Today is Wednesday, March 23, 2022. Today was the third day of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination hearings for the highest court in the land, and again, the way that most Republicans behaved during the hearings was just downright disgraceful. The hearings will always be remembered as a repugnican freak show populated by ogres like Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Marsha Blackburn, and others who distinguished themselves by their blatant racism and badgering of this very qualified candidate for the highest court. The behavior by these repugnicans was definitely galling. The tenor of the hearings was reviewed by Peniel E. Joseph for my online edition of CNN on my smartphone in an opinion entitled “The racist, sexist mudslinging at Ketanji Brown Jackson is disgraceful.”

Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee was a particularly loathsome questioner, along with her male colleagues, when she pontificated Tuesday night about her position on abortion, proudly asserting herself as being pro-life and opposed to the legal precedent of Roe v. Wade. How this is relevant to Jackson’s record as a district judge or as a federal public defender is anyone’s guess. Like her Texas counterpart, Blackburn revisited Critical Race Theory (CRT), saying that Jackson should give parents the right to prohibit the concept from being taught in public school classrooms. Again, this is not in Jackson’s purview. Blackburn, like all other repugnicans, failed to engage with Jackson’s legal record; they succeeded in only deflection by raising boilerplate issues like CRT, sentencing, and child sex pornography.

They were particularly obsessed with portraying Jackson as “soft on crime.” Drama Queen Lindsey Graham excelled in throwing a tantrum over Jackson’s association with detainees at Guantanamo Bay while she served as a federal public defender and worked at a public law firm. The South Carolina lapdog to the last president went so far as to suggest that Jackson’s advocacy of these detainees jeopardized national security, even. Oh, come on, Lindsey, baby, no one is going to buy your argument here! This is when the accomplice to Dump’s interference in Georgia’s vote count situation in the 2020 election theatrically stormed out of the room. What a mature approach from a senior senator! This guy should be retired already like many of his colleagues in the room.

The one soaring moment during today’s hearing was Senator Cory Booker’s extended outpouring of praise for the nominee that brought her to tears. Even I was tearful when I heard it later this evening. His message was heartfelt and touching, serving as an wonderful antidote to the bullshit thrown at Jackson by the outrageous repugnicans in the room. All they inspire is scorn from those watching at home for their distasteful treatment of a potential Supreme Court justice. “I see my ancestors in yours,” Booker states at one point. He concludes this extemporaneous message of optimism and support by talking about one of his heroes, Harriet Tubman. These repugnicans hearing him should hang their fucking heads in shame! “Today you are my star; you are my harbinger of hope,” he declares finally. This is the promise of America, as exemplified in Booker’s speech, not in the insults and complaints uttered by the other party. Leave it to a Democrat to present a better picture of what America truly represents, not from the other side that would rather have this country take fifty steps backward and plunge it into darkness.

Today America lost the first female U.S. Secretary of State in Madeleine Albright who died at the age of 84. She helped steer Western foreign policy in the aftermath of the Cold War. Albright was a central figure in President Bill Clinton’s administration, first serving as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations before becoming the nation’s top diplomat in his second term. Her death is covered in an online CNN article by Caroline Kelly entitled “Madeleine Albright, first female US Secretary of State, dies.” Among her achievements was championing the expansion of NATO, pushing for the alliance to intervene in the Balkans to stop genocide and ethnic cleansing, seeking to reduce the spread of nuclear weapons, and championing human rights and democracy across the globe.

Albright was a child in war-torn Europe whose family fled the Nazis and communists in mid-20th century Europe that shaped her worldview. “She saw the United States as the ‘indispensable nation’ when it came to using democracy backed by the use of force to defend democratic values around the world.”

In her role as Secretary of State, Albright displayed a sense of humor through her wearing brooches or decorative pins that conveyed her foreign policy messages. “When she had found out that the Russians had bugged the State Department, she wore a large bug pin when she next met with them.” When Saddam Hussein referred to the secretary of state as a snake, she took to wearing a gold snake pin. When she was called a witch, she proudly brandished a miniature broom.

Following her tenure as secretary of state, Albright taught at Georgetown University. She was also a prolific author, writing several books, including a memoir in 2003 entitled Madam Secretary. She also worked in the private sector for a time.

In 2012, Albright received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, who said her “toughness helped bring peace to the Balkans and paved the way for progress in some of the most unstable corners of the world.” What I liked about her is her harsh criticism of the former president, whom she called “the most undemocratic president in modern American history.”

As recently as last month, Albright wrote a New York Times op-ed just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in which she argued that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would be making a “historic error” and warned of devastating costs to his country. With the war almost being a month long by tomorrow, her words are truly prophetic. These are her words: “Instead of paving Russia’s path to greatness, invading Ukraine would ensure Mr. Putin’s infamy by leaving his country diplomatically isolated, economically crippled and strategically vulnerable in the face of a stronger, more united Western alliance.” Very prescient words indeed! Albright was a true pathfinder. Rest In Peace, Madame Secretary!

It’s getting late here. I was out to dinner with Elliot earlier and when we returned, we watched Episode 9 of Ozark. We have one episode to go to complete Season 1; after that, we have three more to watch. A fourth season premieres sometime in late April, I believe.

Tomorrow I’m taking a break from the blog since I will have ring-side seats in River City, Iowa, when I see Hugh Jackman in The Music Man at the Winter Garden Theatre at 7 tomorrow evening. I reserved this Orchestra seat as early as November 23, 2021. I’ve been looking forward to this version of the perennial musical for months now. Elliot had no interest in seeing it with me since he – believe it or not – saw the original with Robert Preston in the title role. I throughly enjoyed seeing Jackman years ago in The Boy from Oz, so I couldn’t resist when he was announced as the star for this production, even though I’m no fan of Broadway musicals, in general. I much prefer straight plays, such as dramas or comedies.