Ketanji Brown Jackson: Biden’s diversionary tactic to deflect attention from failure in Ukraine

President Biden’s attempt to deflect attention from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by nominating a new liberal Supreme Court justice didn’t work, and only buried what should have been a clear win for liberal Democrats.

Biden couldn’t stop Putin, so he chose to do the next best thing — hope that voters forget about his failures in Eastern Europe by throwing Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson into the high court mix.

The court pick seemed to be an effort by the Biden administration to send a message that it’s still business as usual in Washington, and that the president is not preoccupied by the war in Eastern Europe.

It was the first time a Black woman has been nominated to the Supreme Court — a promise Biden made during his presidential campaign.

“For too long, our government, our courts haven’t looked like America,” Biden said. “And I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications.”

Liberals cheered the nomination, which faces stiff resistance from Republicans and a likely drawn-out political battle. Biden can ill afford to see his nominee defeated in an election year when he already faces domestic challenges at home.

But as a diversionary tactic, it fell short. The story of Jackson’s rise to a high court pick couldn’t compare to the haunting, heartbreaking images coming from Ukraine, where Putin was having his way and nearing control of the capital city.

Biden’s strategy of gradually leveling sanctions against Russia clearly hasn’t worked. The invasion happened under Biden’s watch — a colossal failure for the Democratic administration.

The fact that Biden would willingly bury such a high profile decision as a Supreme Court nominee beneath the ongoing drama in Ukraine shows just how desperate he was to change the conversation going on in American living rooms.

Many Americans may be asking themselves whether Putin would have tried such a brazen move against a strong, popular U.S. president.

With the midterm elections looming, Democrats needed some kind of boost, so Biden gave them the Harvard-educated Judge Jackson.

But any lift Democrats get from the nomination will only be fleeting, especially if Putin continues to advance his troops into the heart of Ukraine and the situation escalates rapidly into a humanitarian crisis.

___

(c)2022 the Boston Herald

Visit the Boston Herald at www.bostonherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

—-

This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology.