Today, Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, spoke in support of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. He spoke for 20 minutes instead of asking her questions. Booker offered a powerfully emotional corrective to what’s been described as a “disgraceful” process, one in which a few Republican senators tried to outdo each other’s disrespectful, demagogic performances. Judge Jackson will be the first black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Senator Booker made America seem better than it often is.

The senator devotes the first 10 minutes or so debunking ludicrous Republican attacks. If you don’t have 20 minutes to spare, jump 10 minutes in to watch the portion of his remarks that impressed so many today and should be remembered for years to come.

In another Washington building, the right-wing majority on the Supreme Court continued to side with Republicans whenever there’s a voting rights case, not only siding with them, but interjecting themselves when they don’t need to. When Judge Jackson is Justice Jackson, maybe she can convince one or two of her Republican colleagues to occasionally act like judges instead of right-wing hacks.

In other news, one of the Court’s worst members, Justice Clarence Thomas, has been in the hospital with an unnamed infection. It’s too much to ask, but may he soon rest in peace. The Court would then have four Republican crazies instead of five. That would allow the somewhat less corrupt Republican who’s Chief Justice to sometimes stop his radical colleagues from doing their worst.