Supreme Court vacancy exposes bankruptcy of the Democratic Party
29 June 2018
The resignation of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, which will give Trump another pick for the court and an opportunity to determine its trajectory for many years to come, has exposed the impotence and bankruptcy of the Democratic Party.
Trump has said that his appointment will come from a list of 25 candidates compiled during the 2016 presidential campaign with the assistance of the arch-reactionary Federalist Society. Whoever is chosen, the selection will serve to consolidate the power of the far-right on the court, fulfilling Trump’s pledge to strengthen executive power and undermine or reverse previous decisions on basic democratic rights.
Trump clearly feels emboldened by recent court decisions, including one upholding his racist ban on refugees from predominantly-Muslim countries. Though the administration faces mass popular opposition, it is seizing the offensive. Trump is traveling around the country, threatening his opponents, and seeking to whip up his crowds with openly fascistic rhetoric.
The Democrats, on the other hand, appear cowardly and feckless. At the slightest sign of genuine popular anger against Trump, the Democrats collectively wag their fingers and deliver sermons against “incivility.” Nothing frightens them more than the emergence of a mass popular movement against the billionaire thug in the White House. After all, is there not a danger that such a movement might be directed not only against Trump, but against the entire political establishment and the economic interests it defends?
During the 2016 election campaign and in the year and a half since Trump’s inauguration, the Democrats’ opposition to Trump has been focused obsessively on the alleged…