I’m going to keep this post short and sweet. It’s unlikely at this point, that Brett Kavanaugh is going to be confirmed to the Supreme Court. Very unlikely. Not impossible, but very unlikely.
But he isn’t going to make it for all the wrong reasons.
The very fact that a political operative would even get a confirmation hearing for the highest court in the land, has already burned down any semblance of integrity in our system of checks and balances. That what Brett Kavanaugh is: a political operative. He’s not an arbiter of justice. He does not interpret the laws. He has spent his entire career focused on doing what needs to be done in order for republicans to win. Full stop.
The thin veneer that we used to cling onto between partisan and jurist is gone. This asshole actively participated in the actual witch hunt against Bill Clinton, enabled every fucked up thing that George W Bush ever did, and perjured himself three times in regard to stolen materials that he used in order to win for his team. That’s not even getting into all of his other perjury. That repeated perjury demonstrates that he has no regard for the law.
Am I delighted that history of sexual assault is going to prevent him from a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court? Of course. But he never should have gotten a hearing. And frankly, I don’t know why the discussion is still whether he should be confirmed or not. The discussion should be around whether to start impeachment proceedings against him for the seat that he currently holds.
That’s what everyone should be talking about right now.
Republicans are acting like this is a criminal proceeding, and that Kavanaugh’s life is going to “be ruined” if he doesn’t get a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. Much to my dismay, this is a job interview, not a criminal prosecution.
If republicans are going to be hyperbolic about democrats taking it easy on this piece of shit, then I say that the resistance should rise up and give these assholes what they’re afraid of.
As an aside, I’d like to address all of the people who are screaming about how suspicious these “last minute” allegations are. There is no last minute. Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court justices don’t have a set amount of time in which they must be completed. They can go on for years of that’s what senators want to do. So this “deadline” is completely artificial, and has clearly been set to truncate the confirmation process of a very shady nominee. The fact that we’re starting to learn some of the reasons for why republicans are trying to rush this through doesn’t make any of this “last minute” and you shouldn’t accept that premise with anyone you’re debating about this.
Kavanaugh’s implosion does make in unlikely that the senate will confirm a nominee before the election, which means that we have to fight like hell to take back the senate. Flipping it isn’t likely, but it’s doable. For the purists out there, this means supporting less than liberal candidates because they’re still more influenceable than their republican opponents.
Here’s the summary I posted to Facebook last week:
- Jacky Rosen is leading by 2 points in Nevada. She needs money to win this!
- Claire McCaskill is in a tie. We need to keep this seat, even though she’s not an ideal candidate.
- John Tester is barely leading in his race. We need to keep this seat, even though he’s not an ideal candidate.
- Joe Donnelly is only down two pints in Indiana. He needs money to win this!
- Kyrsten Sinema is up three points in freaking Arizona! She needs money to win this!
- Bill Nelson is only up by one point in Florida. We needs to keep this seat, even though he’s not an ideal candidate.
- Phil Bredesen is only down three points in TN. This one is the least likely on my list, but still totally winnable. He people to volunteer to phone bank (you can do this from any state).
- Beto rocks, and he totally has a shot at this seat. He needs money and phone bankers to keep up the momentum.
- Heidi Heitkamp is in trouble. We need to keep that seat. She needs money! She’s not ideal, but we have much more influence over her than we would over her opponent.
Notice how I didn’t try and sell you a bill of goods about how awesome each of these candidates are? Well, that’s because I’m not a liar for political expedience. You can trust that when I’m enthusiastic about a candidate, it’s because I truly believe that they will represent our self interests. You can also trust me when I tell you that the time for ideological purity is in the primaries. I’m a yuuuuuugggge advocate for ideological purity, when it’s logical to have those thresholds in place. That time has passed. The general election is time for pragmatism and protecting your own self interest.
So to recap:
- Primaries = promoting your own self interest.
- General election = protecting your own self interest.
