Let the Supreme Court “Showdown” Begin…
Hello Hackaroos,
Well, President Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, is getting her day(s) in the Senate, starting with speeches from all of the GOP Presidential hopefuls on the Judiciary Committee! That’s where we begin before turning to the latest politics out of Ukraine and a very elitist argument in tidbits!
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The GOP vs. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
GIBBS: So, yesterday started the confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be on the Supreme Court, or, as it is otherwise known, the beginning of the 2024 Republican presidential primary featuring would be contestants Ted Cruz, Ben Sasse, Josh Hawley, and Tom Cotton. The GOP side of the Committee also includes a Senator who has already run for President (you didn’t remember Lindsey Graham had run did you?) and a Senator hoping one day to be a Majority Leader (John Cornyn from Texas). Now, to be fair, when Democrats were running for President in 2020, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker were also among those who used Supreme Court hearings as a presidential platform. So, I don't mean it as a slight, it’s just the way it is. And with four days of hearings, all you need to know about the United States Senate is the entire first day is just opening statements. For Judge Jackson, the job is two-fold: to introduce herself and her background in a way that emphasizes her credibility and thoughtfulness as a judge (which she did well in her opening statement) and, secondly, make no real news! It’s to continue what she's done in her private meetings with Senators talking about philosophy and experience. Again, it’s about not making bold, controversial statements.
We already know where one of the would-be presidential candidates is going. Judiciary Committee member Josh Hawley (he of January 6th fame) put out a screed last week on how Judge Jackson was supposedly soft on sex offenders. Murphy, in something that I think will completely upset the balance of planet Earth, I would like to enter into evidence exhibit number one: an article from the National Review by former prosecutor Andrew McCarthy debunking exactly what Josh Hawley is going to shout from his soapbox and make the theme of his questioning for Judge Jackson.
MURPHY: Well, Democrats are like the ancient Stoics – they live by a simple credo: aggressive hearings on Republican-appointed judges are an immediate national necessity since it is the Senate’s sacred duty to uncover the certain evil that clearly fills the life of any GOP judicial nomination, while aggressive hearings on any Democrat-appointed judge is an insult to democracy and a waste of the Senate’s vital legislative time. So put me down for a big yawn. Judge Jackson will be confirmed. The Democrats have enough votes and might well even get a Republican or two. She is left of center, but completely qualified by both experience and character to serve well on the Court. Everything else is just Kabuki. The Dems howl outrage, the most partisan Republicans – particularly those with future national ambitions that include running in a Presidential primary – attack and both sides raise money off the kerfuffle. This SCOTUS scrum will be shorter than usual. Why? The stakes are low; it’s a done deal. And smart Republicans want to get back to the effective stuff: gas prices, inflation and the deep water the President is mired in over every major domestic issue. So hit the fast forward on the hearings. This one is done.
GIBBS: I totally agree. The questions from Senators starts today and it will be interesting to see who decides to try and corner the market on insightful questions that press Judge Jackson on philosophy and who mistakes insightful questions by instead using a harsh tone and interrupting the witness. They’re definitely not the same thing. Who up there on the dais acquits themselves as a skilled politician and who comes off as simply rude?
MURPHY: I agree rude behavior is a clumsy fool’s mistake in these situations. I think the shrewdest Republican in the Senate, Leader McConnell, probably has an egg timer set on his desk to get through this as fast as possible to let a clump of his most irritatingly ambitious colleagues on the Judiciary Committee get, as any experienced herder of children will call it, their Ya Ya’s out and then pivot back to something that could score real political points like a discussion of inflation, gas prices, and why the hell we haven’t sent MiGs to help the million people of Ukraine.
How Will Putin’s Plan B Impact Biden?
