Thanks to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who deprived President Obama's nominee, Judge Merrick Garland even a hearing, the Supreme Court is no longer above politics but a hyper-partisan instrument. For the foreseeable future, no president will be allowed to successfully nominate a candidate for the Supreme Court unless his party has at least a... Continue Reading →
Senator Susan Collins, Republican from Maine: "We live in a time of such great disunity as the bitter fight over this (Kavanaugh) nomination both in the Senate and among the public clearly demonstrates. It is not merely a case of different groups having different opinions. It is a case of people bearing extreme ill will... Continue Reading →
In June, 1950, a freshman Republican senator from the state of Maine took her political life in her hands by challenging a hateful demagogue, fellow Republican Senator Joe McCarthy. Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995), the first and only woman to serve in the US Senate for many years, offered a "Declaration of Conscience" that has become... Continue Reading →
Donald Trump despicably attacks and mocks Christine Blasey Ford, the courageous accuser of Supreme Court nominee Bret Kavanaugh, appealing to male insecurity. Trump's strategy is divide and conquer, to make Americans disagree and fight with one another so that they will not join together against him. It is working. Trump's base is only about 30... Continue Reading →
History News Network: "With the death of Republican John S. McCain, it is time to add three Senators to the Senatorial Hall of Fame in the Senate Reception Room. It is time to add George W. Norris belatedly in tribute to his greatness, along with McCain and Democrat Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, whom any... Continue Reading →
The uncivil battle in Congress over Supreme Court nominees harkens back to the 1830s through the 1850s, when Congressional battles over slavery descended into violence -- duels, caining, pistol-whipping and threatening to slash an opponent with a knife. Violence at the Heart of Our Politics https://nyti.ms/2wRvGis
Senator John McCain was independent-minded. He believed members of Congress were from a branch of government that was co-equal to the presidency, and that they could and should stand on principle, or seek grand compromises, despite partisan pressures, on issues as difficult as health care, immigration, gun violence. Like his colleague Edward Kennedy, he was... Continue Reading →
The US Senate is on its way to becoming an anti-democratic institution that could plunge the US government into a crisis of legitimacy because it is increasingly unrepresentative of the American population. By 2040, as most Americans live in urban areas in just 15 states, 70% of the population will be represented by one-third of... Continue Reading →
Congress, especially the US House, has always been an institution engendering discontent from reformist members frustrated at the slow pace of change. They come to Congress with an agenda, to get things done. Longtime congressional staffer John Lawrence argues persuasively that some of the reforms of the 1970s had unintended consequences and led to the... Continue Reading →
