Just like everyone else, Lawrence O’Donnell has been watching the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, quivering with anticipation at the prospect of her owning the Republicans trying to trip her up with trivial stuff like questions about her record of sentencing leniency for child pornography offenders.
And just like everyone else, Lawrence O’Donnell was overcome with righteous indignation when GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham brought up Judge Jackson’s religious faith, during a confirmation hearing, no less! How dare you, Senator?! Don’t you know that questions resembling religious tests are completely out of bounds?
"What faith are you?" is Graham's 1st question in a government that has no religious test for office.
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) March 22, 2022
This sort of thing is just totally unprecedented and inappropriate and immoral and unprecedented!
I'm genuinely enjoying the fake outrage here https://t.co/zEorQ3QokC
— PoliMath (@politicalmath) March 22, 2022
Fake outrage, PoliMath? What do you mea— ohhhh. Right:
https://t.co/1CSYsaQxy9 pic.twitter.com/FQd4PDuvto
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) March 22, 2022
Well hello there, Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Fancy seeing you here.
What was done to Amy Comey Barrett in investigating her religious convictions was genuinely disgusting yet people were defending it in earnest
Now they're pretending to be upset b/c Graham… brought it up pic.twitter.com/Pc6QFYOjF5
— PoliMath (@politicalmath) March 22, 2022
That’s literally what’s happening.
I haven’t seen the clip. I would bet cold hard cash it’s being misrepresented. https://t.co/M1eDQXNhoP
— Fuzzy Chimp 🇺🇸 (@fuzzychimpcom) March 22, 2022
To be fair, Lawrence is actually not misrepresenting the clip. Lindsey Graham did ask Ketanji Brown Jackson “What faith are you?” And a few other faith-related questions.
Watch:
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) begins his questioning with "What faith are you, by the way?"
Then, this: “Can you fairly judge a Catholic?”
Then, this: “How important is your faith to you?”
Judge Jackson says: “There’s no religious test under the Constitution.” pic.twitter.com/6SPRZZvoGe
— The Recount (@therecount) March 22, 2022
We know we’re supposed to be outraged, but we’re having a difficult time locating our ability to give a damn. To quote one of Lawrence O’Donnell’s heroes, what difference, at this point, does it make? Lindsey Graham sure as hell didn’t open this Pandora’s Box. He didn’t even really cross any lines if you take a minute to breathe and consider the very important point he was trying to make:
OMG, they're actually pretending not to get his point. This is amazing. https://t.co/nmWHpzcexP
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) March 22, 2022
They’re not only pretending not to get Sen. Graham’s point; they’re deliberately ignoring it.
Pardon me for asking, but didn't Democrats drag Amy Coney Barrett's faith into question? https://t.co/3nLGXTGlTg
— Coder, A CoderDyne Account (@CoderInCrisis) March 22, 2022
Democrats did it. Know who else did it? The media, that illustrious club of which Lawrence O’Donnell is a card-carrying member.
To equate Sen. Graham’s questions to Ketanji Brown Jackson to Senate Democrats’ questions to Amy Coney Barrett (and their treatment toward other judicial nominees) is so brazenly intellectually dishonest, it’s actually nauseating.
That’s some very colorful language you’ve got there, Mr. Al Assliken. But we’ll allow it. Because it’s absolutely accurate.
***
Related:
Join the conversation as a VIP Member