Decorum is ruining our democracy.
You can blame Justice Barrett’s confirmation on Establishment Democrats.
Tonight, Amy Coney Barrett has just been sworn in as the Associate Justice in the United States Supreme Court. Her nomination process took exactly 30 days and is one of the only Justices to be confirmed without bipartisan support.
Shortly after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s death on Friday, September 18, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that they would be replacing her seat on the Court, less than two months before the Presidential Election. Remember, McConnell famously blocked former President Barack Obama from nominating Merrick Garland to the court ten months before the election back in 2016, saying the people needed to decide who would be on the court.
I’m not here to criticize the hypocrisy of conservatives within the Senate. They’ve shown the American public where they stand time and time again. I knew that the Republican Party would push forward with the nomination at breakneck speeds. I knew that they weren’t worried about passing anything else that would be much more important, like coronavirus relief for struggling families and workers or an election security bill.
The Democratic Party would do nothing to stop the confirmation, or at least hinder it. At the moment, both Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer swore to uphold the legacy of Justice Ginsburg and use every tool in their arsenal to stop the nomination. The day after Ginsburg passed, Schumer said that if the Senate Republicans were to go forward with the Supreme Court confirmation, “then nothing is off the table for next year.” Pelosi told ABC News that she is “not ruling anything out,” and that the party was “to use every arrow in our quiver” to prevent Barrett’s confirmation.
And yet, Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s presence gives the Republican party a 6–3 majority on the highest court in the country. As usual, Democratic leadership did nothing but fire off some tweets and pontificate during the hearings. The most action Senate Democrats took was to not show up to the Judiciary Committee vote in “an act of protest.”
This confirmation is the result of years of stubborn Establishment Democrats who refused to acknowledge that Republicans were cheating the system. In just the last four years, we’ve seen the President commit various crimes while in office, including calling on foreign powers to attempt to interfere in a United States election. We’ve seen the Senate refuse to hold a vote on legislation passed by the House. We’ve seen Republicans implement voter suppression through gerrymandering and convoluted voting procedures to stop people of color from voting. We’ve even seen the Senate become a body to confirm judges and nothing else.
The Republican Party works to do one thing, acquire more power. They have shown time and time again that they don’t do legislation, they just appoint judges and troll on Twitter. It’s become clear to me that the Republican Party has abandoned their dignity to grab power. And yet, I’m astounded that for nearly two decades, the Establishment Democratic Party hasn’t once decided to do a thing about it.
Establishment Democrats and centrist pundits have co-opted the language of the left. The establishment uses this fiery language, while continually using the archaic methods of legislating. They use phrases like, “burn it down,” while swiping the matches out of the hands of progressives. Establishment Democrats keep appealing to the decency and good nature of those who openly oppose civil rights, deny science, encourage race-baiting and xenophobia, commit countless crimes, and break the very statutes this nation is founded upon.
Instead of implementing the checks and balances afforded to the Democrats, they pen strongly-worded statements and go on cable news, hoping to appeal to the conservatives’ collective sense of decency. They would much rather use the language of the revolutionaries than take the action the same revolutionaries are looking for. Their refusal to take drastic yet necessary action may now jeopardize thousands of Americans’ healthcare, right to marry, immigration status, or even their right to vote out their corrupt representatives.
For years now, the Democratic Party has been more interested in formality and tradition than an actual democracy. The Senate has favored the views and wellbeing of rural states with a majority-white population over the collective good of the country. It does a poor job of representing the full breadth of the country. In fact, the 52 senators who voted to confirm Barrett to represent 48 percent of the country’s population. Even still, Democrats haven’t given much serious thought to expanding the court; and even less to removing the filibuster, or even abolishing the electoral college. The establishment is willing to say that they want a fight, but never show it when it’s time. Progressives and leftists are tired of it. They are tired of the symbolic gestures and the tepid solutions that don’t go far enough.
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) tweeted tonight, “The Senate GOP is thwarting the will of the people and confirming a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court in the middle of a presidential election.” However, his inadequacy and passiveness allowed the Republicans to fundamentally reshape the court for years and years to come. Healthcare, reproductive rights, climate change, and even the outcome of the Election 8 days away are all in jeopardy due to the addition of Justice Barrett.
There is a way out. By getting your hands dirty and adopting many progressive policies, the Democrats can provide an equitable future for the entire country. If they win big in November, Democrats will have a generational opportunity to pass a wave of New Deal-style legislation. These policies can and will touch every facet of public life — from coronavirus relief and economic stimulus to healthcare to climate change to affordable housing and much more.
Democrats are approaching a crossroads, where the party must decide what it wants to be and what it wants the future to look like. They must take this next step or risk damaging the country for generations to come. Remember, Schumer said nothing is off the table in 2021. He needs to take this very seriously because that can mean a break from tradition and decorum. That may be exactly what the country needs right now.
