I have had it up to here with the wide eyed innocent routine. It looks fake. It looks rehearsed. That may impress Donald Trump, but that don’t impress me much.
I can’t believe all the Judiciary Committee questioning of the nominee went on for three days and is over now and nobody actually took the issue of the stolen seat head on.
Every time Gorsuch talked about the “integrity of the court” I wanted to throw something at the television.
Every time he danced around a tough question with his boilerplate non-answers I wanted to scream.
Everytime he demurred and claimed he didn’t get involved in politics I actually DID start screaming at the TV: But this IS politics AND YOU KNOW IT. Claiming you don’t get involved in politics while accepting this appointment that is only available to you because of politics is so disingenuous as to be almost slimy.
Imagine Mr. G who lives in a high crime area and knows his Brother R is involved with crime, but he wants to keep his own hands clean. So he looks the other way and doesn’t ask too many questions but he has no problem enjoying the benefits from his sibling’s life of crime: the money he brings into the household, the connections in the neighborhood from people who are scared of him, and the stolen goods that everyone in the family gets to enjoy.
If Brother R brings home a stolen car and makes a present of it to Mr. G, he looks like a fool claiming he has nothing to do with his brother’s seedy line of work. “Oh I try to stay out of what R does for a living,” G says, as he happily drives around in the vehicle he KNOWS IS STOLEN and knows he would never have had a chance at except for the theft. “What R does has nothing at all to do with me and I can’t answer for him”, G says with a smug grin on his face as he pulls his new-to-him luxury car out of its parking space and heads on his merry way.
Who gets away with that? And who gets away with that when applying for a job where moral character is supposed to be one of the foundational characteristics?
I guarantee you that if Mr. G wanted to go work in a place that required a security clearance or a morals clause, his claims that he is not responsible for how his brother makes his money or provides him with gifts would be a definite concern.
The other thing that was crazy-making was the way he managed to side step giving his opinion on various controversial areas that may come before the court (and sooner rather than later).
Gorsuch had a whole long list of things he claimed he couldn’t talk about.
But the tell was the way way he talked about various other things. Loving v Virginia: seminal case! Brown v Board of Education? Again, seminal (and we won’t go into the sexism underlying that adjective).
But Griswold v Connecticut? Roe v Wade? That’s “splitting hairs” and “I can’t give my personal views on this or that precedent” as if we all don’t know exactly what that means.
If you are about to take a job working with Tom, Dick and Harry and I ask you how you feel about them, and you say: Tom? He’s fantastic. Great guy! Couldn’t get along without him. Dick? Outstanding man. One of a kind, world wouldn’t be the same if he weren’t in it.
Harry? I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to give my personal opinion about people. I’ll admit he works here, but I don’t feel comfortable going any farther than that… then haven’t you told me how you feel about Harry?
I guess we are supposed to be grateful that after almost 50 years Loving v. Virginia is considered a non-controversial case. And no one could get appointed to the S.Ct. now who said he felt Brown was wrongly decided. But in their time BOTH of those decisions were bombshells that divided the country and caused a huge stir.
Everyone in the forced birth movement remembers that DJT promised to appoint judges that would overturn Roe. Lots of them came out to vote because they knew the Scalia seat was vacant and they wanted the chance to make abortion illegal again even if it meant putting up with an ignorant illiterate irreligious oaf in the Oaf-Full Office. They hoped DJT would give them someone like Gorsuch and they are thrilled.
Not only that, the more extreme elements in that crowd would like to outlaw birth control, so it is a HUGE red flag that Gorsuch won’t give Griswold v Connecticut (the decision allowing married couples to obtain birth control) the same “seminal” thumbs up he gave to Loving v. Virginia, especially since Griswold was decided two years BEFORE Loving. I believe Gorsuch even said he couldn’t imagine anyone trying to pass a law challenging Griswold, which makes him either a liar or naïve, because the Pharmacists for Life and their ilk are dying to make birth control the next battlefield after they push abortion back down the dark alleys.
And don’t even get me started on Obergefell…
But the part that really makes me spit nails is the constant drumbeat of Rs claiming that the only reason we are opposed to Gorsuch is because we “hate the president who nominated him” or “don’t want a Republican President to have nominees that reflect his administration” or “can’t accept who won the election.”
All of those talking points are FALSE.
The only thing keeping me from going completely around the twist every time they say them is not wanting to give them the satisfaction that their gaslighting works.
