Things have only gotten worse. The lesson of this travesty is that the reputation of the Senate Judiciary Committee - and hence of the Senate itself - has been compromised. The Senate Judiciary Committee is not now serviceable in vetting a nominee for SCOTUS, since anyone whom POTUS Trump would consider nominating knows better than to submit his/her reputation to its process. And the Senate as a body is no more trustworthy in that role.This means that any future Trump nominee for SCOTUS - for the Kennedy seat or any other - will insist that Mr. Trump accept the advice of the Senate Majority Leader in selecting his nominee. And have the Majority Leader’s commitment that the full senate will expeditiously - read, before the Democrats have time to mount a campaign of calumny on the nominee - vote on confirmation of the nomination. And will enforce that commitment by withdrawing his name for consideration if he feels it is necessary.
If the current nomination fails of confirmation, Judge Kavenaugh will have no recourse other than to sue for libel, slander, and defamation. And he should not rely only on the obvious actual malice in the case, but should also claim that a judge or judicial nominee is presumptively not a “public figure” who even needs to prove “actual malice.” And that Times v. Sullivan should be overturned.
Did you ever hear of the “darkness before the dawn?” I believe the lesson of this controversy has been the unveiling of the ddeep state and above all, the unAmerican Activities which have been going on for longer than we would like to admit. Frankly, anyone not willing to take a risk has no business being elected a leader in the Senate or any other function of our government. We DO NOT need MORE CONTROL over the committees. We need more elected officials to be HELD RESPONSIBLE for their actions. Until the Judiciary gets cleaned out of the liberals, nothing will unction as it should. The only way to achieve that is to votee people into office who have something to offer to the good sense governing of our society. We must put an end to unlimited terms. Career politicians are what ruined Europe. It is little different from a monarchy. I would expect anyone nominated by Trump to have the intestinal fortitude to face and fight the enemy, NOT to be a lily-white pansy and shiver in his boots at a cross word. We did not win this country by negotiating with George III. That attempt failed bigtime. We won this country by FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM and achieved the greatest country the world has ever seen.
“Know your enemy” is one of the wisest tenets ever written. We now know the enemy and he is ours!