There is an old saying that a terrorist is someone who has a bomb, but not an airforce to drop it.

Sorry Feller, you lost me. Enjoy your vote.

Jesus, man, where have you been hiding the last nine years?

You might as well vote for Trump and do it clean, because that’s all you are helping.

Look, I’m on your side. I’ve been against US shitty dealings forever. Iraq, Palestine, favoured treatment towards Israel, meddling in elections, overturned democratic governments, proxy wars… All of it. But Trump is an existential threat. If the house is burning down you don’t worry about weeds in the fricken garden. If Trump gets in again Palestine is going to turn into a Walmart carpark. It will probably become Israeli territory, officially, and Arab blood will flow accordingly.

It’s a shitty choice, but the real world is not like the movies. Voting for a third candidate and making Trump president won’t help anyone.

Well, I think those is your options? Or not vote at all.

You are free to vote for Trump then. I’m told many are.

You must have missed the bit where Trump constantly says that he’s the best friend Israel ever had. I mean constantly.

I’m sure that won’t translate to arms supply. Possibly fruit baskets?

Voting also brings people like Trump into play. How do you think that will play out with Palestine should he get in again?

Look, it does actually work in Western Europe, the UK, Australia and NZ. All this talk that it can’t work is plainly wrong.

What is impossible to get around is American exceptionalism. People just can’t conceive that other systems might be better. Fine. I apologise for suggesting otherwise. Enjoy.

Your reply assumes that the rest of the world must follow the US example. That’s not necessarily true, although there is a bit of flirtation going on here and there with fascist populism, Western countries with Western values have managed to put a choke hold on the worst.

Also, loading the SCOTUS benches with partisan picks is not exactly a new thing. FDR was doing it for the Dems in the 1930s.

That’s hard to argue against, and I’m not going to try. It is the nature of human discourse to navigate social constructs in order to do the least damage.

It is also self-evident that the US justice system is a burning dumpster fire. It is suffering from a set of horrific issues that it largely created by the simple fact that it allows political parties to select SCOTUS judges who then directly deliver political decisions.

The only other option that keeps regularly coming up is electing judges, which is equally problematic in that popular contests soon get co-opted by politicians and dark money. Once again, how does this serve justice?

A third option that actually and demonstratively works around the world is to have a bipartisan system where a professional judicial panel creates a short list of suitable and qualified candidates from which the government makes a selection. Dark money nor naked political favouritism gets a look in and no decisions can be bought.

Now, some Americans will come at me saying that such a selection will only work in theory. But that is wrong. It works in practise right around the world in democratic countries. It is utterly non-controversial. That it is very possible to pick judges in a bipartisan way for the benefit of justice and the people.

Or, just keep doing it your own way and everything is sweet and dandy. I’m a foreigner, so what do I know?

Sure, then breathing is political. So is farting.

However, certain things are actively political and dangerous to people.

I hear you, but that system has worked well for us since federation in 1901. It’s not perfect, but what system is? At least we have never witnessed the absolute crazy judicial stuff that is an ongoing mess in the US.

Believe me, I’m not attacking the US in any way. The world needs America to succeed. America needs America to succeed, but every SCOTUS decision is crazy. Even political gerrymandering is permitted in the land of the free, according to your Supreme Court.

I’m afraid that how the US chooses SCOTUS is vastly different from ike countries, and that’s how you end up with the US having ‘unique’ judicial situations.

https://theconversation.com/unlike-us-europe-picks-top-judges-with-bipartisan-approval-to-create-ideologically-balanced-high-courts-146550

The key word is “stacked”. Who stacked them? Political parties did.

My point is intact. Have professional judicial bodies create curated shortlist of suitability qualified candidates.

I think the difficulties that people have in appreciating this system is that they have been captured by the experience of their own failed system. To say that it wouldn’t work means that you have to fundamentally ignore all the places where is is used successfully.

Well, there are degrees, aren’t there? Some judicial systems ban individual reproductive rights, allow corporations to be people and give criminal immunity to presidents, and some don’t.

I’ve made this point elsewhere. In Australia the Chief justices are appointed by the government based on a shortlist presented by the legal establishment. They are preeminently qualified and are above politics. Both sides of the political spectrum are fine with this system and it is not gamed.

It is utterly non-controversial and the Australian people respect the institution. Tell me again how it is absurd to remove politics from a judicial system?

In Australia the legal establishment selects a shortlist of suitability qualified candidates to the government for our version of the Supreme Court (our High Court). The government makes a choice. In all cases both political parties generally are fine with the choice. Both sides occasionally gets the rough end of the pineapple in court decisions, but that’s the law, not political bias.

Watching what goes on the in US is a horror show. Heart goes out to you guys.

Until the next one steps into place like a cartel vending machine.

Don’t kid yourself, the US Supreme Court is balls deep in politics. The situation where political parties can essentially buy a Supreme Court result for life is a disgraceful situation. That’s why the US is in such a terrible mess. Justice is not served, politics is.

I disagree. All that does is turn judges into politicians. The US Supreme court isn’t elected, but selected by politicians. Keep politics as far as you possibly can from people with an interest in gaming the system.