On Saturday October 6 2018 at 4:01 pm the calendar marked another glorious day for President Trump. The US Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court with a 50-48 vote. Kavanaugh is the second conservative justice nominated by the president after only two years in office after Neil Gorsuch who took the oath of office on April 10 2017. One Republican senator Steve Daines (from Montana) who supported Kavanaughs nomination was absent during the voting (due to his daughters wedding) and another Republican senator Lisa Murkowski (from Alaska) although she opposed the nomination voted present" so the two votes would be cancelled out and the balance of the vote would be retained.
The confirmation margin of only two votes is the closest successful confirmation vote of a Supreme Court nominee since Stanley Matthews 24-23 confirmation in 1881.
Later on the evening Justice Kavanaugh was sworn in as the 114th Justice of the Supreme Court.
The reason Kavanaugh didnt get more votes is because the American society is now divided more than ever. The crazy Left tried desperately and unsuccessfully to make Kavanaugh a judge with impeccable family and professional credentials the poster boy of the gang rapists of the country. The Democrats and the media brought a cavalcade of unimaginable accusations from a series of women counseled by Democrat lawyers who swore they were one hundred percent sure" the judge raped" and even tried to kill" them but they were not one hundred percent sure of the exact time place and way the alleged actions were committed nor of other possible witnesses who could confirm their allegations. All what the media politicians and activists of the Left were screaming about was that the women were credible" (with no corroborating evidence) and that all men should shut up."
In the end and fortunately common sense triumphed and defeated the organized campaign of libel and smear. For a happy end though all the people involved in public defamation and slander should be held legally accountable so that public hysteria episodes of this magnitude should never happen again.
Although this brilliant victory didnt come easily for President Trump it will have effects both in the short and long terms.
In the short term Kavanaughs confirmation has substantially energized the conservative base for the November 6 2018 midterm elections unified the Republican Party (Mitch McConnell Lindsey Graham Jeff Flake Susan Collins were not Trumps ardent fans) and attracted even moderate Democrats (Joe Manchin).
In the long term President Trump has secured a 5-4 majority of Supreme Court conservative justices for a long time since Brett Kavanaugh is only 53 years old.
Later in that evening before going to a Topeka Kansas rally President Trump said to the press that Justice Kavanaugh will serve in the Supreme Court for a long time."
Watch my favorite (not Christine Blasey but Harrison) Ford version of Democrats with Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court HERE.
I must also say that President Trumps victory lap rally in Topeka Kansas held only a few hours after Kavanaughs confirmation literally shut off the CNNs pundits evening show (which I was watching alternatively with Fox News Channel for entertainment). Thus between 9:00 pm on Saturday night and 4:00 am on Sunday morning CNN simply played Anthony Bourdain Parts" reruns.
During the same Kansas rally President Trump reiterated that the only reason to vote Democrat is if you are tired of winning" and that we are going to win win and win!"
This brings me to Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski is a US Senator from Alaska a state for which Trump administration has brought millions of dollars by allowing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). And how does this NeverTrumper so-called conservative show her gratitude? She decides to be the only Republican senator to vote against Kavanaughs confirmation.
In her own words: Mr. President I think we saw from the vote earlier today weve seen from statements from several of our colleagues that it does appear that Judge Kavanaugh will be seated on the Supreme Court without my vote emphasis added. … I believe that Judge Kavanaugh is a good man. Hes a good man. Hes clearly a learned judge but in my conscience because thats how I have to vote at the end of the day with my conscience I could not conclude that he is the right person for the court at this time."
In translation: Now that I know that my colleagues Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Joe Manchin announced that they would vote for confirmation I can show President Trump how much I dislike him and how much Id rather prefer to lose against him than to win with him."
In that evening when Murkowski delivered her half-an-hour speech the chamber was nearly empty and no one applauded.
I guess Lisa Murkowski has been tired of so much winning with President Trump. Hopefully her Alaskan voters will also vote with their conscience and put her to rest in 2022 when her term expires. A first warning came already from Sarah Palin: I can see 2022 from my house."
After all you cannot win re-elections with write-in campaigns and under 50 percent forever.
NOTE - A version of the article was published in MEDIUM.
TIBERIU DIANU has published several books and a host of articles in law politics and post-communist societies. He currently lives and works in Washington DC and can be followed on MEDIUM.
