Today, as millions continue to observe the holy month of Ramadan, Jill and I extend our best wishes to Muslims everywhere and continue to keep them in our prayers. And, we reaffirm our commitment to do all we can to put an end to the vicious hate of Islamophobia—here at home and around the world.
- Statement from President Joe Biden on the International Day to Combat Islamophobia
The current Democratic delegate count for president is 2600. Some guy got three delegates from American Samoa. One percent (26) are uncommitted. The uncommitted vote is largely an effort to protest Biden's Israeli policy. Trump (note headline and actual content) is clearly much worse.
But, a primary is a time to make your voice heard from the right or left. I supported Elizabeth Warren during the primaries in 2020. I voiced opposition to Biden on various grounds. I was overblown in some of my comments. Nonetheless, I do not repent from my desire to vote to his left (and for a woman) in Spring 2020.
I supported him after he won the nomination. I believe that I voted for Nader in 2000 before I had much of an online presence, but to be fair New York was a safe state. And, it was not because "not a dime's worth of difference." That's dumb. The stakes are higher now and once you badmouth both sides, hoping only the states that won't matter will vote against that person is a very risky game.
I have argued that Biden deserves some more credit for his Israeli-Gaza positions. He deserves criticism too. Nonetheless, the criticism is not on him alone. Still, he is the leader of the party as president. So, yes, on some level the buck is going to stop with him. That is how it goes.
President Biden has nominated a diverse range of federal judges. One symbolic moment was the joint hearing to confirm Nicole Berner (Jewish) and Adeel Mangi (Muslim) as court of appeals judges. As the Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights proclaimed:
Their long records of commitment to equal justice are commendable. Nicole Berner is a brilliant lawyer who has devoted her career to the protection of our fundamental rights, including the rights of working people, reproductive rights, and the rights of LGBTQ people. Adeel Mangi has extensive pro bono experience in civil rights, including protecting religious freedom and fighting discrimination against Muslim communities. This is the kind of critical but underrepresented civil rights expertise that will greatly benefit the federal judiciary and strengthen our democracy.
Multiple Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee tried to tie Magni with terrorists. It was disgusting. Nicole Berner is now a federal judge. I thought it was clear sailing, more or less, for Mangi as well. If confirmed, Mangi would restore a 7-7 split on the 3rd Circuit among active judges appointed by Democratic or Republican presidents.
Oh well. Joe Manchin, who recently announced he would not support nominees that don't have at least one Republican vote, came out against him. This suggests that no Republican would support him, which puts the blame largely on them. There is no good reason to vote him down. Doing so promotes lies and anti-Muslim bigotry. No, it's not just because he is Muslim. It is the Republicans trying again and again time him with terrorism. Saying he was against it repeatedly was not enough.
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto announced she would not vote to confirm Mangi, citing his links to “an organization that I have found has connections to individuals who killed police officers.”
There is basically nothing to this claim. His work led him to be involved with a group that deals with incarcerated people, which includes those who killed police officers. Not that he personally was involved with anyone specifically like that. He was involved in a case involving a mentally ill man killed by a corrections officer. Should people who kill police officers (including their families) not have any representation at all?
Now, her fellow Nevada senator, who actually has something of an excuse since she is up in what is likely to be a tight race this year,* has announced her opposition. I blame Cortez-Mastro there more since she gave her colleague cover. A couple more senators from red/purple states also are wary about announcing their support. You are promoting bigotry!
The Balls & Strikes headline is "Democrats’ Abandonment of Adeel Mangi Is Cynical and Embarrassing." The Biden Administration released a statement against the anti-police officers' criticism, noting it was bogus. I do not know how much Democratic Senate leadership (Durbin on the Committee and Schumer overall) is pushing to defend him. The Senate is now in Easter recess. If he fails, this is on the "Democrats."
The Democrats should not be supporting Republican bigotry against the person who would be the first Muslim federal court of appeals judge. It looks even worse in an election year where concerns of lack of support for Muslims is a significant issue. Do you not think people will cite this in swing states like Michigan? It is an unnecessary self-own.
Political concerns in an election year cannot be ignored. And, that is how the system is supposed to work. Political pressures provide an incentive for public officials. Nonetheless, it goes beyond that. It goes to basic fairness and doing the right thing. It is about not helping the trolls.
I am still annoyed that Professor Victoria Nourse was blocked by a filibuster. We do not have filibusters of nominations anymore. This was a good development. We now can rise and fall on a majority vote. It is just plain wrong if it is not met here. The fault still will largely be with the Republicans. A 45-55 vote where all the votes for are Democrats is mostly on the Republicans. Or whatever it might be.
But, we expect Republicans to be bad. We are right to expect more from Democrats. And, cannot one or more halfway-sane Republicans (like Murkowski) make a stand against anti-Muslim bigotry? I would gather the current bet is "no," but dare to dream. There is still time for sanity here.
ETA: Khizr Khan has a strong op-ed denouncing the "smear campaign."
Remember him? His son died fighting in Iraq (he was American military). Khan later spoke out against Donald Trump, specifically his anti-Muslim policies. Trump has no shame. Do the Democrats against Mangi?
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* We still have Talking Points Memo-type places blithely noting without comment (which to me is akin to replacing "Republicans" with "cats" there as if we are not supposed to say WTF!!!!):
There’s a very decent chance Republicans could have a trifecta next year, though I’m increasingly dubious about their chances in the House.
I really don't want to believe that there is a "very decent chance" that this will happen since it is horrible to contemplate. If you put a gun to my head, that would surprise me. The "very" at the very least seems a bit much.
The odds at the moment indeed favor the Republicans in the Senate. It would be horrible if Biden won and his nominees were tied to getting Republican support. This entry underlines the danger of any candidate with some shred of possible controversy. Republicans will block even those without that shred.
So, I understand someone like Senator Jacky Rosen being gun shy. That underlines the importance of others not to help. [Added FN]
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