Judge Brett Kavanaugh
As America tears itself apart over the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be a Supreme Court Justice and allegations of sexual assault against him, libertarians have stood off in the shadowy corner, raising concerns about his views of the Fourth Amendment. He is unqualified as a justice for reasons of how he would rule on key issues, they say. They are right, in a sense, his views are problematic-ish. Its important to note that judges who rule like this are not necessarily anti-Fourth. They are simply deferential to elected officials, and fairly consistently so. That was the essence of Chief Justice John Roberts ruling on Obamacare: it should be up to the legislature to repeal it, not us. Frustrating, but admirable.
Should justices get to overrule the will of the people? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Libertarians say that Kavanaugh should be dropped, but in favor of who? Andrew Napolitano, a latter day saint of the black and yellow tribe, is frequently trotted out, but he is nearing 70 and is 20 years removed from his county-level judgeship back in New Jersey. Not exactly the best candidate, if he even wants it. When asked for other proposals, libertarians come up dry. There arent many libertarian judges out there, which is a big problem in and of itself. Why arent there any? I suspect it has to do with libertarian purity and refusal to work in the system.
In light of this paucity of options, we must go back to what the reality on the ground is. Libertarians like to play in abstract and absolute. That is now how the world works. You get dealt a hand and you play with that hand. You dont stomp your feet and insist otherwise. So what happens if Kavanaugh falls? Perhaps there is a more suitable replacement that will please libertarians. But even if there was, confirmation will take weeks. It wont occur before the new Court term. It wont occur before the midterms. And who knows who will be confirmable then. Democrats might gain the Senate and will be emboldened to hold the seat hostage until 2020. It would be entertaining for Trump to then nominate Merrick Garland or some arch-leftist to see the Democrats try any oppose the nomination because Trump did it. There must be some nefarious Russian plot that will corrupt this otherwise proven judge!
Yes, that is whats at stake here. If Kavanaugh goes down, as imperfect as he may be, it means the far left wins. It means anyone can be accused of sexual assault and be removed from public life. Good, you may say, but this rule mainly applies to conservatives. Do you want to live in a country dominated by socialists? Do you want to live in a country than is California extrapolated? We will never see daylight again if this happens. Right or wrong, they were emboldened by Roy Moore losing. They smelt blood. Thats what got us here. All it takes is one woman each time, and if Trump nominates a woman, she will get treated to misogyny and sexism, as all conservative women are.
At the end of the day, this is a dichotomous war. We cant sit this out and let socialists and conservatives battle it out. The socialists want totality; the conservatives respect us for half the day. Unfortunately, we have to pick a side. Its one thing to say Kavanaugh is bad in abstract. Its another thing to look at the implications of what happens if he doesnt make it.