Watching the Senate hearings on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, one can almost feel sorry for Sens. Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz. Stuck as they are in the 21st century, they cannot use the words they feel in their hearts are appropriate. Their dilemma might warrant a constitutional amendment.
The words on the tips of their tongues – one starts with an “N” the other with a “B” – are not allowed on television in 2022. But in 1822, when these guys’ thought processes were apparently formed, there was no television. And so, how are they to express their outrage, their horror, at the fact that the nominee is not just Black, not just a woman, but a Black woman?
Graham is a South Carolina Republican who seemingly cannot get over the fact that he represents the descendants of those who fired on Fort Sumter. Cruz is nominally a Texas Republican who – off camera – is rarely spoken of without reference to America’s least favorite body part. It does not matter if the speaker is Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, man or woman. The reference is consistent.
But there they were, beating up a woman who is universally recognized as brilliant, extraordinarily well-educated and highly accomplished. And they were attacking her over child pornography.
That focus is disturbing on several levels. For starters, it is simply not a pleasant topic. Then too, there is the fact that it is unlikely that anyone in the room – with the exception of the nominee – had any idea what they were talking about. Court cases turn on details and specific facts. Graham and Cruz were not party to those trials and it is doubtful either ever saw the transcripts. They were simply mouthing talking points they had picked up from Fox or some website.
It is tempting to suggest their interest in the subject was more personal. Or perhaps it was Q. Remember how Hillary Clinton was selling underage sex slaves out of a pizza parlor?
Then again, maybe we could rethink this whole business. Do we really need a system whereby a demonstrably decent woman, wholly qualified for the job for which she has been nominated, is subjected to the present-day equivalent of bear baiting? Does this televised circus really serve a purpose?
Why not reframe the entire process? Amend the Constitution to end life tenure for Supreme Court justices so that no president can luck into packing the court for a generation. Make those terms a number of years not divisible by four to lesson the tie to presidential politics. And then just let presidents pick the justices – without the televised spectacle of Senate hearings.
This is not about party politics. No traditional Republican would treat a woman as rudely as Graham and Cruz did Jackson. No true conservative would so disrespect the Supreme Court or the process of installing justices. And no one with any self-respect would publicly behave like Graham or Cruz.
Our republic can do better than this.
