Deputy Editor Jason Linkins tells the New Republic that “Senate-brained Democrats” are still “naïvely” pretending the Republican Senate is an independent working body rather than a Congressional wing of the White House. They also appear to think “they can revive this moribund body, through actions that at best send mixed messages and at worst directly undermine the work of Democrats like Jeff Merkley.”
“Case in point: This week, amid the government shutdown, 13 Democratic senators joined forces with all but one Republican to advance the nomination of Harold Mooty to a judgeship in the Northern District of Alabama,” Linkins said.
But some “fun facts” about Mooty: During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in September, Mooty pledged his allegiance to one man over law by refusing to provide a direct answer as to who won the 2020 election. He also doggedly refused to take questions regarding his thoughts on the January 6 Capitol riots.
“When it comes to deal-breakers, to each their own, but I find it puzzling that these weren’t some crimson flags for Senate Democrats,” Linkins said. “But even if they weren’t, everyone should understand that the only role a Republican judicial nominee plays in American life is serving Trump as if he was their personal legal client and backstopping his savage corruption. For that reason alone, there should never be a Democratic name signed to the advancement of Trump’s judges.”
The Democrats who openly voted to appoint a Jan. 6 denier include Sens. Chris Coons (Del.) Dick Durbin (Ill.) John Fetterman (Pa.) Mark Kelly (Ariz.) Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), among others. Even Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who catches no end of verbal abuse and name-calling from President Donald Trump (“Shifty Schiff,” “Watermelon Head,” “Pencil Neck,” and “Adam Schitt”) meekly gave Trump his way on his confederate-style judge, according to Linkins.
Linkins’ theory for the doormat behavior includes senators believing these kinds of votes help “bolster democracy” and “show the ol’ ship of state is still humming along, normal business and regular order is possible, and that we aren’t so far off from recovery.”
“Folks, I would love to believe that a small overture might seed a future coming together of polarized parties. But if watching schoolchildren get shot to pieces several times a year isn’t going to foster that fellowship, then we’re definitely not getting there by throwing the other side a bone in the form of Harold Mooty,” Linkins argued. “The government is shut down, there’s a hole in the White House, the president is ordering extrajudicial killings in Latin America as part of some run-up to a regime change war, and citizens are getting snatched off the streets by Brett Kavanaugh–inspired goons.”
“The system so loved by the Senate-brained is currently offline! And these votes to approve the odd judicial candidate are simply small enabling acts that only help to fuel the disorder,” Linkins said.
Read the New Republic report at this link.