By all accounts, a sitting Justice on the United States Supreme Court, or any court for that matter, is supposed to be above suspicion - above politics, above influence, basically, above all human trappings that could compromise his/her ability to be impartial. He/she is supposed to represent the best in us; impeccable honor, unimpeachable integrity/decency, unwavering character, and fearless impartiality - no matter their personal beliefs. So much for appearances.
President Trump’s nominee to fill the seat of the iconic RBG, Amy Coney Barrett, has only been in the national spotlight a short time, yet her legacy is already set in stone: That of a federal judge whose ambition is so all-consuming, it outweighs the appearance of a jurist, a female one nonetheless, accepting the nomination from an impeached, sex-assaulting, Justice-obstructing, pandemic-ignoring, election-tampering president.
A woman who appears to have no issue marrying herself to a shamelessly corrupt, morally bankrupt Republican-controlled Senate and their sham hearings. A woman who “innocently overlooked” submitting an anti-abortion letter to which she signed her name (Yet, we’re still supposed to believe she’s impartial). A woman who is so uninterested in convincing us she is someone worthy of being called ‘honorable,' her blatant evasiveness is evidenced by her refusal to state directly whether or not she believes voter suppression is a crime. Instead, sidestepping to claim the need to “consult her interns."
A nominee who intentionally turns the simplest question into national headlines knows exactly what she’s doing. If Ms. Barrett possessed any of the previously mentioned qualities, not the least of which is Patriotism, she’d recognize that, by forcing this process down the throats of the American People, the president and the Senate have made it impossible for her, or any nominee for that matter, to ascend to the Court, unscathed. Thus, she should’ve therefore stepped aside on day one.
Instead, by sitting there, day after day, playing cat and mouse with the Dems on the Judiciary Committee, by willfully ignoring that the process, itself, is tearing our already torn apart nation farther apart, by putting her own, personal goals/aspirations above the Peoples’, she has shown herself to be anything but qualified. Anything but honorable. And anything but patriotic. This judge’s judgement is already unquestionably in doubt. And what other factor is there for any judge, let alone a SCOTUS Justice?
Seeing as we have a reality show president, it almost makes you want to see this entire process as a “test” to see what kind of character this nominee really possesses, i.e., if a SCOTUS nominee stood before the world and announced she was withdrawing her name from consideration, specifically due to the fact she doesn’t want to further divide an already hopelessly divided nation, liberal or conservative, she’d get my vote. How great a display of character would that be? Someone who puts the well-being of her country above herself. Sadly, this is not an episode of “Punk’d - Capitol Hill”, still, the test results are real. One that Amy Coney Barrett has failed on every front. That of character, class, honor, and integrity.
The Republicans knew they had the votes to confirm - so much so, Sen. Graham introduced the dog and pony show as a "process of confirmation," not "evaluation for confirmation" - and so did Ms. Barrett. Thus, her obvious lack of interest in the entire process. Another “F-you” to the American People and respect for its processes.
Our SCOTUS already boasts one Justice credibly accused of sexual harassment, one credibly accused of rape, and one put there due to the Republicans screaming from the rafters how “The American People deserve a voice!” Adding a female misogynist to this hallowed body, one confirmed in such a hopelessly undemocratic manner, will now most certainly be a death blow to the Court’s ever-increasing impartiality problem. In fact, we may as well put a giant “T-R-U-M-P” Sign above the Court, as he’s done with his other properties.
More than anything, however, the Republican hypocrisy perpetrating this charade, that this nominee - now Justice- is blind to discrimination, bias, etc., all while denying the plain fact that her mere participation in the process so blatantly exposed how willfully blind she, herself, is to Justice, is tragic on all accounts. 'ACB' is clearly no RBG. And We, the People, are clearly SOL.