OPINION:
Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court hearings have devolved into a cesspool of she-said, her-attorney-said accusations — and from that, Democrats have run roughshod, demanding a postponement and wait for it, wait for it, killing of the entire nomination.
But Kavanaugh should stay the course, stand strong to the end.
President Donald Trump should stay the course and stand strong in Kavanaugh’s court.
Republicans should stay the course and stand tall behind the nomination as well. And yes, that means you, too, Sen. Jeff Flake.
Kavanaugh’s denied the already flimsy sexual assault accusations from Christine Blasey Ford, and so long as he’s truly innocent, he ought not let the left win. He ought not let the pressures of the left drive him from his court course.
This isn’t simply about Kavanaugh’s nomination.
This circus act that’s unwinding in the Senate at the pressing of the Democrats is a fight for the soul of the Supreme Court — a battle for the critical balance already being walked between judicial activism and constitutional constraint. In that vein, it’s a fight for the soul of the country — the battle for how Democrats win their progressive-slash-socialist arguments in the face of a Constitution that’s supposed to limit, not expand, government’s powers.
For years, the left has won its biggest victories on the wings of squishy judicial decisions that outright warped Founding Father intents — think Obamacare, think Obergefell v. Hodges and gay marriage. Without the courts, Democrats have only lawmakers — and lawmakers, unlike most judges, are accountable to the people at the polls.
Democrats know this, and what’s more, they know this is the basis of the war they’re waging over Kavanaugh.
It’s not enough any more for Republicans to simply nominate good candidates — for Republican presidents to pick solid judicial names from solid constitutional hats and for Republican senators to nod their heads in agreement to these announced names.
Republicans have to be willing to fight to the death for these candidates and nominees. Republicans have to be willing to get their hands bloody with battle.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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