The unfinished work of the American promise.

March 24, 2022

[Audio version here]

          After the first day of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing, it did not seem possible that Republican Senators could sink lower in their offensive and insulting attacks on Judge Jackson. But on the second day of the hearings, Cruz, Hawley, Graham, Cotton, and Blackburn plumbed depths of shame and depravity previously untouched by the worst segregationists and bigots to sit in the Senate. The “performance” of the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee exceeded the worst of their predecessors because much of their questioning seemed designed to attract votes from a cult that believes Satan-worshipping, sex-trafficking pedophiles control governments around the world.

          What had been an outlandish internet conspiracy theory too absurd to believe (and may have started as a prank) has become part of the campaign platform for three GOP presidential “wannabes.” It was a sad, sick, perverted display by sad, sick, perverted politicians who seek power above all else, including their self-respect.

          Judge Jackson will be confirmed, as she should be. The disgraceful performance of Cruz, Hawley, Graham, and Blackburn will earn them a few minutes on Fox News—and another stain on their already sullied legacies. But let’s be clear: Cruz et al. are engaging disgusting tactics because the media is treating them like they are U.S. Senators who deserve respect. If I see one more headline that says that Judge Jackson was subjected to “intense questioning,” I will throw my computer out the window (or use the The Screaming Goat sent to me by a reader).

          Jennifer Rubin of WaPo appropriately called out the media for its complicity in normalizing the behavior of the QAnon Caucus. See Jennifer Rubin, Opinion | GOP grandstanders aren’t the only reason Jackson’s confirmation hearings were so disgraceful. Per Rubin,

The only thing more stunning than the off-the-rails Republican badgering and constant interrupting of Ketanji Brown Jackson [] was the utterly inaccurate and inapt media coverage. “Tense.” “Heated.” “Confrontational.” “Tough.” Was that really the proper way to describe the hearings? [¶] The media in particular fails to convey the visual image of angry White men screaming and interrupting a Black woman, who dares not show anger for fear of being labeled unprofessional or lacking the correct temperament.

          Brett Kavanaugh was given free rein to shout and snarl at Senators asking him about a credible report that he sexually assaulted a woman in high school. If Judge Jackson had exhibited a hundredth of Kavanaugh’s angry, contemptuous attitude, she would have been declared unfit to sit on the Court. But White men are allowed to express anger and disdain in a way that Black women (and men) are denied. The codes of the Old South still hold sway in the world’s most embarrassing institution. Shameful!

The Supreme Court again acts to protect White control in gerrymandered districts.

          As Senate Republicans were engaged in outrageous conduct in the Capitol, the reactionary majority on the Supreme Court was giving the QAnon Caucus a run for its money. On Wednesday, the Court set-aside a Wisconsin state legislative map (not congressional district maps) that created one additional “Black-majority” district. The background and facts are complicated, so I recommend Ian Millhiser’s excellent analysis of the Wisconsin Legislature case in Vox, The Supreme Court’s Wisconsin decision makes it harder to stop racist gerrymanders.

          In its unsigned order—issued on the “shadow docket”—six justices intervened with virtually no briefing to overturn the judgment of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in tentatively approving a state legislative map. The unsigned order essentially told Wisconsin to go back and see if there was any other district besides a “Black-majority” district that could be drawn. Only after exhausting those alternatives can Wisconsin consider a Black-majority district. As Ian Millhiser explains, the Court’s order “flips the presumption” of the Voting Rights Act on its head.

          To add insult to injury, the Court intervened only five months before the August primaries in Wisconsin. That “late-stage” intervention flies in the face of the Court’s refusal to set aside admittedly discriminatory districts in Merrill v. Milligan. In Merrill, the Court allowed gerrymandered districts to remain in place because, in the words of Justice Kavanaugh, “Federal courts ordinarily should not enjoin a state’s election laws in the period close to an election.” The Merrill decision was issued nine months before the next general election and three months before the next primary.

          Thus, in Kavanaugh’s view, nine months is “too close in time” to overturn racially gerrymandered districts that favor Whites, but five months is sufficient time to set aside Wisconsin’s Black-majority district created in accordance with the Voting Rights Act. (Because the order was unsigned, I assume that Kavanaugh was in the majority—a safe bet.)

          I hope I have conveyed the outrageous double standard that appears to turn on the Court’s hostility to Black-majority districts but its acceptance of districts that are gerrymandered to maintain voting control for Whites. Unless and until the Court issues an opinion that explains the inconsistency between the Merrill and Wisconsin Legislature cases, the simplest explanation is that the reactionary majority on the Court is helping to defend racially gerrymandered districts that preserve GOP control in ways that violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

Putin’s war on the Ukrainian people.

          Putin and the Russian military have continued their war crimes against the people of Ukraine—targeting civilians, depriving them of food and water, and forcibly removing them to Russia. The U.S. declared that Russia has committed war crimes in its assault on Ukraine, calling out the siege of Mariupol and the bombing of a maternity hospital.

          Against the backdrop of increasingly ominous and depressing news from Ukraine, President Biden arrived in Brussels for a meeting with NATO allies. The fact of the meeting—combined with new sanctions and more explicit warnings—is another stabilizing move by Biden, who continues to handle the crisis with calm but resolute leadership. We are fortunate to have him as our leader at this unsettled moment in world history.

