America is still free, and the people will be heard
WASHINGTON » On Wednesday, the morning after the president proclaimed that civil disobedience shouldn’t be tolerated in America, I sat at Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing near the source of President Trump’s rage: the public gallery, where American citizens had stood Tuesday to voice objections to the nominee and the process.
The protest resumed in the first minute, right after Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, blamed Democrats (without evidence) for the disruption, saying the 70 people arrested Tuesday were “following their lead.” “What are you hiding?” “No Trump puppet!” “Save our democracy!” Capitol Police arrested the demonstrators — 31 by lunch. Yet the hearing went on. The Republic survived.
A foreign journalist sitting near me marveled at the civil disobedience. “You pull that s— in Venezuela?” she said — then drew her index finger across her throat.
That’s true in many countries whose leaders Trump praises: Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, North Korea. Now he suggests protests should be abolished here, too. No civil rights movement. No anti-war protests. No fighting slavery. No Boston Tea Party.
On Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., echoed Trump: “I just wish we could have a hearing where the nominee’s kids could show up. … What kind of country have we become?” He asked Kavanaugh what he’d told his children.
A worthy nominee would’ve told them: “The people shouting don’t like President Trump and don’t want me on the Supreme Court. I disagree with them, but I’ll defend their right to speak out, because nonviolent protest is part of being an American.”
Instead, Kavanaugh declined to say.
Violent protest is never acceptable, and the best protest is the kind at the polls. The Kavanaugh hearing protests are irritating and incon- venient. But it’s also entirely American — and fully justified:
• One party refused for almost 10 months to seat a Supreme Court nominee of the other party, then changed the rules to push through two nominees from a president of their own party.
• The power play’s being executed by a minority government — a legislative caucus and a president elected despite losing the popular vote — seeking to sustain its minority power with a Supreme Court that shields Republicans from the popular will with rulings on voting rights, gerrymandering and campaign finance.
• The party in power is withholding documents about the nominee and hiding others.
• The president may have been shopping for a friendly judge in case his legal troubles come before the court.
The protest reminds me of the House Obamacare vote in 2010, when conservative demonstrators outside were so riled Democratic lawmakers needed police protection and Republican lawmakers cheered for the hecklers.
Now Republicans aren’t cheering. The committee did its best to quiet demonstrators. But fresh demonstrators kept coming and the shouts continued: “This is a scam!” “Why don’t you listen to us?”
“The American people have no faith in you.”
Trump would quash such dissent. But America’s still free, and the people will be heard.
“Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.”
— First Amendment to the Constitution, ratified Dec. 15, 1791
“I don’t know why they don’t take care of a situation like that. I think it’s embarrassing for the country to allow protesters.”
— President Trump, Sept. 4, 2018