It is not Kavanaugh the Left Fears, But Democracy

The left has attacked DC Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh with vicious and personal accusations aimed at character assassination. This follows a protest circus, complete with clowns, who shouted profanities and slogans aimed at opposing the SCOTUS nominee whose confirmation should be a foregone conclusion. What is it that the left fears? What do they have to lose? They fear a political future in which they must be accountable to voters for their social policies instead of using the unelected court to force such policies on an unwilling American public.

When President Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court most of his supporters were elated. Here was a judge eminently qualified for the highest bench. Judge Kavanaugh is among the most mainstream and uncontroversial judges on the President’s extended list of judges for the court. Nevertheless, Kavanaugh is pro-life and a constructionist who will distinctly drive the court in a less activist direction. That is exactly what the left fears and this is the reason for the circus over the past few weeks.

The American people have watched in embarrassment as protestors showed up dressed as condoms or male parts; as they jumped up during the nomination hearing shouting profanities and silly slogans. This was not all the left had up their sleeve, they have pulled out all the stops. Soon, rumors began to be floated about some letter accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. No sooner had rumors begun to spread than many long-time friends of the judge started to speak in his defense. Large numbers have signed letters of support for Brett Kavanaugh and his sound character.

What have the accusations come to? Two accusers have come forward who are, no surprise, leftwing activists. One is a leftist professor whose students warned other students not to disagree with her in class, who is desperately politically opposed to Kavanaugh’s confirmation. She has come forward claiming he engaged in inappropriate conduct while intoxicated at a summer party 35 years ago when they were in high school. The accuser cannot recall how she arrived at the party, who was there with her, and everyone she named as having participated or who might have been at the party has replied that they were never at such a party and have no memory of such incident. Kavanaugh even has a calendar from the period that shows he was out of town most of the summer.

Another specious claim has arisen about Kavanaugh supposedly exposing himself to a woman at a college party. First of all, if you don’t like antics like that don’t go to college dorm parties! Although such behavior is obviously wrong and criminal, the truth is, it is precisely the kind of infantile behavior one expects at such parties. But again, no one can recall any details and there is some confusion as to whether Kavanaugh even attended this party and, of course, there is no corroboration. There have also been still more individuals who have come to Kavanaugh’s defense in support of his character. Kavanaugh defended himself in a letter recently sent to the chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee (click here to read it for yourself). A third claim has arisen alleging Kavanaugh’s presence at “rape parties” that is so entirely ridiculous I will not dignify it with any further mention. In 1990 the left tried to sabotage Justice Clarence Thomas’ confirmation with an admittedly more plausible accusation leveled by leftwing activist Anita Hill. This was also found to be a false accusation and Justice Thomas was confirmed. Hopefully, Judge Kavanaugh will be confirmed soon.

In the media and public discourse on the subject there has been no presumption of innocence, no due process, and very little in the way of fact checking. Even the most ridiculous and unsubstantiated claims have been given air time or have passed around social media. Meanwhile, accusations against Democrat political figures are going ignored in spite of significant evidence of their truth. If the left is able to squash his nomination, the Democrats will concoct such claims about any conservative seeking any office to deprive the voters of an alternative to their far-left agenda. If Kavanaugh is not confirmed, all mothers and fathers of boys will have to live in perpetual terror that their sons may be falsely accused. These allegations are also an affront to those who have actually been abused sexually and have struggled to be believed.

What the Left Has To Lose

Why the desperation? What do they have to lose? The answer is everything. For many decades the left has used the Supreme Court to drive a hard-left social agenda. The beauty is that judges face no elections and are not accountable to the voters. Presidents nominate justices who are confirmed by the Senate to life terms. On issues from organized labor to homosexual marriage, from immigration to affirmative action the court has used the law to push the country leftward. No issue has been more contentious than abortion. Since the Roe decision in 1973 the Supreme Court has defended “abortion on demand” as a national policy. Neither Congress nor the states have been allowed to encroach upon this sacred policy. The vast majority of Americans want abortion to be legal. That said, a majority also support at least some restriction.

The State of Texas recently tried to pass simple regulations that would apply to abortion clinics. Doctors at these clinics would have to hold admit privileges at a hospital, that is, they should be recognized and competent medical professionals. Simple health regulations should also apply requiring cleanliness for the clinics. There should also be accountability when a woman is injured as a result of the procedure. Today, women have little or no recourse if there is malpractice at an abortion clinic. The Supreme Court struck down the Texas law last year. Not because it violated the constitution, not because it violated a right, but because the law might reduce access to abortions. Opponents of the Texas law argued that several clinics would be shuttered by the law and regulations and that would mean entire communities might be left without a clinic nearby. So, even though a majority of Texans supported the law, it was enacted by the state legislature, and it was within the state’s jurisdiction to regulate healthcare providers within their state; the law was not allowed to be enacted.

During his confirmation hearings in 2005, future Chief Justice John Roberts said “no one goes to the game to see the umpires” referring to the court as the referee to the political process responsible for enforcing the rules and fairness, but not in interfering in the game play. He does not believe the SCOTUS should make headlines, deliver landmark decisions on social policy, or press political agendas. Since that time, he has voted and acted in accordance with that philosophy. He swung over to allow the Affordable Care Act (ACA-Obamacare) to remain law in a 2012 decision, for example, because making law and policy is the purview of the legislative and executive branches, even though Obamacare was a poorly written law. Imagine a court that leaves policy making to elected officials? Imagine a court that enforces the laws and applies the constitution without deciding issues for the American people? This may seem a pleasant thought for those of us who appreciate our constitutional democratic republic, but it is a nightmare for the left.

The American left knows very well they could never drive so far left an agenda through elected and accountable branches of government. The 2016 election, like the 1980 election before it, is a prime example of an occasion when the American people expressed their disfavor of leftwing policies reversing them by choosing a president who will reduce government, lower taxes, and drive a social policy based upon personal responsibility. A president who seeks to benefit the American people rather than for the Washington DC elites. At the end of the day, the congressional majorities and the presidency must answer to voters who do not entirely agree with the American left. In fact, as the Democrat Party has taken a hard-left turn since 2008, voters have driven them from power at many levels of government causing the GOP to pick up over 1000 legislative seats nationally. Both houses of Congress and the Presidency are now in the hands of the Republicans and they will continue to be so in the years to come.

A minority should not be able to drive an extreme agenda against the will of the majority. Nor should a majority force itself upon the minority to deprive them of their rights. This principal stands at the core of the American constitutional system. The left has contravened this constitutional system by hijacking the Supreme Court for several generations to force their extreme agenda upon unwilling voters. Today, that is coming to an end. In a system that is democratic, in which policymakers are a held accountable to the voters, the American people make their choices for themselves. In such a system the elites cannot force their will upon us all. In such a system the leftwing agenda is dead on arrival. That is what they fear. They recognize that they are about to lose everything.

The left is thus lobbing their nastiest and most underhanded assault yet. If they succeed, no conservative, no man will be safe from specious allegations. The very core of our system will be undermined. Democracy will fail in favor of the tyranny of an elite, extremist minority.