*****
On Saturday October 6 2018 at 4:01 pm the calendar marked another glorious day for President Trump. The US Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court with a 50-48 vote. Kavanaugh is the second conservative justice nominated by the president after only two years in office after Neil Gorsuch who took the oath of office on April 10 2017. One Republican senator Steve Daines (from Montana) who supported Kavanaughs nomination was absent during the voting (due to his daughters wedding) and another Republican senator Lisa Murkowski (from Alaska) although she opposed the nomination voted present" so the two votes would be cancelled out and the balance of the vote would be retained.
The confirmation margin of only two votes is the closest successful confirmation vote of a Supreme Court nominee since Stanley Matthews 24-23 confirmation in 1881.
Later on the evening Justice Kavanaugh was sworn in as the 114th Justice of the Supreme Court.
The reason Kavanaugh didnt get more votes is because the American society is now divided more than ever. The crazy Left tried desperately and unsuccessfully to make Kavanaugh a judge with impeccable family and professional credentials the poster boy of the gang rapists of the country. The Democrats and the media brought a cavalcade of unimaginable accusations from a series of women counseled by Democrat lawyers who swore they were one hundred percent sure" the judge raped" and even tried to kill" them but they were not one hundred percent sure of the exact time place and way the alleged actions were committed nor of other possible witnesses who could confirm their allegations. All what the media politicians and activists of the Left were screaming about was that the women were credible" (with no corroborating evidence) and that all men should shut up."
In the end and fortunately common sense triumphed and defeated the organized campaign of libel and smear. For a happy end though all the people involved in public defamation and slander should be held legally accountable so that public hysteria episodes of this magnitude should never happen again.
Although this brilliant victory didnt come easily for President Trump it will have effects both in the short and long terms.
In the short term Kavanaughs confirmation has substantially energized the conservative base for the November 6 2018 midterm elections unified the Republican Party (Mitch McConnell Lindsey Graham Jeff Flake Susan Collins were not Trumps ardent fans) and attracted even moderate Democrats (Joe Manchin).
In the long term President Trump has secured a 5-4 majority of Supreme Court conservative justices for a long time since Brett Kavanaugh is only 53 years old.
Later in that evening before going to a Topeka Kansas rally President Trump said to the press that Justice Kavanaugh will serve in the Supreme Court for a long time."
Watch my favorite (not Christine Blasey but Harrison) Ford version of Democrats with Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court HERE.
I must also say that President Trumps victory lap rally in Topeka Kansas held only a few hours after Kavanaughs confirmation literally shut off the CNNs pundits evening show (which I was watching alternatively with Fox News Channel for entertainment). Thus between 9:00 pm on Saturday night and 4:00 am on Sunday morning CNN simply played Anthony Bourdain Parts" reruns.
During the same Kansas rally President Trump reiterated that the only reason to vote Democrat is if you are tired of winning" and that we are going to win win and win!"
This brings me to Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski is a US Senator from Alaska a state for which Trump administration has brought millions of dollars by allowing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). And how does this NeverTrumper so-called conservative show her gratitude? She decides to be the only Republican senator to vote against Kavanaughs confirmation.
In her own words: Mr. President I think we saw from the vote earlier today weve seen from statements from several of our colleagues that it does appear that Judge Kavanaugh will be seated on the Supreme Court without my vote emphasis added. … I believe that Judge Kavanaugh is a good man. Hes a good man. Hes clearly a learned judge but in my conscience because thats how I have to vote at the end of the day with my conscience I could not conclude that he is the right person for the court at this time."
In translation: Now that I know that my colleagues Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Joe Manchin announced that they would vote for confirmation I can show President Trump how much I dislike him and how much Id rather prefer to lose against him than to win with him."
In that evening when Murkowski delivered her half-an-hour speech the chamber was nearly empty and no one applauded.
I guess Lisa Murkowski has been tired of so much winning with President Trump. Hopefully her Alaskan voters will also vote with their conscience and put her to rest in 2022 when her term expires. A first warning came already from Sarah Palin: I can see 2022 from my house."
After all you cannot win re-elections with write-in campaigns and under 50 percent forever.
NOTE - A version of the article was published in MEDIUM.
TIBERIU DIANU has published several books and a host of articles in law politics and post-communist societies. He currently lives and works in Washington DC and can be followed on MEDIUM.
*****