Copernicus
Industrial Grade Linguist
Who is pretending that? I voted for the man in part because I believed that he would not appoint such people to the Supreme Court. And I voted against Trump, because I knew from experience that those were exactly the kind of people he would appoint.
Well, Kavanaugh never clerked for a SCOTUS justice and only ever argued only one case before SCOTUS on behalf of Ken Starr--to disregard attorney-client privilege in relation to Foster's death--and they rejected it. He had a reputation for extreme partisanship and was approved as a US Circuit Judge after a party-line vote. He became embroiled in partisan conflicts and was accused of lying to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Outside of having no particular reputation as an expert in constitutional law, his only real serious credential seemed to be his reliability as a political partisan and his love of beer and forcing himself on women during his wild college years.
Barrett, like Kavanaugh, met the criterion of being adamantly opposed to abortion, but she did clerk for Scalia for a year. So she had that over Kavanaugh, and nobody accusing her of rape or drunken behavior. She had never argued any case before the Supreme Court. More importantly, she was known for feeling that she should basically never recuse herself from cases where she appeared to have a conflict of interest or appearance of bias. She served as a US Circuit judge, but only for three years. That was it. Nothing really to distinguish herself as an experienced legal scholar, but everyone thought she was smart and knowledgeable . Basically, it was just her policy biases that got her the nomination, and she was rushed through confirmation without much vetting only because a presidential election was coming up quickly. It was one of the most blatant exercises of political shoehorning onto SCOTUS in the history of the US.
So now we come to Biden's choice of a qualified justice, and he has narrowed it down to a campaign promise to his political base during an election campaign--same as Reagan's promise to appoint a woman during his presidential election. He has a large number of qualified candidates to pick from in that narrow demographic, and the ones I have seen put forward in the press all look far more qualified for the position than either Barrett or Kavanaugh. Trump had his litmus test, and so does Biden. The difference is that competence and experience was not high on the list for Trump's decision. I believe that it will be for Biden.
Who would have ever thought that some asshole from Mississippi would equate a well qualified Black justice with Affirmative Action? Btw, over 60% of Black citizens want AA to end. Most believe, as do I, that AA should now be limited to those who have suffered in the lower socioeconomic class of society. In fact, that's becoming a popular position lately. There was even an editorial written by a Black professor supporting this. He feels that people like him and his children are already privileged and don't need special consideration when applying for a job or admission to a school. 