Tag Archives: Marsha Blackburn

Confirmation Hearing Or Political Circus?

Posted on by under cartoons, education, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Who could have seen it coming, eh?  Yesterday was day #2 of the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.  She answered questions for the better part of twelve hours … heck, five minutes of talking does me in.  I have no doubt that Ms. Jackson wished, on more than one occasion, that she could fire back at some of the questions she was asked, but to her credit, she proceeded with dignity and respect, only letting out the occasional sigh to indicate a bit of frustration.

Barring some dramatic revelation that I cannot foresee, I strongly believe that Ms. Jackson will, indeed, become the next Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.  I even think a few of the more … shall we say ‘honest’ Republicans … will vote to confirm her … perhaps Senator Collins of Maine, Senator Murkowski of Alaska, and Senator Romney of Utah.  Others are likely to vote ‘Nay’ for a number of stated reasons, but the main reason being that Judge Jackson has two strikes against her:  she is Black, and she is a woman.  Period.

I did not watch the 12-hour confirmation hearing … I really haven’t got either the time or the patience … but I have read numerous accounts of the questions and answers from the day.  The first one to come to my attention was, unsurprisingly, from Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.  Among Blackburn’s false or distorted accusations, she …

  • linked Jackson to the controversy over transgender athletes and women’s sports
  • suggested Jackson would trample parental rights
  • accused Jackson of wanting to put dangerous criminals on the street
  • accused Jackson of saying every judge has a hidden agenda
  • said Jackson praised the 1619 Project
  • said Jackson thinks judges must use ‘critical race theory’ when sentencing criminals

Blackburn went so far as to suggest to Jackson, a Black woman, that white privilege doesn’t exist in America, a country where of the 114 justices to have been confirmed to sit on the highest court in the land, only two have been Black.  She also asked Judge Jackson to “define the word ‘woman’”.  When Jackson told her she couldn’t, at least “Not in this context. I’m not a biologist,” Blackburn responded with acidity … “The meaning of the word woman is so unclear and controversial that you can’t give me a definition?”  Sigh.  Seriously, is this what we’re paying our lawmakers to do?

And then there was good ol’ Ted Cruz, never one to mince words, or even to attempt to make his words sensible. Noting that the judge is a board member of her kids’ private school Georgetown Day, the senator began pulling out books, including Antiracist Baby, in order to claim the school is definitely teaching CRT. “There are portions of this book that I find really quite remarkable. One portion of the book says babies are taught to be racist or anti-racist,” Cruz bellowed, displaying an enlarged page from the book. “Do you agree with this book that is being taught with kids that babies are racist?”  Her response …

“I do not believe that any child should be made to feel as though they are racist or though they are not valued or though they are less-than. That they are victims. That they are oppressors.”

 She also noted that her understanding was that “critical race theory is an academic theory is taught in law schools.”

I’m not sure what got into Lindsey Graham … I seriously believe that man has some mental issues!  In the middle of his questioning Judge Jackson, he asked … “What faith are you, by the way?”  Say WHAT???  Since when is religion a qualifier for a seat on the bench???

Then Lindsey began berating Judge Jackson for defending detainees at Guantanamo Bay back in her days as a public defender.  He went on a verbal diatribe, spouting …

“We’re at war, we’re not fighting crime! This is not some passage of time event. As long as they’re dangerous, I hope they all die in jail if they’re going to go back to kill Americans. It won’t bother me one bit if 39 of them die in prison. That’s a better outcome than letting them go and if it cost $500 million to keep them in jail, keep them in jail because they’ll go back to the fight. Look at the freaking Afghan government made up of former detainees at Gitmo. This whole thing by the left about this war ain’t working!”

And then he stormed out of the hearings without waiting for a response.

John Cornyn, who I typically think of as one of the less toxic Republicans in the Senate, questioned Judge Jackson about her stance on LGBTQ rights, claiming that granting equal rights to LGBTQ people conflicts with the religious beliefs of some people. To which Jackson responded, “Well, senator, that is the nature of a right. That when there is a right, it means that there are limitations on regulation, even if people are regulating pursuant to their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

From everything I’ve read and the video clips I have seen, it appears that Judge Jackson handled herself well through the entire ordeal … far better than I would have in similar circumstances!  It’s just too damn bad that the confirmation of a Justice who will serve on the highest court in the nation for life has been turned into a political circus in recent years.  The Supreme Court are the people who will make the decisions we have to live by.  They will decide if women have the right to control their own bodies, whether LGBTQ people should have certain unalienable rights, whether a single religion will force us all into a small, airless box, and whether we have the right to vote.  And yet … the Republicans in Congress seem to care more about the colour of a potential justice’s skin and about her gender.

