The Patriot Post - Alexander's Column 7-11-2018

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The Patriot Post - Alexander's Column 7-11-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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SCOTUS: It's Not About Right v. Left. It's About Liberty v. Tyranny.

The contest for the Supreme Court is not about conservative v. liberal. It's about judicial authority v. judicial despotism.
Mark Alexander

"The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what not, not only for themselves, in their own sphere of action, but for the Legislature and Executive also in their spheres, would make the Judiciary a despotic branch." —Thomas Jefferson (1804)

In my 2016 endorsement of Donald Trump for president, I noted my response to the question I had been asked for months: "How will you vote?"

It was the same response I've given every quadrennial election since I cast my first presidential vote: "For our Constitution — for the candidate who is most likely to nominate constitutionally constructionist judges to the Supreme Court, those who will promote Liberty over tyranny."

Encouraging the "Never Trump" crowd, some of whom were considering sitting out the election, I asked them to consider "that the outcome of the November election will not only determine our president for the next four years but also the composition of the Supreme Court for the next quarter-century." Sitting that one out was tantamount to a vote for Hillary Clinton.

Ten days after his inauguration, President Trump put forth the first tangible evidence that his victory was a resounding triumph for our Constitution and for the Liberty and Rule of Law it enshrines.

He nominated Neil Gorsuch to replace the late, great Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. His confirmation rendered the Supreme Court balance with four justices who abide by their oaths "to support and defend" our Constitution (Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Gorsuch), four despotic jurists (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan), and one swing vote — Justice Anthony Kennedy.

With that nomination, Trump defied the Democrat Party statists who seek to subordinate our Constitution to the rule of men, the irrevocable terminus of which is tyranny, and began the SCOTUS reformation.

Two weeks ago, Justice Kennedy announced his retirement, and Democrats were apoplectic over the prospect that Trump would appoint yet another constitutional constructionist to the Court, resulting in five conservative justices on the bench.

Indeed, this week, 18 months and many policy successes into his presidency, Trump nominated his second Supreme Court candidate, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Brett Kavanaugh, an outstanding choice to replace Justice Kennedy.

While some conservatives are lamenting the choice of Kavanaugh over Amy Coney Barrett, I believe Trump's strategy is to hold Barrett in the wings until Ruth Bader Ginsburg vacates the seat she barely occupies now.

In his remarks about Judge Kavanaugh, President Trump stated, "He is a brilliant jurist, with a clear and effective writing style, universally regarded as one of the finest and sharpest legal minds of our time. ... The Rule of Law is our nation's proud heritage. It is the cornerstone of our freedom. It is what guarantees equal justice. And the Senate now has the chance to protect this glorious heritage by sending Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court."

For his part, Kavanaugh said, "My judicial philosophy is straightforward. A judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law. A judge must interpret statutes as written. And a judge must interpret the Constitution as written, informed by history and tradition and precedent."

Trump's nominee even drew praise from quarters that give Trump no quarter.

George W. Bush declared, "President Trump has made an outstanding decision in nominating Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Brett is a brilliant jurist who has faithfully applied the Constitution and laws throughout his 12 years on the D.C. Circuit." Bush nominated Kavanaugh to the 3rd Circuit Court in 2003.

But much more formidable was this affirmation from Sen. John McCain: "Judge Brett Kavanaugh has impeccable credentials and a strong record of upholding the Constitution. He is widely respected as a fair, independent and mainstream judge. I look forward to the Senate moving forward with a fair and thorough confirmation process."

That affirmation clears a hurdle to Senate confirmation, though two other Republican votes are in question: Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Maine's Susan Collins. On the other hand, there are four Democrats whose votes may not comport with party lines: Heidi Heitkamp (ND), Joe Donnelly (IN), Joe Manchin (WV) and Doug Jones (AL). Heitkamp, Donnelly and Manchin, who are defending their Senate seats this fall in states Trump won handily, also voted to confirm Gorsuch.

But Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) insists that voting against Kavanaugh is more important than winning elections this fall. "I will tell you, the men and women that I work with on the Democratic side really take this seriously," he said. "They understand it's an historic decision. It's about more than the next election." Easy for Durbin to say, given that his seat is safely situated in deep-blue Illinois.

Vice President Mike Pence summed up what Democrats hate most about Kavanaugh: "[He is] a judge who would faithfully uphold and interpret the Constitution as written. ... Judge Kavanaugh is a conservative jurist. He's a principled conservative in the tradition of Justice Scalia. When you look at cases that he's ruled on — on limited government, on federalism, on the Second Amendment, on religious liberty — in one case after another you see a consistent judicial philosophy."