irrelevant Trump
corporations jumping ship
none like a bully
Note on Senryu: Senryu actually has a long history of political activism — one of the reasons it was published anonymously because some of the things the poems reported could get you imprisoned or your head chopped off. This is a nod to those antecedents.
Some people think a big mouth and stick is effective. Most people grow out of it. What happens when bullying works for you, makes you a reality tv star, and gets you a presidency? You think you can say anything, do anything? This is Trump. But people can turn away, groups follow, then the money recedes.
In the old days, when they didn’t stone a person for their sins, they ostercized them, turned away in a communal shunning. The person loses power, becomes invisible. One article tells of how corporations are turning away from Trump, finding his public statements abhorrent. So they are ignoring him to work with other Republicans to try to push their policies through. Hopefully this means they will pull their money away from Trump as well. If business America finds you irrelevant, can you last?
Uh-oh, Trump’s sly co-opting of the federal judiciary branch: a lasting heritage
Still Trump’s actions are designed to keep him in power. We have a 3-part system: President, Congress and the Judiciary in order to supply checks and balances. Problem is this president is already moving pieces to create a judiciary that backs him. Think about this in their first six months as president, Bush chose 4 lower-court nominees; Clinton named Ginsberg to the high court but no lower-court ones; and Barack named Sotomayor to the Supreme court and 9 lower court judges. In his first 6 months, Trump named Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and 27 lower court judges. That is more than Bush, Clinton and Barack together. And he chose people who share his ideology. Republicans in the judiciary committee are arguing that the nominees’ previous writing and public statements are irrelevant to confirmation. However, how a person thinks — revealed through their writing — is very relevant to their becoming a lifetime judge. These appointments are not for a short-term. They are life-time.
Groups with misleading names such as Judicial Crisis Network, Tea Party Patriots, Concerned Veterans for America, Susan B. Anthony List, and Concerned Women for America are working to streamline the nomination process so it’s faster to push candidates through and harder for candidates to be stopped at the state level. Currently the Senate has only time to vote on 1 or 2 candidates a week since they can debate a candidate for up to 30 hours. News can cover one or two candidates fairly easily if something hinky shows up. If the debate time is limited as they propose to less than one third, it’ll be easier to slip people through and harder for journalists to dig into their history. And the constituents — us — will lose the time it takes to write and call in to our senator if we find out something is hinky in the candidate.
Judges protect our freedoms within the USA
People forget the judges but often they are the ones to protect or restrict our freedoms — using law to expand and constrict freedoms from speech to imprisonment depending on the tenor of our time and their own personal politics. We need to be careful of the legacy Trump leaves us with when he steps down.
These are the last two rounds of nominations recommended by Trump’s folks. If you agree with them, that’s fine. It’s a free country still. If you don’t, it’s up to you to find ways to move against them writing to your Senator and the ones on the Judiciary committee and whatnot. I’m not an activist so honestly have no clue what to suggest. I figure if it’s important to you, you’ll figure it out or find someone who knows more than I. I just know this. We need a balanced judiciary — not one ruled by any ideology nor ruled by any prejudice against or for any particular group of people or economic status — if we want to keep the freedoms we have. You think your freedom is written in stone? It’s not.
The following is copied from List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump, Wikipedia. Since it is on Wikipedia, if you are viewing this after 9/24/2017, go to that link for the most up-to-date information. They are constantly updating. The ones in olive and peach are pending before their respective committees. How long do you want Trump’s influence to last?
