Fright Court

Hearings have begun to confirm Amy Coney Barrett as the next justice on the Supreme Court.

Here are some of the hard hitting questions Republican senators asked of the nominee.  

• "Do you speak any foreign languages?” 
• “Do you play any instruments?”

Those two questions came from Ted Cruz 

Ben Sasses wanted to know, "Why do judges in our system wear robes?” 

Josh Hawley inquired of Barrett, "You’re a very accomplished jurist in your own right, is that fair to say?”  

These are the same Republicans who in 2016 said it was wrong to have hearings on a Supreme Court nominee in an election year. With less than a month to go before the 2020 election day, these same bastards are trying to push Barrett to the Supreme Court bench as soon as possible. 

If there was any doubt that Senate Republicans regard Amy Coney Barrett to being placed on the Supreme Court is a fait accompli, those doubts were certainly upended by the Republicans lack of any insightful questions. They know exactly what they're getting in having Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court and they see no need to ask questions to advertise that fact.

And Amy Coney Barrett knows exactly what she's giving Republicans by being on the Supreme Court and sees no need to answer any questions to advertise that fact.  

When asked by Democrat Senator Dick Durbin about her position on the Affordable Care Act,  Barrett answered, “I am not hostile to the ACA." 

Oh really? 

• Donald Trump said he’d only pick a nominee who would dismantle the ACA. 
• Barrett says that she shares Anton Scalia's  judicial philosophy and he voted twice to dismantle the law. 
• Barrett criticized Justice John Roberts for upholding the law, saying in 2017 that he “pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute.”

Barrett's “I am not hostile to the ACA" is bullshit.

Oh, speaking of bullshit...

In response to Democrat questioning, Barrett professed to NOT know the following things: 

• Amy Coney Barrett didn’t know that more than 20 million people rely on the ACA for health insurance. 
• Barrett didn’t know that more than 7.8 million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19.
• Barrett also did not know that than 215,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.  

Well, to quote Billy Butcher from The Boys (season 2 available now on Amazon Prime), "that's fucking diabolical."  

When pressed to confirm that a sitting President has the right to issue an executive order to change the date of the national election, Amy Coney Barrett deferred from answering when the question has a simple answer. That answer is "no". The date of the election and any control over it by Congress (not the President) is set in federal law. 

When asked about climate change, Barrett had this response: "You know, I’m certainly not a scientist. I mean, I’ve read things about climate change. I would not say that I have firm views on it.”

"I’m not a scientist" is the cowardly refrain of too many conservatives to duck questions of climate change. Hey, Barrett, "I’m not a scientist" either but I listen to the people who are and my own experiences tells me that what those scientists are telling me is true, that the climate is changing, the weather is getting worse as a result and it's probably our fault. 

And on the ever important subject of a woman's rights over her own body, Barrett said she does not consider Roe V. Wade as “super precedent,” which she defined as “precedent that is so well established that it would be unthinkable that it would ever be overruled.” This would suggest Barrett is open to a ruling overturning Roe V. Wade.  

Multiple senators presented Judge Barrett with a 2006 advertisement she had signed in support of overturning Roe v. Wade and its “barbaric legacy.” She said she had signed it quickly in the back of a church when she was a private citizen, but would not do so now as a judge.

Sen. Kamala Harris summed this up pretty well: “I would suggest that we not pretend that we don’t know how this nominee views a woman’s right to choose and to make her own health care decisions."  

Amy Coney Barrett's views on a woman's right to have an abortion are precisely why she was on the Federalist Society's menu of judges for Donald Trump to pick from in the first damn place. I don't think Barrett is going to let a little thing like the law, judicial precedent or the will of the people deter her from taking an axe to Roe V. Wade at the first opportunity.  

All I'm getting from these hearings so far is that Amy Coney Barrett is going to be the rubber stamping yes man that conservatives have been yearning to put on the Supreme Court for decades.