No Reason to be Reasonable
With yesterday’s start to the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearings, now is a good time to remind Republicans that there is no reason to be reasonable about the nomination.
Reasonableness, of course, is what the Republicans are actually doing. They’re going through the process even if the opposition does not like it. The reality is the Democrats would be doing the same if the roles were reversed.
But, in the press, “reasonableness” is doing whatever the Democrats demand. The very same reporters who waged a character assassination against Brett Kavanaugh are now doing the same against not just Barrett’s nomination, but against reason and history.
“Court-packing” has a historic connotation. It specifically refers to adding seats to a court to ensure the outcomes you want. That is what Democrats are proposing and, after the Pence-Harris debate, it became an untenable position for Biden to not take a side. Everyone from Jake Tapper and David Axelrod on CNN to even talking heads at MSNBC began acknowledging Biden needs an answer.
Instead, what Democrats have done with an assist from much of the press, is revise the phrase “court packing” to claim the GOP has already been doing it merely by filling open seats — not adding seats.
Here’s Dan Rather on October 10th:
Then Howard Dean joined in.
By the Sunday shows, it had already become the official line of the Democrats — it is the GOP that has been packing the courts.
This is, of course, not true. Filling vacancies is not packing a court. Undeterred, the Associated Press helpfully decided to carry water for the Democrats. In coverage of the Montana Senate race, the AP’s Iris Samuels, wrote this.
Bullock said that if Coney Barrett was confirmed, he would be open to measures including adding justices to the bench, a practice critics have dubbed packing the courts.
“A practice critics have dubbed” could not be a more obvious advancement of a Democrat talking point by a major media outlet. This is the same media that now claims bipartisan votes are not bipartisan.
Three Democrats voting for something with the GOP is, in fact, definitionally bipartisan.
Like with the Kavanaugh hearings and the press’s willful advancement of Democrat talking points, there is no point in playing up reasonableness now. The media will give the GOP no credit for it. The circle of jerks that make up the Washington press corps have taken a break from polishing up their resumes for the Biden Administration to advance a Democrat talking point on court-packing.
Republicans need to understand that, at this point, there is nothing they can do except either confirm Barrett or give up. Giving up is not an option. The press will not even commend the GOP for that.
Instead, the GOP needs to fight like hell, confirm Barrett, and move on. This is too important and the GOP has no reason to placate the press.
I believe the press might shortly discover that they have fallen into a very dark pit. When the press gives up any sort of balance and ceases to be a true watch dog warning of dangers and instead become the bull horn of one particular mind set, they will discover that they will become the fodder for that mind set. Truth is the first victim to go, when black or white is their choice and grays and colors disappear. I wonder how many reporters realize they will give an account for what they have done? And to someone they will not be able to SPIN what they did. They should be shaking in their boots, for neither mountain nor pile of rocks will hide them from that exposure. Sad times we live in.
Judge Amy and her family need our prayers.