Blocking Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court is an uphill fight. But that shouldn’t lead either the Democratic Party or the larger democratic movement to consider it anything but a critical field of struggle nonetheless. Even if Kavanaugh in the end is confirmed by the Senate, the confirmation process nevertheless provides a unique opportunity to reveal the class and anti-democratic nature of Kavanaugh and his hard right wing mates on the court who would become a nasty majority for years to come.
But no less important, it also gives Democrats and democratic mined people a platform to unmask the Republican Party and Trump, who are, after all, the architects of this constellation of right wing, anti-popular power. It is no secret that their judicial rulings would mirror — or, more accurately, give legal sanction (as they have) — to the politics and values of Trump and Congressional Republicans.
That it overlaps with the midterm elections is fortuitous, not something to bewail. It can serve to concentrate voters minds in this crucial election on the many dangers of the concentration and entrenchment of hard right wing power in every branch of government. At the same time, it can reinforce the overarching imperative of defeating the Republicans in the fall. The future of the country, as we have known it, may well depend on our success in November.
While the immediate dangers to women’s reproductive rights, health care, and LBGTQ rights should figure prominently in both campaigns, tens of millions should also be reminded over and over that NO rights are safe as long as the court, Congress, and White House are in the hands of this wrecking ball of authoritarian right wing power. It will be a hard fight for sure, but one that each of us can engage in a practical way. And while it isn’t the only way, volunteering for the Congressional race in the districts where we live is perhaps the most productive thing that we can do at this moment that is both unnerving and propitious.
