Originally published July 19, 2018 on Real Clear Politics by Ken Paxton
A comical situation unfolded at the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of President Trump’s nomination announcement earlier this month: Joined by VIPs of the progressive left, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, protesters loudly trumpeted their so-called “principled” opposition to the nominee. But because no one yet knew who would actually be nominated, the assembled crowd kept a handful of signs at the ready, each emblazoned with an exhortation to “Stop” a different person; some protesters with handwritten signs simply left one line blank, ready to insert whatever name happened to be announced.
Farcical as it is, this kind of knee-jerk opposition to an unknown nominee is symbolic of the broader attitude of those on the left. If President Trump somehow found a way to resurrect John Marshall from the dead and nominate him, one wonders if even that would be enough for Senate Democrats.
Unfortunately for them, however, Judge Brett Kavanaugh is tailor-made to expose their partisan theatrics. Judge Kavanaugh is one of the most qualified people President Trump could have nominated. He currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, unofficially dubbed “the second highest court in the land” for the magnitude of consequential cases that come before it. (Note that the “Highest Court in the Land” is the informal name of the basketball court on the fifth floor of the Supreme Court building.) Many of his more than 300 opinions have been influential at the Supreme Court. A former Anthony Kennedy clerk with impeccable credentials, he is one of the most respected jurists in the nation.
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