Someone was going to fill the vacant seat of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
It is delusional to think the Democrats, in the same situation, would have risked the opportunity until after a hotly contested election.
The Republicans could have picked any number of odious male candidates who used their gender and class privilege and Ivy League educations to shield corporate clients from accountability for misdeeds around the world.
Instead, they chose Amy Coney Barrett, who received the American Bar Association’s highest rating, a beloved former law professor at Notre Dame, and the mother of seven children, one with Down Syndrome and two adopted from Haiti. Barrett, who is Catholic, promised to “resist her policy preferences” and “private beliefs” and always follow the rule of law.
It was in keeping with the Girl Scouts’ mission of encouraging strong girls and embracing individuality to post the following message on Twitter:
“Congratulations Amy Coney Barrett on becoming the 5th woman appointed to the Supreme Court since its inception in 1789.”
What wasn’t in keeping with the Girl Scout’s mission was what happened next. The Girl Scout’s quickly removed the tweet after it elicited criticism. The Girl Scouts said the tweet was “viewed as a political and partisan statement which was not our intent.”
It seems obvious the takedown of the tweet was the partisan act, not the tweet itself.
Handmaid?
Critics responded to the Girl Scout’s tweet by calling Barrett a “handmaid”; “an existential threat to democracy”; “a woman who thinks their place is in the home, barefoot and pregnant submitting to their husbands”; “a woman installed to tear down women’s rights and the hard word of the four women who came before her,” etc.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) wrote: “What kind of patch does one earn for uplifting a woman who is the antithesis of justice.”
Barrett likely will vote to support some rulings that displease feminists and Democrats. But she also may bring a badly-needed and valuable perspective to the Court. She knows first-hand the challenges of being a working mother of young children. She knows the struggle of parenting a young child with Down Syndrome. She may blaze new trails that help women in new ways.
More importantly, holding conservative values is not the same thing as being the antithesis of justice.
History shows that many justices who are considered partisan prior to a lifetime appointment become far less so in time.
For example, Republican President Dwight Eisenhower appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren to the Court in 1953, expecting adherence to conservative values. Warren led a “Constitutional Revolution” in civil rights. He wrote the majority opinions in cases outlawing school segregation and overturning laws on interracial marriage.
Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts in 1912 to encourage girls to embrace their individuality, strength and intellect.
The Girl Scouts today promises to provide “the best leadership development experience for girls in the world.” The Girl Scouts says it unleashes the G.I.R.L. (Go-getting, innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) in every girl.
But when the Girls Scouts itself was put to the test, the organization capitulated to a bunch of bullies, poor losers, and hysterics.
Barrett is the fifth woman to be appointed to the Court since it was established in 1789. That is all the Girls Scouts was celebrating and it is something to celebrate.