Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Barrett's "Tracks" Lead To A Scalia-Like Outcome


Aside from the effective tutorial by Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse on the corrupt right-wing dark money machine behind Amy Coney Barrett and other Republican-nominated judges (see post below), the questioning of Barrett by Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, using a "follow the tracks" metaphor, showed Barrett's deceptiveness in answering questions about key rulings like Roe v. Wade and the upcoming decision about whether the Affordable Care Act should be struck down. In particular, Barrett took the position that Roe v. Wade was not a "super precedent" that couldn't be challenged, despite overwhelming support by the public, because it was still "controversial" among her theocratic right-wing cohort. Similarly, Barrett was disingenuous when answering questions about her opposition to past Supreme Court decisions upholding the popular Affordable Care Act affecting the lives of millions of Americans. She went further in saying in her hearing that previous rulings by the Court in favor of the ACA would not protect the law from being challenged by the Trump "Justice" Department.

In what should have been an obvious answer from a self-proclaimed "textualist," Barrett was asked by Klobuchar about whether she believed voter intimidation is illegal (it is; see 18 U.S.C. 594), she regurgitated her pat answer about reviewing the evidence, not opining, etc. This is after her patron, demagogue and neo-fascist Donald "Mango Mussolini" Trump, has openly encouraged his "army" of armed thugs to "monitor" the voting in an attempt to suppress Dem votes. 

But the biggest "tell" as far as these "tracks" are concerned was the most obvious of all and offered by Barrett herself.  Barrett has described herself as a disciple of far-right Justice Antonin Scalia, her "mentor" and someone who wrote in dissent regarding the ACA, for example, that the entire law should be struck down, no "carve out" for people with pre-existing conditions, etc. That's who the Court will get with Barrett: a doctrinaire, right-wing theocratic jurist who, despite her equivocation and evasion in the hearings, will be a zealous force to overturn the progress that's been made on women's rights, health care, voting rights and more.

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