On Tuesday morning, asked on “Fox & Friends” why Democrats should be so angry after Justice Amy Coney Barrett had stated what was tantamount to the mantra every fair-minded jurist should utter, saying, “The oath that I have solemnly taken tonight means at its core that I will do my job without any fear or favor and that I will do so independent of both the political branches and my own preferences,” Utah GOP senator Mike Lee replied: “The reason why this is making the heads of Democrats explode everywhere is that they don’t want the courts to be limited to be judging institutions; they want them to be institutions of social change, of social policy.”
Lee said:
When she said those things last night, it got my heart pounding just a little bit faster and brought a bigger smile to my face, including especially when she referred to the fact that we’re a republic and accurately described our form of government. I’ll tell you, the reason why this is making the heads of Democrats explode everywhere is that they don’t want the courts to be limited to be judging institutions; they want them to be institutions of social change, of social policy. They want them to take debatable matters beyond debate. And so that’s why this isn’t satisfying to them.
Only hours before Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court, far-Left Massachusetts Democrat senator Ed Markey ripped originalism, the concept of being faithful to the original meaning of the Constitution, tweeting, “Originalism is racist. Originalism is sexist. Originalism is homophobic. Originalism is just a fancy word for discrimination.”
Originalism is racist. Originalism is sexist. Originalism is homophobic. Originalism is just a fancy word for discrimination.
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) October 26, 2020
Lee, who is one of the great experts on the U.S. Constitution and who is also famous for his sangfroid in the midst of any political maelstrom, expressed his anger in no uncertain terms at Markey for his denigration of the Constitution. Lee lashed out, demanding that Markey retract his statement:
Of all the irresponsible and inflammatory statements I’ve heard over the last few weeks, and I’ve heard some doozies, this might well be the worst. If you think about what he is really saying there, Sen. Markey has essentially said that our Constitution is racist. And an effort to understand it, understand its words at the time they were written is itself racist and bigoted. I can’t think of a statement that has a greater tendency to undermine the foundation of our Constitutional Republic. I hope, expect, and demand that Sen. Markey retract his statement. It is irresponsible; he can’t defend that.
Five minutes later after Markey’s initial tweet, Markey issued another, threatening to pack the Supreme Court, writing, “As soon as the Democrats retake the Senate we must abolish the filibuster.”
Originalism is racist. Originalism is sexist. Originalism is homophobic. Originalism is just a fancy word for discrimination.
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) October 26, 2020
Lee noted, “For President Trump, this was the SCOTUS trifecta that he managed to pull off. In his first term alone, having put three justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. That doesn’t happen very often and I’m glad it did. I think he might well have saved the best for last. Justice Barrett is going to be terrific.”