McConnell goes totally nuclear, puts Barrett on the Supreme Court 8 days before the election

by Joan McCarter for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Monday, Oct. 26, 2020 Monday, Oct. 26, 2020 at 5:07:23pm PDT

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 26: U.S. President Donald Trump .announces 7th U.S. Circuit Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court in the Rose Garden at the White House September 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. With 38 days until the election, Trump tapped Barrett to be his third Supreme Court nominee in just four years and to replace the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) — She'll serve the rest of her life with an asterisk of shame by her name, willing to be selected by Donald Trump. Also the superspreading thing.

How bad is the Republican Senate under Mitch McConnell? It's so bad it just handed Donald Trump—Donald Trump—one-third of the Supreme Court. Amy "Superspreader" Barrett has been confirmed on a nearly purely party-line vote, 52-47. Sen. Susan Collins, in a completely transparent bid to scrape any Democratic or independent votes that might still be up for grabs in Maine, voted with Democrats against confirmation. After, of course, she went to great pains to say this wasn't about Barrett's qualifications, but about voting this close to the election. So, you know, she wouldn't alienate any potential Republican voters who might ditch her next Tuesday.

The only other supposedly pro-choice Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, was just as duplicitous. She told reporters that "I don't see her overturning the decision in Roe v. Wade based on the weighting of the reliance factors. […] I believe that she will not vote to overturn Roe v. Wade." That's exactly like Collins on her Kavanaugh vote, when she was so absolutely certain he would alway respect precedent in the Supreme Court. That lasted all of a few months. What those two seem to think is that we're stupid enough to think they are stupid enough to believe this about Trump nominees. They think we're not smart enough to know it's not about overturning Roe. It's about imposing so many restrictions on abortion that Roe exists in name only.

Here's the truth of the matter, from a Republican who's not afraid of putting his far-right extremism out there for the world to see.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Amy Coney Barrett: "This is the most openly pro-life judicial nominee to the Supreme Court in my lifetime. This is an individual who has been open in her criticism of that illegitimate decision Roe vs. Wade."
— Michael McAuliff (@mmcauliff) October 26, 2020

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