Free Republic

After expressing his disappointment earlier in the day that Democrats had been unable to “lay a glove” on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch during Tuesday’s Senate confirmation hearing, in MSNBC's 3 p.m. ET hour, anchor Brian Williams tried to assuage his fellow liberals by speculating that the conservative judge might shift left while on the high court. Talking to George Washington University Law School professor Jeffrey Rosen, Williams, known for his active fantasy life, imagined this left-wing dream scenario: “...a question we keep asking, perhaps just to keep things interesting, what is the chance that this nominee could be a...

WASHINGTON — There was the sense in the capital last week, as the Senate began debate over the future of the filibuster in judicial nominations, that the country was on the brink of a revolutionary break with its traditions, barring a last-minute compromise. Depending on your political persuasion, that meant liberating the Senate, and the people's will, from an obstructionist minority or, on the other side, damaging the Senate and threatening one of the nation's fundamental protections against the tyranny of the majority. Both Republicans and Democrats claimed that the other side had embraced intransigent radicalism. But historians and political...

It feels like Armageddon is just around the corner. The Republican threat to eliminate the filibuster rule in judicial confirmations has led both parties to cautiously assess what the political landscape would look like if the so-called nuclear option were used. But for many here, this political brawl is only a dress rehearsal for the coming battle over a replacement for Chief Justice William Rehnquist, whose recent illness has led to the expectation that he will retire before the end of the Supreme Court term in June. Legal scholars who have studied confirmations wonder whether the president wants to risk...