In the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee asked Joe Biden's Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Jackson, what should have been the easiest question ever posed. Can you define what a woman is? Now imagine. Put yourself in her position and imagine how relieved Jackson must have been when she heard that question. Here, she stayed up all night trying to memorize obscure case law from 19th century and court precedent and when she finally gets to the hearing room, all the Republicans want is a recap of day one of ninth grade biology. What's a woman?
For a world-famous scholar like Ketanji Jackson, that should have been effortless. Talk about slow and steady right down the plate. "A woman," Jackson might have said, looking incredulous, "That's simple. A woman is a human being with two X chromosomes. Ask any geneticist. It's detectable in a blood test, but if you're still confused by what a woman is, you can ask a doctor. Women have wider pelvises and different bone structures from men, not to mention very different genitalia. It's usually pretty obvious that women, just by looking at them, women are built differently because their bodies are designed to do different things. Nature is real. Women, menstruate. Women give birth and then breastfeed. Men do not do these things because they can't. Not a single man in all human history has ever had his period or delivered a baby and I know this, senator, because I'm a woman myself. In fact, that's why I'm here. Joe Biden nominated me to the Supreme Court because I am female, and he has said so himself many times. The president knows exactly what a woman is. If he didn't know, he wouldn't have picked me, obviously. So please, Senator Blackburn, do not waste my time. With all respect, that is an incredibly stupid question."
Imagine if she said that, what an answer that would have been. Do you know a single person wouldn't have cheered? We would have. Honesty is a wonderful thing to watch, no matter where it comes from, but that is not what Ketanji Jackson said. Here was her actual answer: |
