The Left-Cheek Ass Clown for March, 2022

There isn't much competition this period for the award, and much to say ... so let's get to it.

The Left-Cheek Ass Clown Award for March, 2022

is presented as a group award to

The Republican Members

of the

Senate Judiciary Committee:

Chuck Grassley (R, IA)

Lindsey Graham (R, SC)

John Kennedy (R, LA)

Mike Lee (R, UT)

Rafael "Ted" Cruz (R, TX)

Ben Sasse (R, NE)

Thom Tillis (R, NC)

John Cornyn (R, TX)

Josh Hawley (R, MO)

Tom Cotton (R, AR)

and

Marsha Blackburn (R, TN)

Political commentators Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein wrote in 2012 that “The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.” Ten years later, that assessment was borne out by the disgraceful behavior of the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee when they engaged in two days of shameful and fact-free berating of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of the most qualified persons - of any race or gender - ever nominated to the Supreme Court. 

In a farcical display of petty grandstanding and grievance airing, the eleven GOP members of the Judiciary Committee spent hour after hour selectively quoting (or misquoting, or outright ignoring) facts, statistics and the writings of Judge Jackson. They made not the least attempt to approach difficult issues with nuance and understanding, seeking only to amass sound bites to rouse the right-wing media and the MAGA crowds. They repeatedly interrupted and spoke over Judge Jackson in a shameful parade of bullying, faux-righteous anger and nonsensical comments designed not to examine the unquestioned qualifications of a nominee to the nation's highest court, but to score cheap political points, advance a culture war agenda in the absence of actual policy ideas, and position themselves to appeal to the most radical and angry elements of the extreme right during the upcoming midterm elections and the 2024 presidential campaign season.

At the outset of the hearings, each of the Republicans piously assured Judge Jackson that she would not be subjected to what they claimed was the degrading and unfair treatment of previous Republican nominees to the court ... and then proceeded to do exactly that. It set up two days of the most disgraceful character assassination and ignorance ever displayed by even the most crass members of a party increasingly known for its lack of empathy, low ethical standards, and basic understanding of the most fundamental legal or Constitutional issues.

The eleven Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have shown themselves to be among the worst representatives of the worst of America. It's difficult to decide which are worse: these eleven disgraceful political clowns, or the voters who elected them to an institution once known for careful deliberation and public service.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the eleven Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are presented a group award as the Left-Cheek Ass Clown for March, 2022. It's a sad day for the nation.

But wait - there's more.

Dishonorable mention is also presented to the Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who - with the notable and honorable exception of Senator Cory Booker (D, NJ) - failed to push back against the despicable treatment meted out to Judge Jackson. Their shameful lack of willingness to defend the Judge against the brutal and nauseatingly cynical attacks of the Republican members mark a sad nadir in the  common decency we generally expect of today's Democrats.

Have a good day, and come back tomorrow when we'll try to lighten up a dismal week with a collection of cartoons honoring something many Republican members of Congress ought to try ... silence.

More thoughts then.

Bilbo