Republicons say those things in part because they KNOW they are lies and they know that it drives reality-based people insane to hear assertions like that stated as though they are self-evidently true when they are FALSE.
If they had had hearings for Merrick Garland, even if his nomination had been rejected on a party line vote, that would have been a different story. If they had had hearings for Garland and refused to move him out of committee, even that would be better than what Rs ended up doing.
Rs stole that Supreme Court seat, not just from Barack Obama, but from US!
They stole it from every single person who voted for Obama in 2012 because they wanted HIM to be the president who filled any S.Ct. vacancies that happened during his term.
Yes, we wanted Barack Obama, cool, calm, collected, no drama Obama, the historically aware, thoughtful, intelligent, emotionally mature Constitutional Law expert, we wanted HIM to fill that vacancy.
Not the petulant Putin puppet who flies off in a rage unless everyone is constantly kissing his ample butt, the ignorant, incurious Twitler who doesn’t know anything about the constitution, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the presidency, or anything about how government service is supposed to work.
They stole that seat from you and from me. And they laughed while they did it. And they smirked at the thought we could not stop them. They rolled the dice that they could stop Hillary from becoming President, and with Russian help they did, but if HRC had won the election they were planning to keep that seat vacant for FOUR WHOLE YEARS.
Once again in true Republicon-projection mode, their ONLY reason for for objecting to Garland was because they hated the president who nominated him! They were the ones who didn’t want a Democratic President to have a nominee that reflected his administration, because Garland was a moderate instead of a knee jerk conservative like Scalia, but when Rs replaced liberal giant Thurgood Marshall with cat-got-my-tongue-because-I-hate-this-job Clarence Thomas, maintaining judicial balance was the LAST thing on their minds. They were the ones who couldn’t accept who won the 2012 election, and they were ready to reject the winner of the 2016 election if it turned out to be HRC!
They ALWAYS accuse us of the things that they are most ashamed of doing themselves!
So now we have been subjected to total show trial hearings judiciary committee hearings with this doe-eyed central casting “Boy Scout” who to hear him tell it never had an impure legal thought.
I don’t want to hear another word about his integrity, his time at Oxford, or his gracious attitude toward his law clerks. Every time an Rcon on the Committee says “I know you are obviously qualified” and “I know you are a man of honor” and “I know you are fair and impartial and no reasonable person could oppose you” the whole thing just seems that much more revolting.
He ain’t no boy scout. Boy Scouts don’t accept stolen property.
He disqualifies himself as a man of honor by even being willing to participate in this charade.
There will be an asterisk after his name in the history books and he is OK with that because it will give him a chance to “save teh baybeeez”
And take the side of the corporate person in opposition to worker’s rights (the “frozen trucker” dissent alone should mark him as an unfit unfeeling monster).
And reverse/prevent fairness in LGBTQI rights.
And make it easier for Christians to effect an establishment of religion.
And promote the death penalty (which a true pro-life voter should find abhorrent).
And support the use of torture (which a true pro-life voter should find abhorrent)!
Gorsuch will do just as all Rcon hypocrites in the judiciary have done: follow precedent when it serves political purposes and abandon precedent when it serves political purposes.
All while batting his eyelashes and claiming to keep himself above politics.
Over and over again Rs keep saying they cannot imagine a more better and more qualified candidate.
But I can.
And he wuz robbed by a gang of Rethugs who gave their stolen bounty to a man so coy and insincere that butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.
Oxford and Harvard be damned. That don’t impress me much.
Previous TRUE BLUE REPORT diaries
Mar 21: Using Trump as a bad example—no Trump Sleep, Trump Food or other Trump habits
Mar 20: Is DJT a compulsive liar, or out of touch with reality? Five scenarios...
Mar 19: A budget is a moral document—a statement of public compassion
Mar 18: Ribbons: CBO scorers, Senate Intelligence Committee, Judge Derrick Watson
Mar 17: They know DJT is lying. Here’s one sad reason they follow him anyway.
Mar 16: Mick Mulvaney's ignorant, callous, evil, Republicon definition of compassion
Mar 15: Message Discipline 101—Pushback against Rcon talking points re DJT 2005 tax return
Mar 14: Message Discipline 101—Pushback against Rcon talking points about Obamacare repeal
Mar 13: Culture, Civilization, Rural America, Working Families—the missing word is a “tell”
Mar 12: The Rcon definition of Christians is as wrong as the Rcon definition of Democrats.
