The Morning Briefing: Amid All the ACB SCOTUS Talk, Barbara Lagoa May Be Trump's Trump Card

Is Barbara Lagoa Trump’s October Surprise?

A joyous Taco Tuesday to all of you, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Brunch this weekend?

The SCOTUS sweepstakes are already heating up, despite the threats from everyone on the Left to tear and/or burn everything down. President Trump wasted no time letting the public know that he would be announcing his choice to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the end of this week.

Ad to the mix that Linsdey Graham is still breathing righteous hellfire because — as I wrote in yesterday’s Briefing — he and the other Senate Republicans are still more than a little chafed from the 2018 Kavanaugh hearings.

Yesterday, Graham sent a letter to his Democratic colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee politely informing them that he’s here to kick a** and chew gum, and he just ran out of gum. Here is a quote from the end of the letter:

“Lastly, after the treatment of Justice Kavanaugh I now have a different view of the judicial-nomination process. Compare the treatment of Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh to that of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, and it’s clear that there is already one set of rules for a Republican president and one set of rules for a Democrat president. I therefore think it is important that we proceed expeditiously to process any nomination made by President Trump to fill this vacancy. I am certain that if the shoe were on the other foot, you would do the same.”

OK then. It’s on.

President Trump has already promised to nominate a woman and most agree that means it’s either going to be either Judge Amy Coney Barrett or Judge Barbara Lagoa.

I don’t know much about Lagoa, but I told my colleagues that I’ve been waiting for Trump to nominate Amy Coney Barrett like a kid waits for Christmas. The mere mention of her name makes Democrats even more insane, if possible. Especially the pro-aborts. Barrett is a devout Roman Catholic mother of seven whom the abortion ghouls are convinced will show up to the Supreme Court on her first day with a flaming sword and overturn Roe v. Wade all on her own.

I love the angst that she gives them.

Judge Lagoa doesn’t trigger the Democrats as much, but they’re no doubt worried about her for different reasons.

Lagoa’s name came up a few times on Monday in very different conversations.

Guy Benson made a pretty good case for Judge Lagoa at our sister site Townhall yesterday. Here was the part that really stood out for me:

(2) Her personal story is also compelling, which is — like it or not — a relevant factor in an era of identity-focused politics. Lagoa is the daughter of Cuban-Americans who fled their homeland during the Communist revolution. She is young (she’ll turn 53 the day before the November election), the mother of three daughters, and is said to have a vivacious personality. If confirmed, this “wise Latina” would be the second-ever Hispanic member of the Supreme Court and only the fifth woman (the latter would also be true of Barrett). Democrats are likely to be extremely aggressive in opposing this nominee (just look at their outrageous conduct during the Kavanaugh nomination), but the optics of beating up on a Latina would be less than ideal — especially at a moment when Democrats are anxiously watching President Trump over-perform among Latino voters in the polls.

There is no way to keep the Democrats from being insane bottom-feeders during this process, but nominating Lagoa might throw them off for just a bit. Their slavish devotion to identity politics could trip them up.

Another plus is that Lagoa sailed through her confirmation to the Eleventh Circuit Court last year with overwhelming Democratic support. They would really have to contort themselves to pretend that they’ve soured on Judge Lagoa in such a short period of time.

Lagoa’s body of work isn’t as big as Barrett’s, which causes some consternation among conservatives. Guy covers that very well in his post.

Either Barbara Lagoa or Amy Coney Barrett would be wonderful additions to the Supreme Court, especially given that they would be replacing a liberal justice.

Perhaps Trump is doing one of those 4-D chess things that some people think he does by having people keep Barrett at the forefront of the conversation so he can really surprise them with a Lagoa nomination.

The Democrats are so soulless now that they will probably have no problem savaging Lagoa just like they did Kavanaugh — by just making stuff up.

Here we go. Make sure your liquor cabinets are full.

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PJ Media Senior Columnist and Associate Editor Stephen Kruiser is the author of “Don’t Let the Hippies Shower” and “Straight Outta Feelings: Political Zen in the Age of Outrage,” both of which address serious subjects in a humorous way. Monday through Friday he edits PJ Media’s “Morning Briefing.” His columns appear twice a week.