Dear Senator Manchin,
On March 30, you posted your press release, “Manchin to Support Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch”.
Dear Senator Manchin, I read your press release, and I hope you will now read this statement of mine.
I could take issue with quite a few points you made, but I will focus on this one:
“he has come to his legal rulings objectively, through the letter of the law rather than through his own opinion.”
A very strong case can be made that his rulings are biased in favor of for-profit corporations and against individuals and non-profits. If that is a definition of objectivity, then I must say the brave men and women who founded this country had a very different idea.
Further, citing scrupulous adherence to “the letter of the law” is a damning statement in itself. How very many times has “the letter of the law” been cited in the merciless oppression of those who lack power, the very ones that Lady Justice purports to protect.
I cite here but one infamous example, emphasis mine:
Virginia's 1902 Constitutional Convention effectively stripped African-Americans of their voting rights. The new constitution incorporated a $1.50 poll tax for each of the three years leading up to the election, which many white officials knew blacks in the state could not pay. Those wishing to register also had to seek out a registrar who conducted an extensive examination full of complex questions about state legal proceedings. The 1902 constitution also required racial segregation in public schools.
And here we take a peek at the actual proceedings of the 1901/1902 delegation which in the end enacted the abominable poll tax and school segregation, again, emphasis mine:
Mr. Glass: ... there stands out the uncontroverted fact that the article of suffrage which the Convention will to-day adopt does not necessarily deprive a single white man of the ballot, but will inevitably cut from the existing electorate four-fifths of the negro voters. That was the purpose of this Convention; that will be the achievement.
Mr. Pedigo: Will it not be done by fraud and discrimination?
Mr. Glass: By fraud, no; by discrimination, yes. But it will be discrimination within the letter of the law, and not in violation of the law. Discrimination! Why, that is precisely what we propose; that, exactly, is what this Convention was elected for—to discriminate to the very extremity of permissible action under the limitations of the Federal Constitution, with a view to the elimination of every negro voter who can be gotten rid of, legally...
That is what “the letter of the law” means. That is what it meant in 1902, and that is what it means in 2017 to men like Neil Gorsuch.
Further, it cannot be denied that Mr. Donal Trump teeters on the edge of being found illegitimate in his office as president of the United States. He may or may not be so found, but there is at this time enough serious doubt as to his legitimacy that to proceed to confirm this nomination, a nomination in essence made by the highly non-mainstream Heritage Foundation, would be entirely irresponsible, no matter how you may try to cloak your support with a veil of responsibility.
Senator Manchin, you rely too heavily on the notion that West Virginian Democrats will support your candidacy no matter what you do because to do otherwise would risk losing the seat to a Republican.
I’ve been struggling for months with the question of whether West Virginia would be better off with a different Senate candidate in 2018 than with you. And lately I’m beginning to think I would rather lose with someone else than win with you.
The only good vote from you this congressional session was against Trumpcare, and we could have done that without you.
And, we could likely lose with you anyway, which would be far worse than losing with a good engaging high-profile progressive who energizes at least 40% of the people with a good fight. Losing with you would be terrible, and winning with you seems now at best neutral.
So, yes, I’m already reconsidering my support. It really depends on who else steps up. But, for me, if you vote to confirm Gorsuch to a lifetime appointment, one that will prove injurious to millions of Americans for decades to come, for myself, I’m not voting for you even if it means I vote for no one.
See also “Most Democrats Do NOT Want their Leaders to Compromise With the Trump Administration”.