Trump’s Judicial Nominees List as of 9/23/2017: successful and pending
United States Supreme Court
# | Justice | Seat | State | Former Justice | Nomination date |
Confirmation date |
Confirmation vote |
Began service |
Ended service |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Neil Gorsuch | Seat 9 | Colorado | Antonin Scalia | February 1, 2017 | April 7, 2017 | 54–45 | April 8, 2017 | Incumbent |
Note on the following charts:
Grey Denotes nomination reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee |
Olive Denotes nomination pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee |
United States Courts of Appeals
# | Judge | Circuit | Nomination date |
Confirmation date |
Confirmation vote |
Began active service |
Ended active service |
Ended senior status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Amul Thapar | Sixth | March 21, 2017 | May 25, 2017 | 52–44 | May 25, 2017 | Incumbent | – |
2 | John K. Bush | Sixth | May 8, 2017 | July 20, 2017 | 51–47 | July 21, 2017 | Incumbent | – |
3 | Kevin Newsom | Eleventh | May 8, 2017 | August 1, 2017 | 66–31 | August 2, 2017 | Incumbent | – |
– | Ralph R. Erickson | Eighth | June 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Amy Coney Barrett | Seventh | May 8, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Joan Larsen | Sixth | May 8, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | David Stras | Eighth | May 8, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Allison H. Eid | Tenth | June 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Stephanos Bibas | Third | June 19, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Michael B. Brennan | Seventh | August 3, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | L. Steven Grasz | Eighth | August 3, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Ryan Wesley Bounds | Ninth | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Elizabeth L. Branch | Eleventh | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Gregory G. Katsas | D.C. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
United States District Courts
# | Judge | Court [Note 1] |
Nomination date |
Confirmation date |
Confirmation vote |
Began active service |
Ended active service |
Ended senior status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | David Nye | D. Idaho | May 8, 2017 | July 12, 2017 | 100–0 | August 1, 2017 | Incumbent | – |
2 | Timothy J. Kelly | D.D.C. | June 7, 2017 | September 5, 2017 | 94–2 | September 8, 2017 | Incumbent | – |
– | Scott L. Palk | W.D. Okla. | May 8, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Dabney L. Friedrich | D.D.C. | June 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Trevor N. McFadden | D.D.C. | June 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Donald C. Coggins Jr. | D. S.C. | August 3, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Claria Horn Boom | E.D. Ky. W.D. Ky. |
June 12, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Michael Lawrence Brown | N.D. Ga. | July 13, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | William L. Campbell Jr. | M.D. Tenn. | July 13, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Thomas Farr | E.D. N.C. | July 13, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Charles Barnes Goodwin | W.D. Okla. | July 13, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Mark Norris | W.D. Tenn. | July 13, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Tommy Parker | W.D. Tenn. | July 13, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | William McCrary Ray II | N.D. Ga. | July 13, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Eli J. Richardson | M.D. Tenn. | July 13, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Tripp Self | M.D. Ga. | July 13, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Annemarie Carney Axon | N.D. Ala. | July 19, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Liles C. Burke | N.D. Ala. | July 19, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Terry A. Doughty | W.D. La. | August 3, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Michael J. Juneau | W.D. La. | August 3, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. | D. S.C. | August 3, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Holly Lou Teeter | D. Kan. | August 3, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Robert E. Wier | E.D. Ky. | August 3, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | R. Stan Baker | S.D. Ga. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Jeffrey Uhlman Beaverstock | S.D. Ala. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | John W. Broomes | D. Kan. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Rebecca Grady Jennings | W.D. Ky. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Matthew J. Kacsmaryk | N.D. Tex. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Emily Coody Marks | M.D. Ala. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Jeffrey C. Mateer | E.D. Tex. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Terry F. Moorer | S.D. Ala. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Fernando Rodriguez Jr. | S.D. Tex. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Karen Gren Scholer | N.D. Tex. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Brett Joseph Talley | M.D. Ala. | September 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Walter David Counts III | W.D. Tex. | September 11, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Matthew S. Petersen | D.D.C. | September 11, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
United States Court of Federal Claims
# | Judge | Nomination date |
Confirmation date |
Confirmation vote |
Began active service |
Ended active service |
Ended senior status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | Damien M. Schiff | May 8, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Stephen S. Schwartz | June 7, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
United States Tax Court
Peach Denotes nomination pending before the Senate Finance Committee
# | Judge | Nomination date |
Confirmation date |
Confirmation vote |
Began active service |
Ended active service |
Ended senior status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | Elizabeth Ann Copeland | August 3, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
– | Patrick Urda | August 3, 2017 | – | – | – | – | – |
United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
# | Judge | Nomination date |
Confirmation date |
Confirmation vote |
Began active service |
Ended active service |
Ended senior status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Michael P. Allen | June 7, 2017 | August 3, 2017 | voice vote | August 9, 2017 | Incumbent | – |
2 | Amanda L. Meredith | June 7, 2017 | August 3, 2017 | voice vote | August 9, 2017 | Incumbent | – |
3 | Joseph L. Toth | June 7, 2017 | August 3, 2017 | voice vote | August 9, 2017 | Incumbent | – |
Reference:
Irrelevant
Daily Prompts
The Daily Post
Donald Trump Is Irrelevant to Corporate America by William Cohan, The New Yorker, 9/7/2017
President Donald J. Trump Announces Sixth Wave of Judicial Candidates and Fifth Wave of U.S. Attorney Candidates, White House Press Office, 8/3/2017
President Donald J. Trump Announces Seventh Wave of Judicial Candidates, White House Press Office, 9/7/2017
Judicial Nominations, Committee of the Judiciary
List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump, Wikipedia
Conservatives Push for Democrats to Stop Obstructing Trump Judicial Nominees, by Rachel del Guidice, The Daily Signal, 8/25/2017
The one area where Trump has been wildly successful, by Ronald A. Klain, The Washington Post, July 19, 2017