Race Baiting for SCOTUS
President Joe Biden said he will nominate a “black woman” to the SCOTUS excluding all other possible nominees. Many people have questioned whether qualification for office should be based upon race and sex, as this is textbook discrimination. The left intends to play the same old race baiting game that Americans are so tired of playing.
(Featured photo: DC Circuit Court of Appeals Associate Justice and former California Supreme Court Associate Justice Janice Rogers Brown)
The recent announcement that Associate Justice Stephen Breyer will retire after the current session of the SCOTUS has create an opportunity for the Democrats. This is likely to be the last year for some time that the Democrats will control the White House and the Senate (if just barely). Current polls suggest the Democrats face a red tsunami in the coming midterm elections. If the Biden Administration were serious about nominating a competent justice who, in spite of being leftwing, would be a competent jurist able to draw support from both sides of the isle, there are several possible nominees who would be easily confirmed. Alas, no. The Administration seems determined to play politics with the nomination and use the opportunity to engage in the same tired tactic of race baiting that Democrats have been using for decades. Thus, President Biden has announced that his nominee will be a “black woman.” Naturally, he will nominate a far left extremist, activist justice who would use their seat on the court to advance the far left agenda. Also part of the package, anyone who opposes the nomination is a racist because they oppose a black woman; never mind the legal ideology of the nominee.
Comically, Joe Biden, Charles Schumer, and many prominent Democrat Senators held a filibuster to prevent then Bush nominee to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals Janice Rogers Brown, a black woman who happens to be a conservative to libertarian leaning justice. The Democrats have been recently complaining that the filibuster is a racist institution that protected Jim Crow laws. They should know being the party of Jim Crow and many current Democrat leaders having used the filibuster to try to block minority judicial nominees because of their conservative leanings.
On his hit podcast “The Verdict,” Ted Cruz immediately panned the idea of appointing an associate justice to the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) based purely upon the race and sex of the nominee. This brought an immediate response from Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, who tried to shame Senator Cruz, former President Donald Trump, and other Republicans for supporting Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett because she was a woman. While Senator Cruz praised Justice Barrett as a role model for girls, he insists that he supported her because she is an “awesome judge” not because of her sex. It is an interesting point to be made that the White House Press Secretary is now citing comments made on a popular political podcast featuring Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Senator Cruz’ response to the White House attention was to tweet: Candace Owens for SCOTUS.” Although Candace Owens is a black woman and thus meets the criteria set forth by the President, she is not a lawyer or a judge. Naturally, leftists replying to the tweet had to explain that “black woman” cannot mean a conservative black woman; exposing their own racism. Minorities are only useful to leftist elites, after all, when they advance the white progressive agenda.
Another controversy arose as a result of the President’s announcement of his criteria for choosing a SCOTUS nominee, this time involving a well known libertarian professor. Ilya Shapiro is a legendary libertarian law professor and CATO Institute contributor. He tweeted recently that rather than restrict nominations to the SCOTUS to “a lesser black woman,” playing to identity politics, why not nominate the incredibly qualified left-leaning justice Sri Srinivasan? Although the order of the words is poorly chosen, it is obvious from the tweet that Ilya Shapiro does not intend this as a racial attack on black women.
His support for Sri Srinivasan, a Hindu and South Asian who currently sits as Chief Justice of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals makes it clear he is not advocating for white supremacy. Srinivasan was in consideration for SCOTUS when Barack Obama was President and there was great hope he would be nominated at that time. Ilya’s point that any other justice would be a “lesser” choice immediately drew the ire of the left which claimed that he was referring to black women as being less qualified. In fact, Ilya Shapiro’s tweet had nothing to do with sex or race. Srinivasan is obviously the best qualified left leaning justice for the SCOTUS. Srinivasan would be a highly competent and qualified choice who is less controversial at a time when Republicans hold half of the Senate, the body that confirms justices to the SCOTUS. Any other choice would be less qualified and thus a “lesser” choice regardless of their demographics.
The left can’t help their race baiting, it is all they have left. They want to nominate a radical leftist activist as a justice to SCOTUS and then say anyone who opposes her nomination is racist. But we have played this game before. Which probably why an Associated Press poll found that only 28% of Americans and only 48% of Democrats want Biden to seek reelection. What is more, leftwing focus groups and pollsters are finding that Biden’s approval rating is falling among African-Americans. Since taking office, Biden’s approval rating among blacks fell from 86% to 76%, a precipitous decline. Among blacks 35 years of age and younger, his approval rating is down 25%. For some time, the black community has been shifting their support away from the Democrats. Race baiting is one of the tactics the Democrats are using to try to keep these voters in their camp.
At a time when the Senate is divided 50/50 and Democrats have to rely on Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie breaker vote in order to pass controversial legislation. At a time when Democrats like Kristen Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) are refusing to vote for extreme-left legislation. Perhaps this is not the time for the Democrats to play this particular game. While the filibuster no longer applies to SCOTUS nominees, the Democrats are going to be hard pressed to achieve agreement among their own caucus of Senators let alone to draw Republican votes in support of their nominee. In an ironic twist of fate timed ideally to make this point, Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) suffered a stroke that will have him hospitalized for several months, thankfully he did not suffer more serious injury. If he is not present and voting in the US Senate, there are only 47 Democrat Senators and 2 independents who caucus with the Democrats, yet there are still 50 Republicans. With 99 Senators present and voting, the Republicans have the majority. Senator Lujan’s stroke is proof that the Democrat majority in the Senate is very fragile. A sudden scandal, resignation, or death could change the majority back to the GOP. A nominee like Sri Srinivasan would be more likely to garner a few GOP votes and thus sidestep the close majority. A radical nominee chosen on the basis of her race and sex may not be confirmed.
Why play the race card then? Why not choose the more sensible nominee? Because the Democrats have nothing left to play. Out of desperation, race is the last foot they have to stand on.
