In this age of intersectionality, it only matters what you are, not who.  Besides, Whoopi's a pretty likable gal, and she checks all the necessary boxes.  And since Breyer was the last remaining person of the Jewish persuasion on the court, Whoopi brings, at least, a Jewish surname to the bench.

Did she ever attend law school, you may ask?  As Rush Limbaugh pointed out: Republican presidents tend to nominate accomplished legal scholars to the court — while Democrat presidents just go for reliable votes.  As Derek Hunter just wrote, Senate Republicans should have their eyes on November's midterms and avoid giving the Democrats fundraising ammunition.

High-profile confirmation contests are nothing new.  I remember spending a sleepless night when the guns came out over Clarence Thomas.  Also, our political establishment appears to have the same discriminatory biases as the Ivy League deans of admissions, by keeping Asian-Americans off the high bench.  Obviously, Biden's handlers are trying to stanch the hemorrhage of Black voters to the GOP that was showcased under Trump.   

The real story here is that nothing is going to change.  There will continue to be only three staunch lefties on the court...and the Democrats are still going to be murdered in this year's midterm election.  And characteristic of modern politics, going through the motions is job number one — even though dark, serious, and often self-inflicted problems remain off the agenda.

And lurking beneath the court's standing with the American people is its role as the last remaining vestige of monarchy. Judges don't propose — they rule, which is why they have courts.  The real significance of Roe v. Wade is not the empowerment of women, but the blatant dictatorial nature of judicial fiat.  Legislators have to be elected.  First, they campaign among their constituents, and then they have to twist arms in their respective chambers to get their bills passed.  Judges just have to make up their minds.

This cannot be completely eliminated, but legislators should stop coaxing the Judiciary into taking over the job of making laws, especially when it's done outside the give and take of the political process.  Instead of being given bread and circuses, we are being compelled to remain in the audience of a political theater.  It's easy to kvetch about the dysfunction of the public sector, but kvetch we must, or the jerks will be emboldened to screw us even more.

In American political history, there's kind of a cyclical "good government" phase.  The city of New York has some examples.  Fiorello LaGuardia was a reformer who became immensely popular.  He was a Republican, but I've been told that it was just so he could function outside the Democrat machine.  Later came Rudy Giuliani, who really is a Republican and was also really popular.  Bottom line: People don't like getting screwed by their government.  The jerks who run the government work overtime to get the people to think it's someone else who's screwing them. 

Image: Pixabay.