OPINION:
Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer isn’t a particularly effective Senate leader, yet he gets away with things few other Washington politicians can. That’s because he’s figured out a way to give in to the demands of the progressive left without jeopardizing his plans for reelection.
It’s been a tightrope walk. Mr. Schumer’s always been a liberal, but the demands made by “The Squad” — especially Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who might yet file to run against him in the upcoming New York Democratic primary — often take him out of his comfort zone. With the Senate tied 50-50, he’s taken some uncomfortable positions, yet some progressives complain he’s not doing enough to get critical legislation through.
That’s headache enough — which may be why Mr. Schumer gets a pass from the national, left-wing, identity politics, outrage caucus other politicians would be denied. As was recently the case when, while speaking on the Senate floor, he referred to the United States Supreme Court as being the historically exclusive domain of white men until the appointment of Arizona Court of Appeals Judge Sandra Day O’Connor by then-President Ronald Reagan.
“Until 1981, this powerful body, the Supreme Court, was all white men. Imagine. America wasn’t all white men in 1981, or ever,” Mr. Schumer said angrily, pushing back against those who have complained about the president’s announcement his nominee for the seat being vacated by Justice Stephen Breyer will be a Black woman. “Under President Biden and this Senate majority, we’re taking historic steps to make the courts look more like the country they serve.”
If you’re thinking he forgot something, you’re right. In his zeal to push back against critics of President Biden who are saying the decision to fill the seat with a Black woman undermines the court’s legitimacy as well as that of any potential nominee, Mr. Schumer airbrushed Justice Thurgood Marshall out of the picture.
Marshall, who, as an attorney, argued several important civil rights cases, including the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, assumed a seat on the nation’s highest court in 1967.
He served for nearly 25 years. He has a federal building located just blocks from Mr. Schumer’s office named for him and the airport in Baltimore. He is a monumental figure in American jurisprudence because he was the first Black American on the Supreme Court. And Mr. Schumer forgot all about him.
He’s been forgiven for his omission and admits he misspoke. Nice for him, but, as should be plainly clear, had some Republican out there made the same mistake, the identity politics crowd would have been out front suggesting the poor soul was a closet racist in need of sensitivity training. Over at CNN and MSNBC, the liberals who run the network’s programming would be hosting programs devoted to exploring Marshall’s “forgotten” legacy while The New York Times would run a cover story about him in its Sunday magazine.
Some people might call that “whataboutism,” which is just a convenient way to avoid any discussion of double standards. Then again, as the adage goes, if progressives didn’t have double standards, they would have no standards at all.
In his eagerness to make a point about the racial divides in the country that he and his fellow Democrats have helped foster over the last couple of decades, he forgot to mention Marshall because Marshall didn’t fit into the narrative yarn he was spinning.
George Orwell would have understood that. Others don’t because they are afraid of honest debate. Presidents should be free to choose a nominee using a wide range of characteristics they consider important. If Mr. Biden wants to consider race and gender in making his pick, let him. Just so far as he understands, he’s setting a precedent others may someday follow.
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