As a lifelong liberal activist/organizer, the last three days of testimony by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was a tutorial on American politics, law and the Constitution. Even for me–a student of American history. And WOW! What a crash course it was.
In the face of Puke Vomitus Bilge, hysterical ad feminam attacks from most of the Conservanazi Knuckledraggers, President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee remained calm, friendly, knowledgeable, poised, professional and humble in front of unqualified men. That in and of itself is a monumental feat. She has the patience of a saint.
What a contrast to that bought-and-paid-for Federalist Society hack, Kavanaugh, who couldn’t even remember how many women he assaulted because he liked beer and was a spoiled, frat boy, blackout drunk.
Judge Jackson’s dignified judicial temperament stands in sharp contrast to Kavanaugh’s judicial embarrassment for all time.
She deserves Senate confirmation.
Never forget that hearings were never even required for judicial nominees until 1916.
And that was because Senate white bigots were horrified that the nominee was Jewish…Louis Brandeis.
Now it’s time to add another judge, preferably two more.
It certainly is time for Clarence Thomas to resign or be impeached.
I’m nervous about unintended consequences of adding more justices to the Supreme Court. Two would have to be added in order to preserve an odd number so that split decisions still go one way or the other.
There are many examples of Supreme Court justices who turn out to be FAR different from what they were expected to be when nominated. David Souter comes to mind — nominated by George W. Bush with strong support by right-wingers such as John Sununu. By the end of his tenure, Mr. Souter was widely viewed as part of the “liberal” wing of the Supreme Court.
In my view, the issues facing us are not going to addressed by changing the number of Justices. I think we must instead do a better job of removing Justices that are clearly and flagrantly compromised.
Both Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh come to mind.
We need to be very careful I think with what Clarence Thomas knew and when he knew it. I’m leery of blaming him for his wife’s activities.
I agree. That’s why I think the case against Mr. Thomas must be built step-by-step. That’s why I think the media is again failing by focusing on Mr. Thomas before developing the full story regarding Virginia Thomas.
The first step, necessary for anything further, is to prosecute Virginia Thomas for sedition. Conspiring to violently overthrow the legitimately elected government has always been a federal crime. Always.
The next step is investigate and potentially prosecute those high-ranking government officials who corresponded with her. We already know that the texts she sent the White House Chief of Staff — Mark Meadows — should have been immediately reported to appropriate authorities. Since the evidence shows that Mr. Meadows instead encouraged and supported Ms. Thomas, then Mr. Meadows became part of the criminal conspiracy to overthrow the government.
That may be one reason why Mr. Meadows is asserting his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself.
Is there any reason other than her close association with Clarence Thomas why Mr. Meadows and other high-ranking government officials would take calls from and correspond with Ms. Thomas? Those officials surely felt that she was providing access to Mr. Thomas. The several statements from Mr. Trump and his associates expressing the belief that they would prevail in the Supreme Court suggests that they believed that Ms. Thomas did in fact have influence on her husband. The verbal and written opinions of Mr. Thomas reinforce that belief.
The eagerness of those officials to take advantage of that access to Mr. Thomas buttresses the case against them.
I find it hard to believe that Mr. Thomas was unaware of his wife’s activities. I find it hard to believe that Mr. Thomas knew that his wife was sending explicitly illegal texts to Mark Meadows. I therefore find it hard to avoid the conclusion that Mr. Thomas, as the sole dissenting vote in the 8-1 decision to release the records of Mr. Meadows to the House committee, was not attempting to shield the disclosure of embarrassing and likely criminal communications of his wife.
Surely Mr. Thomas cannot now claim to be unaware of his wife’s activities.
Surely Clarence Thomas should therefore recuse himself from ALL matters involving Donald Trump, Mr. Trump’s family, the GOP, and the insurrection.