OPINION - EDITORIAL

The loyal opposition

It opposes, but not much else

THE ONLY THING missing was the old chugga-chugga sound of the teletype. Or maybe the sound of the ticker tape, and we don't mean parades. The news came in a FLASH, and sounded like it:

A political clash over replacing Justice Anthony Kennedy roared to life in Washington on Thursday, just hours after the Supreme Court announced his retirement. Democrats and liberal advocacy organizations face enormous challenges if they hope to prevent President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans from installing a conservative justice who could shift the ideological balance of the court for generations ... .

The loyal opposition read like a roll call. Everybody who's anybody in the Democratic Party was heard from:

Nancy Pelosi: "Make no mistake: Republicans now have the opportunity to erase a generation of progress for women's rights, LGBTQ rights, civil rights, workers' rights and health care."

And here some of us thought that the unfortunate phrase Make No Mistake went out with Barack Obama. Apparently it's still around. Along with those who still claim Republicans would take this country to where it was before the First World War, if they only could. At several points, didn't the GOP have solid majorities in the Congress during the last Republican administration? Nobody is doing The Charleston.

From Kamala Harris, senator from California: "This Supreme Court vacancy puts issues that affect every single American in the balance, from a woman's constitutionally protected right to make her own health care decisions to privacy, equality and civil rights."

From Elizabeth Warren, who is always calling the sky down: "Donald Trump has already said that he's going to pick somebody who has been pre-screened off a list that was put together by a group whose No. 1 job--an extremist group--is to make sure that Roe v. Wade gets overturned. This means that he's looking for a nominee who will criminalize abortion and try to punish women. That's what's at stake in this one. And then from there, so much more. This is about health-care cases that are percolating up through the courts ... . This is about the swing vote in our environmental protections, whether or not giant corporations are going to have the right to poison the water and foul the air. This is about workers' rights and whether or not the Supreme Court is going to stay on the path of trying to bust unions. This is about voting rights ... ."

Bernie Sanders: "When it comes time to decide on a replacement for Justice Kennedy, I hope that my Republican colleagues who believe that women, not the government, have the right to control their own bodies will stand with those of us who oppose any nominee who would deny any woman the right to choose." Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said "women's lives are at risk." Cory Booker, a Democratic senator from New Jersey: "We now must fight."

Now? So all youse guys weren't fighting before?

Here's an idea for the resistance: Why not wait until there's a nominee before opposing one?

Editorial on 07/03/2018

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