The Arc of Justice

As I sit here and listen to the questioning of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, dread and grief wash over me in waves.  The genesis of these feelings is not so much because of Judge Barrett's admittedly arch conservative positions or judicial philosophy, but rather the motives of the people who are trying to jam her nomination through.  In listening to the Republicans accuse the Democrats on the committee and Democrats in general of attacking her on the basis of her religion, or claiming that the opposition is intent on insulting her misses the point.   Even assuming Judge Barrett is qualified, and she is certainly qualified, the motives of the men who have inserted her into this maelstrom for their own seeking of power and political benefit are perhaps the main issue.  Their naked power play to destroy the Affordable Care Act, Roe v. Wade, and set up a sham Supreme Court decision on a falsely contested election is a sad final act to the sordid drama we have endured for the last four years.

 

To listen to the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee wax on and on about judicial independence and how their motives are purely in pursuit of their Constitutional duty makes me gag

when I look back at the recent history of all these men when it comes to the hypocrisy so apparent by their forcing this confirmation process now.  Their word means nothing.  They all demean the integrity of the Constitution because they twist it to their own benefit. 

 

As I listen to the Democrats, who are apparently powerless to stop this confirmation juggernaut, the sheer helplessness of any effort to influence events that are being manipulated by a President and Senators who lie without any remorse and who do not represent the majority of opinion in the United States is debilitating.  Instead of working to mitigate the suffering of a population that is weary of a pandemic that has caused over 215,000 deaths and is stressed by the economic mismanagement of the administration, they are focused on ramming through a nomination that is the ultimate hypocrisy.  What motivates these people?  God only knows.

 

I feel the powerlessness of not being able to do anything.  As I listen to the reporting of incident after incident of voter suppression that is being practiced in plain view nationwide by the Republicans in state legislatures and statehouses I just have to ask whether this is America? How do these people think what they are doing is OK?   And because the Republican controlled Senate has been on a laser beam mission to install conservative judges nationwide for the past 4 years (under the single minded efforts of Mitch McConnell to the exclusion of almost any other business!), the judicial appeals that attempt to stop those suppressive activities are being dismissed, and the egregious disenfranchisement goes on unabated.

 

I am left with the understanding and realization that legislative and judicial morality have been compromised in our country to an extent that could actually mean the end of our democracy.  The coup-de- grace for all this will be the dismissal of the election's results by President Trump's claim that the election is rigged, and his effort to thwart the results by drowning the true outcome in weeks or months of litigation--by the Republican stacked state judicial systems and the Supreme Court.

 

This has all been a plan.  It started in earnest with the Citizens United decision in the Supreme Court and

the arrival of all kinds of dark money into our politics.  Undoubtedly it started way before that, but the Citizens United decision was the real victory for sinister forces who believe that only they should be making decisions about the future of the United States.  Those who seeded all this activity with their wealth by virtue of that decision, and their unrestricted financing of these odious plans have 'bought' the politicians; the legislation; the gerrymandering; the voter suppression--all of it.   And now, you and I are left with the dregs of what used to be a democratic ideal that has been tarnished and destroyed by greedy men whose only pursuit is power and money.

 

I am not sure what the outcome will be.  At this point in time, I am encouraged by the robust turnout apparent in early voting.  Maybe 'we the people' actually sees the danger and are going to provide a decisive stop to this madness, but I will be skeptical until January 20, 2021.  The man who holds the Presidential powers right now will stop at nothing to remain in power, and I expect him and his supplicants to deliver continuing evil upon our country until somehow they are stopped, voted out, or convicted of some crimes and put in jail.

 

My biggest unhappy surprise is the loss of any moral compass by all our countrymen who unflinchingly support this corruption.  How can they not see what they are doing?  How is it that they have no inner guide that sees the inherent evil of what is going on? 

 

Ah well, at the end of the day, I can only insure that my immediate circle is filled with honorable people.  We all commiserate  about the state of affairs, and we all are doing what we can to maintain the ideal of what our country is supposed to be.  Let us pray and hope that the arc of justice will finally turn our way.  Brace yourselves, my friends, the end game is near.