The retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has sparked headlines about the coming “fight” over President Joe Biden’s nominee to replace him.
But although Republicans will oppose anyone whose record suggests she makes political decisions, not constitutional ones, as they should, there won’t be a real fight or “blood sport,” as one pundit put it. Biden will nominate a black woman, as he promised in 2020, and she’ll face nothing like the character assassination campaigns that Democrats have mounted against every originalist since Ronald Reagan picked Robert Bork in 1987.
Republicans will treat the nominee with respect even if most eventually vote against her. Some will probably vote for her. It’s only the second year of Biden’s presidency, so the presumption remains that the chief executive may choose whom he wants.
If Republicans vote “no” en bloc, the nomination will fail unless Vice President Kamala Harris breaks the tie. But Harvard Law Prof. Laurence Tribe, judicial darling of the Left, said in 2020 that Vice President Mike Pence could not tip the balance for President Donald Trump’s nominee. “No vice president in our history has ever cast a tiebreaking vote to confirm an appointment to the Supreme Court,” he wrote. “If Pence tried to cast the deciding vote … it would be the first time that has ever happened.”
Democrats’ willingness to trash previously held opinions knows no bounds. Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer want to end the legislative filibuster, and they toy with packing the court with ideological clones. So, they wouldn’t mind reversing the arguments they used during the Trump years. But a few GOP centrist votes would mean they wouldn’t need to.
Biden’s promise to choose a black woman underscores the Democrats’ ideological corruption of the judiciary to make it serve their political ends. He said in a presidential election debate that he wanted his nominee to represent the black female demographic.
That’s not what judges are for. We have representatives in something called the House of Representatives. Supreme Court justices should not check their constitutional or statutory analyses against the wishes of any section of society. Their sole role is to decide what the law is, not what it should be. The latter decision is a constitutional impropriety except when taken by elected politicians.
Political and ideological corruption of the judiciary is being matched fast by the corruption of every other institution. Until just a few years ago, one could hope that some might be immune. But hard sciences are now falling prey to the disease of wokeness. And, as Graham Hillard reveals in our magazine cover story this week, the Left is now capturing medicine, destroying trust between doctors and patients.
Separately, I return to the subject of magazine production, which I mentioned last week. This is the last magazine that will be published on this paper. Supplies have run out. The next magazine will be on slightly different stock. But we will do all we can to maintain production quality — and the content will be as good as ever.