          Per the NYT story linked above, NATO plans to double its forces on its eastern flank. Good. Russia’s beleaguered army is in no shape for additional fights and a hefty presence of NATO troops should discourage further expansionism (at this time).

          The war continues to go badly for Russia, with increasing concerns that Russia plans to use chemical weapons to inflict damage that its degraded and demoralized troops cannot. One ominous report says that a leaked document from the Russian Ministry of Health is mobilizing medical staff in Russia in anticipation of a “mass casualty event.” See Business Insider, Ukraine Invasion: Leaked Document Shows Russia Foresees Mass Casualties. Ukrainian sources interpret the document to mean that Russia has decided to hunker down for a long war of attrition against Ukraine.

          In a war of attrition, Russia appears to be at a distinct disadvantage. A must-read story in The Daily Beast, details a dysfunctional, demoralized, wounded Russian army. See The Daily Beast, Russian Troops Are Now Turning on Each Other. ‘It’s a Sh*tshow,’ One Soldier Is Recorded Telling Another. The article is based on an intercepted phone conversation between Russian soldiers. I don’t know if the recording is authentic, but some of the details match reports of casualties in mainstream Russian media. Among the comments made in the conversation,

• A Russian soldier claimed that he intentionally “ran over” his commander during battle, causing severe injury to his commander;

• Fifty percent of the soldier’s unit is suffering from frostbite on their feet;

• A Russian plane bombed the soldier’s unit;

• The Russian troops are “surrounded on all sides” by Ukrainian forces;

• The soldier’s unit was forced to carry their dead comrades for five days because of logistical failures; and

• The solider was told by commanders that the special military operation would be over in four days.

          Meanwhile, back in Russia, citizens are engaging in panic buying of goods as sanctions start to clear shelves in stores. See The Guardian, ‘We’re going back to a USSR’: long queues return for Russian shoppers as sanctions bite. And one of Putin’s longest-serving advisers resigned from his government position on Tuesday and has left Russia. The Guardian, Putin adviser Anatoly Chubais quits and leaves Russia over invasion of Ukraine.

          While none of Russia’s difficulties match the crimes against humanity being inflicted on the Ukrainian people, they indicate that Ukraine may win simply by holding on—despite the incredible death and destruction being inflicted by Russia. As I wrote yesterday, if Ukraine can do that, the entire world will benefit from the bravery and sacrifice of the Ukrainian people.

Trump’s crimes.

          Two developments on Wednesday highlighted the need for the DOJ to indict Trump. The resignation letter from a Manhattan prosecutor asserted that there was ample evidence of multiple crimes to sustain a conviction against Trump. See NYTimes, Trump Is Guilty of ‘Numerous’ Felonies, Prosecutor Who Resigned Says. I urge you to read the entire resignation letter. It is damning.

          Rep. Mo Brooks, coup-plotter and candidate for U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, has had Trump’s endorsement for months. But Brooks committed the cardinal sin of wavering on claims that the election was stolen. Trump withdrew his endorsement, and Brooks gave an interview in which he confirmed that Trump intended to “rescind” the 2020 election and remove Joe Biden as president. If you were an overly-cautious Attorney General worried about how you could prove Trump’s intent, Mo Brooks just delivered the smoking gun. It is time for Merrick Garland to convene a grand jury and begin presenting evidence!

Opportunity for high school students to develop leadership skills.

          The Civics Center is accepting applications for the spring sessions of Future Voters Action Week (FVAW). FVAW is a five-day virtual workshop for high school students interested in developing their leadership skills. The program trains students to create public narratives and voter registration action plans and offers an opportunity to collaborate with other students. There is no cost to apply or to attend. 

          The Civics Center will be hosting one session for Southern California (April 11-15 at 4:30 PM Pacific / 7:30 PM Eastern) and one national session (April 18-22 at 4:30 PM Pacific / 7:30 PM Eastern). Applications for both sessions of FVAW are due April 1. 

Concluding Thoughts.

          On a day when Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson demonstrated what it takes for a Black woman to succeed in America, we lost a trailblazer who demonstrated what it takes for an immigrant and a woman to rise to the highest levels of government. When Madeleine Albright was appointed Secretary of State in 1997, she was the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in the U.S. government. She left an outsized mark on U.S. foreign policy, now described as the “Albright Doctrine.” Her path to leadership was remarkable, as described in a Washington Post article in 1999, Becoming Madeleine Albright,

          [I]t is hard to conceive of another [Secretary of State] from as unusual a background as Madeleine Albright’s: escapes from Nazism and communism; a buried Jewish past; a marriage that brought her into the charmed circle of America’s elite; a divorce that spurred a new, career-driven focus to her life; and finally, the triumphant moment in January 1997 when she emerged as America’s first female secretary of state.

          From immigrant refugee to U.S. Secretary of State within the span of 49 years. Only in America! Each in her own way, Judge Jackson and Secretary Albright demonstrates the greatness and unfinished work of the American promise.

          Talk to you tomorrow!