



A brilliant op-ed piece on USA Today by former Minnesota Senator Al Franken urges Democrats not to take lying down the travesty that’s the Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination and possible confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.





The former Dem Senator argues that Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court will literally kill the independence of the judiciary as we have known it up until now. It is no secret that Trump and his GOP Senators are ramming Kavanaugh through to the U.S. Supreme Court to first and foremost shield Trump from the threat of the ongoing Mueller probe but also as a rubberstamp for the GOP longterm political objectives. In other words, former Senator Franken is arguing that while most Americans still look at/want the U.S. Supreme Court to be the independent head of the judicial branch, the GOP doesn’t look at it that way. They have turned the U.S. Supreme Court into an appendage of the Republican Party, which they can use to advance GOP ideals. Simply put, Franken is telling Democrats that if Senate Republicans succeed in ramming through Kavanaugh, they should stop looking at the U.S. Supreme Court as an independent judicial body and instead fight it as just another political wing of the GOP

This is certainly not an original idea advanced by Franken but is one that Democrats have certainly been very slow to come to terms with. The Republicans for example have done the same thing in Texas where the two highest courts, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals(CCA–Criminal) and the Texas Supreme Court(Civil) are essentially unofficial branches of the Texas Republican party. When Texas Republicans get in trouble with the law, the CCA almost always knocks down their convictions–you will remember the Tom Delay case and now with the current Texas AG Ken Paxton.

Yours Truly has spoken, in less eloquent terms of course, about this important but troubling issue regarding our courts that Franken now raises in his brilliant op-ed piece. Yours Truly for example has urged Dems to raise the troubling issues surrounding Kavanaugh’s confirmation process with Chief Justice Roberts because after all, he will be the one presiding over a court that’s sure to be stained by Kavanaugh’s seating. How can the public be expected to respect the Robert’s Supreme Court after the GOP travesty they’ve witnessed with Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings?



Bottom line it is high time Dems and the mainstream media quit treating GOP’s assault on judicial independence, especially regarding the U.S. Supreme Court as just “politics as usual” because it is anything but. The Dems may not have the votes to stop Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court but they have a more powerful tool at their disposal–a majority of the public who want an independent Supreme Court and are disgusted at the GOP theatrics surrounding Kavanaugh’s confirmation, especially the blatant concealment of records. As former senator Franken says, Dems must keep fighting to restore the U.S. Supreme Court to its independent roots. The best way to do that(Yours Truly’s suggestion) is for Senate Dems to reach out to Chief Justice John Roberts and raise serious concerns about how the Kavanaugh confirmation process was conducted. The Chief Justice will be interested in their objections because it is the reputation of his court that is at stake. And even in the unlikely event that Chief Justice Roberts ignores Dem lamentations, they should continue digging for and exposing Kavanaugh’s records that were hidden from them during his confirmation hearings. As the old saying goes, A luta continua!!

For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out







