Federal judges who are friendly to Trump are being appointed at a record pace. The sad thing is, many of these judges are jokers, deemed unqualified by the American Bar Association.
Problem is, it's no joke.
The number of open federal judgeships can be traced back to one man: #MoscowMitch McConnell. Since federal judges are approved by the Senate, McConnell has used his powerful position as Senate Majority Leader to first block those appointed by President Obama, thereby leaving these positions open, and rapidly approving Trump appointees --regardless of their qualifications .
So, what makes someone unqualified? Pretty much the same as any job; namely, lack of experience. Yet they are still being nominated, and appointed to lifetime positions simply because they share similar views with the conservative majority. Yes, I said lifetime, which is leading Trump to choose younger members of the bench to insure a right wing judiciary for years to come.
Labeling potential federal judges as “not qualified” has led Republicans in the Senate to accuse the ABA of a having a liberal bias. They ignore the lack of judicial experience in these nominees in favor of stacking the deck in hopes of overturning such controversial decisions as Roe v Wade, thereby achieving a long-held conservative dream of taking away a woman’s right to choose.
The evidence of this was obvious in the appointment of Lawrence J. C. VanDyke, whose “not qualified” status led to a tear-eyed appearance before Congress. The ABA stated, after conducting 60 interviews, that could not treat LGBTQ litigants fairly, while describing him as “arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in the knowledge of day-to-day practice including procedural rules.”
Considering this scathing review, and that of several other nominees, Republicans have threatened to abandon using ABA guidelines for judicial nominees.
And one more judicial appointment became available. Donald Trump’s sister, a federal judge herself, retired as she faced an ethics investigation regarding her taxes. I can only wonder what the qualifications of her replacement will be.
And, like I said, that's no joke.