It's day two of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
So far he has been grilled about gun rights, diversity, sexual harassment, and of course, Roe v Wade. He indicated that it is "...an important precedent which has been reaffirmed many times." (Once again I think one-issue voters are deluding themselves.)
I am actually more interested in what he says about about judicial independence.
Meanwhile of course some people are losing their minds over this. Folks, repeat after me, the Babylon Bee is satire.
In his prepared remarks on Day 1, Kavanaugh said, "The Supreme Court must never be viewed as a partisan institution."
ReplyDeleteThat is an amazing comment coming from a member of the Federalist Society, which was created by its big-money backers to be partisanly pro-business, anti-labor, pro-Republican and anti-socialist. Chief Roberts, Soapy Sam Alito and the ineffable Niel Gorsuch also were watered and fed in that Federalist hothouse, where they became smooth-talking jurists who will never get it, no matter how many girls' soccer teams they coach. The Supreme Court was often wrong but never partisan, though history. Now it is partisan, and that is not by accident but by careful planning and spending. BTW. the F.S. doesn't give a busted umbrella either way about how Roe v Wade fares.
Kavanaugh's biggest sorrow is probably that he wasn't in the Supreme Court in time to help stick a shiv into public unions with the Janus vs. AFSME decision. I'm sure there'll be plenty of other opportunities to please his moneyed masters. Maybe there'll be a case called Rich Bastards vs. The Rest of Us.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of reasons to disapprove of Kavanaugh. I would rather have Merrick Garland. But that isn't an option. Given that we are basically stuck with a Trump nominee, either this one or another one; my feeling is that we could do worse than Kavanaugh. I know, not exactly a ringing endorsement. Are Democrats making him a surrogate for their justifiable anger and frustration with the Trump administration?
ReplyDeleteWell, Kavanaugh knows the law. Some of the lower court appointees that make Trump, the Evangelicals and the USCCB prouder than penguin parents do not know even that. And if Kamala Harris does have the goods on a pre-confirmation chat about the Mueller probe with Trump's attorney (is there anyone in Washington who is not attorneying for Trump these days?) and Kavanaugh has to recuse and can't bring his odd reasoning to any Mueller cases that reach SCOTUS, he might not be impossibly bad.
DeleteNow Cory Booker and Maisy Hirono have released some Kavanaugh e-mails having to do with his work in the George W. Bush white house.
ReplyDeleteA very few drops from a very large bucket.
DeleteThe best case the Rs would have for rushing this confirmation through before anyone can read the documents is that they can get Kavanaugh on the bench before the first Tuesday in October, so the Court won't start a justice short. The problem with that case is that Addison Mitchell McConnell decided the court could go a whole year and a half a justice short if the solution was to seat a justice nominated by the sitting president (which is where justices usually come from except when the President is not white and Sen. McConnell is a thug),