This.

 Biden should have been ready to make his Court pick

Opinion by Colbert I. King

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It's the Optics, baby.

From the time he made his promise, Biden knew or should have known shortly thereafter the universe in which he was working. He knew or should have known all he needed to know about the black women serving on U.S. appeals courts and sitting as federal judges in district courts. He should have learned during his first year in office who are the black women not serving on the federal bench with the strongest credentials, records, qualifications and dedication to the rule of law for service on the Supreme Court.

Biden should have been ready to announce his choice. As matters now stand, the names of exceptionally qualified black women are being floated as trial balloons and subjected to behind-the-scenes sniping and outright attack. Litmus tests are being applied to shortlisted candidates without them having an opportunity to speak for themselves. What’s next for the candidates? Bidding wars? Public opinion polls? Senate whip counts?

And then Mr. King brings it home:

None of this augurs well for the eventual nominee.

Biden has brought this upon himself and his eventual Supreme Court candidate. Reportedly, FBI vetting of potential candidates is underway. And Biden is now reviewing their records and plans to conduct interviews starting next week. Meanwhile, names dangle and potshots fire away. As recently as Thursday, Biden was inviting Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats to recommend candidates to replace Breyer.

End the politicking and analysis paralysis. Make good on your promise, Mr. President, and make the call now. 

Read the whole thing for the transcript where President Johnson invited Mr. Marshall to Washington back in 1965. to serve as the nation's solicitor general  He landed the nomination for the job on the Court in June of  1967.  President Johnson and Thurgood Marshall were ready -- he was confirmed 69 to 11 -- even if the nation was not, necessarily...

Seize the moment then.  He who hesitates is lost... and she will bear the brunt of it.  

President Biden and his people are wrongly delaying the pick after Justice Breyer was allegedly pressured to prematurely announce his retirement.  (I saw the man moving at his retirement ceremony.  He's light on his feet and not in poor health.  I predict he'll be alive, and likely alert and in good spirits too, when the next Democratic president is sworn in, even if the country faces a long drought in electing another Dem president.  Bad move to pressure Breyer to step down when -- unlike the notorious RBG who clung to her lifetime appointment -- he has no significant health issues and Biden did not have the next player up and ready to go already, seamlessly in transition...)

Like with the Afghanistan withdrawal after prematurely closing Bagram Air Base in July 2021 while American troops were still in the country, Team Biden was caught flat-footed, not prepared to immediately move.  

If you're a newcomer evaluating American political parties (or even a more established American just following the lead of others...), you might observe Democrats have a very poor track record of planning and looking ahead in preparation to meet the needs of the nation.*

That's where other people -- gangs, fringe political parties, rogue leaders -- in other groups, in other nations have historically stepped up and gained favor with the more oppressed peoples at home, waiting and hoping for their governments to deliver, but settling for street justice and strongmen when they can't.

The Democrats who are obsessed with the past troubles in the nation need to learn to look ahead, or hire guides more familiar with the territory who can help them see what America needs today.  A more fair playing system for all Americans, not just outreach uplift that plucks the best and the brightest from select communities for a time and artificially elevates them beyond their levels of competence, along with the legacy children whose parents have artificially placed them in positions for which they have precious little real-world experience...

Change is gonna come.  But it won't come from the mixed race (or mixed religion) jackpot winners who get a seat at the table (👏👏) and are just glad to be there, quietly going along to get themselves along, nevermind opening the field to others who don't get the same welcoming parties as the legacies or hand-clapping emojis for allegedly "overcoming" and being the "first" hire to check this box or that...

Whomever Biden serves up, as his black female nominee for the Court, will have a rough go of it, but the Dems myopic focus on January 6 over looking ahead to the future is telling.  They make her job harder, whoever it is eventually gets confirmed...

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* Where are we going to put more and more refugees and asylum seekers working in America who can't afford to pay the costs demanded by the rentiers and landlords hoping to maximize their property values by charging market rate?  If the workers can't find housing, and still we keep the borders essentially open and admit more and more into our populated job centers, will it be gangs that help "settle" and assimilate them to live in America?

When we will see Washington's efforts to pass the Build Biden Back bill -- their big success -- translate into available apartments and affordable starter homes for America's next generations coming up?  Next January 6 maybe?  More housing stock for growing numbers of renters will bring market costs down. Is that a problem, having enough homes for all the workers, and their families, who need them, now?

What exactly is the hold up in building more housing, other than supply chain disruptions, worker shortages, and lack of public will to make more housing opportunities affordable in safe communities for all Americans today?

The party who plans for the future is the best hope for America, not those who wallow in the sins of her past.  Even if maintaining the status quo and prolonging the legacy of stagnation is easier, and you've got a inheritance plan for keeping your own at home temporarily at the top of the heap.  

A nation intact, with equal opportunities for all competitors, not just the beautiful and the networked with the right credentials, is a better bet for all America's offspring than any artificial legacy advantage you could saddle up for your favored sons -- and daughters -- at the deadly expense of others competing freely and fairly on their own dime.