Yes, most of the time Presidents nominated non-controversial judges. You might be surprised however by the number of withdrawn or rejected nominations throughout history. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/nomi ... resent.htmcradleandshoot wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2020 1:08 pmI'm sure we both remember back in the olden days when a SCOTUS nominee was any sitting presidents prerogative? Those days are gone. The new normal is every SCOTUS nominee will now ignite WWIII. The new normal is to dig as far back into the nominees background and find any dirt their is. Even if the other side has to lie, cheat or steal to discredit someone they don't like thy will be done. I still remember those protesters standing in front of the Supreme Court building. They all conveniently brought multiple signs on hand to disparage who ever Trump would nominate. They were already to discredit who ever the pick was without even knowing who the pick would be. Is that the way the process should be? Shame and discredit before the candidate has had their day. Hell both parties can play the Merrick Garland game under the new rules, don't even let the nominee have an up or down vote.MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2020 12:17 pm yes, and certainly a fair question to ask.
Right now, I don't believe the Reade allegation.
But I'm open to the possibility.
If she had contemporaneous back-up, if there were other women with similar descriptions of behavior, etc, it would add weight to that possibility.
Again, like with Kav, whether it has some basis in truth or not, I look at the years of behavior and service since then and look at the total context. In Kav's case, I saw some likely truth, under the influence, but then many years of far different behavior with women. That matters.
I didn't get a vote on whether Kavanaugh should be elevated to the Supreme Court. Had I had such a vote, I'd have said, sorry go back and find another candidate. I don't see someone with the right sense of personal accountability and temperament to be put in that lifelong job. But that doesn't mean he's a bad person today, a great husband, dad, and jurist. Just that the bar can be higher still. At the time I said that all he needed to do for my support would have been to say, yes, in those early days of my life, I drank way too much, with some frequency. I really don't remember this happening, and it horrifies me that it is nevertheless possible. If I hurt Ms Ford or anyone else in that period of my life I am very, very sorry. But I have endeavored in my adult life to treat women with respect, etc, etc. Simple, IMO.
On POTUS, we'll have a choice.
Even if I believed the allegation about Biden to have a kernel of truth ala my view of Kav, it's not remotely akin to Trump's record in this arena.
Kavanaugh was attacked on this forum viciously for being a liar and sexually assaulting a woman. His demeanor in defending himself was also harshly criticized. What should you do and how should you respond to such accusations? I guess the answer to that is to sit on your hands and meekly defend yourself. i would respond the same way. How would you respond to such allegations MD if you were on national TV and your family was watching? I bet you might get angry as well. You might even respond indignantly to the line of questioning if you knew you did not do it. The new normal for SCOTUS nominations are no longer called hearings. We might better off be calling them mini inquisitions. There has to be a middle ground between finding the truth and just dragging someone through the mud.
Yes, the Merrick Garland fiasco represents a new low. At this point, what McConnell appears to have established is that if the President doesn't have his party in power in the Senate no guarantee of even a review much less a vote.
I believe I answered exactly what Kavanaugh should have done, what I would have done had I been faced with the situation of such an accusation today and had his drinking issues back then. Certainly not 'meekly defend'. It's a sign of strength and confidence, not weakness to be able to admit errors in one's life and remorse. I don't recall if I called him a liar but I felt he had multiple moments when he did not tell the whole truth and knew it. I have no desire to re-litigate it, but how he handled the hearing bothered me more than that he could have done something stupid and awful when drunk...maybe...
. 
