Double Down: Hirono Stands By Anti-Catholic Smear, Calls Defense of Religious Liberty an 'Alt Right' Stance

Last week, we told you about the depths to which leftist activists are sinking in order to derail the nomination of a young conservative woman of color to replace Justice Kavanaugh on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. In that piece, we also updated you on Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse's fight to expose and condemn the unconstitutional religious discrimination being advocated, or at least heavily indulged by, two Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senators Kamala Harris and Mazie Hirono have criticized one of President Trump's federal judicial nominees over his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a mainstream charitable Catholic organization. Hirono accused the Knights of holding "extreme" views (i.e. traditional Catholic teachings on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage), and asked the nominee whether he'd quit the group before assuming the bench, if confirmed. Many observers rightly denounced this approach as an attempted imposition of an unlawful religious test for public office, reeking of discriminatory ignorance:

Among the many stupidities of this campaign against the Knights is its superfluity. Buescher is voluntarily affiliated with two even larger organizations that are on record in opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage: the Catholic church; the Republican party. When running for attorney general of Nebraska in 2014, he called himself “an avidly pro-life person.” If Harris and Hirono want to maintain that all judicial nominees must support abortion, beyond just saying that they will respect existing law, then they should just say that there are scores of millions of Christians they would never allow on the federal bench on account of their beliefs. There is no need to launch an attack on the Knights.

Sasse authored a resolution praising the Knights, and condemning any effort to impose unconstitutional religion-related obstacles to public service. He told us on Benson & Harf that after initially asking for a delay as they deliberated over their strategy, Democrats ultimately decided not to object. The resolution passed unanimously, as it obviously should have. But a few days later, it became clear that Hirono wasn't the least bit contrite or sorry. Letting her bigot flag fly, and celebrating her aggressive ignorance, the Hawaii Democrat doubled down on her smears, launching another one against her Senate colleague:

.@MazieHirono attacked a judicial nom for membership in Knights of Columbus @KofC. @BenSasse responded with S.Res.19 condemning religious tests. @MazieHirono accused @BenSasse of embracing the alt-right (LOL) & entered into the record an attack on @KofC by @Catholic4Choice (LOL). pic.twitter.com/Y9J8AoBzuB
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) January 19, 2019

Hirono's embarrassment of a statement claims that the resolution condemning her bigotry was addressing a non-existent problem, then accuses Sasse of "embrac[ing] the Alt-Right's position" on religious liberty. Setting aside the singularly moronic nature of this cheap shot, Hirono has inadvertently proven that the vote to rebuke her was manifestly necessary, and that she's learned nothing. The Nebraskan's communications director fired back on Twitter:

.@BenSasse has gone after the alt-right. @maziehirono is recklessly using the label “alt-right” to smear 2 million Catholics who volunteer in their communities. It’s laughably stupid, but it’s also insulting to the folks who face hate from the actual alt-right and neo-nazis. https://t.co/vElTB2iNob
— James Wegmann (@jameswegmann) January 19, 2019

Kamala Harris, who's now officially running for president (read this analysis of her out-of-the-gate standing), can be a McCarthyite demagogue, but she's capable of nuance and tonal modulation. Hirono is incapable of any such thing, it would appear, as we unambiguously learned from her disgraceful performance during the Kavanaugh melee. I'll leave you with Allahpundit's blunt, spot-on assessment: