Barrett is currently serving as a judge on the United States
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Judge Barrett is just forty-six years old, but already has quite a legal pedigree. She graduated from Notre Dame’s Law
School. She served as a law clerk to Judge Laurence Silberman of the United
States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. More notably,
Barrett spent a year clerking for legendary Supreme Court Justice Antonin
Scalia from 1998–99. After leaving her position as Scalia’s law clerk she
practiced law at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin in Washington, D.C. Barrett
began teaching law at the Notre Dame Law School in 2002.
Here is where the politics comes into the story. Donald
Trump nominated Barrett for the U.S. Court of Appeals last year. A hearing on
her nomination was finally held after Democrat stall tactics ran out of time in September of 2017.
It would seem that the Democrats understand clearly that
another confirmation hearing for Barrett will not play well before a larger and
more attentive national audience. In her first confirmation hearing it was the
aging U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein from California who had the unmitigated
gall to aggressively challenge Barrett due to get this……..Barrett’s Catholic
faith. It seems the fervently Pro-Abortion Feinstein spent quite some time last
September trying to pin down Barrett on the controversial Roe v. Wade decision.
"The dogma lives loudly within you, and that is a concern,” opined
Feinstein. Apparently, both the living and dead dogmas Feinstein clings to every day seemed irrelevant
to her as she badgered Barrett remorselessly. It did not play well.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett |
Barrett handled the confirmation proceedings with aplomb
when she said: "It is never appropriate for a judge to impose that judge's
personal convictions, whether they arise from faith or anywhere else, on the
law." Of course, this perfect answer from Barrett did not matter to the Democrats on the
committee. Every single Democrat on the judicial committee opposed her
nomination. Barrett actually received less than a handful of Democrat votes from the
entire Senate body when the Senate confirmed her with a vote of 55–43. Joe
Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and curiously Hillary
Clinton running mate Tim Kaine of Virginia voted to confirm Barrett. Two Democrats,
the devious Claire McKaskill of Missouri and the indicted Bob Menendez of New
Jersey, did not bother to vote. Both New Mexico Senators Tom Udall and Martin
Heinrich voted against Barrett’s confirmation. Most noteworthy on Barrett’s
first confirmation was the vote of Susan Collins, the Pro-Abortion
Republican from Maine. Collins voted to confirm Barrett.
Donald Trump would do well to do an instant replay of this very same process when he announces his choice next Monday. No doubt Manchin and Donnelly
will be shaking in their boots, as will McKaskill to face another Barrett confirmation vote. And if Susan Collins gets
wobbly the second time around, after voting to confirm Barrett less than a year ago, she
will have some real explaining to do. As for Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich…..these
two can be counted on to vote with their fellow lunatics, against a mother of
seven, who has accomplished many great things in her life, before they go back
to lecturing all of us on how much the GOP hates women.
It should make for fine
theater, if you enjoy Democrats playing the villains in farces.
