(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . OMG! Did We Help Do This??? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-23 Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durban wants to keep honoring "tradition" while Rs tell him to fuck off Holy smoke! Last week I wrote a diary here that I originally titled “Mother Fucking Blue Slips” (but then I changed it). I was writing to discuss the stupid fucking “tradition” that ONLY the Ds follow (like good little girls and boys) and the Rs ignore. The result of that has been that the district courts are dangerously partisan, filled with Leonard Leo hacks. So much so that Rs who want to sue know JUST where to go to venue shop for a judge who will give them what they want. You can click the link above to read more about Blue Slips and the history, etc. I wrote that last week in hopes of asking y’all to join me in contacting all the Ds on the Senate Judiciary Committee and DEMAND that they stop honoring Blue Slips. Well, I was just minding my own business a few moments ago and came across this little gem from the Associated Press by way of Yahoo. Holy crap! The Ds are actually considering it! Even as Democrats celebrated the 100th judicial confirmation of Joe Biden's presidency, they are clamoring for more — and some are flirting with ending a century-long Senate practice to help make it happen. The rising friction over what in Washington parlance is known as the “blue slip” is creating tensions on the Senate panel that handles judicial nominations and prompting stern warnings from Republicans about a dangerous escalation in the partisanship that already dominates the judicial confirmation process. Funny how those Republicans are “warning” about partisanship dominating the judicial confirmation process when they have NO MOTHER FUCKING PROBLEM WITH THEIR OWN PARTISAN JUDGES DOMINATING THE ACTUAL COURTS! Republicans during Donald Trump's presidency determined the lack of a positive blue slip would not stop them from moving forward with considering appellate court nominees — and they did so 17 times. Democrats were livid, pointing out that Republicans blocked several of President Barack Obama's appellate nominees by declining to return a positive blue slip. Now, Democrats are being encouraged to follow suit and do away with the blue slip when it comes to the district judges whose courts serve as the starting point for federal civil and criminal cases. ”In many respects, it is an archaic holdover from a different era,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “I think we’re maybe reaching the point of deciding whether it will be continued.” Advocates for doing away with the blue slip say fast action is critical if Democrats want to have the kind of success Trump had in year three of his presidency, when he secured more than 100 judicial confirmations out of 231. They believe Democrats can't afford to wait months on Republican senators to give their go-ahead for a nominee. Besides, they argue, if Democrats don't do away with the blue slip now, Republicans will abolish it when they return to the majority. WE MUST TURN UP THE HEAT, NOW! The biggest holdout for NOT wanting to end Blue Slips is Dick Durbin himself (the freaking Chair of the committee). Can you contact him ASAP? Here is is website which has a contact form: www.durbin.senate.gov Here are his office locations with contact info if you want to call (or snail mail): Washington, D.C. 711 Hart Senate Building Washington, D.C. 20510 p: 202.224.2152 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Chicago 230 S. Dearborn Street Suite 3892 Chicago, IL 60604 p: 312.353.4952 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Springfield 525 S. 8th Street Springfield, IL 62703 p: 217.492.4062 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Carbondale 250 W. Cherry Street Suite 115-D Carbondale, IL 62901 p: 618.351.1122 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Rock Island 1504 Third Avenue Suite 227 Rock Island, IL 61201 p: 309.786.5173 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Tell him you are not a constituent in his state (unless you are), but you are writing or calling him because of his role on the Judiciary Committee. It’s not like the Senate can do ANYTHING else since the maniacs control the House. No legislation is going to be passed. This site has the rest of the members listed with links to their websites next to their pictures (it has a few mistakes) but if you want to contact the other D members, maybe we can turn up the heat! DEMAND THAT THEY STOP REQUIRING BLUE SLIPS AND FILL THESE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT JUDICIAL VACANCIES ASAP! If we all do this now (right when they are actually considering it — well except Durbin) we might actually force their hand! Anyone who Tweets or does other social media — maybe you can scream out to them there, as well. Thank you so much for reading this. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/23/2154651/-OMG-Did-We-Help-Do-This Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/