Brett Kavanaugh Has Been Confirmed. What Does This Mean?
Saturday afternoon, the Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as Supreme Court Justice, despite the sexual assault allegations brought forward by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and other aspects of his problematic past. The message this sends from the senators who fast-tracked this investigation and voted yes is clear — women just don’t matter to the GOP quite as much as the Republican political agenda. And women just don’t matter quite as much as men. Not only that, but it makes evident that the “presumption of innocence” is a hell of a lot more prevalent when the accused is rich and white. Where are these presumptions when the accused is a man of color? He doesn’t need to be aggressive, angry or unapologetic — all of which were expressed by Brett Kavanaugh — to be presumed guilty. He just needs to be.
Michael Brown. Laquan McDonald. Tamir Rice. Alton Sterling. Philando Castile. Freddie Gray. Jordan Edwards. The list is heartbreakingly long.
Dr. Ford maintained a calm, credible composure throughout her testimony and questioning — even when it was evident that she was deeply emotional. On the contrary, the unapologetic anger we saw from Brett Kavanaugh during his own was the epitome of white male privilege. He bordered on belligerent. Imagine a woman putting on the performance he did? When a woman expresses this kind of anger, she is erratic. She is hysterical. When a man of color expresses this kind of anger, he is a monster. He is untrustworthy. Only a white man can behave in this manner and end up confirmed and sworn in as Supreme Court Justice.
Photo from Mashable. Getty Images
Not only is Kavanaugh’s existence itself problematic, but having him as SCJ will bring a great deal of problems for women and people of color all over the country. The previous justice, Justice Anthony Kennedy, while conservative-leaning, was often a swing vote when it came to important decisions. Kavanaugh, on the other hand, has outwardly expressed extreme conservative beliefs and will likely consistently vote with Republicans on every issue, even if only to prove himself. He poses a threat to accessible health care, environmental protections, women’s rights, workers’ rights, human rights, net neutrality, small business success, immigration and checks on presidential power. For women, especially women of color and lower income women, Kavanaugh is a huge problem.
For example, Trump stated while campaigning that he would only appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court, and Mike Pence has been quoted saying he hopes to see Roe V. Wade in the “ash heap of history.” We will never understand why a woman’s right to make decisions for her own body is still a political debate, but Kavanaugh’s confirmation makes the fight for these rights even more pertinent.
Roe V. Wade can’t be overturned overnight, but it’s likely that a series of smaller restrictions and limitations to abortion services will be made, making it difficult for women — especially women of color and women who live in rural areas — to attain them. West Virginia, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and Kentucky each already only have one abortion provider left in the entire STATE. Arkansas has only one surgical abortion provider and one medical (source).
We know that this confirmation will be felt — big time — by sexual assault survivors both male and female and allies everywhere. It’s okay to be angry today. It’s okay to be angry tomorrow. In fact, it’s okay to be angry for as long as you need to be. Let that anger fuel the movement. This loss cannot stop us in our tracks. This loss means VOTING in November, continuing to protest in Washington and all over the country and not letting this turn back the clocks on our recent progress on conversations about sexual assault.
“We are no longer accepting the things we cannot change, we are changing the things we cannot accept.”
The rage unleashed by this confirmation will be unparalleled — women are ready. We are ready to protest, to organize, to march, to fight and most of all, to stand together.
These are the senators who voted YES on Kavanaugh:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
John Barrasso (R-WY)
Roy Blunt (R-MO)
John Boozman (R-AR)
Richard Burr (R-NC)
Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Susan M. Collins (R-ME)
Bob Corker (R-TN)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Michael B. Enzi (R-WY)
Joni Ernst (R-IA)
Deb Fischer (R-NE)
Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Cory Gardner (R-CO)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT)
Dean Heller (R-NV)
John Hoeven (R-ND)
Cyndy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
James M. Inhofe (R-OK)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Ron Johsnon (R-WI)
John Kennedy (R-LA)
John Kyl (R-AZ)
James Lankford (R-OK)
Mike Lee (R-UT)
Joe Manchin, III (D-WV)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Rand Paul (R-KY)
David Perdue (R-GA)
Rob Portman (R-OH)
James E. Risch (R-ID)
Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Mike Rounds (R-SD)
Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Ben Sasse (R-NE)
Tim Scott (R-SC)
Richard C. Shelby (R-AL)
Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
John Thune (R-SD)
Thom Tillis (R-NC)
Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA)
Roger F. Wicker (R-MS)
Todd Young (R-IN)