Oh, the Republicans were angry. First, a Democratic President had a Democratic Senate and thus would be able to get just about any SCOTUS nominee approved. You don’t understand. Only Republicans are allowed to appoint SCOTUS justices now!
That was bad enough. The Republicans also wanted some serious payback for having put Justice Kavanaugh through some serious discomfort over a rape that was clearly just boys being boys, right? The fact that Kavanaugh might have at least the appearance of a drinking problem (and insulted a sitting senator in a snarky answer for which he later apologized), and there was the fact that his massive debt, debt that was staggering for a federal judge and debt that this writer thought would prohibit all consideration, was seemingly wiped off the board, overnight. We don’t know by who. The fact that the Democrats gave Kavanaugh some difficulty enraged Republicans and they were going to get their pound of flesh in revenge.
And, of course, nominee Ketanji Brown-Jackson, perhaps the most qualified nominee ever, is a black woman.
It was the perfect storm.
Except the Republicans didn’t have anything. Nothing. She had just been approved for a seat on the all-important DC Circuit Court of Appeals ten months ago with Lindsey Graham’s yes vote. They had nothing. She is a normal woman with an extraordinary record. Nothing. They had nothing.
So they made up an issue, one that would apply to 70% of federal judges because she – like them, often gave child pornography defendants a sentence that was lower than the federal guidelines. Whenever one sees a statistic like the above, the 70% downgrade for one of the most heinous crimes, one knows that the problem doesn’t lie with the judges. It lies with the guidelines, they are too harsh. Yes, it is an abhorrent crime. So is shooting someone in the head. And yet all too often, the guidelines led the former to get a longer sentence than the latter.
The Republicans made up their issue. She was soft on crime, especially child pornography. It only went downhill from there.
How bad? Senator Tom Cotton shocked even some of his MAGA colleagues by saying that the last Supreme Court justice named Jackson stepped down to prosecute the Nuremberg trials. He then said that Ketanji Brown-Jackson might go to defend Nazis.
This might be a good place to mention; Three Republicans are voting to support her confirmation. Imagine what they think of Cotton’s statement.
Just disgusting. Honestly, every time I think Tom Cotton can’t go lower he find a new way to be a pathetic liar. https://t.co/O3i03GzjTm [1]
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) April 5, 2022 [2]
No words. No words. Twitter tried:
Vile, reprehensible, inhumane, ugly, evil, Cotton has got to be removed. He is even less moral than Marjorie Greene the Queene of slimey schmearing of Americans. https://t.co/gqP1iWA5fU [3]
— ByTheBook (@TexassChef) April 5, 2022 [4]
https://twitter.com/JoePirsch/status/1511482970531631112
He is disgusting racist bigot who spews talking points for the racist.. he who went to an Ivy League school,and probably believed that minorities didn’t belong there either .. check yourself #FoxNewsFascistPropaganda [5] https://t.co/pAAnvj7WEo [6]
— Nancy Howard (@rosebudnj) April 5, 2022 [7]
I’m beyond words to describe the depths of depravity that Tom Cotton descends. https://t.co/3cAtqzmnJ2 [8]
— T.J. Kenneally (@rmojomojito1) April 5, 2022 [9]
So are we.
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jmiciak@yahoo.com, @JasonMiciak, with Nicole Hickman