Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMarshall, TPM "Don't Participate in a Sham Process"
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/dont-participate-in-a-sham-processDont Participate in a Sham Process
By Josh Marshall
|
September 26, 2020 6:42 p.m.
President Trump has now, unsurprisingly, chosen to nominate the far right Amy Coney Barrett to succeed Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. The only sensible approach is for Senate Democrats neither to meet with Barrett nor participate in the confirmation process at all. Even to do so in a critical posture is to add legitimacy to a process that is illegitimate.
As bad as she may be as a judge or for the future of equal justice in the United States she can never be as bad as the corruption of the process itself. It is that corruption the court-packing scheme Republicans pushed into overdrive starting in early 2016 that justifies, indeed requires Democrats to add seats to the Court in 2021. Distracting from that reality with a gauzy-lensed look at Barretts personal story and judicial merits is madness. Pure madness.
Here too politics lines up neatly with principle. This will be a high profile spectacle that will dominate the final weeks of the election and be 100% under the control of the GOP and the White House. It is literally stage managed by the GOP and all the initiative is in their hands. One might as well agree to shut down ones own campaign for the last month of the election.
Trump is the issue in the election. It is his defeat which will allow Democrats to undo the damage of this corrupt process in 2021. No matter how bad Barrett comes off in hearings and remember, its a process 100% controlled by the President and Senate Republicans she certainly will not come off worse than Donald Trump. Why allow that? Why participate? Why feed the lie of legitimacy?
Republicans have already told us that Barrett herself is irrelevant to this process. Almost every Senate Republican agree to vote to confirm her before they knew who Trump would nominate. They could not have made this more clear. She is irrelevant. Is she hard right? Of course. Just like the other possible choices.
You cant insist a process is illegitimate while granting it legitimacy, while arguing within the questions the process raises. In this context, participation amounts to begging. Begging is weak. Democrats need to make clear that the only answer to Republican court-packing which will toss millions off health care, cripple voting rights, further limit reproductive rights and more important than anything be a decades-long veto over all progressive legislation is to elect Democrats and repair the damage in 2021.
Dont participate. Its madness.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
1 replies, 568 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (2)
ReplyReply to this post
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Marshall, TPM "Don't Participate in a Sham Process" (Original Post)
NRaleighLiberal
Sep 2020
OP
enough
(13,258 posts)1. I see his point, but I wonder if not participating is actually a form of capitulation.
And capitulation in advance is a form of acceptance.
Also, not participating means that only the right-wing version will be heard by the public.