Amy Coney Barrett is well qualified for the Supreme Court, according to the American Bar Association, which is a very liberal organization. But she is a conservative, Catholic, pro-life mother of seven who was nominated by President Trump. For that reason, the media, which may possess a variety of views on matters of foreign policy and regulation but which are uniformly socially liberal and in support of legalized abortion, does not want her on the court.
Now, most reporters and editors aren’t allowed to admit that they find Barrett personally off-putting and that they disagree with her jurisdiction. But they sure aren’t trying to hide it.
Roe v. Wade is Exhibit A.
Bloomberg News greeted its readers on Monday by casting Barrett as a revolutionary who would “overthrow” Roe v. Wade, as if that ruling were the queen.
Amy Coney Barrett’s willingness to overthrow past U.S. Supreme Court decisions will be under scrutiny at her Senate confirmation hearings this week https://t.co/YVqpJtgwKy
— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) October 12, 2020
ABC News conducted a poll that deliberately made sure people didn’t know what Roe was before trumpeting its result as its main headline. I wrote about that earlier on Monday.
The Associated Press also parroted Democratic misleading spin as if it were fact.
With lightning speed, the Associated Press adopts Democrats’ language on SCOTUS: adding members is now “depoliticizing” the court, only “critics” refer to it as “packing.” pic.twitter.com/IBujBwmWE2
— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) October 11, 2020
Old factual statements and mainstream opinions about Roe become scandalous.
Amy Coney Barrett put her name on a newspaper ad that decried the “infamous” 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling and said abortions had killed “55 million unborn children” over four decades https://t.co/t1A621okH1
— Bloomberg (@business) October 10, 2020
Then, there are the efforts to attack her as too Catholic and maybe part of some sort of theocratic conspiracy.
The Guardian tried to make a thing about Barret’s housing.
Reuters, Newsweek, and the Washington Post all misleadingly played up and refused to explain the whole handmaid thing.
Then, after all this Catholic-bashing, and after Democratic senators admitted they would go after her religion, other reporters and editors tried to pretend this wasn’t about her religion. Some even said the problem wasn’t her religion but that she might adhere to “dogma.” Dogma, of course, is Catholic teaching.
“Congressional bureau chief for Politico.” pic.twitter.com/07Pr2R7zVl
— Jake Wilkins (@JakeWilkns) September 27, 2020
CNN reporters seem to think that “Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wishes” should carry the day. So did a PBS reporter.
Senator Lindsey Graham just quoted the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg saying, “A president serves four years not three.”
But Ginsburg said just before her death: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) October 12, 2020
All the folks I quoted above are supposedly straight news reporters. They all want Barrett defeated. They can’t say so outright, but they’re not doing a good job of hiding it.
