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WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Monday night named Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a favorite of the Republican legal establishment, to fill the newest vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, tapping a conservative figure who is likely to push the court to the right after years of seesaw rulings.

In selecting Judge Kavanaugh, a fixture of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Mr. Trump heeded the calls of his chief advisers, who emphasized the 53-year-old judge’s lengthy record of conservative jurisprudence that they believe could be defended in a heated confirmation fight.

“Judge Kavanaugh has impeccable credentials, unsurpassed qualifications and a proven commitment to equal justice under the law,” Mr. Trump said from the East Room of the White House.

The prime-time announcement required Mr. Trump to set aside misgivings about Judge Kavanaugh’s ties to the George W. Bush administration that Mr. Trump has frequently criticized, according to people familiar with the process. He also restrained an impulse to make a flashier choice, these people said.

Mr. Trump settled on the pick after a rapid-fire search that opened on June 27, when 81-year-old Justice Anthony Kennedy told the president he was stepping down, creating the second vacancy on the court during Mr. Trump’s presidency.

Justice Kennedy, though a conservative, has long been a swing vote on the court, sometimes siding with liberal justices, and his departure gives Mr. Trump a chance to leave an enduring imprint in American jurisprudence after a year and a half in office. Mr. Trump has already filled one seat on the high court, installing conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch last year. Should the Senate approve his new choice, Mr. Trump will have chosen as many justices as former President Barack Obama and Mr. Bush each did over the course of their eight-year presidencies.

That choice weighed on Mr. Trump, who days and even hours before his televised announcement was still contemplating the historic appeal of a choosing a conservative woman, Judge Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, who supporters promised would fire up Mr. Trump’s base. But she carried a risk of a difficult confirmation fight.

“No president has ever consulted more widely or talked with more people from more backgrounds to seek input about a Supreme Court nomination,” Judge Kavanaugh said in a short speech at the White House in which he focused on his family and finished with a pledge to “keep an open mind in every case.”

After the selection was announced, a White House official offered more detail on how the decision came about.

Mr. Trump phoned Judge Kavanaugh on Sunday to tell him he would be the nominee. The president then called Vice President Mike Pence and White House Counsel Donald McGahn to tell them where he had landed.

Mr. Trump continued to poll advisers on Monday about the choice, but that was primarily for the purpose of “stress-testing” the decision, the official said.

Heading into last weekend, the White House told each of the four finalists—Judges Kavanaugh, Thomas Hardiman, Raymond Kethledge and Barrett—to be prepared in the event they were chosen.

White House aides told them to write speeches, to suggest guests for the announcement ceremony and to leave Monday night open on their calendars in case they were chosen.

In a recent address to CUA Law School graduates, Judge Brett Kavanaugh paid tribute to Thurgood Marshall and Antonin Scalia, who fought for “ideas that were not in fashion.”

But Judge Kavanaugh had long been the front-runner, the official said, with Judge Hardiman something of a runner-up.

Judge Kavanaugh will now face a closely divided Senate, and Republicans hope to cement his candidacy quickly. The GOP holds 51 of 100 seats in the Senate, and that narrow majority includes Sen. John McCain, who is at home in Arizona fighting cancer. Democrats, for their part, are wrestling with how to approach a candidate they know could reshape the court for decades and whose nomination could be tied up with their prospects in the midterm elections.

Liberal groups were swift to push senators to fight to take down the nominee, particularly citing abortion rights and health care. “There’s no way to sugarcoat it: With this nomination, the constitutional right to access safe, legal abortion in this country is on the line,” said Dawn Laguens, a top lobbyist for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, an abortion-rights group.

Mr. Trump’s second Supreme Court pick could energize both the Democratic and Republican loyalists for November. But with Democrats already demonstrating enthusiasm about the election, the effect could be to help Republicans close that gap.

As late as Monday morning, Mr. Trump was actively considering the candidacy of Judge Hardiman of Pennsylvania, the runner-up in Mr. Trump’s previous Supreme Court pick in which he settled on Justice Gorsuch.

In this YouTube video of a lecture he gave at the Heritage Foundation, Brett Kavanaugh reflects on legal principles, constitutional rights and his personal experience as a judge.

But Judge Kavanaugh enjoyed steady support throughout the selection process from Mr. McGahn and Leonard Leo, the Federalist Society leader upon whom Mr. Trump relies when it comes to picking judges.

“Brett Kavanaugh is among the most distinguished and respected judges in the country, with nearly 300 opinions that clearly demonstrate fairness and a commitment to interpreting the Constitution as it’s written and enforcing the limits on government power contained in the Constitution,” Mr. Leo said.

