Ketanji Brown Jackson Going To Supreme Court. Cry About It, Lindsey Graham.
History almost made.
This is a happy post about Ketanji Brown Jackson making it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last night and moving full-speed ahead toward confirmation as the first Black woman ever to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.
But first, let's get some bitching and moaning from Lindsey Graham out of the way:
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) attempts to explain voting \u2018no\u2019 on Judge Jackson's Supreme Court nomination despite voting to confirm her in the past:\n\n\u201cIf you win an election, I expect you to pick somebody I wouldn\u2019t support on the court.\u201dpic.twitter.com/kh2C9bZT0N— The Recount (@The Recount) 1649083579
That was Graham explaining yesterday why he voted for Ketanji Brown Jackson for the DC Court of Appeals, but simply could not support her now. He said it's different when it's lower courts. And oh boy he's just so mad about all these other things, he simply can't vote for Jackson, GRRRRRR!
“When you had a chance to support an African-American conservative, you used her ideology against her,” Graham said. “You blocked her from being considered by this committee, and we’re supposed to be like trained seals over here clapping when you appoint a liberal. That’s not going to work.”
Oh good lord, get a life, Lindsey. Nobody "blocked" anyone. Someone else got nominated, because Lindsey Graham is not actually the president who gets to decide who is even nominated or not. (That is Joe Manchin.)
Graham also made sure Democrats understand that if Republicans take over, decent and good and qualified human beings won't even get a hearing in a Republican Senate:
"If we get back the Senate and we’re in charge of this body and there is judicial openings, we will talk to our colleagues on the other side. But if we were in charge, she would not have been before this committee. You would have had somebody more moderate than this. So, I want you to know right now, the process you started to go to a simple majority vote is going rear its head here pretty soon when we’re in charge. Then we’ll talk about judges differently.”
Right, Lindsey. See, we've actually seen how Republicans handle judges. They steal Supreme Court nominations from Democratic presidents, and then when Russia-assisted Republicans hold the presidency, they cram through the most grossly unqualified, most foul human beings the Federalist Society can scrape off the ground in a dog park. In the case of Brett Kavanaugh, they do that over a chorus of people coming forward to say he sexually assaulted them. And all the while, they stuff 24-year-old white bigots into lifetime appointments on the lower courts, in order to try to exert white Christian supremacist control over American life long after all their garbage asses are in the ground.
But we do thank Lindsey Graham for his succinct candor, which will translate well into campaign ads about how much it matters that the Senate stay in the grownups' hands.
Now, happy post! Ketanji Brown Jackson will almost certainly be confirmed to the Supreme Court by the end of the week.
Last night, after hours of debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson deadlocked 11-11 in a party line vote. But that's fine, you guys! Because Democrats control the Senate, therefore according to Senate rules, Republicans get to eat it, and the nomination goes to the floor.
After that, there was a vote in the full Senate to do what's known as discharging the nomination. That vote simply had to pass by a majority, and it did just that, passing by 53-47, after Mittens Romney and Lisa Murkowski joined Susan Collins to cross the aisle and vote for the most highly qualified Supreme Court nominee in US history.
Here's Murkowski's statement:
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski on her decision to vote for KBJ\u2019s confirmation this week:\n\n\u201cShe will bring to the Supreme Court a range of experience from the courtroom that few can match given her background in litigation.\u201d— Ali Zaslav (@Ali Zaslav) 1649110571
And Romney's:
I intend to vote in support of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson\u2019s confirmation to be an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. My statement:pic.twitter.com/uGaxx8sJn5— Senator Mitt Romney (@Senator Mitt Romney) 1649110914
Murkowski also said something that, translated out of Republican-ese, suggests she's grossed out by the lying attacks on KBJ being somehow soft on child porn: “It also rests on my rejection of the corrosive politicization of the review process for Supreme Court nominees, which, on both sides of the aisle, is growing worse and more detached from reality by the year.” That is all true, except for the "both sides of the aisle" part. But she got to the right answer, so we won't dwell on it.
Meanwhile, you should see how mad Marjorie Taylor Greene is.
