Consequences of Failing Schoolhouse Rock?

Quite some time ago, I began to think that little in politics surprises me anymore, but the month of September has outdone itself in revealing the demise of civility in our culture.

So many thoughts and reactions from disbelief to disgust ran through my mind while watching the recent Senate confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. The disrespectful and childish antics of disruptors of the hearings (and the Democrats who encouraged them) was not “democracy in action” as touted by various leftist commentators, but a foretaste of the mob rule chaos that so many appear determined to inflict on our nation.

Now, the recent bombshell of a 36-year-old sexual assault allegation, deliberately withheld by Democrats for at least six weeks until days before the Senate vote to confirm, appears to me to be perfectly coordinated for the maximum political fallout to both derail Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination and impact the November mid-term elections.

Sexual assault is a serious crime; however, with the woman in question now (as of my article deadline) unwilling to testify publicly at any time as initially indicated by her attorney across numerous media outlets, it’s becoming harder for me to accept that this is little more than utilizing the #metoo movement as a delay tactic to extend the nomination process past the mid-term elections, and comments from elected Democrats such as Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) regarding the possibility of keeping the seat open for up to two years should Democrats take control in November confirms my suspicions.

Politically, our system is so incredibly broken, and no better explanation exists than the one given by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) during the confirmation hearings. As I listened live to his speech that day, I realized that Sen. Sasse was articulating everything I’ve attempted to write for the past eight years in my articles, and why I remain so frustrated and concerned by where I see us heading as a nation.

(If you haven’t heard his remarks, I urge you to take the time to either watch on YouTube to the best and shortest 15-minute civics lesson available, or read his commentary submitted to The Wall Street Journal.*)

Sen. Sasse opines that the source of political hysteria regarding Supreme Court nominations is the result of a “new mentality” of how people believe our three branches of government work, and he suggests this would be a good time to introduce our children to the Saturday morning classic of my youth, Schoolhouse Rock. He’s correct, but doesn’t go far enough as I am of the opinion that a lack of solid civics knowledge concerning our constitutional republic also exists among the adults of our nation, extending all the way to our members of Congress. And with the decades of leftist ideology instilled into our children via our education system, it’s little wonder as to the current chaos we’re experiencing because an improperly educated citizenry is easily manipulated.

Sen. Sasse accurately explains that during the past century, legislative power has been increasingly transferred to the executive branch, by BOTH parties, resulting in a weak legislative body more interested in keeping their jobs than doing the hard work of legislating. To me, it’s also why we’ve progressively suffered a legislative “kick the can” attitude of solving problems, as blame is quite easily shifted to another branch of government in an effort to survive another election.

Legislative authority has also been transferred to the ever-expanding labyrinth of alphabet-soup bureaucratic agencies, led by unelected administrators charged with creating rules and burdensome regulations of which citizens have little to no recourse other than through lengthy and costly legal battles. As Sen. Sasse explains, it’s why the courts have become political football and confirmation hearings are now little more than partisan circus events. The solution, according to Sen. Sasse, is to restore the balance of powers as originally intended with Congress passing laws to which they are held accountable, an executive branch that enforces the laws passed, and a judiciary that applies the law rather than interpret it based on their ideology.

But that return to the proper balance of powers isn’t what Democrats seek. For years, leftists have wanted and have succeeded in stacking the courts with liberal judges who will be policy makers for the ideology they can’t pass into law, and in this Supreme Court nomination, Democrats have revealed the extent they are willing to go in order to destroy someone they deem to be a threat.

When a man’s character and reputation, one that has been scrutinized numerous times in the course of his stellar public service career, can so easily come under a national smear campaign from leftist politicians and media with a politically-orchestrated, suspiciously-timed desperation ploy, it exposes the left as the enemy of our constitutional right to due process. It’s not being a champion for women or for justice; it is using women for political gain. What has happened during this Supreme Court nomination process should strike fear into the hearts of every conservative in our state and nation, and should be all the motivation necessary to turn out a ground swell of the conservative vote in November.

Marcia Chambliss has been involved in grassroots conservative politics since 2009 and has contributed opinion articles pertaining to politics and cultural issues to The Alabama Gazette since 2010.

*https://www.wsj.com/articles/blame-congress-for-politicizing-the-court-1536189015?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1