Handmaid Headed to Seat on Supreme Court

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist 

Donald Trump, a man whose respect for women is a bottomless shaft, is reportedly set to nominate a woman, Federal Appeals Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett, to the US Supreme Court later today.  Judge Coney Barrett, a 48-year-old mother of seven, meets both GOP criteria for serving on the nation's highest court:  she is pro-gun rights and anti-abortion rights.

But the conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett is also dragging along some religious baggage that, at the very least, should raise a few eyebrows.   She is a member of a charismatic community called "People of Praise," a religiously affiliated group with views that place women in a subservient role to men.  The group, which is roughly ninety percent Catholic, promotes men as the heads of households.   Adults within the group mentor other adults of the same sex with male mentors referred to as "heads," and female mentors called, until recently, "handmaids."

Recent publications have credited "People of Praise" for being the inspiration that author Margaret Atwood drew from for her novel, "The Handmaid's Tale," though Atwood has said that she is unsure at this time whether that is a correct attribution or not.    (Her research notes are currently unavailable to her due to the coronavirus.)   Ms. Atwood has said that she was definitely aware of "People of Praise" as she was writing her alarmingly dystopian novel.

The group, "People of Praise," is headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, where Ms. Coney Barrett taught law at Notre Dame University before being appointed to the bench of the 7th Circuit Court by Trump in 2017.  One former member of the group complained in a press article that she had been expelled when she came out as gay, and another member said that the group operated with a "Jonestown mentality and dominance" and that members were "brainwashed."   Others have been quick to label the organization as a "cult."   The group tilts conservative on social issues and is opposed to same-sex marriage.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a giant among jurists, a woman who fought tirelessly for the rights of other women and for a seat the table for the disadvantaged.  Now, before the country can even show Justice Ginsburg the respect of a decent burial, Donald Trump will stain his presidency and our country yet again by stepping center stage and introducing the dutiful Handmaid that he has selected to fill the  high court vacancy created by the death of Justice Ginsburg.

Amy Coney Barrett will never be able to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg - in any sense of the word, just as Clarence Thomas was never able to replace Thurgood Marshall.   Ginsburg and Marshall were world-class legal minds and constitutional scholars.  Coney Barret and Thomas are lawyers.

And Donald Trump is a political hack and grifter with one foot out the door.  The United States of America is being badly wronged with this rushed nomination to fill the seat of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the American people will very likely tell the world how they feel on November 3rd.

Rest well, Justice Ginsburg - and bless you for all that you were able to accomplish on our behalf.