MSNBC blogger criticizes Dems for 'cowardly' bill to increase SCOTUS security: 'Coddles right-wing justices'
'They're boasting about passing a performative bill that coddles right-wing justices — arguably the most oppressive forces in American society today,' Ja'han Jones wrote.
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On Wednesday, The ReidOut blogger Ja’han Jones published a piece describing a new Senate bill designed to protect family members of Supreme Court justices from threats, intimidation and violence, as a "cowardly response" and an "embarrassment."
Jones explained that the bill, supported by Democrats, is cowardly because it shows that Democrats are caving to "right-wing pressure" based on "unfounded claims" that leftist pro-abortion protesters are promoting "lawlessness."
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The author began his blog by describing "The Supreme Court Police Parity Act" as "an unusually bipartisan — and cowardly — response to recent nonviolent protests outside the homes of some justices, sparked by a leaked draft opinion that revealed the court will likely overturn abortion rights."
Jones added, "It’s an embarrassment for all involved, and Democrats in particular should be ashamed."
His point was that Democrats are falling for the false outrage generated by conservative media to distract from the leak by supporting this bill.
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The author then criticized Sen. Chris Coons’, D-Del., earnest support of the bill. Jones recalled how Coons, who introduced the bill, described it as an "unfortunate necessity" to address "extremes on both sides of the political spectrum."
Coons used the example of recent Supreme Court appointee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s family and their exposure on TV during Jackson’s confirmation hearing to explain his point. "If the families of Supreme Court justices have the same profile and exposure as the highest-ranking officials in our government, they deserve the same level of protection," Coons had stated, but Jones wasn’t buying it.
"But try as he may to spin the bill as an urgent bipartisan issue, it seems obvious that Democrats are just succumbing to right-wing pressure — and providing more fodder for Republicans who tar progressive protests with unfounded claims of lawlessness," the author surmised.
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He then argued that if Coons was worried about Jackson’s family, "he and other Democrats would have enacted the measure then — you know, when her confirmation was actually happening."
Jones concluded with a searing indictment of Senate Democrats over the issue:
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"All of this is particularly embarrassing to Democrats, who routinely — and justifiably — complain about conservative obstruction in Congress. Now, they're boasting about passing a performative bill that coddles right-wing justices — arguably the most oppressive forces in American society today. Not a good look."