Even in a Party Filled With Deplorables, Tom Cotton Stands Out

Several of the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee plan to run for president in 2024. As such, they used their time during the confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Jackson Brown to broadcast their platforms. I've already mentioned that the so-called "lane" Josh Hawley is carving out for himself is one that makes an appeal not only to the January 6 insurrectionists, but also to the QAnoners. 

It is also clear that Tom Cotton plans to run for president in 2024. It therefore came as no surprise that, on his first day of questioning, the senator from Arkansas zeroed in on one of his favorite topics: that the United States has an "under-incarceration" problem. After going through statistics on the number of violent crimes (murder, rapes, assaults) that are never solved, he asked Judge Jackson, "Do you think we imprison too many violent criminals, or not enough?"

Of course, what Cotton completely ignores is that, when activists talk about this country's over-incarceration problem, they are not referring to violence crimes, but a combination of the so-called "war on drugs" and the disproportionate way that people of color are targeted for imprisonment. 

The way that Cotton treated Judge Jackson with utter contempt is indicative of the racism that underlies his lust for locking up people of color. It was also on display during a recent speech he gave at the Reagan Presidential Library.

In many Democratic-run cities, prosecutors simply refuse to prosecute. These so-called “progressive” or “Soros prosecutors” haven’t just abused prosecutorial discretion, they’ve embraced prosecutorial nullification, ruling entire categories of serious crimes out of bounds for prosecution.

They’ve contributed to the worst increase in murder rates on record and the most drug-overdose deaths ever. There’s only one answer to these radicals: Republicans must work to recall, remove, and replace every last Soros prosecutor in America.

This growing crime wave is also fueled by the single largest exodus of criminals from jail in our history. The U.S. prison population dropped by more than 400,000 inmates in 2020 alone.

Much of this decline was motivated by the faddish claim that our nation has an “over-incarceration problem.” In fact, we have an under-incarceration problem, because nearly half of all murders and the vast majority of other crimes go unsolved... 

It’s time to declare a new war on crime that won’t stop until the carnage stops. We shouldn’t stop until little kids in Chicago and Baltimore are no longer gunned down on their way to school, until fentanyl overdoses are no longer the leading cause of death for our young people, and until law-abiding citizens can walk our city streets without fear of being the next victim on the evening news.

The so-called "Soros prosecutors," like Rachel Rollins from Suffolk County, MA, took note of things like the fact that "Seventeen of the 25 most frequently filed charges in criminal court are nonviolent motor vehicle, drug, and property offenses." They recognized that a "carceral approach" to these crimes is not only ineffective and expensive, but it creates collateral harms. As a result:

In place of traditional criminal justice system outcomes...criminal justice practitioners and policymakers are working in collaboration with community partners to develop and implement innovative, evidence-driven diversionary alternatives that data show are more likely to promote safer and healthier communities.

In other words, they're being smart on crime. 

It is interesting to note that Cotton specifically mentions the cities of Chicago and Baltimore when fear-mongering about violent crime. A recent study by the Third Way found that the murder rate in his home state of Arkansas is even higher than Illinois and Maryland. As a matter of fact, this is what they reported:

We found that murder rates are, on average, 40% higher in the 25 states Donald Trump won in the last presidential election compared to those that voted for Joe Biden. In addition, murder rates in many of these red states dwarf those in blue states like New York, California, and Massachusetts.

Perhaps Senator Cotton should spend less time railing about Chicago and Baltimore and more time trying to figure out what is happening in his home state of Arkansas. 

It was, however, the kind of solution Cotton pointed to during his speech at the Reagan library that is most disturbing. 

Here we can take inspiration once again from Old Hickory [Andrew Jackson]. In 1818, criminals and marauders used lawless portions of Spanish Florida as bases to attack and kill American citizens. In response, General Jackson invaded Spanish territory, rooted out those responsible, and then conquered the Spanish capital just for good measure. We should show the same resolve in the face of crime and lawlessness today.

This is a perfect example of why Republicans want to take control of re-writing our history. Cotton is referring to the First Seminole War, when Florida was still a Spanish colony. Here's what really happened:

The Seminoles were largely of Creek origin and lived in villages in northern Florida. The area was also home to a number of Africans, free African Americans, and runaway African American slaves, all of whom were known as Black Seminoles. The Seminoles and Black Seminoles were aligned with the British against the Americans before and during the War of 1812 and were the targets of frequent raids by militias from Georgia, who sought runaway slaves as well as land and cattle. In 1816, U.S. soldiers destroyed a garrison that was a refuge for escaped slaves, killing some 270 people. The Seminoles subsequently began raiding American settlements along the Georgia–Florida border. In what many writers identify as the beginning of the First Seminole War, in November 1817, U.S. soldiers attacked the Seminole village of Fowltown (near present-day Bainbridge, Georgia), and a battle ensued. In retaliation, a group of Seminoles laid siege to a boat carrying reinforcements to Fort Scott on the Apalachicola River and killed 43 men, women, and children.

After Jackson's army invaded Florida, Spain went on to cede the territory to the United States and, of course as president, Jackson worked to have the Indian Removal Act passed by Congress - launching the Trail of Tears. Most Seminoles and Black Seminoles were eventually relocated from Florida to reservations in the west. 

Tom Cotton finds inspiration from this country's use of the military to attack Indigenous and Black people. But that shouldn't come as a surprise after he advocated for the use of our military in response to the George Floyd protests. 

It is clear that the current iteration of the Republican Party is home to some seriously deplorable people. Many of them are nothing but incompetent performative trolls. But Cotton is different. He is a calculating, sociopathic bigot - which makes him even more dangerous.