Cal Thomas: One way to avoid confirmation drama

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Thursday, July 12th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from member-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Cal Thomas now on how to avoid unnecessary drama to fill the seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

CAL THOMAS: If Alexander Hamilton had been nominated for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court today, Democrats would likely oppose him.

In Federalist No. 78, Hamilton said the judiciary branch of the proposed government would be the weakest of the three branches because it had “no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society. … It may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment…”

Today, however, the judiciary seems to have surpassed Congress and rival even the executive branch as it has, particularly in the last century, assumed powers the Constitution’s framers never intended.

Given his record and views of the Constitution, President Trump’s latest Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, is in line with Hamilton’s thinking, but out of line with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and most Democrats. Yet, in a closely divided Senate, Republicans may need some Democrats to seat Kavanaugh, given the uncertainty about how Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, both pro-abortion, will vote.

For some Democrats, it’s all about abortion and same-sex marriage, neither of which are mentioned in the Constitution and both of which have been created as rights by a majority of liberal justices. Their fealty appears to have been to public opinion and their own biases, rather than to the nation’s founding document.

Rush Limbaugh had a good suggestion for Republicans. GOP leaders should dispense with a lengthy confirmation process. Don’t let the senators go home for summer recess, where they will be confronted by protestors and demands that they oppose Kavanaugh, he said. Don’t allow TV ads designed to sway senators—planned even before the nomination—to have an effect. Limbaugh wants Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to schedule hearings next week, followed by a quick vote.

Democrats and big media will scream, but Republicans have an opportunity to do something they have traditionally been squeamish about—use power when they have it.

If Republicans stay unified and if they can pick off two or three Democrats who are up for re-election in states where President Trump won handily in 2016, Kavanaugh, with his stellar credentials, should be easily and properly confirmed.

For WORLD Radio, I’m Cal Thomas.

(AP Photo/Cliff Owen) A demonstrator protesting Judge Brett Kavanaugh stands outside the U.S. Supreme Court  in Washington.

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