Mar 11: Ribbons: A Day Without a Woman, Native Nations Rise, Voting Rights Act still lives
Mar 10: How to talk to people who have trouble understanding actions have consequences
Mar 9: Where’s the fire? The real reason Rs are trying to rush TrumpCare through Congress
Mar 8: Message Discipline 101: TrumpCare, RyanCare, GOPCare, DonTCare—what’s in a name?
Mar 7: How very hard it is for a woman to go a day without paid (or unpaid) work
Mar 6: Can DJT really be stumbling into the exact investigation we want?
Mar 5: How is it even possible that deplorables see a man of faith when they look at DJT?
Mar 4: Blue Ribbon Winners—Chris Hayes, Malcolm Nance, Cierra Fields
Mar 3: I’m glad Bannon, Conway, Carson, Sessions, Miller, et al. are in the DJT Administration
Mar 2: “In every major fire it always starts with smoke. And smoke is what kills you.”
Mar 1: Am I the only one whose skin crawled at the Carryn Owens BIRGing moment?
FEBRUARY
Feb 28: Spinspotting 101: Special Prosecutor for what? It’s so easy to answer that question
Feb 27: Spinspotting 101: I’ve seen no evidence because I haven’t looked for any evidence!
Feb 26: If Neil Gorsuch were a man of integrity, he would decline the S.Ct. appointment
Feb 25: True Blue Ribbons: Russia Flag trolling, Dixie Swastika grabbing, District Days demonstrating
Feb 24: There is no such thing as a compassionate conservative
Feb 23: Chief of Staff, Nat’l Security Advisor, GOP Head, President Bannon—too many hats!
Feb 22: DJT has a few questions for you—SMURF THIS POLL!
Feb 21: The end of “access journalism” means it’s time to #sendtheinterns
Feb 20: KAC lying low for now… can we banish her (and all her ilk) from the airwaves completely?
Feb 19: DeVos cartoon, Ruby Bridges, unearned unhappiness and childlike faith
Feb 18: Blue Ribbon Winners—Vice Adm. Harward, Melissa McCarthy, and intel whistleblowers
Feb 17: And Ain’t I an American?
Feb 16: Please tell your family and friends—If you regret your DJT vote, speak up NOW
Feb 15: R-supported forced childbirth laws deny the autonomy of women
Feb 14: What did the president know? Everything. When did he know it? From the beginning.
Feb 13: Coping with The Madness of King Donald by hoping political comedy will save us
Feb 12: The Poverty and Justice Bible
Feb 11: Blue Ribbon Winners—Swastika removers, Ninth Circuit Panel, and the Persisterhood!
Feb 10: The first three words of the Constitution are “We, the People” not “I, the President”
Feb 9: Who first inspired your political activism? Who inspires you now?
Feb 8: We cannot and will not be silenced—Here’s what to do if they try to silence you
Feb 7: Plain Talk Tuesday: Tell people the Affordable Care Act is the same as OBAMACARE
Feb 6: Interview Skills 101—Internalized oppression and what Ryan Lizza did right. BRAVO!
Feb 5: These protest signs with Bible cites will confuse and befuddle RWNJs
Feb 4: Blue Ribbon Winners—Temple B’Nai Israel, Judge Robart, CNN, Senate Phone Callers
Feb 3: Not rich, not smart, not a good businessman, not a winner—DJT is NOTHING he claims to be
Feb 2: Thursday action—Encouragement, thanks, and apologies (pick one or more)
Feb 1: July 7, 2009 to August 25, 2009 and September 25, 2009 to February 4, 2010
JANUARY
Jan 31: If you’re on overload that’s part of their plan—there’s more than one way to #resist
Jan 30: Interview Skills 101 for reporters attempting to interview KAC and other Rcons
Jan 29: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness
Jan 28: Blue Ribbon Winners—Women's March participants and #NoMuslimBan demonstrators and...
Jan 27: I wish Steve Bannon would tell me to keep my mouth shut
Jan 26: Thursday Action—Have you ever written a letter to the editor? Here’s how to start
Jan 25: The Asch Conformity Study, inauguration crowds, and the importance of speaking out
Jan 24: #ResistTrumpTuesday—good news day or another paying dues day?
Jan 23: Spy the Lie 101: How to enjoy watching Rcon spokesbot interviews, even KAC!
Jan 22: Why I prayed for the President* today
Jan 21: The only silver lining in the midst of these clouds
Inaugural (!) diary: Stop expecting Republicons to make sense