...is someone that should never be trusted on any issue ever, because they are willing to lie and twist facts to their own needs anytime.
There IS a case to be made against this, but it is NOT COURT PACKING.
It is NORM BREAKING.
There is a legitimate argument that civility demands norms, and breaking norms undermines civility. And a system without civility will eventually fall apart.
What this weekend has proven to me is...many, many liberals don't have a clue what court packing is...they just use it as a catch all for "Anything we don't like regarding judges".
I have a lot of problems with the judiciary: 1. They overstep their bounds. 2. Lifetime appts are just...bad. 3. National orders from local federal judges. 4. Not giving judges a full vote on the senate floor (true for Garland, true for Obama judges...and true for Bush judges).
But none of these things...none of them...are 'court packing'.
NONE OF THEM.
Court packing is something that autocratic demagogues do. It is something that happens in banana republics, and third world failed states.
I think we are really seeing different waves. The first wave was NY/NJ. The second was this summer with AZ/CA/TX/FL getting hit. Right now the epicenter is the northern central region, with WI, IL, OH. TX, CA, FL have lot of cases through out.