The liberal media isn't waiting for President Trump to announce Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court before beginning its attacks on her. On today's AM Joy show on MSNBC, guest host Tiffany Cross and frequent guest Elie Mystal of The Nation unleashed a one-two punch on Barrett.
Cross called ACB a "wolf in sheep's clothing." And Mystal repeatedly accused ACB of being a "hypocrite."
Why a "wolf in sheep's clothing," according to Cross? Because, whereas Cross acknowledged that people who know ACB describe her as "very charming and disarming," in reality, she has "infringed" on people's rights--meaning she has not ruled in accordance with the liberal line.
And why a "hypocrite," according to Mystal? Because whereas she has written that Catholic judges should consider recusing themselves in death penalty cases given the Church's opposition to capital punishment, she has not recused herself in cases regarding abortion.
But there is an obvious explanation for that different approach, having nothing to do with hypocrisy. In the case of capital punishment, a Catholic might be tempted to rule against a law that has solid legal and constitutional validity. But in the case of abortion, the decision in Roe v. Wade was utterly lacking in constitutional grounding, something that a number of honest liberals have acknowledged.
There are a number of notable side-notes about the segment.
Mystal slurred Justice Kavanaugh, complaining that Republicans had confirmed an "alleged attempted rapist." That was too much even for Cross, who had the decency to point out that Kavanaugh had never been charged or convicted of rape.
Here's that exchange:
ELIE MYSTAL: Confirmation hearings don’t matter. And the reason why I know that is because a couple of years ago I saw the Republicans push through an alleged attempted rapist without an investigation. I saw that happen in my lifetime. And if that doesn’t a the Supreme Court Justice, then nothing stops a Supreme Court Jjustice.
CROSS: Let me just say judge Brett Kavanaugh was never charged, never convicted of rape, but I encourage people to watch the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, and watch his own opinion, and form your own opinion there.
Mystal did acknowledge that Dianne Feinstein's attack on ACB during her Court of Appeals confirmation hearing, in which Feinstein told ACB that "the dogma [of the Church] lives loudly in you," was an "unforced error."
And of course, no AM Joy segment is complete without an accusation of racism. So Cross said that on the one hand, "the right went crazy" when Sonia Sotomayor said that a "wise Latina woman" would more often come to better conclusions than white men.
But on the other hand, there has been "no such outrage" about ACB speaking about her faith.
Cross: "I wonder why that might be?" Her obvious but unstated answer: racism! Real answer: ACB has never said that she would make better decisions than people of other faiths!
MSNBC's attacks on Amy Coney Barrett were sponsored in part by Chevrolet, and Humira.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
AM Joy
9/26/20
10:15 am EDTTIFFANY CROSS: Next up: the impeached, loser of the 2016 popular vote will name his third Supreme Court pick later today. Elie Mystal has some thoughts about that next, so you don't want to miss it: stay tuned.
. . .
ELIE MYSTAL: Confirmation hearings don’t matter. And the reason why I know that is because a couple of years ago I saw the Republicans push through an alleged attempted rapist without an investigation. I saw that happen in my lifetime. And if that doesn’t a the Supreme Court Justice, then nothing stops a Supreme Court Jjustice.
CROSS: Let me just say judge Brett Kavanaugh was never charged, never convicted of rape, but I encourage people to watch the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, and watch his own opinion, and form your own opinion there.
But I want to get to Amy Coney Barrett. I'll tell you: I have talked to people on the bench, I’ve asked people who know her about her and a lot of people say she’s very charming, she's very disarming. And we saw some of that in her first confirmation hearing, even with that faceoff with her and Senator Dianne Feinstein. But, to the folks who have had their rights infringed upon, we know how to recognize a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
MYSTAL: Yes, look, Dianne Feinstein’s comment that has gone viral, that has made Amy Coney Barrett a star, was an error, an unforced error. Because the problem is not that Amy Coney Barrett is particularly Catholic, the problem is that she’s a hypocrite! . . . It is not devoutly Catholic to apply the death penalty, which Amy Coney Barrett has written that a good Catholic judge should recuse themselves from situations implying the death penalty.
But she has not written, and here’s the elephant in the room, she has not written that a good Catholic judge should recuse themselves on issues involving abortion or a women’s right to choose. So what we’re left with is a hypocrite who will insert her judicial opinion between a woman and a woman’s doctor, but will not insert her moral opinion between an executioner and the prisoner on the chopping block. Now that kind of hypocrisy is something I can't deal with.
CROSS: Well, I want to say, Elie, you wrote very detailed about this in The Nation. I read your piece this morning. It got me all fired up this morning to be prepared to have this conversation. Quickly before I let you go, I just want to say in your piece, that you point out some things that she has said, and I want to remind people, when Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that she would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experience, would more often that not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life, the right went crazy! But we have seen no such outrage for this potential nominee, in Judge Amy Coney Barrett, talking about her Catholic belief. I wonder why that might be?
