The sad passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg opened the door for President Trump to nominate his third candidate to the high court. Trump has chosen Amy Coney Barrett, a circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, as RBG’s replacement.
The news was predictably met with different reactions on both sides of the political aisle.
Republicans hailed the nomination of a supremely qualified woman to take the place of a trailblazer like RBG. They also love the selection of a pro-life, constitutional textualist who clerked for the late, great Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has already stated that Barrett will receive a vote on the floor of the Senate before the end of the year — and hopefully before the election on Nov. 3.
Democrats, of course, had a much different reaction. Fearing a 6-3 conservative majority, liberals excoriated Barrett’s selection and are presently digging up her background in an effort to find a way to discredit her. At least, that’s the assumption if we’ve learned anything from the Brett Kavanaugh fiasco. The pro-abortion crowd fears that a conservative majority could overturn Roe v. Wade — even though I feel the best that pro-lifers could expect is a nullification of a federal law that instead leaves the abortion law to states.
But Democrats are crying foul for more reasons than fear. They’re also griping about “hypocrisy,” claiming that McConnell’s refusal to give Merrick Garland a hearing in the run-up to the 2016 election should require him to do the same with Barrett.
The two situations were different, of course. In 2016, there was a divided government, with the White House occupied by a Democrat and the Senate controlled by the GOP. There is historic precedent on McConnell’s side in both cases.
It appears that McConnell will have enough votes to confirm Barrett after several Republican senators who were considered potential swing votes have come out in support of a vote taking place. Now, it’s just a matter of when that vote will take place.
Will there be a vote before the election? Or will it wait until after, when the GOP still controls the Senate regardless of the election results?
I’m in favor of getting it done as soon as possible for many reasons. But perhaps no reason is more important than this: it will show the American people just how nasty the Left can be.
Prominent Leftists have threatened violence if McConnell pushes through Barrett’s confirmation
For those with short-term memory who can’t remember the nastiness of the Left during the Kavanaugh hearings, there just might be a new wave of destructive slandering on its way.
Democrats were ready to convict Kavanaugh of alleged crimes committed decades ago based on tenuous and unsubstantiated evidence. They slandered the man and ruined his good name on baseless accusations. They were entirely ready to throw “presumed innocence until proven guilty” out the window simply because they didn’t want a conservative majority on the Supreme Court.
That was for a simple 5-4 majority. Can you imagine what they have in store for a 6-3 count?
Even before Trump officially nominated Barrett, the nastiness was flowing in.
We’re shutting this country down if Trump and McConnell try to ram through an appointment before the election.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) September 18, 2020
If they even TRY to replace RBG we burn the entire fucking thing down.
— Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) September 19, 2020
Over our dead bodies. Literally. https://t.co/rQbvuKakHU
— Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) September 19, 2020
we need to stop this at all cost: activist and organizers, shut down the economy.
if you are financially stable, stop working.
take to the streets, save our democracy. pic.twitter.com/kZRQHzlc7p
— Mike Griffin (@votegriffin) September 19, 2020
Fuck no. Burn it all down. https://t.co/hsjqeVLgBn
— Aaron’s Book Is Now Available! (@DaddyFiles) September 19, 2020
These are not the rational thoughts of civilized human beings. They are the venom of an angry, bitter collection of Americans who want to fundamentally change America’s founding principles.
Normally, I dismiss out of hand comments like these. Just some angry people venting on Twitter, right? But we’ve seen rioting, looting and arson from Black Lives Matter and Antifa over the past few summer months. And no, I’m not talking about “peaceful protestors” who calmly demonstrate according to their First Amendment rights.
I’m talking about the hardcore, all-black-clothes-wearing, profanity-spewing, Molotov cocktail-throwing, window-breaking, fire-setting anarchists. To deny that these folks are on the Left is to deny reality.
And to deny that they won’t do it again over something as earth-shattering as a 6-3 Supreme Court ideological shift is to commit an egregious oversight.
Hopefully the few remaining nebulous voters can be swayed
The 2020 election surely is one of the most divisive in recent memory. In my lifetime, at least, our country has never been as polarized and an election has never had such dire consequences.
I don’t have exact polling numbers at my disposal — nor do I fully trust them — but I’m fairly confident that the number of “undecided” voters at this point in the election cycle has to be extremely minimal. It seems most Americans have already made up their mind in this referendum on President Trump.
However, for the remaining percentage of undecided voters, as well as those who might be susceptible to changing their minds, I want them to see the lawlessness that Democrats promote and permit.
These riots and looting are taking place in Democrat-run cities. Period. Republicans are a party of law and order. The more of them you elect, the more peaceful our streets will be.
When Judge Barrett gets confirmed, you will see the lawlessness of the Left firsthand. They will take to the streets — which is fine — and cause destruction and mayhem — which is not okay. That’s because the Left operates out of emotion, not rational thought.
This is why I hope that McConnell and the GOP-led Senate can confirm Barrett before Election Day. Then maybe the undecided voters can vote for the side of morality and decency, not the one of lawlessness and vagary.
