Five very brief thoughts on the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearings.

Amy Coney Barrett illustration by J.X.I. Long

There’s a lot of situations to choose from, but this might still be Top Five Examples of Hypocrisy in Action 2020.

I have a massive problem with Republicans holding confirmation hearings in the first place. The hypocrisy is breathtaking in its brazenness.

Yes, this is me, someone did not hack my account.

I am more impressed with Amy Coney Barrett than I am with the sampling of Democrat senators I have heard questioning her and posturing for public opinion. They are not doing well, IMO.

What it means to be a Supreme Court Justice.

If she can set aside her religious and personal views to the extent that other successful SCJs have, then so be it. She seems to me to possess an intellect and command of the law that might be frustrating, but is nothing to mock, laugh at, or dismiss.

She is clearly well-studied, well-prepared, and well-regarded by many who have worked with and learned from her. There is a difference between disagreeing with someone based on the positions they take when they are consistent, and disagreeing with someone who lacks any ethical or moral center.

I may not like the positions she has taken, but so far, I have not seen evidence that she has placed her understanding, interpretation, or application of the law beneath that of her personal views or opinions. Am I fearful for the coming decades of the Supreme Court and what it means?

Yes.

But I am also more optimistic, than perhaps I deserve to be, in this case, about the nature of being a SCJ and the gravity of the position. She strikes me as different in a good way, in the sense that she seems to have an iron-willed adherence to a textual interpretation of the Constitution and law…and that her compass for judgment is based on a consistent application, rather than being swayed by public opinion or pressure coming from those above or around her expecting her to vote a particular way.

I fully expect to be disappointed and angry about some, perhaps many, of her positions on the Bench. But I am also cautiously less…concerned about this particular nominee than I was before observing her actions, words, demeanor, and responses.

In a rare moment of optimism.

There is a long history of SCJs surprising the Presidents who appointed them in sometimes hilarious ways. I hope she is one of them, and unlike Justices Thomas or Kavanaugh, seems to have a presence and intellect on par with the position she’s being appointed to.

In summation.

I have a problem. A huge problem with the whole process. It should not be happening. But right now, with what I have seen, heard, and read, my problem is with Republicans and less so with her. May she be a huge thorn in their sides at some point - and more importantly,