Regardless of how Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearings go, it's safe to say they'll be remembered for one thing: her inability (or outright refusal) to define the word "woman." Jackson's "I'm-not-a-biologist" answer has been memed, parodied, and mocked the world over. But it's also, one news outlet warns, contagious. Just how deep does this gender illiteracy go? All the way through the Biden administration, a survey of agencies shows.
It was a simple question. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) had even signaled to Jackson the day before that she would be asking it. But an extra 24 hours didn't seem to help Joe Biden's nominee reach any conclusions, and she nervously chuckled that she couldn't define a woman "in this context." Taken aback, Blackburn -- along with the rest of the GOP -- wondered in the days that followed how Jackson could possibly sit on America's highest court and rule on cases about Title IX and Title VII without a basic understanding of gender?
"If sex is unknowable, how can a law against sex discrimination be enforced?" the Federalist's Kyle Sammin wondered. "If trial courts need to call expert 'biologists' every time the subject of sex comes up, it is hard to see how justice can be done."
And unfortunately, it's not just Biden's Supreme Court pick who's feigning ignorance on a question of basic humanity. Fox News's Timothy Nerozzi called up a long list of federal agencies, asking for their answer to the same question: "What is a woman?" Not one responded. Incredibly, the Departments of Justice, Education, Housing and Urban Development, National Institutes of Health, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons all refused to answer. With the exception of NIH, who pointed Nerozzi to a webpage on woke gender identity, "None of the agencies provided their definition or criteria for an individual to be categorized as a 'woman,'" he wrote in amazement.
Of course, this was all inevitable from the moment President Biden stepped into office and began to systematically "obliterate sex as a distinct category," Kara Dansky, president of Women's Declaration International, argued. As far as they're concerned, "women no longer exist as a coherent category as a matter of federal administrative law."
Now, more than a year into Biden's first term, it's obvious that the president's only true passion is turning the world upside down for transgenderism. Last week, during the so-called "Transgender Day of Visibility," Biden devoted a 702-word proclamation to this attack on science, parents, privacy, and public health. In it, he "celebrated the activism and determination that have fueled the fight for... equality." He bashes states that have risen up to oppose the mutilation of children or the Left's twisted interpretation of girls' sports. "These bills are wrong," Biden argued before claiming that they're "damaging to the mental health and well-being of transgender youth."
To America's kids, who deserve to be shielded from this sort of harmful propaganda, the president says, "You are so brave. You belong. I have your back." To most parents, including Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), that kind of affirmation is "disturbing." It puts people of all ages -- but especially younger generations -- on a path to personal suffering. These are "broken individuals," he sympathized on "Washington Watch." They need our help, not our validation. "I personally believe, and I think most of the people across Montana believe that any time that you take a child and you subject them to this type of surgery or treatment, that the people that are responsible for it should be charged with child abuse. I really believe it is that simple."
Meanwhile, it seems Jackson's unresponsiveness also extends to other matters of national importance -- like natural rights. In written questioning, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asked the nominee to explain, in her own words, "the theory prevalent among members of the Founding Fathers' generation that humans possess natural rights that are inherent or inalienable." Do you agree, Cruz continued? Jackson replied, "I do not hold a position on whether individuals possess natural rights."
"This is stunning," Cruz posted with a picture of the response. "The Declaration of Independence proclaims: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights...' KBJ says she has 'no position' on whether this is true."
But then, should anyone be surprised? Once you turn your back on the simplest realities, the other truths are quick to follow.
