The moment Anthony Kennedy retired I knew I would not be happy with his replacement. Donald Trump is currently playing the part of a right winger on TV and I knew he would nominate someone way right of the American mainstream. With all the prime time coverage he coveted on Monday night he recognized a very few guest to get some easy applause. Second among them was Edwin Meese. That’s when I knew America was really in trouble! Let’s explore.
Meese was an early and close associate of Ronald Reagan. He served Reagan both in his stint as Governor of California and President. Reagan is one of the most interesting political figures in 20th century American history; how he managed to stay this side of the prison bars is simply amazing.
Meese was Reagan’s Attorney General from 1985 until he resigned to avoid likely prison time in 1988. He is another case of the radical right wing taking care of loyal soldiers and today serves on the Board of Directors of the Federalist Society which effectively controls federal judicial appointment, including the Supreme Court, under contemporary Republican presidencies.
When the big unveil moment came Trump announced his pick was DC Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh is part of the worst of recent Republican history which explains his stamp of approval from the Federalist Society. He worked for Kenneth Starr and was a major player in crafting the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He spent several years working in the George W. Bush White House until Bush nominated him for his seat on the DC Circuit.
After the President gave him the podium Kavanaugh went into what was basically a cut and paste speech more suited to a Kiwanis meeting with a bit of updating to fit the occasion. It was well received by the media which disappointed me. It was basically a stump speech with a few shout outs and mentions of the venue thrown in.
The main reason I oppose any Trump nomination to the Supreme Court at this point is because I don’t feel a President under investigation for serious crimes should be making a lifetime appointment to our nation’s highest court. I am among the many that feels Trump (who only cares about what is good for him personally) selected Kavanaugh because the judge has a documented history of positions that will protect Trump in various scenarios that may well come before the Court in the course of the Mueller probe and a possible impeachment.
There are many other reasons to fear a Justice Kavanaugh – some of which I’ll briefly address below – but the overwhelming one is that no man is above the law in the United States. Contrary to the vast majority of Americans, Brett Kavanaugh doesn’t believe that. Does any reasonable American adult think Trump was above extracting such a promise of loyalty from Kavanaugh; or from Gorsuch for that matter?
The main rallying cause for the opposition to Kavanaugh is the assumed repeal of Roe v Wade. I am somewhat skeptical of a full frontal repeal of Roe; what I expect is death by many cuts. I feel that a Supreme Court with two Trump appointments will uphold the many state laws that are making a legal, safe abortion impossible to obtain. In either event American women become second class citizens again.
Another target of the right wing was telegraphed Monday afternoon when the White House announced that former Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl would be shepherding Kavanaugh through the confirmation process. Since passing through the revolving door on his way out of the Senate Kyl has been a lobbyist for Big Pharma. There goes Obamacare and any chance of Medicare being able to negotiate drug prices in the next few decades.
Under a “conservative” majority Court voter ID and gerrymandering laws that favor Republicans will be upheld. In fact I don’t think that an updated version of Jim Crow is out of the realm of possibility. The certain bottom line is that voting and registering to vote will become more difficult; this in a country where less than 60% of eligible voters cast a ballot in the last presidential election. We have a voter turnout, not an in person voter fraud problem in America.
The LGBT community will be the first hit with discriminatory laws. The right of the business owner will become paramount. The public accommodations provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 may as well be repealed. If you are a white heterosexual the question I ask you is when do you think some group you are part of will be the next target? It is a question of when not if in a divide and conquer country.
I firmly believe that America is the greatest country in the history of the world! That does not mean we are free of sin. Two of our greatest sins of the 20th century were the internment of Japanese-Americans and the refusal to take in the refugees on the MS St. Louis. Most of those refugees ended up dying in Hitler’s concentration camps. Immigration is the most perplexing social problem facing America today. The refuges we turn away are often sent back to almost certain death. Three of my grandparents were born in Poland and came to America. Aside from some details, my basic story is typical of most Americans. Kavanaugh and company in the majority will close the gates and ignore the deaths.
If this new regime is allowed to be the majority on the Court I see a return to what I call the Plantation Mentality. The master in the “big house” will call all the shots and the rest of us are little more than vassals and indentured servants. What is left of labor rights and consumer rights will be legislated away.
It is an extremely steep fight but you have to confront this nomination in any legal way possible within your comfort zone. This is the price progressives and mainstream Americans are now faced with for decades of ignoring the importance of the courts.
The omens are bad and the nominee is likely to be confirmed. It’s up to you.
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