On Friday, the Supreme Court decision people knew was coming finally arrived: In a 6-3 ruling, the highest court in the land overturned Roe v. Wade, which for the last half century has kept abortion safe and legal. The ruling had been leaked in early May, causing widespread panic about the chaos that will now ensue. When they day finally came, people were righteously angry. Meanwhile, two people who played a key role in the ruling at least claimed to be shocked: senators Susan Collins and Joe Manchin.
Collins, a moderate Republican, had infamously helped appoint two Trump-chosen justices: Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. In both cases, she asked them point blank about whether or not they would one day overturn Roe v. Wade. She believed both when they said they wouldn’t. Meanwhile, Manchin, a conservative-leaning Democrat, has been one of the few (okay, just him an Kyrsten Sinema) to break with his party on such issues as codifying Roe v. Wade when the party had the chance. And in public statement after it was obliterated, both claimed to be gobsmacked that the two justices weren’t exactly truthful.
Sen. Susan Collins on SCOTUS/Roe: “This decision is inconsistent with what Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said in their testimony and their meetings with me, where they both were insistent on the importance of supporting long-standing precedents that the country has relied upon.”
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 24, 2022
Sen. Manchin: “I trusted Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh when they testified under oath that they also believed Roe v. Wade was settled legal precedent and I am alarmed they chose to reject the stability the ruling has provided …” https://t.co/6ONQSovmcv
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 24, 2022
“This decision is inconsistent with what Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said in their testimony and their meetings with me, where they both were insistent on the importance of supporting long-standing precedents that the country has relied upon,” Collins said.
As for Joe Manchin, he declared, “I trusted Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh when they testified under oath that they also believed Roe v. Wade was settled legal precedent and I am alarmed they chose to reject the stability the ruling has provided …”
Are Collins and Manchin simply gullible? Are they lying? Or is it a bit of both and they believe their own BS? Whatever the case, after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the justices that had told them it was “legal precedent,” an angry nation took to social media to drag them but good.
I’m just a simple country lawyer but I don’t see anything in here that looks like Brett Kavanaugh promising he wouldn’t vote to overturn Roe https://t.co/Buqyry9K3Q pic.twitter.com/V7ysdG9X3Y
— Jay Willis (@jaywillis) June 25, 2022
if susan collins sincerely feels she was misled then i am 100 percent sure that i could sell her volcano insurance https://t.co/XN7T8MVUpS
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) June 25, 2022
Susan Collins claiming she was “misled” by party-boy Brett Kavanaugh is absurd. She knew and simply caved to pressure. Did not have the courage of her convictions. Her legacy is permanently stained.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 24, 2022
Hey Susan Collins… fuck you.
— Jo
(@JoJoFromJerz) June 24, 2022
Susan Collins still insists that Gorsuch & Kavanaugh misled (fooled) her. Look, I’m not a lawyer, but I played one in a sketch, & I can tell you that I (and everyone) knew that the Supreme Court can overturn precedent. Oh, and that they were lying. #RoeVsWade
— Al Franken (@alfranken) June 24, 2022
Sen Manchin: “Alarmed.”
Sen Collins: “Concerned.”
Over 80% of America : “Fuck you both.”— Jonathan Goldman (@akjakalope) June 24, 2022
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Fool me three times, who am I, Susan F-ing Collins?— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) June 25, 2022
How much of a dumb ass are you now Susan Collins? #RoeVsWade
— julie brown (@missjuliebrown) June 24, 2022
There has to be a German word for when two people knowingly lie to each other and have the same purpose without ever admitting the lie. What ever that word is Sen. Susan Collins has been engaging in it for the last 3 SCOTUS confirmation hearings.
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) June 25, 2022
Susan Collins: “Face-eating leopard gave private assurances he would not eat my face”.
— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) June 25, 2022
I trusted the Coyote when he showed me that newly built tunnel and I am alarmed to learn that in fact it was merely something he’d painted on the side of a mountain. https://t.co/r3JMqN2TYB
— derek davison (@dwdavison) June 24, 2022
Some argued they knew well and good that they were being lied to.
She wasn’t fooled. Susan Collins didn’t care. She knew this would be the end result. She is the banality of evil. She wasn’t fooled. She lied. https://t.co/yfTUdM4HdY
— Judd Apatow
(@JuddApatow) June 25, 2022
Luckiy for Collins and Manchin, some people had some practical solutions to fix the mess they’ve helped make.
those who claim they were snookered (e.g Manchin, Collins) need to fix this by suspending the filibuster and writing Roe into fed law. Enough.
— Jennifer “Pro-privacy” Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) June 24, 2022
… and so sen. collins is now going to do… what? just complain? … or take action so that there are consequences for lying under oath in congress as a supreme court nominee. (the irony is too rich.) https://t.co/AxhnFE3EIy
— Monica Lewinsky (she/her) (@MonicaLewinsky) June 25, 2022
If Manchin and Collins are genuinely surprised and irate, there’s an easy fix: suspend filibuster, enlarge court, add 4 justices, overrule Dobbs. It would blow up Court, and I’m not saying I’m for it; but OTOH the Court is now positioned to be a regressive force for a generation.
— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) June 25, 2022
Or maybe they’re okay with just being shocked and alarmed till the end of time.