In Amy Coney Barrett’s America, the Supreme Court will take health care away from millions of people during a deadly pandemic. That is inevitable, at least, if you believe what Democrats had to say on the first day of Barrett’s confirmation hearing.
Democrats had plenty of visual props to reinforce this point: Photos of people with pre-existing conditions on easels, which had the effect of making this confirmation hearing look more like a murder trial.
Despite all of this, Barrett wasn’t explicitly cast as the villain, but rather, as a pawn. In fact, while invoking the horrific outcomes that would surely follow her confirmation, Democrats rarely said her name. This was presumably because they don’t really want this to be about Barrett—they don’t want to risk turning a villain into a victim. Instead, they attempted to scaremonger the concept of her on the bench, without taking the time to demonize her as an individual.