A few days ago, I had planned to write something light and diversionary tonight. Events have upended my plans. Hubby and I went to a Barnes & Noble after dinner. I picked up a couple books to peruse with coffee, but I couldn’t read more than a paragraph of either one. My mind keeps coming back to today’s events and what they portend for the future of our country.
Unless some kind of miracle occurs, like a giant meteor hitting the Earth (and I’m beginning to think that sort of thing would constitute a miracle), Brett Kavanaugh will be seated on the Supreme Court of the United States. This after it was revealed that he has lied to Congress under oath repeatedly over more than a decade, that he has perpetrated sexual assault more than once, that he trades in right-wing conspiracy theories and has created a few of his own, that his performance at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing two Thursdays ago demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt that he does not have the temperament to be a judge in traffic court much less a Justice of the Supreme Court.
And yet, none of this matters to the Republican majority of the Senate. They were pushing this nomination through no matter what. There were no alternatives (despite the fact that there are many alternatives), it was Kavanaugh or nothing. We can anticipate him ruling from a place of resentment and bitterness. Conservatives will finally have the Court they need to pull American society back to the 19th Century, as they’ve wanted to do since the 1970s. Civil rights, women’s rights (including abortion rights), workers rights, what few protections exist for LGBT people, education, the environment, regulation of business, all of these will suffer in the coming years. Since Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, the two oldest conservative justices are Clarence Thomas (70) and Samuel Alito (68). I imagine it will be at least 10 and possibly as long as 20 years before either of these Justices (or any of the other conservatives) retires or dies. We’re stuck.
Yes, there is impeachment, but a Justice can only be removed with the approval of 2/3 of the Senate. Thats just not going to happen, not with the current crop of Republicans in the Senate. Historically, only Justice Samuel Chase was ever impeached (in 1804), and the Senate failed to convict him. To say that impeachment is a long shot is an understatement. We’re going to be stuck with this court until one of them retires or dies.
So what can we do? Well, first, we can’t give up. Kelly Macias’ front page post is pretty clear about that. I will not be able to join the masses in Washington, DC, tomorrow, but it you’re anywhere nearby, I ask you to go and protest for all of us who want to but can’t be there.
Action is the antidote for despair. We have to keep demanding our elected officials to counteract Trump’s outrageous sabotage of democracy in this country. We don’t have an alternative.
The African-American struggle for civil rights can serve as our model here. African-Americans lived for decades under Jim Crow and brutal terrorist tactics designed to keep them down and under the thumb of dominant whites. Whatever is in store for those of us on the left, it’s not likely to be as bad as the conditions that African-Americans had to endure in the South in the early 20th Century. It took decades, but through civil disobedience and non-violence, Jim Crow eventually fell. Through it all, there was certainly despair, but their determination was stronger. Through activism, Trump and the GOP will fall as well.
The next objective is the election. Leverage your fury. Do what you can to get as many people to the polls as possible. I have already volunteered for GOTV on election day. You can too. Power is all they understand. Do what you can to assure their loss of power.
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