Say what you will about Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate majority whip. He’s been through a few more rodeos than fellow Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Thus, when he’s throwing cold water on an attempt to impeach Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — one of those blockbuster developments certain elements of the far left think will precipitate out of the committee hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion — it might behoove her to pay attention. She won’t, but I’m just saying.
On Sunday, Durbin was doing the usual duty on the political chat shows — in this case, “Fox News Sunday.”
The 77-year-old senator is so practiced at this he almost seems half-bored. Half-bored is good, though — at least sometimes. When the yelly-shouty crowd has fully taken over the Sunday chat shows, we’ll know the fall of Rome is nigh.
(Here at The Western Journal, we keep tabs on the radical left seven days a week — and we’re not going to give it a break. If you support our coverage, please consider subscribing.)
However, at least one of the yelly-shouties took over a chunk of the recent news cycle: The Notorious AOC, who insisted it was time to consider impeaching justices who voted to overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion decision.
“If we allow Supreme Court nominees to lie under … oath and secure lifetime appointments to the highest court of the land and then issue, issue without basis — if you read these opinions — issue without basis rulings that deeply undermine the human civil rights of the majority of Americans, we must see that through,” Ocasio-Cortez told NBC News on June 26.
“There must be consequences for such a deeply destabilizing action and a hostile takeover of our democratic institutions.”
In March, she targeted Thomas specifically, saying on Twitter that he should either resign or face possible impeachment.
Clarence Thomas should resign.
If not, his failure to disclose income from right-wing organizations, recuse himself from matters involving his wife, and his vote to block the Jan 6th commission from key information must be investigated and could serve as grounds for impeachment.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 29, 2022
She cited actions by the justice’s wife, Ginni Thomas, who exchanged text messages with Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the days and weeks following the 2020 election. She believed the election had been stolen.
You may notice Ginni Thomas doesn’t sit on the Supreme Court — or any legal body or in any elected position. AOC wants to bravely set the precedent that who you are married to can determine what position you hold. I cannot possibly imagine how this could be abused.
On Sunday, Fox News’ Mike Emanuel asked Durbin, “As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, what do you say to progressives calling for impeaching some of the conservative justices?”
“I don’t think it’s realistic,” Durbin said.
“I can tell you, there is, in my mind, a clear conflict of interest when it comes to Justice Thomas and issues related to the Jan. 6 insurrection,” the senator said. “His wife is actively involved politically, going so far as to give direct advice to the president’s chief of staff during this crisis.
“I would think that Justice Thomas should recuse himself from any decisions that relate to the Jan. 6 episode. Already he was the single vote earlier on a case related to that issue. I think it’s a mistake.
“As to whether he’s going to be impeached, that is not realistic.”
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If you’re not a Sunday chat-show veteran, pay no heed to Durbin’s pro forma calls for recusal. If anything from these orchestrated hearings eventually ends up before the Supreme Court — this seems a long shot — progressives who want to rip up Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health because things didn’t go their way are finding that there isn’t an outlet.
Thomas is the easiest figure for the left to target for impeachment, of course. He’s the most conservative member of the court now that Antonin Scalia has taken heaven’s bar exam and is clerking for Aquinas. His wife sent some text messages to Meadows that don’t necessarily represent the justice’s views (and definitely not mine), but the messages did nothing.
The only connection of substance between the messages and Thomas’ jurisprudence was that he was the lone dissenting vote in former President Donald Trump’s bid to keep certain documents from the Jan. 6 committee.
But, for the progressives, this is just the beginning. AOC is floating impeachment because the justices lied under oath during their confirmation hearings by saying they’d respect Roe.
Let’s take a few of ’em down! Instant solution to so many problems! And they already have more than 1 million signatures on a petition to remove him from the court. (Not that this is even remotely how it works.)
This is supposed to be the future of the Democratic Party, at least if the Justice Democrats get their way: Smug EV owners sipping flat whites on Instagram Live and bellowing about how, if they don’t get reproductive justice, America is going to die in like, six years.
That’s why we need to impeach these old white men on the illegitimate court, starting with Clarence Thomas. OK, he’s black, but his wife is white and we don’t really like her. That counts. This is now. We’ve got this, streamer nation.
And then along come the half-bored men in suits like Dick Durbin. You know, the responsible folk who realize that getting two-thirds of a vote to convict Thomas of having an outré wife might not be the best use of time, resources or optics. Unless, of course, you’re AOC and you want you some attention.
Sure, the senator may be a bored man in a dull suit on one of those old-timey Sunday political chat shows. He occasionally commutes to reality, however, which is more than can be said for Ocasio-Cortez and her ilk.
Angry over the death of Roe v. Wade though they may be, the Democrats would do well to continue carpooling with Mr. Durbin.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
