U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet was doing some fast tap dancing and talking out of both sides of his mouth yesterday during a Senate floor speech to muddle the debate over the filibuster of Judge Neil Gorsuch.
Where does he stand on the actual confirmation? The vote on which comes Friday?
Bennet still refuses to say.
Instead, he lauds Gorsuch with one hand:
He is a committed and honorable public servant, and that is why so many members of the Colorado bar and bench support his nomination.
Then he expresses reservations about how Gorsuch will interpret the law.
It turns out, Bennet reveals, that lawmakers are lousy at writing laws, and judges have no business enforcing what they say because most times they didn’t actually mean it.
We can’t make this stuff up:
In particular, I believe he has far too much confidence in the original meaning of words in legislation, or for that matter, the Constitution.
Having worked on legislation for nearly a decade now, I know these words – so often written in the dead of night, in meager attempts to let everyone go home – cannot be explained without reference to legislative context or human history or lawmakers’ intent.
We don’t remember seeing psychic abilities in the job description of Supreme Court justices.
Bennet should just come out and say he can’t stand the heat, so he’s avoiding the political kitchen and refusing to do his job.