These are crucial questions for America, questions that came up at the Supreme Court Confirmation hearings which I watched live on C-Span this past week. Those questions and more have become political questions. Except they should not be political, because they are based in ethics and they deal with TRUTH, not politics, yet the answer to them may eventually end up being determined by the Supreme Court — a court that, in this moment in time, is not exactly non-political.
I spent twenty years in advertising, oftentimes making a product appear better than it is. How is that done? Back then, we called it ‘costuming,’ the ability to cover-up flaws so that the product appears flawless so the public may be more likely to buy it.
Justice Katanji Brown Jackson appeared flawless, a perfect choice for the Court. Gentile, intelligent, a lover of her country, a lovely daughter and very special parents. For quite a while as I watched, she seemed perfect. And then, she could not/would not answer an important question: “What is a woman?”
“I can’t. … I’m not a biologist,” Jackson said after Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn asked her to provide a definition of the word “woman.” It wasn’t a trick question, but a simple one. Just as we don’t have to be an apple-grower to know what an apple is, we don’t have to be biologists to know what a woman is. Especially if we are a woman, and especially if that was one criteria for her nomination.
And that is when I began to wonder if there isn’t a very leftist agenda behind the Justice’s guarded answer. Especially when she talked about abortion. After all, only women have abortions.
Treachery covers itself under a cloak of kindness; and above all, it is peculiarly painful to find numbers of men, even of the learned professions, who ought to set an example of probity and honor, misapply their abilities to twist and pervert the sacred meaning of both law and gospel to the basest and worst of purposes. –Thomas Bewick, 1753 – 1828. Hailed as a truly original genius of his time.
HOW DOES EVIL MAKE ITSELF LOOK LIKE GOOD?
Thomas Bewick (The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing)
“A Wolf disguising himself in the skin of a sheep, and getting in among the flock, easily caught and devoured many of them. At last the Shepherd discovered him, and cunningly watched the opportunity of slipping a noose about his neck, and immediately hung him up on the branch of a tree. Some other Shepherds observing what he was about, drew near and expressed their surprise at it. Brother Shepherd! says one of them, what! are you hanging your sheep? No, replies the other, but I am hanging a Wolf in Sheep’s clothing, and shall never fail to do the same, whenever I can catch one of them in that garb. The Shepherds then expressed themselves pleased at his dexterity, and applauded the justice of the execution.— fablesofaesop.com/the-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing.html
APPLICATION by Thomas Bewick
“We ought not to judge of men by their looks, or their dress and appearances, but by the character of their lives and conversation, and by their works; for when we do not examine these, we must not be surprised if we find that we have mistaken evil for good, and instead of an innocent sheep, taken a wolf in disguise under our protection. The finished hypocrite, by assuming the character of virtue, makes the vice more odious and abominable, and when the mask is torn off, and fraud and imposture are detected, every honest man rejoices in the punishment of the offender. Men (and women) who have not had good, religious, and moral principles early instilled into their minds, find no barrier to check their propensity to evil, and get hardened as they advance in years; and even the most liberal education, if it want the foundation of truth and honesty, is often a curse instead of a blessing, and the objects of it fail to do honor either to themselves or to their country. Thus it is we see tyranny stalking along under the mask of care and protection. Injustice sets up the letter of the law against its spirit. Oppression strips the widow and the orphan, and at the same time preaches up mercy and compassion. Treachery covers itself under a cloak of kindness; and above all, it is peculiarly painful to find numbers of men (and women), even of the learned professions, who ought to set an example of probity and honor, misapply their abilities to twist and pervert the sacred meaning of both law and gospel to the basest and worst of purposes.”
So, as far Justice Ketanji Jackson Brown’s confirmation? Though I admire much about her, I have concerns about the decisions she has made, and those she might make on abortion legislation, gender identity, lenient sentences for those involved in distributing child pornography, and Critical Race Theory in public schools.
Here are two articles you might want to read:
And here is a very revealing interview by Senator Marsha Blackburn, well worth the look.
Translating a World on the Edge 