SAT-SUN 4/2-3/22
Here are the big issues of the week, up for discussion in the left and right columns …
Biden’s ‘Regime Change’ Comments … Much to the chagrin of his White House aides, President Biden ad-libbed about Vladimir Putin; “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” after wrapping a speech at Warsaw’s Royal Castle Saturday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken quickly walked back the ad-lib by restating the White House’s policy against “regime change.” Biden himself later described his remarks as “my personal feeling.”
But that feeling is shared by many in the West, who foresee no clear end to the war in Ukraine so long as Putin is Russia’s president. Under current Russia law, Putin is guaranteed power to 2036. By mid-week, much of the criticism of Biden’s ad-lib had begun to turn to agreement, if not admiration.
Your Thoughts: Does Biden have any reason to walk back his comments on Putin? Let us know what you think with comments emailed to editors@thehustings.news, and please list your political leanings, right or left, in the subject line.
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Collins Virtually Assures KBJ to be Confirmed to SCOTUS
Susan Collins of Maine, on Wednesday became the first Republican senator to announce support to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Perennial swing-vote Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) also has confirmed he will vote for Brown Jackson, who is virtually guaranteed she will take Breyer’s seat on the court. While the Judiciary Committee is expected to split its recommendation on her confirmation, 11-11, along party lines in fact there’s a chance the full Senate could vote 53-47 to confirm her, with Collins accompanied by fellow Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, and Mitt Romney, of Utah.
Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), one of 11 of his party on the Judiciary Committee, says he will vote against Brown Jackson’s confirmation. During committee hearings with the nominee, he repeatedly objected to the “sinking” of his choice, Judge J. Michelle Childs by “dark money” from the “far left,” while Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and others from the Trump wing of the GOP attacked Brown Jackson over issues of her sentencing of child pornographers and alleged support for Critical Race Theory (which, we’ll say once more, is not taught below college-level) in the private high school children of her and Cruz, both, attend.
Again, Looking for Your Thoughts … Should Ketanji Brown Jackson be confirmed to the Supreme Court? What do you think about the grilling over her record as a federal judge, and a federal public defender before that, and her position on race issues?
Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news and list yourself as “left” or “right” in the subject line.
How Do You Feel These Days?... In the latest Gallup Live Evaluation Index (scroll down the Wednesday, March 30 …meanwhile… file in the center column at thehustings.news) 53.25% of respondents said they are “thriving”, versus “struggling” or “suffering.” That “thriving” number is down from a 14-year high of 59.2% last January.
So, how do you feel? Same deal as above: email your thoughts to editors@thehustings.news and tell us in the subject line whether you lean “right” or “left.”
--Todd Lassa