It was a fool’s mission, but I used to cling to the hope that common decency would prevail in the GOP.  

So many abdications of congressional oversight have occurred recently that its hard to know what deserves priority in our outrage.   Republicans just cluck like an indulgent mother while their Darling Boy continues to smash half-a-century of progress with petulant abandon.

On the one hand, abusing his power to serve his own interests at the expense of national security is nothing new for this president.  On the other hand, even Nixon wouldn’t have declassified FBI intelligence docs in the midst of an ongoing investigation of his own White House.

But the apex of GOP irresponsibility has got to be their determination to ram through Kavenaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation before the October session, regardless of credible questions about his character.

Even before Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of attempted rape came to light, there were unanswered questions about Judge Kavenaugh’s truthfulness, as well as evidence that he should not be trusted with decisions involving the rights of either women or minorities.  The fact that massive numbers of documents from his judicial history have been withheld from Democratic scrutiny in the confirmation process is sufficient to raise suspicions that the man is even more unsuitable than we even imagine.

I remember the days when any hint of discernible partisanship in the record of an SCOTUS candidate would prevent him or her from even being put forward as a nominee.  Both parties recognized that if partisanship gained a foothold on the nation’s highest court, it would be the end of justice as we have come to known it in America.

Even when non-partisanship began to slip away, presidents from both parties continued to at least pay lip service to that ideal.

As with other aspects of his misbegotten presidency, Trump isn’t even trying to be subtle in his efforts to rig the court so that he can ensure he holds onto power for a second term.  That’s all that matters to him now.  He doesn’t believe in anything; doesn’t have any overarching values; and he doesn’t care what happens to the country so long as he gets his.

The GOP has so thoroughly prostituted itself to the quixotic tyranny of his venal desires that there will be no going back when he finally is uprooted from the Oval Office.

There are slightly more women than men in the U.S., but Republicans seem disinterested in the female half of the population other than to limit their self-determination, healthcare and compensation levels.  In the long run, the philosophical misogyny and xenophobia of the GOP are headed for a nasty collision with demographics, no matter how hard they try to rig the system.

That’s little comfort to women and minorities who must live through the last reign of the Republican Party.

What will happen when a Supreme Court packed by the far right in defiance of consensus inevitably comes into conflict with majority public opinion?  Let me tell you, it won’t be pretty!

Lifetime appointment?  Not so fast!  While there originally were very good reasons for an indefinite term of office, those reasons must now be scrutinized in the new light provided by an administration at war with the very spirit of our constitution.  

Justices can be impeached just as presidents can; and, as we are constantly reminded now, impeachment is a political process, not a legal one.  How’s that going to work out for Judge Kavenaugh, once the Court has been permanently diminished by his ill-considered elevation?