On December 14, at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson demonstrated that not only is she intellectually weak (something we all know as she can’t even define what a “woman” is), but that her lack of self-awareness really makes her unfit to serve on the Supreme Court. And in reality, being a Supreme Court justice isn’t even what she really wants out of life! In her own words, she really achieved her lifelong dream this past week by being in a Broadway show.
Her dream has always been to be in the spotlight on stage; and in realizing that, it puts all of her actions and opinions in perspective. At her core she is not a legalist, but a panderer who seeks adulation from an audience.
From early in her life, her now admitted dreams of being on stage were probably deeply hidden, replaced with an emphasis in her home on education and the law by highly educated parents. Many lawyers actually wanted to be actors, and it is easy to visualize little Ketanji’s dream of acting being transformed into debate, and then the practice of law.
We can see repeatedly through her life's actions that at her core she's still the little girl seeking the adulation of an audience. During her undergraduate studies at Harvard, she studied drama and performed improv comedy. Jackson claims to have written in her admission essay to Harvard that she wanted to be “the first black female Supreme Court Justice to perform on a Broadway stage.” She performed as a student in Harvard productions such as “Little Shop of Horrors.” (I only say “claim” as it is difficult to believe that the Harvard admissions team would take seriously anyone who wrote something like that.)
She got in front of people whenever she could, leading protests for the Black Students Association at the school. She was a successful public defender and then appellate specialist in private practice as she dramatically defended her clients, acting out her dreams like a television lawyer. Her service as a district judge for the District of Columbia was marked not by brilliant opinions, but by inflammatory statements and aggression towards the Trump Administration, including making high-profile statements such as “presidents are not kings.” During her tenure as a district judge, she made it a point to write opinions that would get her in the eyes of the media, consistently less “legal” and more “activist.” KBJ wrote the opinions in favor of a large pharmaceutical company; supporting grants for pregnant teens; supporting unions against the federal government; against the deportation of illegal immigrants; and, most egregiously, forcing White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify against President Trump.
And then she became a Supreme Court justice. KBJ demonstrated her lack of conviction and respect for the Constitution throughout her nomination hearings. Her unwillingness to even have a definition of the word “woman” demonstrates her commitment to political activism as opposed to common sense and law.
Now she has achieved that dream of being on Broadway, but do we really want anyone with this kind of imbalance defining the laws of this nation? Should someone who is so committed to a dream of being on stage be a person who determines the well-being of this country? What does it say about Jackson that she has had his goal of being adulated by an audience deep within her for her entire life? I suspect that if we spoke with nearly all of the Supreme Court justices throughout history, we would find a commonality that they achieved their dream of being a justice, and never had fantasies of being a media star instead.
Millions of people dream of being a star, and when I taught at Loyola Marymount University years ago, I had a student whose dream was to be on Broadway. She spent unfathomable hours perfecting her voice and dance skills, and shortly after graduation got a starring role in a Broadway show. She has continued her career on stage, moving on to other Broadway roles and earning a Tony Award nomination. She will be starring in another Broadway show in 2025. She has achieved her lifelong goal and, as importantly, has kept her ethics and humility as she has made her dream a reality. Jackson could learn many lessons from this real Broadway actress.
KBJ is clearly a woman who can achieve her goals. But if her real goal has been to be a star in the limelight, then this is what she should have pursued for her entire life. To achieve that dream by manipulating her way into the highest court in the land is disingenuous, and says so much about her character and lack of it.
People often complain about a lack of commitment to God from clergy, and that it often seems as if clergy are using their position not to help people, but for their own glorification. When I was a student in rabbinical school, I asked an older friend who had been a rabbi for many years why so many other students seemed to be frustrated actors, comedians, or singers. He replied to me with words of wisdom: “Where else can you get a job and people are forced to laugh at your joke?” They could not make it as actors but needed a stage, and the pulpit became that vehicle for them. It is sad, and part of what has led to so many clergy failing to fulfill Martin Luther King's definition of religion that it is “not the master nor servant of the State, but the conscience of the State.” Most of us would agree that clergy who really want to be actors should not be on a pulpit.
Isn't it just as true that a Supreme Court justice who really fantasizes about being on a stage should not be on a judicial bench?
The West Wall Frieze of the Supreme Court depicts the battle between good and evil. If good is defined as integrity, honesty, and truth -- and evil defined as the opposite -- what does that say about Justice Jackson sitting on a bench when she really wants to be singing on a stage?
With all the attention on the film Wicked, maybe there is a local production of the show in D.C. or Virginia that she could audition for. There seem to be some roles there that would be more appropriate for her than being on the bench.
(If you really want to see a Supreme Court justice embarrass herself and our nation, watch the video of her performance, but be prepared to realize that however bad she may be as a justice, she really is a worse actress.)
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