Lessons, Warnings, and Potential Reforms Following the Kavanaugh Confirmation

The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the United States
Supreme Court: what a victory! This win for the Republican majority, for
President Trump, and for the nation as a whole should inspire conservatives
going into Election 2018. However, the criminal antics leading up to his
success should encourage steps to prevent such an outrageous circus from happening
again.

President Trump’s leadership inspired courage and
conservatism among a Republican U.S. Senate caucus which had routinely
acquiesced to the other side many times rather than fight back. When
Republicans fight, they win. They should consider doing more of it. During the
2010 Tea Party wave, a number of Republican incumbents lost their seats in
primaries (and Murkowski almost lost hers) because they did not fight for
conservative values and fight back against the Democratic Party.

Eight years later, with Trump at the helm, Republican U.S.
Senators are flexing their muscle. Perhaps McCain’s passing has cemented the
resolve of the Republican conference, too. Never would have I expected Lindsey
Graham to put aside bipartisan comity as effectively and severely as he did
when defending Judge Kavanaugh during the Judiciary Committee hearings.
Senators Orrin Hatch and Chuck Grassley also demonstrated a more solid edge
against the loud, obnoxious Democratic minority on their committee. They
rebuffed protesters for their ramped-up savage attacks

Even flakey U.S. Senator Jeff Flake stood up for the team in
his final year in the Upper Chamber. 

Initially, his request for one more FBI
investigation seemed like craven, Never-Trump cowering—anything to screw over
the President who had shamed him for his liberal views on borders and national
economic interests. Looking back on the 50-48 confirmation victory, Flake’s
qualifying motion makes sense. The seventh investigation fully exonerated
Kavanaugh beyond reproach, and it offered President Trump the opportunity to
prove his commitment to a transparent process. Finally, the investigation provided
necessary ballast for U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Joe Manchin to vote for confirmation.

And then there’s Collins. Never have I been so proud of a
GOP moderate. Collins has been a 50-50 member of the upper chamber for the last
two decades. She voted against Obamacare, but she still voted for Planned
Parenthood. This time, she took the bold step of believing Kavanaugh because
the accusers and their spurious evidence failed to convince her to withhold her
vote. She confirmed not just Kavanaugh, but everything that makes our judicial
system great: presumption of innocence, thorough investigations; a commitment
to believing the facts, not one’s feelings; and finding the truth rather than
promoting a political outcome.

On a larger note, the Alinsky-Obama-Clinton machine of
mob-ocracy and muggery failed big time. Before becoming President, Barack
Obama’s only real job had entailed community organization and academia (if one
can really call those efforts “work”). He intended to remake the United States
into a socialist endgame first through his executive actions, and then with an
expanded network of social justice warrior activist groups. Organizing for
Action is still active, and big money from left-wing donors like Tom Steyer,
George Soros, and Michael Bloomberg is pouring into national and statewide
efforts. But they hit a big wall of conservative resolve. The stakes were too
high for Republicans to let this confirmation slip away.

This victory is a big win for Kavanaugh the man, not just
the justice. What incredible fortitude we saw in this jurist. His selection is
a big victory for Trump’s political instincts, too. He chose a candidate with a
long judicial record. Trump likely foresaw the worst political machinations
from the Democrats, and Kavanaugh stood up to them, shaming the disgraceful
antics of the Democratic Party, who callously fundraised of this debilitating
conflict to shore up election prospects in 2018 and 2020. Democrats don’t
understand that conservatives not only understand the corrupt games that
liberals play, but now they know how to fight back and win.

There are causes for concern going forward, and those issues
were laid out early in this confirmation process. In his opening statements at
the Judiciary Committee hearings, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse announced the causes
behind the SCOTUS Circus which erupted at the Kavanaugh hearings. Congress is
not doing its job to pass meaningful legislation, but is turfing its authority
to fourth branch bureaucracies or leaving considerable policy outcomes to the
United States Supreme Court.

The court of last resort has become too powerful, taking on
a super-legislative role in our republican form of government. Their role in
federal and even state politics needs to be scaled back. It’s time to review
judicial review, rethink Marbury v.
Madison. Should the Supreme Court have the final say on whether legislation
withstands constitutional scrutiny? Congress has the power to limit the size
and scope of the judiciary’s power. Doing so would decrease the increasingly
partisan wrangling which has strangled the nomination/confirmation process.

Last of all, yes indeed the U.S. Senators stood up to the
mob of abusive left-wing agitators. Yet if the United States Constitution is to
serve as the final guide for our legislature, we must remember the Framers’
original vision for the United States Senate. The upper chamber was never
supposed to be a popular chamber, i.e. elected by the people of the several
states, but rather selected by the legislatures. Fake news and progressive
propaganda induced the passage of the 17^th Amendment, which created
the direct election of Senators.

The argument for repeal of the 17^th Amendment may
be difficult to make. However, as the country becomes more conservative,
concerned about federal overreach at the expense of individual liberty and
state sovereignty, a “Repeal the 17^th Movement” can take shape. Once
enacted, the U.S. Senate can be restored as a deliberative body immune to mob rule
and ensure a respectable process for confirming Supreme Court justices and
other executive officials.

For now, the country (and conservatives in particular) can
bask in this incredible legal, moral, and political victory. Let’s hope that
our leaders learn from this process and take steps to reform it in the near
future.