Photo/John Ramspott, Atlanta, GA.
UPDATE: Since the article below was first written, huge protests have erupted across the country against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Women and men have been outraged by descriptions of Kavanaugh’s criminal behavior and the thought that someone like him could be on the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh is also a symbol of the corporate takeover of America. As a judge, his rulings have been anti-women, anti-labor, anti-environment and pro-corporate. His elevation to the Supreme Court would be a victory for a ruling class of billionaires that wants to destroy democracy, hard-won rights, social programs, and the environment while they rob the public treasury blind. Fascism advances bit by bit, winning one battle after another. Having Kavanaugh on the Supreme will give the billlionaires one more weapon in their fight to destroy democracy. Stopping Kavanaugh won’t win the war, but it’s a step in the fight for democracy. We encourage our readers to join the protests and to speak out loudly and clearly against his confirmation.
“Clear the room or start caning them when they open their yaps!”
Those chilling words were tweeted by former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee while denouncing protesters who interrupted confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh.
Huckabee’s sick statement was a backhanded reference to the 1856 surprise attack in the U.S. Capitol on anti-slavery Senator Charles Sumner. Sumner was beaten bloody and almost killed by a pro-slavery Congressman wielding a cane, a man who struck blow after blow, stopping only when his weapon finally broke.
No one should have an illusions about what the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh would mean. The brutal assault on Charles Sumner forced many Northerners to finally realize that this country could no longer exist half slave and half free. Today, we too have to face a bitter truth: The ruling class no longer needs democracy and is moving to eliminate it. In his 12 years on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Judge Kavanaugh has written more than 300 opinions. There is no doubt about where he stands. His elevation to the Supreme Court would mark a giant step toward open, outright fascism in this country.
The situation today is grim. In Charles Sumner’s time, the situation was also dire. Back then, our ancestors refused to accept the slaveocracy’s attacks on freedom of speech and the press. They defended what democracy existed at that time, as limited as it was. Today we too have to defend every democratic right that still exists. We will never accept a return to the days of the caning of a Congressman or the back-alley abortion or the total lack of any affordable health care whatsoever (however limited) or the trade union forced to meet in secret because it’s been declared illegal. If the Supreme Court issues rulings on our rights which are the equivalent of the infamous pro-slavery Dred Scott decision, we’ll simply have to do what our brave ancestors did: Defy them.
By Chris Mahin for the People’s Tribune Editorial Board
Chris Mahin is a writer, speaker and teacher on contemporary U.S. politics and history, particularly on the significance of the American Revolutionary War and Civil war eras for today. He is the Electoral Desk on the People’s Tribune Editorial Board.
