ARRA: by Newt Gingrich: Tuesday’s spectacle in the Senate would have made no sense seen from the world we lived in just a few decades ago.
On the first day of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, 70 people were arrested for disrupting the proceedings. There were more than 40 interruptions by Democratic Senators during the first hour of the hearing.
Chairman Chuck Grassley, who has served 37 years in the Senate (as well as six years in the U.S. House and 16 years in the Iowa state House) calmly handled the disruptions. He is a remarkable man who goes home and works the farm every weekend. He also visits all 99 Iowa counties every year. Chairman Grassley is very comfortable with his role, and I expect he found the Democrats amusing and irritating – but not intimidating.
This opening day hostility is a remarkable contrast to the world of 27 years ago, when now-Justice Clarence Thomas was being considered. The Thomas hearings were among the most personal and painful of modern Senate hearings. His personal integrity was challenged in a series of very emotional sessions. Thomas ultimately rose to the occasion, and in a brilliant, powerful, compelling speech compared what was happening to him to a “high-tech lynching.” As an African American, he said he understood the viciousness being used against him. His personal testimony turned the tide and convinced the Senate to approve him. He went on to become one of the two conservative pillars of the Court, along with late Justice Antonin Scalia.
The amazing difference between 1991 and 2018 is that despite the viciousness, 11 Democrats voted to confirm Justice Thomas. He won confirmation by 52-48. Imagine how unlikely it is that Kavanaugh could get 11 Democrats to vote for his confirmation today.
In 1991, there was a sense that politics was operating within a broadly bipartisan universe. President George H.W. Bush was giving up his no tax increase pledge to get a budget deal with the Democrats. There was a general sense that everyone was operating within a center-left system.
We are told we live in a “tolerant” and diverse society that embraces change, individual rights, and few wrongs, unless of course you are conservative or stupid enough to think tradition, history, and common sense should rule the day.
I’m amazed we still still have folks who are willing to undergo such character assassination to serve our Country.
As this political theater is (still) being choreographed by the entirely unipartisan universe, I’ll golf clap. But I reserve the right to cheer for the Caliphate. And let Allah sort them out.
Instead of allowing the TURDS in chambers, THEY should be made to view the event on Closed Circuit TV somewhere else. CLEAR the chamber. Make a public viewing area for DOLTS like this. After the first day of this mess, MAKE IT SO!
Those of us who have at times called for term limits should be ashamed when we look at this statesman.