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Dionne: Hypocrites for Kavanaugh

In a handout photo provided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Many of the 48 clerks who have worked for Kavanaugh have been deployed to vouch for him in a campaign coordinated by CRC Public Relations, a Washington firm whose conservative clients include the Federalist Society. (U.S. Court of Appeals via The New York Times)
In a handout photo provided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Many of the 48 clerks who have worked for Kavanaugh have been deployed to vouch for him in a campaign coordinated by CRC Public Relations, a Washington firm whose conservative clients include the Federalist Society. (U.S. Court of Appeals via The New York Times) In a handout photo provided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Many of the 48 clerks who have worked for Kavanaugh have been deployed to vouch for him in a campaign coordinated by CRC Public Relations, a Washington firm whose conservative clients include the Federalist Society. (U.S. Court of Appeals via The New York Times)

By E.J. Dionne Jr. 4 min read

WASHINGTON – Be prepared for a festival of hypocrisy, evasion and misdirection from supporters of the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Begin with the idea that because Kavanaugh is qualified, well-educated, intelligent and likable, senators should fall in line behind him.

Sorry, but Senate Republicans have already demonstrated that none of these characteristics matters. If they did, Judge Merrick Garland would be a Supreme Court justice. In blocking Garland, conservatives made clear that personal qualities have nothing to do with confirmation battles. They are struggles for power.

Everything we know about Kavanaugh demonstrates he would cement a right-wing majority on the court on social issues as well as regulatory and economic questions. (That’s why he was picked.) The environment, gun safety and health care are all at stake. So are civil, voting and labor rights. Kavanaugh may be as lovely a human being as Garland is, but he would behave very differently as a justice. That’s the point.

Progressives are told they should get over the shameful treatment of Garland. What an astonishing exercise in hypocrisy from conservatives who have been reliving the defeat of Robert Bork’s nomination to the Supreme Court for 31 years. And unlike Garland, Bork got a hearing and a vote.