1. Any Senator voting to confirm #KJB is pro-pedophile just like she is.\n\nThere are MANY more qualified black women judges, that actually can define what a woman is, but Biden chose the one that protects evil child predators.\n\nAnd then Romney, Murkowski, and Collins vote for her.— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene) 1649126418
And now that you've seen how mad Marjorie Taylor Greene is, like that even matters, you may go about your day with joy.
Congratulations Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson! You're almost there.
[Mediaite]
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Your Weekly Dose Of GOP Non-Answers And BS, Courtesy Of The Sunday Shows!
We watch so you don't have to.
The Republican Party has long given up on governance or the appearance of even trying. It's so plain that even when they publicly confess that truth, it's met with a shrug rather than any pushback.
Translation: We have no agenda other than obstructing like it's 2008!
It's nevertheless infuriating when the GOP tries to cover its bullshit with a thin veneer of legitimacy.
Roy Blunt on ABC's 'This Week'
A great example of this is GOP Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, who got his own dedicated Wonkette post about this earlier today. Blunt was asked about where he stood on the upcoming vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. Blunt decided to pretend he just really wanted to be a part of this historic moment, but just couldn't vote for this particular person:
BLUNT: Really, there are two criteria, I said immediately. One is, is the person qualified for the job? And two is, what's her judicial philosophy?
She's certainly qualified. [...] But the judicial philosophy seems to be not the philosophy of looking at what the law says and the Constitution says and applying that, but going through some method that allows you to try to look at the Constitution as a more flexible document, and even the law. And there are cases that show that that’s her view. [...] And I won't be supporting her but I'll be joining others in understanding the importance of this moment.
If only the very qualified Judge Jackson had answered that question about her judicial philosophy. Oh wait. We guess Blunt just missed it during the confirmation hearings or when it was reported by The Wall Street Journal or Slate or The New York Times or Des Moines Register. I'm sure once Sen. Blunt's staff does a quick Google search, he'll get right on confirming Judge Jackson.
Right? Right?
John Cornyn on 'Fox News Sunday'
Speaking of lack of consistency, Texas GOP Senator John Cornyn was asked about Donald Trump doing that thing where he asks Russia to interfere in our elections (again) and asks for dirt on a political opponent (again) in plain sight and on tape. Because crimes done in plain view aren't crimes, we guess.
His answer will not surprise you if you've paid attention or have a longer political memory than a goldfish.
Asked on Fox News Sunday about Trump asking Putin for dirt on the Bidens even as Russia wages war on Ukraine, John Cornyn says "I wouldn't trust Vladimir Putin" but stops short of criticizing Trump or calling his comments unwisepic.twitter.com/jGU0CvbkJS— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1648994648
The acrobatics it takes to be against Russia while your presumptive presidential nominee for 2024 and the leader of your party is kissing Putin's ass is "Flying Graysons" level of difficult.
Ron Johnson and Bill Hagerty on Fox News's 'Sunday Morning Futures'
Some in the GOP, rather than twist themselves into pretzels, just barrel on with their propaganda. So here's noted 4th of July Moscow vacationer and Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson!
Johnson went to Maria Bartiromo's conspiracy safe space show to spread the same old debunked conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden and the same old lies about Trump/Russia collusion being a hoax.
The cover-up of the Biden\u2019s vast web of foreign financial entanglements by our intelligence agencies is the worst corruption I\u2019ve ever seen in the United States government.pic.twitter.com/sTzP5U8dEY— Senator Ron Johnson (@Senator Ron Johnson) 1649079510
Later on the same show, Tennessee GOP Senator Bill Hagerty didn't have much time for questions about mass graves found in Kyiv, because he was on location to do some fearmongering at the OTHER border Fox News is freaked out about. "I want to talk about what's happening here at the [southern] border," he said.
Cornell Belcher on NBC's "Meet The Press"
We conclude with Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher telling a very plain truth that explains why Hagerty and the GOP want to switch topics to immigration, and more broadly why they don't have solutions to any problems.
