The media have been aswirl with the scandalous (scandalous!) revelation that Trump’s Supreme Court nominee may have dissed him in a private conversation with a Democratic Senator.
In the conversation, Judge Neil Gorsuch is reputed to have said he finds Trump’s attacks on the Judiciary ‘demoralizing’ and ‘disheartening’.
And the crowd goes wild.
But really, now. Was there ever a weaker criticism?
Trump’s attacks undermine the judiciary, one of the three branches of government. Gorsuch finds it ‘demoralizing’ and ‘disheartening’; but how about ‘a threat to the fabric of our democracy’?
There is no comfort to be found in Gorsuch ‘standing up’ to Trump behind closed doors, in a private conversation with a Democratic Senator, whose favor he is desperately trying to curry. His bland, weak condemnation reveal a person with no spine at all; and we should regard it as such.
Eager to repeat every piece of gossip that reveals what a buffoon Trump is, sites like ThinkProgress are missing the point completely. Gorsuch must be required to take a firm stand against Trump’s bullying. Frankly, so should any judicial nominee. Trump’s behavior is, and continues to be shocking. We must continue to fight against normalization of the tweeter-in-chief; and gleefully throwing schadenfreude over Gorsuch’s weaksauce private criticisms won’t get the job done.