Columnists Jonathan Capehart and David Brooks joined PBS NewsHour host Judy Woodruff on Friday for their weekly panel discussion to recap Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Together, the duo would accuse Republicans of putting her through hell so that they could get on Fox.
Capehart went first and was disgusted by Republicans, “they could to tear her down, belittle her experience, call her everything but a child of God, telling a mother that she is not just soft on crime, but is fine with -- with people pedaling in child pornography. It was just appalling.”
Referencing Cory Booker’s fawning speech directed at Jackson, Capehart declared that, “would have cried, if my in-laws and my mother weren't also sitting in the living room as we watched this. When I saw her wiping away the tears I felt that in my bones.”
Resorting to accusations of racism, Capehart added: “Watching her sit there, as we’re looking at that picture right now, I felt as if look, I was look-- watching a relative go through hell. And to have Senator Booker remind her but remind the country of why she's there, how hard she worked, how qualified she is, and to not let anyone rob her of her joy, how important that was.”
Resenting the fact that Jackson even had to face questions from Republicans, he concluded:
She's interviewing for a job she's always wanted and yet we had people there just trashing her in ways, we work so hard as African-Americans to get to these spots and to stay in these spots. And—and-- to have to jump through these hoops and be questioned by people who aren't even at our level. But yet that's what we have to do to get in the tent, get a seat at the table and then keep that seat.
Brooks went next and after declaring that he was deeply moved by Capehart, opined that:
...we have a -- a group of Republican senators who are not really senators. They're cable TV hosts and they use these hearings as an occasion to drag up whatever issue is popular with Tucker. And so whether it is ‘what is a woman?’ or whatever it is going to be, they're going to ask her about that. They're not going to ask her about judicial philosophy, they're not going to ask about temperament, they're going to ask what the issue of the moment is.
Ignoring the legal problems that could arise from being unable to define “woman,” Brooks turned specifically to Ted Cruz, “who I spoke about nicely last week, going back to being a schmuck this week… he makes -- makes a big kerfuffle and then leans goes back and checks out how he's doing on Twitter. It's like the perfect cycle of narcissists.”
Brooks may accuse Republicans of not quizzing Jackson about her judicial philosophy, but that only raises the question of whether Brooks was actually paying attention.
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Here is a transcript for the March 26 show:
PBS NewsHour
3/26/2022
7:34 PM ET
JUDY WOODRUFF: The Supreme Court confirmation hearings this week, it was almost, Jonathan, a tale of two, it was as if two nominees were sitting there, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, to listen to the Democratic senators you would think it was a supremely qualified woman who served for almost a decade on, in the federal courts. To listen to Republicans she's soft on crime, she tends to give lenient sentences to people who have engaged in child abuse. What did you make of the senators, of the process, of the nominee?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: How much time do we have Judy? I know we don't -- don’t have a lot of time. It was as if we were watching yes, the Supreme Court nomination hearings of Ketanji Brown Jackson, but also a relitigation of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Justice Kavanaugh, on one level. Democrats during their level best to remind people of just how qualified Judge Jackson, Judge Brown Jackson is. How qualified, beyond qualified she is to serve on the High Court and the Republicans did everything they could to tear her down, belittle her experience, call her everything but a child of God, telling a mother that she is not just soft on crime, but is fine with -- with people pedaling in child pornography. It was just appalling.
And I think that what Senator Booker, who is even more loquacious than I am, his oration that made her cry, I would have cried, if my in-laws and my mother weren't also sitting in the living room as we watched this. When I saw her wiping away the tears I felt that in my bones. Because I understood where that emotion was coming there.
You know, in the black community we -- we call everyone brother and sister. That brother over there, that sis -- that sister over there. And it really wasn't until watching that, that I really understood what that meant. I'm about three years older than Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. I'm an only child. I don't know her. I've never met her. But watching her sit there, as we’re looking at that picture right now, I felt as if look, I was look -- watching a relative go through hell. And to have Senator Booker remind her but remind the country of why she's there, how hard she worked, how qualified she is, and to not let anyone rob her of her joy, how important that was. She loves her country. She's interviewing for a job she's always wanted and yet we had people there just trashing her in ways, we work so hard as African-Americans to get to these spots and to stay in these spots. And -- and to have to jump through these hoops and be questioned by people who aren't even at our level. But yet that's what we have to do to get in the tent, get a seat at the table and then keep that seat.
WOODRUFF: What did you make of it?
DAVID BROOKS: Yeah, well, I’m so moved by that.
WOODRUFF: Yeah.
BROOKS: You know, we have a -- a group of Republican senators who are not really senators. They're cable TV hosts and they use these hearings as an occasion to drag up whatever issue is popular with Tucker. And so whether it is “what is a woman?” or whatever it is going to be, they're going to ask her about that. They're not going to ask her about judicial philosophy, they're not going to ask about temperament, they're going to ask what the issue of the moment is. And it reached its apogee with Ted Cruz, who I spoke about nicely last week, going back to being a schmuck this week—
WOODRUFF: We don’t remember that.
BROOKS: -- he’s, he makes -- makes a big kerfuffle and then leans goes back and checks out how he's doing on Twitter. It's like the perfect cycle of narcissists. And so these are not hearings. On the child pornography issue, Andy McCarthy who is a conservative writer for National Review, who happened to be a prosecutor for 20 years, says her position that there should not be mandatory minimums for people who simply possess some child pornography is absolutely the right position and this the standard position, because some people, are, they’re stupid and they do something terrible but they shouldn't get a five year minimum because they are not fundamentally criminals and so this is McCarthy's case and that’s her case, but Hawley, Josh Hawley treats it like she's soft on child abuse. So, that is just a distortion of the record.
