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> ...political motivation does not necessarily follow the transitive property.... No, it doesn't necessarily, but there is evidence that it does in practice.

> ...political motivation does not necessarily follow the transitive property.... No, it doesn't necessarily, but there is evidence that it does in practice. That is my point.

kube-system 7y ago
SCOTUS being constructed out of political motivation does not, in itself, make the members of SCOTUS themselves motivated by politics. Having a belief system is inherent to human nature, and SCOTUS does not select their own members. The political motivation is exclusively a part of the selection process. That's my point.
- pmiller2 7y ago
  And you are missing mine. Given that they are political appointees, and their ideology reflects that of the appointing president, it is reasonable to suspect that they, in fact, are politically motivated. I suppose if we wanted to figure this out, we could just ask the Federalist Society what they think.
  - kube-system 7y ago
    It is reasonable to suspect SCOTUS hopefuls are politically motivated before appointment. After appointment, there is nothing to be motivated for. They hold the highest possible position in their career path and political support or approval no longer bears any utility.
    - pmiller2 7y ago
      And, what do you think the Federalist Society would say about that?
      - kube-system 7y ago
        It doesn't matter what they say -- evidence demonstrates that SCOTUS members throughout history have been consistently observed to vote with their established ideological preferences.
        pmiller2 7y ago
        That's correct. they vote to advance their own political agendas. Those agendas also correspond to those of the appointing President's party. That's literally the definition of "politically motivated." The available evidence thus points toward individual Justices being politically motivated. Occam's razor suggests the burden of proof falls more strongly on the opposite position.
        kube-system 7y ago
        The available evidence, and scholarly consensus, shows they vote based on their established personal ideologies. If you are claiming it is more complicated than this, Occam's Razor is on you.

> ...political motivation does not necessarily follow the transitive property.... No, it doesn't necessarily, but there is evidence that it does in practice. That is my point.

kube-system 7y ago

SCOTUS being constructed out of political motivation does not, in itself, make the members of SCOTUS themselves motivated by politics. Having a belief system is inherent to human nature, and SCOTUS does not select their own members. The political motivation is exclusively a part of the selection process. That's my point.

pmiller2 7y ago
And you are missing mine. Given that they are political appointees, and their ideology reflects that of the appointing president, it is reasonable to suspect that they, in fact, are politically motivated. I suppose if we wanted to figure this out, we could just ask the Federalist Society what they think.
- kube-system 7y ago
  It is reasonable to suspect SCOTUS hopefuls are politically motivated before appointment. After appointment, there is nothing to be motivated for. They hold the highest possible position in their career path and political support or approval no longer bears any utility.
  - pmiller2 7y ago
    And, what do you think the Federalist Society would say about that?
    - kube-system 7y ago
      It doesn't matter what they say -- evidence demonstrates that SCOTUS members throughout history have been consistently observed to vote with their established ideological preferences.
      - pmiller2 7y ago
        That's correct. they vote to advance their own political agendas. Those agendas also correspond to those of the appointing President's party. That's literally the definition of "politically motivated." The available evidence thus points toward individual Justices being politically motivated. Occam's razor suggests the burden of proof falls more strongly on the opposite position.
        kube-system 7y ago
        The available evidence, and scholarly consensus, shows they vote based on their established personal ideologies. If you are claiming it is more complicated than this, Occam's Razor is on you.