Mutiny on their knees: The Democratic Party’s phony opposition to the Kavanaugh nomination
11 July 2018
President Trump’s nomination of Appeals Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy on the US Supreme Court has produced a predictable round of demagogic posturing and symbolic fist-shaking by Senate Democrats, vowing to fight against the confirmation of a justice who will give the ultra-right a solid five-member majority on the court for years to come.
This, however, is only the opening scene of a hackneyed stage production whose actors are going through the well-trod motions without a trace of energy or sincerity, and who all know the outcome in advance. In one month, or two, or at the most three, Kavanaugh will be sworn in as the new associate justice of the Supreme Court, as Trump looks on approvingly and Kavanaugh’s co-thinkers in the Federalist Society celebrate.
There were efforts Tuesday by the Democratic Party’s media allies to present the Democrats as engaged in a terrific fight against the Trump Supreme Court pick. The Washington Post ran the banner headline, “Democrats launch all-out blitz against pick for high court,” highlighting this quote from Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer: “I will oppose him with everything I’ve got.”
A reading of the article compels the conclusion that “everything I’ve got” is very little, except his marching orders from Wall Street, which fully backs the nomination. Schumer declares that all 49 Democratic senators would not be enough to defeat Kavanaugh and expresses the hope that two pro-choice Republicans, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, might oppose the nomination. The article goes on to explain that as many as six Democrats may defect and vote for confirmation, including…