Topic: Congress
Senatorial Theater of the Absurd Cases come before the court because the law in question is ambiguous and often contradictory. Clearly written legislation never needs to be interpreted. So if Senators truly want justices who will not “legislate from the bench,” all that’s needed is legislation whose meanings and intentions are clear. Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees are minstrel shows where Republicans and Democrats play predetermined roles. When the hearings are over, the Senators vote to send the nomination to the floor of the Senate on ideological grounds, where the same process is repeated. It is all mere pretense.by John Kozy
(libertarian)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The recurrent Senatorial minstrel show known as Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees has opened again on Capitol Hill. The script for this show never varies. Senators from the nominee's party don white faces, dutifully attesting to the nominee's ideological neutrality and integrity while those from the other party don black faces, dutifully questioning them. Every Senator claims the goal of the hearing is the confirmation of justices who are ideologically neutral, while the court itself regularly issues decisions split on ideological grounds.
The nominees also cling closely to the script. Feigning apologies for misstatements which may or may not have been made, they attempt to explain away the "misunderstandings" alluded to. And when the hearings are over, the Senators vote to send the nomination to the floor of the Senate, the white faces voting in favor and the black faces voting against, all strictly on ideological grounds, where the same process is repeated.
In the current hearings, black faced Senator Jeff Sessions questioned Ms Sotomayor's neutrality because of statements she made in the past that appeared to claim that because of her racial background she would favor members of her own race in adjudicating cases. She reportedly said that "a wise Latina might arrive at a better conclusion than a white man." Ms. Sotomayor replied that she regretted that the statement "created a misunderstanding" and that she wanted to "state up front, unequivocally and without doubt, I do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judging," thereby uttering the required apology, which, of course, did not mollify Senator Sessions. But Ms Sotomayor missed a chance to deviate from the script and turn the tables.
A better retort would have been to question Mr. Session's ignorance of how the English language works. Her statement in question is couched in the subjunctive mood which is used to express doubt and describe unreality. A wise Latina might arrive' does not imply that A wise Latina will arrive.' I might go to the movies tomorrow' does not imply that I will. In fact, it implies that I might not.
But this minstrel show's script deliberately elides a much more profound issue. Cases come before the court because the law in question is ambiguous and often contradictory. Clearly written legislation never needs to be interpreted. So if the Senators truly want justices who will not "legislate from the bench," all that's needed is legislation whose meanings and intentions are clear. Instead, the Congressional practice is to enact legislation that is so murky that no one can say with certainty what was meant. Faced with such murkiness, the justices have no alternative but to allow each to interpret the law to the best of his/her ability, and such interpretations will always be skewed by personal beliefs and backgrounds as is amply demonstrated by the court's many ideologically split decisions. When nine highly intelligent and educated men and women can each read the same law and are yet unable to agree on what it says, it is the law that is at fault, not the justices.
Play-acting is a profession of pretense. Actors pretend to be people they are not; they do not do anything but pretend. John Wayne, who avoided service in the military, made a career out of pretending to be a fighting man. Today we have play-actors pretending to be legislators. The Congress is infamous for not being able to get anything done. Sometimes it even puts on a good show. Sometimes the show is comedic; more often it is tragic. Yet the show goes on and on and on. The capitol of show business in the United States is not Hollywood, it is Capitol Hill.
2009 John Kozy
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