A Death Cult

Lisa O'Neill is worried. She went to the same high school as Amy Coney Barrett -- whose Senate confirmation process starts today. O'Neill writes:

Like the late Justice Scalia, for whom she clerked, Barrett is a self-described textualist and originalist; she interprets the US constitution based on its plain language and an attempted understanding of the intent and mindset of the original drafters. Barrett has also written that, in her view, it is appropriate and legitimate for judges to overturn precedents when they conflict with their personal interpretation of the constitution. Obedience to the exact original meaning of the constitution without current context is problematic. These laws were made by white, cisgender men who enslaved other human beings and never intended to include a vast sum of Americans–like women and people of color–in their quest for equal rights.

The founders did great work. But they realized that their nation would always have to strive for a "more perfect union." Retreating to the past was a way of denying that need to evolve and improve. And Coney Barrett's views suggest she's not concerned about making people's lives better:

With Barrett’s nomination, I worry about the lives and futures of my fellow Americans. I worry about the lives of over 20 million Americans who depend on the Affordable Care Act for healthcare when Barrett criticized the supreme court decision upholding Congress’ authority to enforce it. I worry about the lives of women and all those with uteruses when Barrett has referred to abortion as “always immoral” and stated that judges may overturn precedents according to their interpretation of the constitution.

I worry about the lives of LGBTQ+ families when Barrett defended supreme court dissenters on the landmark marriage equality case Obergefell v Hodges. I worry about the lives of Black, Native, Asian and Latinx Americans when Barrett has pointed out what she perceives as flaws in Brown v The Board of Education: the landmark case that desegregated schools. I worry about the lives of transgender youth and adults when, in lectures, Barrett stated she did not know if transgender bathrooms were necessary given the text of Title IX and when she misgendered transwomen, calling them “physiological males.”

Coney Barrett is precisely the kind of judge Donald Trump wants on the Supreme Court. He's not concerned with the lives of other people. To date, 215,000 Americans have died from COVID and there will be tens of thousands of more deaths.

The man quite literally leads a death cult.

Image: Wall Street Journal