When the U.S. Senate shows behavior like day care
The usual circus we’ve come to expect from Supreme Court confirmation hearings devolved recently into something less grownup and more, shall we say, tykey. (Usage: “Is the little tyke up to his tricks again?”)
Watching the performances of Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina, I was swept back to my childhood memories of toddler colleagues who couldn’t control themselves.
To say that Cruz and Graham have become caricatures of themselves would be to minimize their accomplishments at self-parody.
Cruz questioned Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson about several children’s books that he thoughtfully brought to the hearing. Remember now, the committee is supposed to determine whether a nominee to the high court is qualified to serve, usually based on experience and judicial temperament. Personally, I’d like to add a spot-check of reading materials on the night tables of nominees and Judiciary Committee members.
We know what would be found on Cruz’s bedside: “Antiracist Baby” by Ibram X. Kendi, “The End of Policing” by Alex Vitale (currently No. 1 on Amazon, thanks to Cruz), and “Critical Race Theory: An Introduction” by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, to name a few of the tomes keeping Cruz awake at night.
These books, among others, present a critical conundrum for Jackson’s confirmation, according to Cruz’s interrogation. This is because they’re available (and sometimes recommended) at Georgetown Day School, a private school where Jackson serves on the board of trustees.
Cruz thinks that because certain books are accessible to students at an elite, private school, this judge — coincidentally the first African American woman up for a seat at the big bench — can’t be trusted to rule on cases that come before the court? At least we might trust that Jackson, unlike Cruz, would read the facts of the case in their proper context. Cruz apparently hasn’t read the books he finds so repugnant because the excerpts he quoted were demonstrably taken out of context.
If nothing else, Cruz’s performance has reaffirmed why he’s the least popular person on Capitol Hill.
Graham, who once mastered the art of getting attention by saying outrageous things and — once upon a time — hilariously true things, is no one’s audience. Whatever happened to the old Graham no longer matters. Today, he’s the tantrum-throwing tyke who refuses to take off his Batman cape and stomps out of the room when things don’t go his way.
In one line of questioning, he referred to the brutal 2018 confirmation hearings of Brett M. Kavanaugh and asked Jackson how she would respond if a letter concerning her past were produced on the last day of her hearing.
“How would you feel if we did that to you?” he asked.
When the committee chairman reminded Graham that Jackson wasn’t involved in the Kavanaugh proceedings, he said, “I’m asking her what she feels about what y’all did!”
You know by now who did not resort to theatrics — that would be Judge Jackson. But I suspect she’d have relished calmly collecting her notes and sauntering, not stomping, toward the exit to escape the tyranny of such childishness.
Instead, she remained calm and dignified throughout. If only her poise and temperament could be bottled in a vial (along with Cruz’s tears). For now, we might have to settle for anger management therapy for Graham and remedial reading courses for Cruz, who, in another fantastic foray, asked Jackson whether it would be OK with her if he decided that, instead of being Hispanic, he could be Asian.
Sure, Ted. Whatever you say.