How to explain Tim Scott?

Explaining his opposition, Scott said, “Judge Jackson’s judicial philosophy and positions on the defining issues of our time make her the wrong choice for the Supreme Court.”

That, despite overwhelming evidence that Jackson’s record as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit placed her well within the judicial mainstream. Scott also said he voted against Jackson for “leaving open the door on court packing” — an objection he did not raise when Justice Amy Coney Barrett avoided answering questions about expanding the court during her confirmation hearing.

Scott, however, will go down in history for what he didn’t say or do when the moment arose.

As the sole Black member in the Senate Republican caucus, Scott stood by as his GOP colleagues harangued, besmirched and badgered a well-qualified, widely respected Black woman with untruthful smears and bad faith attacks. Before Jackson’s confirmation hearing, Scott said he looked forward to “a respectful and thorough hearing process.” But when the bullying got started, Scott went missing.

As a follow up, on Monday I asked Scott’s press secretary, Caroline Anderegg whether the senator had any comments about Jackson’s treatment during the hearings. Anderegg stated Scott said all he was going to say about Jackson’s appointment, and with respect to the hearings, Scott doesn’t have “any comment on that.”

Jackson, to her credit, stood up to the mistreatment with dignity and a display of deference that her attackers did not deserve. She drew support from several Democrats, most notably Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) who decried the shocking insults directed her way. Moderate Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin III (W.Va.) was moved to blast Republicans for their treatment during the hearings, calling their behavior “disgraceful” and “embarrassing.”

Georgia’s Raphael G. Warnock, the first Black Democrat to be elected to the Senate from a former Confederate state, showed he appreciated the event’s significance.

“Yes, I’m a senator, I’m a pastor, beyond all of that I am a father of young Black girl,” Warnock said during the Senate confirmation debate. “I know how much it means for Judge Jackson to have navigated the double jeopardy of racism and sexism to now stand in the glory of this moment, in all of her excellence.”

And he wrote in a letter to his 5-year-old daughter, Chloé: “In our nation’s history, she is the first Supreme Court Justice who looks like you — with hair like yours.”

Jackson was disowned by someone who looks like her and who now claims victimhood for himself.

Referring to the other Republican senator from South Carolina, MSNBC Host Joy Reid tweeted that Scott let Lindsey O. Graham “& the sheriffs dog-walk him” when it came to police reform and is going along with Graham’s “barking-dog racism” on opposing Jackson.

Scott labeled the criticism “vile” and “offensive” for suggesting “that a Black man cannot think for himself. I have to follow somebody else. That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” he said. “It reinforces the liberal elites’ approach to minorities who will not fall in line and do what they tell us to do.”

Raised in a poor, single-parent household in South Carolina, Scott has gained mightily through his Republican Party affiliations. A big star in his chosen world, he is often praised by former president Donald Trump, who has given Scott’s 2022 reelection bid “my complete and total endorsement.” And the pro-Scott super PAC Opportunity Matters Fund is flooded with Republican megadonor money.

How to explain Tim Scott?

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the New School in New York on Feb. 6, 1964, about the Civil Rights movement and how people react to calls to serve.

“Negroes are human, not superhuman” King said. “Like all people, they have differing personalities, diverse financial interests and varied aspirations. There are Negroes who will never fight for freedom. There are Negroes who seek profit for themselves alone from the struggle. There are even some Negroes who will go over to the other side.”

“These facts should distress no one,” King explained. “Every minority and every people has its share of opportunists, traitors, freeloaders and escapists. The hammer blows of discrimination, poverty and segregation must warp and corrupt some. No one can pretend that because a people may be oppressed, every individual member is virtuous and worthy.”

“Decency, honor and courage” King said, are the dominant characteristics to look for.

The historic struggle for progress, King told the audience, has always had “masses of decent people, along with their lost souls.”

And maybe therein lies the answer: Tim Scott, who profits from gains in his right-wing world; and, Tim Scott, lost soul running his God-given race.

Either way, his place in history is assured.