BELCHER: Let's get real about immigration reform here, right? There's a reason why that's in almost every Republican ad, right? And look, we've seen this play before, right? This is part of that, more fuel for driving the tribalism that Republicans see as part of their political calculus as how they drive this. [...] Dissatisfaction with immigration has been driven by Republicans and they're feeding this. Not so long ago I remember when a guy named Barack Obama thought he had an immigration deal with the Gang of Eight. But it was in the Republicans’ benefit to not have a deal, comprehensive immigration reform, that included border security, that included a pathway. And by the way, most Americans think that you should pay a penalty, and there should be a pathway. And that's not going to happen. You know why it's not going to happen? Because Republicans in Congress don't want it to happen.
They have no plans or solutions because there's no political consequences for it (yet). They are counting on it for the midterms and beyond.
I hope we can prove them wrong.
Have a week.
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GOP Sen. Roy Blunt Praises 'Historic' Nomination Of Ketanji Brown Jackson, Will Vote Against Her
For totally NOT racist reasons, obvs.
Republican senators' reactions to the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson have run the gamut from filthy to shameful. Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham, both of whom supported her elevation to the DC Circuit, have gone out of their way to spread Josh Hawley's filthy lies about Judge Jackson favoring sex offenders. But they, like Ted Cruz, are soulless fucking ghouls — you never expected any better from them.
It's the squishes that really shock the conscience. The Romneys, the Cassidys, the Burrs ... the ones who bloody well know that the way the GOP is treating Jackson is disgusting and could not possibly be justified even if everything they claimed about Democrats' treatment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh were true. Which it is not.
Take Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, who sat down with ABC's George Stephanopoulos this weekend to explain that, although Jackson's confirmation to the Supreme Court will be "a high point for the country," he still intends to vote against it.
Roy Blunt on ABC says Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirming to SCOTUS will be "a high point for the country," but he won't support her. Asked why by Stephanopoulos, he offers a word salad.pic.twitter.com/QLjE4sDcMR— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1648998526
Here's how the retiring Missouri senator explained his decision:
BLUNT: You know, I've thought -- initially, my sense is that the president certainly had every good intention and every right in the campaign to talk about putting the first black woman on the court. I think it's time for that to happen. I was hoping that I could be part of that. I had a great conversation with her.
Really, there are two criterias, I said immediately. One is, is the person qualified for the job? And two is, what's her judicial philosophy?
She's certainly qualified. I think she's got a great personality, I think will be a good colleague on the court. But the judicial philosophy seems to be not the philosophy of looking at what the law says and the Constitution says and applying that, but going through some method that allows you to try to look at the Constitution as a more flexible document, and even the law. And there are cases that show that that’s her view.
Note that he did not name any cases, choosing in spectacularly cowardly fashion to wave his hands generally in the direction of Hawley's vile attacks, without sullying his gentlemanly demeanor by mentioning them himself.
Just look at this spineless jellyfish of man trying not to look like a racist POS, telegraphing his appreciation of "the importance of the moment," while simultaneously insisting that he'll have no part of it:
BLUNT: I think she’s certainly going to be confirmed. I think it will be a high point for the country to see her go on the Court and take her unique perspective to the Court, but I don't think she's the kind of judge that will really do the kind of work that I think needs to be done by the Court.
And I won't be supporting her but I'll be joining others in understanding the importance of this moment.
It takes a lot to make Susan freakin' Collins look brave by comparison, but this guy handles it with ease.
So far Collins is the only Republican who says she'll vote for Jackson's nomination. Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney, the only other Republicans who haven't completely killed off their inner Jiminy Cricket (although they usually keep him locked in a closet), are still unaccounted for. But the clock is ticking down, with Democrats looking to move the nomination out of committee today, with a final confirmation vote set for Friday or Monday.
Hang tight, this thing is pretty much a done deal. But gawdalmighty that was repulsive.
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LIVE: Senate Judiciary Committee Respectfully Discusses Merits Of Ketanji Brown Jackson Nomination
Uh huh, yep, you betcha.
Sorry, our bad, we meant that the Democrats on the Senate Judicary Committee will be talking respectfully about what a badass Ketanji Brown Jackson is. Republicans like Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz, we imagine, will do armpit farts while randomly shouting the words "child porn!"
The committee will be deliberating all day, and then sometime around early evening probably they'll officially vote her out of the committee. She may be confirmed by the end of the week!
Watch them here:
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