Amid Nike’s controversial 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign rolling out, an 11-year-old being tased and President Donald Trump attacking Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Twitter once again, confirmation hearings for Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh began last week.
The hearings are, in short, a farce.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation should be blocked solely based on the fact that a president under multiple investigations shouldn’t be allowed to pick the judge who could decide his fate. Plus, the lack of time senators have had to review thousands of documents concerning Kavanaugh’s history as a justice and as a White House aide during George W. Bush’s presidency.
The way Republicans attempt to jam him onto the court resembles the way the tax cut was passed last year. Once again, the American people are seeing a rushed, nakedly partisan process with GOP leaders withholding incredible amounts of information needed to properly assess Kavanaugh’s fitness for the position.
But since the hearings have commenced and likely won’t stop, it’s imperative that people pick up the phone and call their senators — in Texas’ case, Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz — at 202-224-3121. Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court threatens American democracy and would cause a constitutional uproar.
One of the most concerning issues is Kavanaugh’s refusal to commit to recusing himself from Trump-related matters. And he avoids simple questions about it like when Sen. Kamala Harris asked him if he had spoken about the Mueller investigation with someone from the law firm that previously represented Trump.
This is particularly concerning because Kavanaugh previously expressed concerns about how an independent counsel can investigate a president. Despite being a part of the independent counsel that investigated former President Bill Clinton, Kavanaugh said he thinks investigations should be conducted by Congress.
If that isn’t enough to dissuade senators, hopefully the mass amounts of unknown information about him will since the Trump administration hid thousands of pages of his records.
Yes, scores of documents were eventually released ahead of the hearing, but eight hours before? Let’s be realistic, no one can read 42,000 pages in eight hours. No one.
What is known of his record shows his politics are also concerning. Based on his past, Kavanaugh is willing to overturn Roe v. Wade, dismantle environmental protections, sabotage the Affordable Care Act and side with the wealthy and powerful over working people.
He referred to birth control as “abortion-inducing drugs” during day two of the hearings. For a man who claims to be in touch with the “real world”, he certainly has major misconceptions about a drug that prevents pregnancy.
He’s clearly not for women and dodges questions regarding LGBTQ rights as well.
When asked by Sen. Cory Booker, Kavanaugh refused to say whether it is morally or legally wrong to fire people because they are gay. He refused to state his opinion on marriage equality and refused to state his role in the Bush White House’s efforts to ban same-sex marriage.
A vote for Kavanaugh is a vote against the American public and a vote to destroy the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court, one of the last federal institutions still standing.
So pick up the phone. Call your senator to vote no on Kavanaugh at least until all of the Senate has had adequate time to go through the thousands of documents that will assist in determining his fitness for the high court.