For the past 12 years, Judge Kavanaugh has built a conservative record on the D.C. Circuit, which sits just a few blocks from the Supreme Court. The court is regarded as one of the most consequential in the nation because it is the venue for legal challenges to a range of actions by federal agenciesJudge Kavanaugh has taken aim at those agencies with some regularity, voicing concern when he believes government actions go beyond the powers delegated by Congress. The Environmental Protection Agency has been a notable target of Kavanaugh opinions and dissents, including for how it has implemented air-pollution rules and for what he saw as a lack of attention to the costs of regulations.

The judge has also been concerned by the structure of government agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose setup he ruled unconstitutional in 2016 because its director couldn’t be easily removed by the president.

The D.C. Circuit, which has leaned to the left since the Obama era, has reined in Judge Kavanaugh on multiple occasions, including the CFPB case, where it withdrew his opinion and ruled for the agency.

The court also overrode the judge in a hot-button case last year involving the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent pregnant undocumented teenagers in government custody from getting abortions. Judge Kavanaugh initially forged a middle-ground ruling that temporarily allowed the government to hold one unnamed girl while the sides sought a compromise, but the full court stepped in and ordered the girl to be released for the procedure.

If confirmed to the Supreme Court, Judge Kavanaugh’s days in the minority will likely be over, as he is expected to be part of a solid conservative majority.

In one conversation Monday, according to a person close to the White House, Mr. Trump left a clear impression that he was choosing between Judges Kavanaugh and Hardiman, and leaning toward Judge Kavanaugh. Mr. Trump was especially impressed by Judge Kavanaugh’s Yale pedigree, tenure on the court and body of writings, this person said. He believed Judge Kavanaugh was the brightest and most impressive of the lot, this person said.

Judge Kavanaugh’s advocates are expected to emphasize his sterling credentials and his experience on the bench. Judge Kavanaugh also was part of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr’s team that investigated then-President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and was tapped to write sections of the report that led to his impeachment by the GOP-led House.

The White House will have to assuage social conservatives, some of whom had questioned Judge Kavanaugh’s commitment to their cause. Judge Kavanaugh’s supporters will simultaneously have to avoid the trap of allowing him to be portrayed as excessively ideological.

They began Monday night, with a $1.4 million ad buy by the conservative legal group Judicial Crisis Network and website ConfirmKavanaugh.com that featured personal pictures of him, including as a basketball coach to one of his daughter’s teams.

Other advocates will include former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, a longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to guide the confirmation process in the role of “sherpa,” the White House announced earlier Monday.

Democrats, for their part, will work hard to peel off centrist Republican senators, chiefly Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who are wary of installing a court that could pose a risk to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 opinion that found a constitutional right to an abortion. Ms. Collins said ahead of the announcement that she wouldn’t attend.

At the same time, Mr. Trump hopes to pick off a few Democratic senators who represent states he won in 2016, particularly Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. All three voted to confirm Justice Gorsuch, and Mr. Trump invited them to the White House last week to discuss the court vacancy. They, too, didn’t attend Monday’s announcement.

The fortunes of different candidates rose and fell by the hour in the final days as Mr. Trump quizzed confidantes about what he should do.

Judge Kavanaugh was an early front-runner, with Mr. McGahn in particular arguing that his 12 years as an appeals court judge established him as a known quantity, White House officials said. Yet Mr. Trump warmed to Judge Hardiman in recent days, intrigued by his blue-collar background despite his lower profile on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

 

As the announcement neared, Judge Hardiman became the most serious threat to Judge Kavanaugh’s prospects. Some advocates were even told by the White House to prepare to tout Judge Hardiman’s working-class roots, including his onetime employment as a taxi driver.

Mr. Trump was torn until the end. As late as Monday morning, he quizzed advisers about various candidates’ records and confirmation prospects.

A central tension in the search for a nominee, people close to the White House said, was how Mr. Trump would rate the candidates. Would he rely more on his own intuitive sense of how justices should look, sound and carry themselves, or would his measure be  the candidates’ judicial writings and body of work?

Conservative advisers urged him to base the decision more on the written record, as he largely did with Justice Gorsuch.

“President Trump takes a judge’s writings in a serious way—something that past presidents did not do,” said Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist. “That’s important. If you focus on biography, you always run the risk of a Sandra Day O’Connor or David Souter—picks that haunt conservatives.”

In 1992, Justice O’Connor, a Ronald Reagan appointee, and Justice Souter, a George H.W. Bush appointee, were two of three authors of a landmark opinion that narrowed abortion rights—while affirming the “core” holding of Roe v. Wade that women are entitled to end their pregnancies without facing “undue burdens.” The third author was Justice Kennedy.

Write to Louise Radnofsky at louise.radnofsky@wsj.com, Peter Nicholas at peter.nicholas@wsj.com and Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com

Appeared in the July 10, 2018, print edition as 'Trump Taps Kavanaugh for Court.'

