When the history of the lasting damage done to American democracy over the past three decades is finally written, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, is going to have a leading role in the chronicles. [...] McConnell will have earned this exalted place in the saga through his utter and completely shameless disregard for democratic norms and functions, as well as his utter and completely shameless disregard for, well, shame.
[...]
He rose in the Senate on Monday afternoon for his daily exercise in persiflage, touching on all the news of the moment. He came out firmly against hurricanes, floods, and opioid overdoses. Then he started in on the perils suddenly facing Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
IT'S BEEN 70 DAYS, 70 DAYS SINCE THE PRESIDENT NOMINATED JUDGE BRETT KAVANAUGH TO FILL THE CURRENT VACANCY ON THE SUPREME COURT. FOR MORE THAN TWO MONTHS, THE SENATE HAS PORED OVER JUDGE KAVANAUGH's PROFESSIONAL RECORD. WE HAVE REVIEWED THE 300-PLUS OPINIONS HE HAS AUTHORED WHILE SERVING ON THE D.C. CIRCUIT. MORE PAGES OF DOCUMENTS THAN HAVE EVER BEEN PRODUCED FOR A SUPREME COURT NOMINATION, MORE THAN FOR THE FIVE PAST NOMINATIONS COMBINED.
See? Right there, ol' Mitch is in trouble with the truth. The "past five nominations" include that of Judge Merrick Garland, whose opinions the Senate declined to pore over and review, because Mitch McConnell decided that Merrick Garland would be disappeared as far as the Senate was concerned.
Charles P Pierce
Not only that, but more to the point perhaps, the number of pages released is
completely irrelevant. The percentage of pages that exist and are released is the mark to consider. And that asshole knows it.
WE HAVE ALSO CONSIDERED A WEALTH OF EVIDENCE THAT PERTAINS TO JUDGE KAVANAUGH'S CHARACTER AND HIS PERSONAL INTEGRITY. WE HAVE HEARD TESTIMONY OR RECEIVED OPEN LETTERS FROM LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO KNOW JUDGE BRETT KAVANAUGH, WHO HAVE WORKED ALONGSIDE HIM OR CLERKED FOR HIM AS A JUDGE OR WHO HAVE KNOWN HIM AND HIS FAMILY PERSONALLY OVER THE YEARS. THIS IS WHAT THE SENATE HAS CONSIDERED FOR THE PAST 70 DAYS. IN THE SENATE, AND AROUND THE COUNTRY, ALMOST EVERYONE WHO WENT INTO THIS PROCESS WITH AN OPEN MIND WHO WAS PREPARED TO GIVE JUDGE KAVANAUGH A FAIR HEARING HAS COME AWAY IMPRESSED.
"Almost" is laboring in a salt mine in that last sentence, as the events of the past several days have shown.
BUT NOW, NOW AN ACCUSATION OF 36-YEAR-OLD MISCONDUCT DATING BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL HAS BEEN BROUGHT FORWARD AT THE LAST MINUTE IN AN IRREGULAR MANNER.
This is what will make Mitch McConnell immortal among the people most responsible for the demise of the American republic. That sentence, right there. To have the audacity, if you're Mitch McConnell, and while Merrick Garland still lives, to talk about anything being in "an irregular manner" regarding a Supreme Court nominee is the legislative equivalent of the famous legal definition of "chutzpah."
And, in addition, as the elimination of Merrick Garland's nomination further showed, there's no "last minute" in the confirmation process.
Bingo. They keep harping on about this "last minute" or "eleventh hour" play. They want to push this nomination through before midterms.
There's no clock on it, except the one in Mitch McConnell's head, the clock that's telling him to drop this guy onto the bench before the Court sits again in October, and before a possible Republican bloodbath in the November midterm elections. (Theoretically, McConnell even could shut this whole thing down and confirm Kavanaugh in a lame-duck session after the election. But, I suspect, that's a risk even he wouldn't take.)
I wouldn't bet on it.
I said last week that I feel just as strongly that Brett Kavanaugh will slither onto the Supreme Court as I do that he should be kept away from it with a moat of fire, if necessary. Offer me a bet, and that's still where my money goes. But these allegations, and the absolute brawl that is shaping up in the Senate this week, may just be too much for delicate constitutions to handle. I also believe that, if the committee vote is postponed beyond Thursday, or if it fails because someone like Flake defects, then this nomination is as dead as Kelsey's nuts.
Then, after sedating the president* heavily and throwing his phone off the Truman Balcony, someone in the White House will go back to the original Federalist Society-approved list of candidates and find someone who will be just as retrograde as Brett Kavanaugh, but who is a smoother and more accomplished prevaricator. Because that's the way American democracy works these days. If you don't lie well, find another line of work.
Charles P Pierce
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