#320 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday April 8)
Good morning,
Yesterday I witnessed two momentous events in American history.
JUDGE (SOON TO BE JUSTICE) JACKSON
The first is the Senate’s confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson as our newest Supreme Court Justice. She will be the first Black woman to serve on the Court. She also will be the first person on the Court with experience as a Public Defender.
Judge Jackson was confirmed by a vote of 53-47, with only three Republicans breaking with the party to confirm her nomination. Most of the Republicans did not remain in the Senate chamber to hear the final vote, shuffling out of the chamber as quickly as they could. They were led by Mitch McConnell, who was his usual ungracious self in his public announcement after the confirmation.
Before we let this crazy shameful confirmation process fade into our collective memories, let’s remember some of the highlights:
Judge Jackson’s religious affiliation and observance was challenged, with the implication that she is not religious enough.
Judge Jackson was accused of being easy on sentencing people convicted of the possession and distribution of child pornography. This claim was made over and over again despite Andrew McCarthy’s conclusion that her rulings were consistent with practices throughout eh judiciary. Of note, McCarthy is a known conservative intellectual/journalist.
Josh Hawley claimed that Justice Jackson and the left are somehow even supportive of pedophilia. Here is one of his Twitter postings, which he must know ended up being widely distributed by conspiracy theorists: “Judge Jackson has a pattern of letting child porn offenders off the hook for their appalling crimes, both as a judge and as a policymaker. She’s been advocating for it since law school. This goes beyond “soft on crime.” I’m concerned that this a record that endangers our children.”
Ted Cruz, who was schooled at the nation’s greatest institutions and who should know better, claims that Justice Jackson’s career as a public defender apparently is a disqualifying factor. He says her choice of career indicates a “natural inclination in the direction of the criminal.” Apparently Senator Cruz forgets the notion that everyone deserves an adequate defense and he hasn’t read the Constitutional recently, which guarantees representation. Mr. Cruz says Justice Brown’s “heart is with the murderers, the criminals … that’s who [she and other public defenders are] rooting for.”
Tom Cotton suggested the absurd hypothetical that Judge Jackson might have wanted to defend Nazi leaders at Nuremberg.
While the Democrats, the three Republicans and millions of Americans celebrated the elevation of a Black woman to the Court, the Republicans walked out and left to make their pronouncements that, if they take control of the Senate their absurd behaviors will translate into even more division and control over the process. Here is that great American of principle, Lindsey Graham:
"If we get in charge of the Senate in…2023, we have a majority, I can promise you nominees like this will not make it through…It's not that there won't be any more judges. But I promise you that if we were in charge — and we had a say — it would be somebody less extreme filling this seat."
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY’S REASONABLE PEOPLE HEAD FOR THE HILLS…
The second major event came in the form of a message posted by a dear friend from college, a lifelong Republican:
“Friends, I am doing something today which I have resisted for some time and which until the past few years I would have considered impossible. I am leaving the Republican Party. To me it has become a farce, an outrage and a disgrace. I’ve head off because I believe in a two party system and a strong (and hoped loyal) opposition, whatever party might be in that role. I’m certainly not crazy about the Democrats either but can no longer have anything to do with the former party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Ford, both Bushes, even Nixon.”
The responses from other friends, all formerly Republicans, included reiterations of their continued principles and references to the Republican party as a “cult” and “causing so much damage.”
It gives one hope, until you realize that these people are all well-educated professionals, who think about policy, who care about their communities and their country. None is a major participant in Facebook and few, to my knowledge, watches FoxNews or other similar propaganda machines. Sadly, many others will pay no heed and will remain true to the party of Trump—not a party of policy and principle—all the way down the drain.
BASEBALL BEGINS AGAIN!
This is opening weekend of the Major League Baseball season. I am giddy with anticipation of an exciting season. All other sports are wonderful in their own way but they are not played more days than they are. But baseball isn’t played a mere once or twice a week; it is the exception that a day goes by without a game. It is a state of being and a way of life for the fan for a huge chunk of each year. It emerges each March for Spring Training, as the days grow longer and warmer, and continue on for the next six months, over a 162 game marathon and a month of playoffs. And as quickly as it began, after after having been a part of our daily lives for much of the year, it will sneak out just before the days grow shorter and colder—to emerge the following Spring. So let’s enjoy a great season of ups and downs, root for the home team, and be amazed by the feats of “the boys of summer”—a pleasant distraction from the seriousness of the world. And, yes, I even with Astros and Red Sox fans an exciting season…
MESSING WITH LYRICS
There was something of a parlor game when I was a kid of substituting certain words or phrases for lyrics in popular songs. My uncle introduced us to one such exercise, substituting “lunch” whenever the word “love” appears in a song. Here are some of my favorites:
“Lunch is Lovelier, the Second Time Around”
“Lunch is a Many Splendored Thing”
“Lunch Me Tender”
“Tainted Lunch”
“Can't Help Falling in Lunch”
"Whole Lotta Lunch"
“Can’t Buy Me Lunch”
“The Power of Lunch”
“What’s Lunch Got to Do With It?”
“Burning Lunch”
“Lunch Shack”
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives: