Columns

It was a sad day when the U.S. Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh, a partisan, intemperate, accused sexual predator, to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s courage, like Anita Hill’s before her, was not enough block his confirmation. Senators Susan Collins and Jeff Flake teased us with the possibility of voting “no,” but at crunch time voted “yes.” And what’s with Democrat Joe Manchin’s “yes” vote?  

With Kavanaugh’s rise to the Supreme Court, we may have lost an important check on Trump’s unbridled presidency. 

Now that Kavanaugh has been confirmed, President Trump, Senators Mitch McConnell and Chuck Grassley, and the other Trump enablers have, I’m sure, self-satisfied grins on their faces. With this confirmation, no matter what Trump has done, failed to do, or will do, his presidency is a success to them. 

Clearly, Trump and the Republican party care more about a friendly Supreme Court than success in the midterm elections. Neil Gorsuch and now Kavanaugh will be on the Supreme Court for life, whereas if they lose in the midterms, within an election cycle or two, the GOP has a chance to win back control of Congress. Too many voters have short memories. 

Maybe, a Democrat-controlled House will impeach Kavanaugh, but chances of a 2/3 vote to convict in the Senate is highly unlikely. And remember, Supreme Court justices are not required to recuse themselves from cases where they have a perceived conflict of interest.  

Now we know the importance of Russia’s help to swing the election to Trump as well as those nearly half of eligible voters (46.9% of approximately 231,556,622 people) who failed to vote in the 2016 presidential election. 

Let’s at least get out and vote on November 6.