Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., offered what he referred to as an apology Thursday on the Senate floor for remarks he made at a pro-choice demonstration in from of the U.S. Supreme Court building the day before.
"I'm from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language. I shouldn't have used the words I did. But in no way was I making a threat. I never, never would do such a thing," Schumer claimed.
Instead of giving a sincere apology, he said that the words he used "didn't come out the way I intended to.""I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh — you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price," Schumer shouted into the microphone. "You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."
Nevertheless, he claimed in his non-apology, "Of course I didn't intend to suggest anything other than political and public-opinion consequences for the Supreme Court. And it's a gross distortion to imply otherwise."
That wasn't the way Chief Justice John Roberts saw it. In a letter he released shortly after the demonstration, he uncharacteristically rebuked the Senate minority leader and interpreted his remarks, by their plain language, as threats.
"Justices know that criticisms come with the territory," the chief justice wrote, "but threatening statements of this sort are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter."
The Senate minority leader claimed, however, that he was merely fighting for a woman's right of choice pursuant to Roe v. Wade.
"My point was that there would be political consequences for POTUS and Senate GOP if their newly appointed justices stripped a woman's right to choose," he said.
"We have an obligation to the women of America to fight for their constitutional right to choose."
Schumer's non-apology apology wasn't even close to what was anticipated. Voice of America congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reported that "McConnell says he anticipated Senate Minority Leader would withdraw his comments — 'instead he tried to gaslight the entire country and say he was threatening fellow Senators.'"
The demonstration was prompted by the Supreme Court's decision Wednesday to hear arguments on June Medical Services v. Russo. This case is centered on the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act, a 2014 Louisiana law that requires physicians who perform abortions to have hospital privileges at a facility within 30 miles of their clinic.
It doesn't restrict a woman's right to obtain an abortion. It merely assures that the physician will have the means to adequately treat his patient in the event of a life-threatening emergency.
The Louisiana law was introduced by state Sen. Katrina Jackson, a Democrat, who described it as "very common sense" to National Review.
"Basically, Louisiana, unknowingly to us, had a lower standard of care for women who elected to have abortions in some places," Jackson said. "And so what we did was make sure that that standard of health care that we established in Louisiana for years also applied to abortion."
And for that Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh "released the whirlwind," and they "will pay the price" and won't know what hit them?
The two-day brouhaha that resulted from this makes several things pretty clear.
- One, that Washington, D.C. politics have become so polarized that they've devolve into grade school playground bullying and fighting.
- Two, that contrary to the claims made ad nauseam by pro-choice demonstrators, their cause really has nothing to do with women's health — it's about unrestricted abortions, even if it puts the mother's life in danger.
- Three, that Schumer lacks the capacity, grace, and courage to either make an honest apology, or to tell the truth — even when evidence to the contrary is available for anyone to see.
And finally, because of all the above, everything is proceeding normally in Washington.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to BizPac Review and Liberty Unyielding. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter, who can often be found honing his skills at the range. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.