Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings Are More Than a Clown Show
Lurking in the background is a growing suspicion that Justice Clarence Thomas’ health issues are worse than advertised
The Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings earlier this week can best be described as cringe worthy. Personally, they made my skin crawl. I’d listen for a half-hour or so and have to turn it off, lest I do something I’d regret later.
The outcome of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court has never been in doubt. She’ll be confirmed by one of the slimmest margins in history; it might even come down to Vice President Kamala Harris casting a tie-breaking vote.
As is true in much of American politics these days, facts don’t matter; only noise matters, especially when political stenographers are willing to repeat lies and smears.
The Former Guy nominated at least nine judicial candidates rated as unqualified by the American Bar Association. The Present Guy nominated a judge with the highest possible rating who just happens to be a woman. Guess which one Republicans are mad about?
When the panel of witnesses from the ABA showed up to testify on the qualifications of the nominee, GOP Senators Graham, Cruz, Hawley, and Cotton did not even bother to show up.
Republicans, who have a 6-3 supermajority on the Supreme Court, are delegitimizing the high court with theatrics aimed at a nominee who won't alter the balance of the court. If you've been paying attention in recent years, you’ll have already noticed that denigrating the institutions of democracy is a big part of their agenda.
And it’s worked to a large degree. Look at public polling; increasing numbers of Americans think their country sucks and are coming around to admiring autocracies.
Lurking in the background of these confirmation hearings is a growing suspicion that Justice Clarence Thomas’ health issues are worse than advertised. I’m sure if Thomas was part of the liberal wing of the court Faux News’ Tucker Carlson would be “just asking” questions about whether or not the coronavirus was responsible.
The GOP noise at the confirmation hearings is about reinforcing narratives they intend to use in the upcoming midterms.
All-too-often Judge Jackson wasn’t able to answer for her record, as Republican after Republican used their questioning time to opine on racism and LGBTQ rights or nitpick some of her past cases.
Sen. Lindsey Graham repeatedly cut off Jackson as she tried to rebut his accusation that she was too lenient as a judge in cases involving child pornography. This claim, which some Republicans have seized on as one of their primary attacks, has been rebutted by several independent fact-checkers as “misleading” and a “distortion.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn brought back memories of the questioning undergone by Supreme Court nominee Thurgood Marshall during his August 1967 confirmation hearings.
Known white supremacist Sen. James Eastland asked Marshall:
“Are you prejudiced against white people in the South?”
Blackburn’s inquiry incorporated the modern day GOP’s narrative on race:
“You have praised the 1619 Project, which argues the U.S. is a fundamentally racist country, and you have made clear that you believe judges must consider critical race theory when deciding how to sentence criminal defendants, is it your personal hidden agenda to incorporate critical race theory into the legal system?”
Once again it’s important to remember that facts don’t matter in the quest for political power, even though Blackburn’s questions, when fact-checked, proved to be as inaccurate as they were inflammatory.
What’s important to Republicans –who aren’t disciplined enough to avoid getting caught clowning around– are repetitive insinuations involving race and crime.
GOP Senator Ben Sasse, who’s a bit more of a traditionalist when it comes to rules of order, couldn’t hold back his disgust:
Moments after Sen. Ted Cruz staged a performative tantrum tailor made for a clip on Sean Hannity, Sasse commented: "I think we should recognize that the jackassery we often see around here is partly because of people mugging for short-term camera opportunities."
The Academy Award for most sickening line of questioning should go to whomever framed the explicit appeal to the QAnon movement via the frequent mention of the words child porn.
Here’s Jason Yates Sexton:
Many have scoffed at the overall influence of the QAnon phenomena and its myriad offshoots, but numbers don’t lie. Millions of Americans, whether they are even aware of the term “QAnon” or not, have internalized the components of its narrative and the essence of its lies. They believe that satanic cabals of child abusers run the world and the only means of stopping them is through violence and antidemocratic action. That people can even deny this fact has more to do with the GOP’s use of ridiculous figures in spreading the ideas and their swift discarding than any material evidence. The damage has been done, however, and even if “Q” never posts again, and even if history books want to forget what has occurred, the consequences will continue to ripple through our culture.
Simply put, GOP opposition to the first Black woman on the Supreme Court has nothing to do with cabals or child abuse. Similarly, the continuing attacks on public education relying on myths about “Critical Race Theory,” which Senator Marsha Blackburn accused the nominee of intending to inject “progressive indoctrination” into the culture, have little to do with the stated subjects. Instead, these conspiracy theories are weapons and cudgels wielded to hide the ugly, disturbing truth that the Right simply wants to conceal.
Best quip of the day goes to whoever is using the pen name Aldous J Pennyfarthing at Daily Kos:
Had I been in that chair, after the 80th time they asked me the same child pornography question in a slightly different way, I’d have answered every subsequent query with “I like beer.” Because fuck these flagrant fuckholes. But, again, she’s a better person than I am.
Legacy news media coverage and analysis was disgraceful. Check out these adjectives:
NYT: racial overtone
CNN: racial undertone
Politico: racially charged
WaPo: racially tinged
Once again I find myself agreeing with the analysis of (former-Republican) columnist Jennifer Rubin. Hopefully it won’t become a habit.
The media might be able to curtail such haranguing if they accurately described what had happened. For reasons that confound me, reporters often play down the extraordinarily obnoxious behavior of Republicans, instead casting it as the normal back-and-forth nominees encounter. The refusal to call out Republicans for departing the bounds of civilized conduct allows the MAGA crowd pleasers to escape the judgment of average people who might be offended by their conduct.
The media in particular fails to convey the visual image of angry White men screaming and interrupting a Black woman, who dares not show anger for fear of being labeled unprofessional or lacking the correct temperament. Combined with the insinuations about her “softness” on child pornography and the hysterics on critical race theory, the aggression barely masked the Republican outpouring of White grievance.
Republicans are clear that the offensive antics of this confirmation hearing are evidence of the kind of midterm campaign they want to run. They are hoping to project a future under Democrats that looks scary enough to make voters want to fall back on the idea that GOP candidates are seeking to “Make America Great Again.”
***
A moment of joy:
***
And in other news:
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com