MURPHY: Speaking of heroic Ukraine, things are getting worse as the Russians have increased their indiscriminate shelling of civilian targets. The most moving photo I've seen to date is the 109 empty strollers parked in a public square to commemorate the 109 children the Russians have killed to date. Thomas Friedman, an influential CW voice on foreign policy has an article in Monday’s NYT talking about the Russians switching to Plan B from their original Plan A. Friedman argues Plan A was to easily blitz into the Ukraine, be welcomed as liberators, and achieve a quick regime change. That strategy – and Putin’s amazingly misinformed thinking behind it – has been a colossal disaster and, in time, the regime that ultimately changes from it may well be located in Moscow. So Putin is going to plan B, per Friedman, kill a lot of Ukrainians and create a huge refugee crisis in Europe. That, Putin may be thinking, will deliver a NATO surrender on Ukraine on his terms simply to make the pain go away. It's a brutally cynical strategy, but it is upping the game. The question is, what is the Biden administration going to do about it? The sanctions are having a powerful effect on the Russian economy and Biden deserves a lot of credit for uniting Europe. But Putin is escalating and Biden is not, and that is a path that well may turn out better for Putin than Biden. It’s a critical moment for Biden, both vis-à-vis Russian and in domestic politics. Polling shows Biden is seen today as inept on the economy and weak overall. He needs to change that fast. That means ramping up aid to Ukraine fast and in clear ways the American people understand. Optics are important. Biden needs a full-throated offense. The bottom line is small, smart escalations is part of the path forward. WWRD, Mr. President? What Would Reagan Do.
GIBBS: All I want to say is that you sharing Tom Friedman articles and I'm sharing National Review articles is probably creating a world of confusion to our readers. We'll have more on this later, but obviously there’s the big trip this week as Biden visits Europe, first with a stop to Brussels and then to Poland. The challenge for any President on a foreign trip is to have what staff call “deliverables.” What are you going to deliver as part of this meeting that makes news and emphasizes what you want the world to know about why you were there, so that the story isn't just that there was the meeting. Leaving it only up to what is said in the meeting is always risky and for control freaks like White House communications and security staffers, this is best not to be left to chance. By the way, I say this having been one of those control freak White House communications staffers! In this case, however, “deliverable” is far more than just about impacting the narrative of the day’s news story. It may be a new strategy, a new sanctions pursuit or the commitment of new military aid to Ukraine in it’s fight to repel the invading Russians, So, I'll be interested to see what sort of deliverables the administration brings with it overseas to Europe and, to your point Murphy, what it’s doing to continue to put pressure on Putin. This was always going to be the most important two or three weeks as to whether the Ukrainian army and civilians could hold back Russia from controlling the capital. The challenge, also, is as Putin's army is both literally and figuratively stuck in the mud, it greatly increases Putin's desire to use even more grossly inhumane tactics. We have seen this now with increasing alarm as Putin and Russia bomb shelters and continuing to attack apartment buildings and hospitals. Undoubtedly, this another big week for Biden and what’s next in Ukraine. Going to Europe certainly ups the ante.
MURPHY: I think the bottom line is Biden has to find a way to beat Putin at the small escalation game because right now Putin is deterring Biden more than Biden is deterring Putin, and that is the formula that has to be broken. It is of course quite hard to do because Putin has an apparently inexhaustible appetite for murdering civilians. But right now, Putin in some ways is winning the bluff game of poker. That is bad politics for Joe Biden.
TIDBITS
Source: The Washington Post
GIBBS: Back to the Supreme Court and an area that probably won’t come up at the hearings, this Washington Post chart shows just how few of the Justices went to either a public high school and/or a public college. Now, I worked for a President who went to Harvard Law School, edited the Harvard Law Review and who nominated people who went to Ivy League law schools. However, it still feels alarming that fewer and fewer Justices have the shared experience of public education with so many Americans. It’s an increasing separation in our country between those who serve and those who are governed.
MURPHY: I say, bah humbug! I like people from the most elite schools interpreting the most complicated question of laws. Judge Jackson’s top shelf elite qualifications are one of my favorite things about her! Sorry Gibbsie, but if low LSATs and a third-rate legal education become the new magic ticket to the Supreme Court, it’s time we all learn Chinese because our super power time will be soon up!
GIBBS: That you picked the elites is terribly unsurprising Murphy. You could be a woke Democrat with your elitism thinking that the only people who go to public law schools are people with low LSATs. Of the top law schools in the country, the University of Virginia or the University of California are enormously competitive and honored law schools. Or, maybe you’ve heard of the University of Michigan?!
MURPHY: Go Wolverines! My point here is elites are not a bad thing. It’s well worth it, in matters of high public office, to beware of the rabble. They've done enough damage between Trump and AOC.
And on that note, we’ll be back on Friday with answers to some of your latest questions. Keep them coming in the comments section.
Murphy and Gibbs