Now that Justice Breyer has announced his intention to retire, we’re going to have to live through another SCOTUS circus. Democrats and Republicans will both say things we all know aren’t true — and they know aren’t true — contradicting things they said just a short time ago.
Biden has promised to nominate a black woman. That doesn’t seem to have gone well with his VP pick, but … whatever.
Tulsi Gabbard had this to say about it.
Biden’s mistake: He should not be choosing a Supreme Court justice based on the color of their skin or sex, but rather on their qualifications & commitment to uphold our Constitution & the freedoms guaranteed to all Americans in that document which is the foundation of our nation
I think Biden is at least five years past his sell-by date, but I do want to try (however half-heartedly) to look at this from his point of view. What is the point of prejudging the candidates and choosing to have a black woman on the Supreme Court?
Let’s set aside the obvious answer — that he was appealing to his base — and examine this. Why is the race and sex of a SCOTUS justice important?
It’s based on the assumption that a woman will view issues differently than a man, and a black person will view issues differently than a non-black person. Statistically speaking, that might be true. For example, I’ve been reliably informed that women are one standard deviation more likely to be interested in other people than men, and one standard deviation less likely to be interested in things / gadgets than men.
But isn’t judging an individual by an alleged group characteristic exactly what we don’t want to do? Isn’t Biden’s declaration, in fact, the very definition of racism and sexism?
Are all women the same? Are all black people the same?
Would Candace Owens judge a case the same way as Whoopi Goldberg?
Obviously not. In fact, that’s so obvious it’s hard to imagine a person with two brain cells believing that race or sex determine a person’s political or judicial philosophy. As little as I think of Joe Biden, I do believe he has two brain cells. So what the heck is going on?
Okay, yes, it’s a crass political overture to interest groups. I get that. But there are some people who think this is a good thing. What are they thinking?
They clearly know there are conservative black women in the world, so they can’t be so stupid as to believe that a black woman will necessarily vote a certain way. Again, think of Candace Owens. I’m sure she’s not on Biden’s list.
What they really mean is “a liberal judge with decent qualifications who is also a black woman.”
But why? Why not an Asian? Why not a Native American? Why not somebody in a wheel chair? There are any number of demographic groups that have not been proportionately represented on the Supreme Court.
Why prejudge the issue this way? It makes no sense at all.