Not all Capitol lamebrains are protesters
The nasty nature of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s consideration of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s fitness for a seat on this country’s Supreme Court has been either deeply discouraging or vigorously reaffirming, depending on the mindset of viewers watching the spectacle unfold.
If there’s any common ground shared on both sides of the inquisition, it’s a visceral resentment of the impudent hooligans who obnoxiously shout down speakers, hoping to muzzle the free speech of others.
They’re what the late, great columnist Jim Murray once described as “insolent guests at the table of democracy, overturning it on their dismayed hosts.”
But their contemptible conduct did produce one telling moment late Thursday night when North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis thanked Capitol police officers for their professionalism in dealing with the louts.
That caused the hearing room to erupt in sustained applause, suggesting Americans of every stripe have had their fill of vile anti-police rhetoric spewed by bottom-feeding pols, including shameless opportunists here in Massachusetts.
Tillis also took note of the three eighth-graders sitting behind Kavanaugh, suggesting they were receiving a great lesson in democracy. “I’ll explain it to them later,” Kavanaugh said.
Indeed, even in their outrageousness, the boors were demonstrating the truth of what Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy noted in an aside to Kavanaugh: “The Bill of Rights is not an a la carte menu,” meaning even lamebrains can find shelter in them.
Speaking of lamebrains, have you, too, winced at the rudeness and incivility of some who occupy seats in Congress, where you’d think decorum would prevail, no matter how passionately they differed on issues?
Watching them in action brings to mind the difference between a politician and a statesman; while the former thinks only of the next election, the latter is focused on the next generation.
And that’s exactly where the 53-year-old nominee’s impact would be greatest, because he’d have his fingerprints all over Americans not yet born.
Kavanaugh was also asked if his vibrant faith should be a concern to others?
It made you wish someone there had a history book.
In the midst of the Civil War, the beleaguered Abraham Lincoln was asked if he thought God was on the Union’s side.
“I am not at all concerned about that,” our 16th president replied, “for I know the Lord is always on the side of the right. So my constant anxiety and prayer is that I and this nation should be on His side.” Lincoln had it exactly right. Indeed, watching these buffoonish proceedings reminds us it’s still something to pray for today.