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As right-wing judge Amy Coney Barrett is sworn in as the ninth justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, just 30 days after President Trump announced her nomination and eight days ahead of the November 3 election, we speak with Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, who says the rushed confirmation shows that the Supreme Court "is not a neutral body — it is incredibly political." Barrett's confirmation to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just six weeks after her death seals the court's 6-3 conservative majority potentially for decades to come and could have major consequences for reproductive rights, civil rights, environmental protections, the Affordable Care Act and the 2020 presidential election. "It is concerning that Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed yesterday, particularly given her complete lack of qualifications for the role, but also considering her extreme views on everything from reproductive justice and reproductive rights to civil rights and racism," says Garza, the principal at Black Futures Lab and co-founder of Supermajority.
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 Carlos Barria/ReutersIn between vice president and presidential nominee, Joe Biden held a different honorary title in the Democratic Party: chief surrogate.
In 2018, Biden was one of the most sought-after voices on the stump for down-ballot candidates, helping Democrats score Republican seats and win the House majority, while quieting cheers for his own eventual presidential run. Now, cautious not to replay the tactical and mathematical fiascos that made Hillary Clinton concede swaths of the country to Donald Trump, the former vice president has filled his closing itinerary with places like Southfield, Michigan and Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He'll be in Florida on Thursday and Wisconsin on Friday.
But some local party officials and strategists are hoping for more. In the final week, they are urging Biden to reach beyond top-ticket battlegrounds and are making the explicit case that his star power should also be used to help sway the Senate races that could totally realign the power structure in Washington in January.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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(First column, 5th story, link)
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 Erin Schaff-Pool/GettyWith Democrats powerless and Republicans shameless, the foregone conclusion of Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation as a Supreme Court justice is, at last, concluded.
Justice Barrett was confirmed 52-48 by the Senate, and tomorrow, she will be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, in person at the Supreme Court. Fittingly, given her shotgun-wedding of a confirmation, Justice Barrett may get straight to work deciding cases, including two high-profile challenges to election rules.
Before the travesty fades from memory, however, we thought it would be useful to put all of the terribleness of her confirmation into one convenient top-ten list, summarizing everything that was wrong with this process from its beginning—all of one month ago—to now. Shall we?
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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