SUPREME CAPABILITY

If you and your family are aware of the national news at all, you know that today was the second day of Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination hearing. This occurs in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol here in Washington, DC. The senators' role is to question the nominee on all manner of law. This helps them assess his or her fitness for this critical seat in our third branch of government. Judge Barrett has answered those questions thus far with remarkable poise. She has, in fact, displayed a knowledge of the law that has eclipsed the legal minds who are grilling her.

At 48 years of age, Barrett is by all accounts a stellar mother, wife and judge. Highly accomplished, she is the epitome of what many women have wanted for decades to achieve. She is exactly the type of role model many have hoped their daughters and granddaughters would emulate.

But that hasn't registered with some. One female attorney criticized her choice of dress (a dress) yesterday. I liked that she wore a similar one today. Meanwhile, the female senator from Hawaii rather weirdly asked if she had ever been a predator. She was asked by a male senator if she was willing to condemn white supremacy. Such nonsense aside, that question was humorous since she and her husband have adopted two black children, rounding out their brood to seven. That brood includes one sweet little boy with Down Syndrome.

Government's most basic responsibility is to protect human life. The facts of Barrett's family far predates the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg whose vacant seat Barrett is expected to fill. They speak volumes as to her valuation of all human life - black, white, those with disabilities - life that is "perfect" or not.

A brilliant legal mind who honors the Constitution should be the basic requirement for any SCOTUS nominee. Someone who navigates the demands of both motherhood and career is an important and needed perspective, especially considering that America's basic societal building block is the family. As for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who has created a nurturing home for those she's given birth to as well as needy children born to others, she has justifiably earned the respect of the many good and decent people throughout America. We wish her well.