Note to readers:  This just in from the New York Times … “Conservatives are pressuring Senator Joe Manchin, a centrist Democrat, to oppose Judge Ketanji Brwn Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.”  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

If It Worked For Trump …

Posted on by under Election 2018, Political commentary

So many of us have high hopes for the mid-term elections in November.  The republican candidates, democrats say, are running scared of that big “blue wave” — the vast majority of voters who will vote the democratic ticket simply because Trump has been such an abomination, a failed experiment.  And it may well be that the GOP is running … well, if not exactly ‘scared’, at least nervous.  And so … they have developed a strategy:  emulate Trump.  If it worked for Donald Trump in 2016, it can, they believe, work for them in 2018.  What they fail to consider is that in more than a year of Trump, many of us have soured on him, seen him for the brash, crass monster he really is, and we will do everything in our power to ensure there are no more like him.  But, am I right? 🤔

Mike Braun, the Indiana candidate for U.S. Senate, is parroting Trump’s rhetoric, speaking of ‘draining the swamp, disparaging the Mueller investigation, and even calling for those tired old chants of “Lock her up!”  Sheesh … when will they realize that Hillary Clinton poses no threat and leave her alone? Indiana, in fact, appears to have three locos running for the senate seat, and the other two are just as bad as Braun.  Todd Rokita proudly slaps on a red “Make America Great Again” cap in a new ad as he promises to “proudly stand with our president and Mike Pence to drain the swamp.” Oh, puh-leeeze.  And in the spirit of Trump, the third candidate, Luke Messer, refers to Rokita as “Lyin’ Todd”.  Anyone else feeling sick yet?

The other thing the republican candidates fail to consider is that Trump did not actually win the election … Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2.8 million, even though Trump had help from the Russians, from gerrymandered districting, from social media, and from Jim Comey’s ‘October surprise’.  Were it not for the machinations of the electoral college, Trump would still be sitting in Trump Tower sucking his thumb and whining about how unfair it all was.

Don Blankenship, running on the republican ticket for U.S. Senator from West Virginia, says, “We don’t need to investigate our president. We need to arrest Hillary,” in one of his campaign ads.  Funny thing about that … Blankenship himself spent a year in prison, being released less than a year ago. Like his hero Trump, he also has almost no experience in government, but is a coal mine operator.  Think on that one for a minute … coal mine owner … senator … oh the opportunities for corruption! Interestingly, I have heard Blankenship referred to as “the most hated man in West Virginia”, as well as “the next Roy Moore”.  I may have to do a profile on this one …

In Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn, who is hoping to fill the seat being vacated by Bob Corker, brags about her ‘shooting skills’ and the gun that she keeps in her purse at all times, and then promises to “stand with Mr. Trump every step of the way to build that wall.”

So, one might think that if the republicans are going to push forth with the same messages of hate and violence that Trump did, democrats, being above all that, have yet another thing in their favour, yes?  But don’t jump too soon.  Democratic strategist Philippe Reines is advising democratic candidates to put away Michelle Obama’s slogan of “When they go low, we go high”, and instead get in the pig pen and slough around with the rest of the bunch.

“Trump never says, ‘I’m not dignifying that with an answer. He has no dignity. He leaves no attack unanswered. I spent 15 years recommending ignoring stupidity. ‘It has no legs. Don’t give it oxygen. There’s no pickup.’ I was wrong.”

My personal opinion is that no, Mr. Reines, you were not wrong, that at the end of the day, a strong platform coupled with grace, dignity, kindness and compassion win the race.  But am I right?  🤔

Republican political strategist, Frank Luntz, claims, “Today the goal is linguistic. We are no longer rewarding policy; we are rewarding rhetoric.”

That, my friends, is frightening.  It says that the voters don’t care about, don’t consider policies and platforms, but merely how the candidate speaks.  And the louder, the more brash, the more foul language and threats, the happier the voters are.  Have we really become such an ignorant, shallow nation?

Republican Josh Hawley, the Missouri attorney general who is running for Senate, has degrees from Yale and Stanford. He clerked for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.  One might expect him to be an intellectual, well-spoken, right?  Yet in a recent speech, he copied Trump almost word-for-word when he claimed there is a big conspiracy between Hollywood, Wall Street, and democrats to rig the system against the republicans.  Say what???

Mid-term elections typically cost the president’s party some seats in Congress, as people are finding the fatal flaws in the president and his policies.  I think that effect should be multiplied this year, as we are caught up in a tangled web of corruption and lies that center around the president.  But, am I wrong?  🤔  Are enough people still enamored of a ‘man’ who consistently lies, cheats and steals, a ‘man’ with a loud and vulgar mouth who cannot even string a few words into a coherent sentence?

Throughout Trump’s 2015-2016 campaign, he never once spoke of actual policies, but rather his ‘policy’ was verbalized in the form of a threat.  A threat to rid the nation of Muslims.  A threat to build a wall to keep our Mexican friends out.  A threat to roll back regulations that were protecting our environment.  A threat to pull out of the Iran deal, the international trade agreements, and the Paris Accords.  A threat to destroy the democratic values that we once held dear.  If the GOP candidates follow in Trump’s footsteps, they should not be able to compete successfully, for we have seen where Trump’s threats have led us.  But … am I wrong?  🤔