One advantage of being on vacation last week is that I missed the entirety of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. I really had no interest in watching them anyway since there was no suspense. I easily could have predicted they’d be a shit show, and they were.
In fact, the only reason I might have wanted to watch is to take pride in seeing the first black woman go through the process of being confirmed to the highest court, but I knew the Republicans would strip the proceedings of all joy, and they did.
There won’t be much joy once she’s sitting on the Court either, since she’ll be part of a minority of three. I don’t get much thrill out of reading brilliant dissents. Despite the significance of her nomination, it’s pretty much a non-event. Maybe somewhere down the line, she’ll be in the majority or at least join the majority on something and write some stirring decisions.
I do hope that she can bring an immediate perspective that can be improvement over Justice Breyer. But I’m too despondent about the state of the Court, and the nation, to have much enthusiasm for the spectacle.
The real drama is related to Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni, who is fucking crazy. But, again, I don’t expect anything positive to come from it. It’s just another demoralizing example of the lack of consequences for people in power who deserve punishment and receive none.
Good to have you back; I hope you had a good vacation.
I agree that in the big picture, Judge Jackson’s confirmation will have little effect. There’s still a 6-3 conservative/reactionary/extremist/anti-democratic majority on the Court and will be for the foreseeable future.
That said, in times like these it’s perhaps even more important to recognize and celebrate victories. Judge Jackson’s confirmation will break another “glass ceiling”. Public polling has her as one of the most popular Court nominees in recent decades. Her persistence allowed opportunities for all of us to see men like Sen. Booker, Sen. Padilla, and her husband “have her back”.
Now, back to the struggle.
Many Blacks immediately felt the joy
The white supremacist GOP behaved as expected
The hissy fits during questioning were laughable
The walkout instead of applauding the tally result was predictable
They had no respect for the Republicans but KBJ had no respect for them.
She was the most qualified lawyer in the room, and Republicans hated that fact.
Despite their disgusting behavior, Republicans will still receive the votes of the majority of white people.