Kavanaugh likely to stand against executive bullying
Michael Gerson
The Trump administration is not known for its consistency, but some contradictions are too revealing to ignore.
In nominating Brett Kavanaugh to the
Supreme Court, President Trump has chosen a jurist who is deeply committed to the Bill of Rights and the rule of law. Kavanaugh — with whom I worked at the White House — is brilliant, meticulous, fairminded and unfailingly decent. In a saner political climate, a nominee of this temperament, intellect and experience would be confirmed in the Senate with 70 or 80 votes.
Yet: In pardoning Dwight and Steven Hammond, the Oregon ranchers convicted of arson on federal lands, Trump gave his blessing to lawlessness. According to the Justice Department, “Witnesses at [the] trial, including a relative of the Hammonds, testified the arson occurred shortly after Steven Hammond and his hunting party illegally slaughtered several deer on [Bureau of Land Management] property. Jurors were told that Steven Hammond handed out ‘Strike Anywhere’ matches with instructions that they be lit and dropped on the ground because they were going to ‘light up the whole country on fire.’
... The fire consumed 139 acres of public land and destroyed all evidence of the game violations.” The Hammonds’ cause had been taken up by rightwing militias. Trump’s pardon effectively sided with the militias in their dispute with the government.
This is not an isolated incident. By pardoning former Arizona Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, Trump excused disobedience to a federal court order and embraced a figure with a long history of abusing Hispanic migrants. During the presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly egged on the physical abuse of protesters at his rallies. “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato,” he once said, “knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously, OK. I will pay for the legal fees, I promise.”
This is not to mention Trump’s initial neutrality between white supremacists and protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, which was taken by hate groups and militias as a presidential endorsement. Or coming to the defense of Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, who was repeatedly accused of predatory behavior against young women. Or Trump’s barely disguised admiration for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
How to describe this strange mix of toughguy posturing, conspiracy thinking, authoritarian envy, recreational cruelty and admiration for norm breakers? At some point, the dots connect and reveal deep attitudes. Trump has a bully’s view of strength and weakness, and he seems to instinctively identify with bullies.
That is sad in any country, but particularly discrediting in America..
All this points to the importance of institutional vigilance in the Trump era. Resisting the abuse of power is hard enough for good people. In Trump, the internal moral checks are absent. In a time of national stress and crisis — when executive authority naturally expands — the restraints on lawlessness and bullying would need to be external. And they may even need to be imposed by the Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh is smart enough to know this. And I believe he has the patriotism and character to act upon it.