Republicans Tilting The Scales Of Justice

Slate.com
Senate Panel Votes to Turn Blogger Without Trial Experience Into a Federal JudgeWhen he [Trump] came to power, there were more than 100 vacant seats in federal courts after Republicans basically blocked anyone proposed by President Obama in his last years in office. Trump has now nominated 59 people to federal courts, compared to the 27 judicial nominations Obama had made at this point in his presidency... Trump pointed out that the judicial appointment "has consequences 40 years out, depending on the age of the judge."

The article points out the next federal nominee for judge never tried a single case and has been a lawyer for only three years. But he did trash Hillary on his blog several times and urged people to join the NRA after the Sandy Hook shooting.

Judges should never be appointed on the basis of their political beliefs. Some of the things authoritarian governments do is stack the courts. Then attempt to control the media. Seems this is where we are headed.


The New York Times
Justice Department Says Not So Fast to AT&T’s Time Warner BidA central component of the dispute, according to people from both companies and the Justice Department, is CNN — the network that Mr. Trump has frequently attacked as a purveyor of “fake news.”... In one account of the meeting, Justice Department officials called on AT&T to sell Turner Broadcasting — the group of cable channels under the Time Warner banner that includes CNN — as a potential requirement for gaining government approval,

First a authoritarian leader (like Donald Trump) does is stack the judicial system. In this case the Justice Department which then tries to suppress the media he doesn't like.


Here's some more food for thought.
Vanity Fair--IS RUPERT MURDOCH A HIDDEN HAND IN THE MERGER MELTDOWN?
Everyone knows the president hates CNN—but Trump’s Fox News ally also has multiple bones to pick with the AT&T-Time Warner deal....

According to executives I spoke with, the theory is that Murdoch privately encouraged Trump to scuttle the deal as revenge for Time Warner rejecting Murdoch’s $80 billion takeover offer in 2014... While there’s no proof that Murdoch has directly influenced the process, there is some evidence to support the theory. Publicly, Murdoch has been critical of the deal, while privately, he’s told executives it’s a business threat. “He said he’d work behind the scenes to stop it,” one person close to Murdoch told me.
[Reporter Gabriel Sherman]

I'm certainly no fan of these mega mergers, but I question why Turner Broadcasting (CNN) was specifically singled out and not one of the dozens upon dozens of other assets owned by Time Warner?

Since none of AT&T's subsidiaries are involved in the news business why specifically is CNN listed as a basis for rejecting this merger?


I'm certain many will say who gives a crap--there's nothing most of us can do about it. That may be true under current circumstance, however I think it's important for all of us to be aware and not be complacent whom we elect in the future. Picking the wrong leaders can be very dangerous to our democracy. Voter ignorance is how dictators are able to ascend to power.




Bernie Sanders