This just happened! Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed to the Supreme Court 50-49. We will be having him for the next 10 to 30 years in the Supreme Court. After three months of discussing Kennedy’s replacement, the seat has been closed.
The nomination was rough though. Since Kavanaugh is more conservative than Scalia, and since Kennedy was a moderate, the Democrats (and the liberal citizens) got really aggressive on stopping the nomination. And just recently, he was accused of sexual assault from around 30 to 40 years ago, by three accusers with almost no evidence backing them. So they had to slow down his nomination for FBI investigations (as well as the testimonies of Ford and Kavanaugh). Throughout the whole time since the accusation and the confirmation, here are three things I have learned. Keep in mind that they are not necesarily about the allegations or investigations, but three related facts that the nomination isn’t about.
This is my last political entry for a while. I’m kinda thinking about staying out of politics once the midterm election is over. Like I say, the stuff I learned is not about Kavanaugh’s relationship with Ford. It’s about what was different a long time ago and what certain actions may lead to.
The nomination was rough though. Since Kavanaugh is more conservative than Scalia, and since Kennedy was a moderate, the Democrats (and the liberal citizens) got really aggressive on stopping the nomination. And just recently, he was accused of sexual assault from around 30 to 40 years ago, by three accusers with almost no evidence backing them. So they had to slow down his nomination for FBI investigations (as well as the testimonies of Ford and Kavanaugh). Throughout the whole time since the accusation and the confirmation, here are three things I have learned. Keep in mind that they are not necesarily about the allegations or investigations, but three related facts that the nomination isn’t about.
- #1 - The Nuclear Option has serious consequences: I know the Republicans used the nuclear option on Supreme Court picks, but they didn’t start it at first. Back in November of 2013, the Democrats (which became more radical and more power-hungry) got fed up with the Republicans when they filibustered a lower court pick of Obama’s. They didn’t even have enough Democrats to break the filibuster, so they re-written the rules to where a simple majority can confirm a court pick. They may have gotten what they wanted, but this has backfired. When Scalia died, they couldn’t swing the court left because the Republicans controlled the Senate. And when Trump took power and the Senate was still Republican-controlled, the Republicans did the same thing they did in 2013. Since they filibustered Gorsuch to prevent him from replacing Scalia, the Republicans changed the rules to where simple majority confirms justices. Not only it kept a conservative seat conservative, but it allowed them to confirm any justice to replace any justice, even if it means a conservative pick like Amy Coney Barrett replacing a liberal justice like Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Democrats will have this advantage when they get the majority and the Executive Office, but since the Republicans have this advantage, this is a big deal to them. Roe v Wade could be overturned, Obamacare could be thrown out of the constitution, gerrymandering could be protected, and more cases like the Hobby Lobby case and the Masterpiece Cakeshop case would rule in favor of the businesses than the customer. Had they not filibustered Gorsuch, Kavanaugh will not get confirmed. But they had to do it since the Republicans wouldn’t let Garland replace Scalia, so they lost the court. Yes, the Republicans have made the mistake of using the Nuclear Option, but since the Democrats started it, they’re basically paying the price.
- #2 - High School parties were very common and adult-like back in the 80’s: Nowadays, high school students have gotten less mature and are more into G-rated activities, even in the 12th grade. But back in the 1980’s, drinking parties and drug parties for high schoolers used to be much more common. It took more than the Kavanaugh investigation to prove it. I saw Sixteen Candles a few years ago. There were a lot of parties in the movie. There’s no evidence that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Ford, Ramirez, or Swetnick, but it’s clear that he liked to drink a lot. In my opinion, I could never get interested into these kind of parties. I’m 25 now, yet I’m still sensitive to stuff like that.
- #3 - It is dangerous to intervene with politics as a private citizen: After hearing about what happened to Christine Blasey Ford for making these accusations against Kavanaugh, I would like to give all of you a safety precaution. If you’re not a politician or someone working in the government, do not try to step in to stop a law or a political change from happening. After making these accusations, she was harassed and received death threats. She’s even moving out of her home. Brett Kavanaugh and his wife received threats too, but you see what happens if you try to do what Ford did. The accusations were made in a time when people are more polarized and less mature, the alleged incident took place a long time ago, and this is over a very touchy issue in today’s time. They even delayed the vote for testimonies and FBI investigations. Of course, you should never send others death threats, steal and publish others’ private information, or any other illegal and hostile acts that make you more of a villain, but this has been done way too much and out of control. So instead of reporting trolls to the police or retaliating to the threats, don’t try to get involved in the first place, no matter how desperate you are. Ford does not deserve any death threats, but she should’ve stayed out. If anything, I think Feinstein, not Ford, is the real villain, not just for starting the whole mess as soon as Kavanaugh’s confirmation was on the way, but for ruining the privacy of a private citizen.
This is my last political entry for a while. I’m kinda thinking about staying out of politics once the midterm election is over. Like I say, the stuff I learned is not about Kavanaugh’s relationship with Ford. It’s about what was different a long time ago and what certain actions may lead to.
