Given the gravity of a Kavanaugh appointment to the Supreme Court, and the abysmal way the confirmation process for him was rammed through the Senate, I am left with no choice but to speak out against the abuse of power by Trump and Republican senators that have done his bidding. As a conservative, a Christian, a Republican, and someone who believes that aborting a child is a great tragedy, it is particularly difficult to advocate against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, but I must. Given the gravity of appointing him to the highest court in our land, for decades, to both those yet born and the future of our nation, here are my reasons:
- Kavanaugh chose to continue his nomination process knowing that many documents related to his history have not been released to the Senate Judiciary Committee. His complicity in proceeding with haste and under a cloud of serious suspicion demonstrates he is more interested in his own ascendancy than in doing what’s right for the country and building bipartisan consensus. Current public support for Kavanaugh is running at only 36-40%; nowhere near the kind of support an apolitical justice should have when making rulings on behalf of our nation. Kavanaugh’s refusal to delay his confirmation hearing demonstrates a meaningful lack of good judgement.
- Kavanaugh chose to keep maintain a classified status for documents sought by Senators, though they seemed to have been classified unilaterally by White House lawyers, not to maintain state secrets, but to conceal what could be politically difficult for him to deal with. Again, he could have done the right thing and refused to continue with his confirmation hearing until a full and fair disclosure was made.
- Kavanaugh not only refused to shake the hand of a father who lost a daughter during the Parkland school shooting, when he heard who he had rebuffed, he chose not to make amends for what he had done. Any decent human being would have extended a gracious hand to the bereaved father. While this may seem like a small misstep, Kavanaugh demonstrated a lack of compassion that disqualifies him for a role where he must not only interpret the law, but be able to ease the mind and hearts of those he rules against.
- Kavanaugh refused to say that a President cannot pardon himself. While I know judges are not supposed to give indications of how they would rule in hypothetical cases, this one seemed like a no-brainer.
- Kavanaugh’s previous writings indicate that he will side with Trump in allowing the President who nominated him to get a pass when it comes to being subpoenaed by a grand jury.
Trump, Kavanaugh and Republican Senators bent on railroading this nominee thru, with little attempt to build bipartisan support, requires that I admonish all to take 1-2 minutes to write or call their senator and let them know that process counts. There will be another chance for Trump or Pence to nominate some other distinguished judge. Hopefully they will have learned to seek out a candidate with both compassion as well as intellect, one that a broader swath of Americans can support, and employ a process that enables consensus building.