There are plenty of sound policy reasons to oppose Brent Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. He could easily end up being the nail in the coffin of Roe v. Wade. His view of Presidential power also is something to be wary of; he could be the swing vote on allowing a subpoena of Trump in a standoff. There are tons of ordinary reasons someone on the liberal spectrum like myself would oppose him. But, as they say, elections have consequences, and starting in 2010, we didn't get out the vote. So, there's a certain amount of 'we get what we deserve' in this if we can't get off the couch to vote.
But that's not what this song is about. Think about these points:
Judicial Temperament
Right off the bat, Kavanaugh came out swinging, shouting, and abusing the Senators that dared to impugn his integrity. Just in a purely emotional sense, his unhinged behavior should disqualify him.
Partisanship
Most judges have a pretty easily discernible political persuasion. But there is always at least the idea that a SCOTUS judge will be fair, and above the fray. Right out of the gate, in his opening statement (where you'd think one would place their most well-crafted ideas) he exposed his politics clearly:
"This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record. Revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups."So, you'd have to assume a Judge Kavanaugh would be less likely to give a Democratic plaintiff a fair hearing. Big problem. And this is, not to mention, what basically sounds like one of those conspiracy theory aficionados!
This is what White Privilege looks like
You and I don't really know what the truth is, but here's what this smells like: Kavanaugh is from a privileged circle of humanity. People like that go through life, without having to pay for the consequences of their actions. After his performance today, it's easy to imagine him being the belligerent drunk that's been widely reported. There was plenty of room in his calendar to find himself and his cohort in a party house. He probably knows what he did, but thinks of it in a sort of dream-like way. It's the kind of thing he can just get away with. His whole attitude reeked of entitlement. How dare anyone try and take away the job he felt born into?
