WATCH: Sen. Bennet Eviscerates Barrett Confirmation Process

11 Comments

by: Colorado Pols

Sen. Michael Bennet.

A powerful speech delivered yesterday by Sen. Michael Bennet, senior Senator from Colorado, tearing into his Republican colleagues for “stealing the authority of the Founders in an effort to conceal their reactionary project”–“to protect their power and call it freedom: freedom to enslave; freedom to segregate; freedom to pay workers less than they can live on; to work them to death; to fire them because of what they believe or whom they love; to redline our neighborhoods; poison our skies; defund our schools; and buy our elections.”

Strong words (read the full text here) befitting perilous times:

Judge Barrett’s confirmation will cement a 6-3 majority on the Court that will allow the powerful to do what they want, while standing against the American people’s efforts to protect one another, to support one another, and to invest in each other through our democracy.

That is where we are. That is where we are. And as dispiriting as this moment may be, we have been here before as a country.

We are not the first generation of Americans to face a Senate or a Supreme Court that will stand with the powerful against the people. We are not the first citizens to run into a wall of obstruction as we work to make this country more democratic, more fair, and more free.

We have to learn from the examples of those who came before us. Those who answered slavery with emancipation and Reconstruction; a Gilded Age with a Progressive Era; a Great Depression with a New Deal; Jim Crow with Civil Rights.

As it was for them, so it is for us to meet the challenges of our time. And unlike the forces that have brought us to this low point, we have a much harder job, because we have a far greater purpose.

Theirs has been to grind our democracy into rubble. Ours is to build a strong foundation for the American people and the next generation.

The final vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett remains scheduled for today, and President Donald Trump reportedly intends to swear her in tonight. That inevitability is acknowledged by Bennet in his speech opposing Barrett’s confirmation, along with what comes next:

They’re not going to stop. They have spent decades, and billions in dark money, exercising their power to entrench their power. They will not abandon this project in a single election. And we’re going to have to overcome that, just as we’ll have to overcome this Supreme Court.

It won’t be easy. It won’t be easy, but anyone who’s studied the history of our country, our democracy, knows how hard it is to make progress. It’s never easy.

Sen. Bennet is correct, the damage done in four and a half years of Republican Supreme Court treachery will take more than one election to undo–but a week from tomorrow is when the journey back from this nadir begins.

11 thoughts on “WATCH: Sen. Bennet Eviscerates Barrett Confirmation Process”

RepealAndReplace says:

October 26, 2020 at 9:39 am

He doesn't do it often enough but when Michael Bennet goes off, he goes off….

Remember that time he went to town on Ted Cruz?

Log in to Reply
bullshit! says:

October 26, 2020 at 10:10 am

Meanwhile, Cory is measuring the drapes for his new K Street office. His soul is already sold.

Log in to Reply
kwtree says:

October 26, 2020 at 10:16 am

Good for Bennet. May he be as passionate about raising the minimum wage, meaningful environmental and health care and policing systemic change, and not just go along with the least disruptive options that keeps his financial industry donors happy.

Log in to Reply
harrydoby says:

October 26, 2020 at 10:32 am

Come Nov. 3rd may the Republicans that deservedly lose their office form the Dung Heap of History.

Log in to Reply
kickshot says:

October 26, 2020 at 11:19 am

It might not help anything if he delivered the same speech in Kentucky but it wouldn't hurt.

Log in to Reply
Moderatus says:

October 26, 2020 at 12:13 pm

There is no dark conspiracy. This is about protecting America from leftist policies that contradict what the Founders stood for. America is about freedom, and that includes the freedom to fail. Fear of failure inspires achievement, and the left will never understand this. You want a complacent society content with what it is handed to it by elites. I want Americans to have power over our own destiny.

This Supreme Court is our bulwark of freedom for a generation. You're DAMN RIGHT it's more important than any one politician.

Log in to Reply
1. unnamed says:
  
  October 26, 2020 at 12:29 pm
  
  Freedom for the the Elites and the top 1% to screw everybody under them over. Freedom to discriminate on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation.
  
  Freedom to hand deadly weapons to people who are insane who then turn around to kill people without any accountability.
  
  Freedom for Reich Wing Goose steppers to say and do anything they want to anybody they want, but not for anybody to speak out against Dear Leader.
  
  Those are the only freedoms you care about Nutlid. Not the ones you list. You don't have any principles.
  
  You don't care about life. You claim to care about the life of the unborn, but you don't care about people after they're born.
  
  You're just a lying piece of shit with no values except your warped brand of authoritarianism.
  
  Did you even listen to what Senator Bennet said before you barfed out? I am willing to bet you didn't.
  
  Log in to Reply
2. MichaelBowman says:
  
  October 26, 2020 at 12:34 pm
  
  [p]rotecting America from leftist policies that contradict what the Founders stood for…
  
  Like a black man or woman being 3/5 of a person and enslaved? Only white men could vote? Women as chattel?
  
  You want a complacent society content with what it is handed to it by elites
  
  Ummm…I think that’s your lane and your tax policy Nutter. Power over our own destiny?
  
  Here’s a little bedtime reading for you:
  
  The data show that, since World War II, the economy has performed substantially better under Democratic presidents. On average, real (inflation-adjusted) GDP has grown about 1.6 times faster under Democrats than under Republicans.
  
  Log in to Reply
3. Genghis says:
  
  October 26, 2020 at 12:45 pm
  
  Let us recall that Moderatus wrote right here on Colorado Pols that conservatives have a "right" to pull people from their cars and physically attack them. I respectfully submit that Moderatus should be banned for openly advocating violence.
  
  Log in to Reply
4. JohnInDenver says:
  
  October 26, 2020 at 7:43 pm
  
  If there is no "dark conspiracy" … where is the available list of donors to the Federalist Society? How do we find the donors to the sponsors of advertising urging Senators to support Barrett?
  
  With the huge dodge of when the Senate should offer "advice and consent" in the run-up to an election, the confirmation will be considered tainted. With the last 3 Justices confirmed by nearly purely partisan votes, the Trump Justices will be marked as partisan, too. With the confirmations without anything CLOSE to the margin which had been standard, it is clear that Senate majorities can enact their preferences without hindrance.
  
  So, there will be a backlash. I'm not certain which of the many reform policies will be adopted — but a Democratic majority in the Senate will insure this particular power play will not keep them from finding some sort of balancing maneuver.
  
  Log in to Reply
CDW says:

October 27, 2020 at 8:14 am

Sounds like the first shot in the 2024 primary battle has been fired.

Log in to Reply