 

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concha Grand Master

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Adam Confused By New Creature God Put In Garden As He Is Not A Biologist
March 25th, 2022 - BabylonBee.com

article-10798-1.jpg

 

EDEN—According to sources, The Creator decided it's not good for man to be alone and has created a beautiful helper and companion for him, formed from a rib taken from the first man, Adam. Unfortunately, Adam isn't sure what to call this exquisite and wonderful creature as he is not a biologist.

"This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh," began Adam. "She shall be called, um... gosh, I really can't say. I'm no scientist here." He then stammered and stuttered for 10 minutes causing the feminine-looking bipedal humanoid creature to roll its eyes.

"Ah crap, was it something I said?" said Adam, scratching his head. "I don't know what this creature—who looks very much like me except better in every conceivable way—identifies as! Oh! If there was only a peer-reviewed biologist or gender studies professor who could make this clear to me!" 

The first man was going to give his wife a name but failed to come up with one as he wasn't sure of her gender. He decided it would be a bit patriarchal to give this perfectly lovely creation a name instead of letting it self-identify.

At the time of printing, Adam is now hanging out alone with his pet parrot and the feminine-looking creature has wandered off and made friends with a snake. 

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Troll Grand Master

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4 hours ago, concha said:
Adam Confused By New Creature God Put In Garden As He Is Not A Biologist
March 25th, 2022 - BabylonBee.com

article-10798-1.jpg

 

EDEN—According to sources, The Creator decided it's not good for man to be alone and has created a beautiful helper and companion for him, formed from a rib taken from the first man, Adam. Unfortunately, Adam isn't sure what to call this exquisite and wonderful creature as he is not a biologist.

"This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh," began Adam. "She shall be called, um... gosh, I really can't say. I'm no scientist here." He then stammered and stuttered for 10 minutes causing the feminine-looking bipedal humanoid creature to roll its eyes.

"Ah crap, was it something I said?" said Adam, scratching his head. "I don't know what this creature—who looks very much like me except better in every conceivable way—identifies as! Oh! If there was only a peer-reviewed biologist or gender studies professor who could make this clear to me!" 

The first man was going to give his wife a name but failed to come up with one as he wasn't sure of her gender. He decided it would be a bit patriarchal to give this perfectly lovely creation a name instead of letting it self-identify.

At the time of printing, Adam is now hanging out alone with his pet parrot and the feminine-looking creature has wandered off and made friends with a snake. 

you saw this one right ?

image.thumb.png.dadd8305f4037c603ce7f55fd006dde2.png

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concha Grand Master

concha

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Kindergartener Granted PhD In Biology After Correctly Distinguishing Boy From Girl
March 24th, 2022 - BabylonBee.com

article-10786-1.jpg

 

GAFFNEY, SC—Multiple five-year old witnesses confirm that their teacher, Miss Whifflestrom, dropped the class gerbil in awe after hearing brilliant young kindergartener Timothy correctly describe boys as having a penis and girls, a vagina. Within hours, young Timothy had been granted a PhD in Biology.

“We hereby grant the intellectual phenom, young Timothy Swanson this honored PhD in Biology for his work in clearly differentiating the subtle variations between Homosapien boys and girls,” said the chairman of the American Council of Biology PhDs, while handing a certificate to the young boy who only hours ago was sticking crayon shavings up his nose.

“Timothy is wrong. Gender is far more complicated than the binary reproductive differences associated with nearly every living creature on the planet,” said four-star admiral and U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, while sticking crayon shavings up her nose. “All of the sciences prove its fluidity. Don’t ask for proof right now, I’m very busy crushing the aspirations of half of the American population rather than deal with my own disorder. Busy busy busy.”

News of the kindergartener’s ability to define both a boy and a girl eventually reached our nation’s leadership, who immediately shortlisted him for nomination to the United States Supreme Court.

At publishing time, a shocked Miss Whifflestrom reportedly sat on the class lizard after hearing the brilliant revelation from little Suzy, who said people should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.

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concha Grand Master

concha

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Senate Hearing Delayed As Ketanji Brown Jackson Has Trouble Locating The Women's Room
March 23rd, 2022 - BabylonBee.com

article-10777-1.jpg

 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Ketanji Brown Jackson experienced a delayed start this morning after Ms. Jackson had trouble locating the women's room.

According to sources, she informed an attendant that she needed to "unleash the jackal" before entering the senate chamber. However, she did not return for the start of the hearing and the Senate committee chair became concerned.

"It is important that these hearings are on-time and orderly so that the American people can watch us ask tons of gotcha questions that are mostly irrelevant to the appointment of a Supreme Court justice," said a visibly concerned Sen Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

Kentanji Jackson was found an hour later staring at two doors with strange misshapen stick figures on them. "I'm not an Egyptologist," she said. "I can't interpret the meaning of these symbols."

The hearing started shortly thereafter once Jackson realized she could use the room with the triangle person.

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