LAST WEEK, Brett Kavanaugh became an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, but the road to his confirmation was marred by accusations of sexual misconduct, alcoholism, bad temperament and even implications of pedophilia. When these accusations failed, opposition to Kavanaugh’s confirmation spilled over to the streets, at which point things got a little weird.
Those who opposed Kavanaugh’s nomination argued that he will tilt the US Supreme Court heavily to the right, but such contentions fail to explain the hysteria surrounding Kavanaugh’s nomination. You see, aside from his newfound position, Kavanaugh is also a symbol. He is a symbol of Trumpian politics and American Nationalism. His enemies also perceive him as a monster who threatens them in ways that they cannot quite articulate.
Remember old Max “Hukom Bitay (Judge Hangman)” Asuncion? You know, one of the so-called Guillotine Club? They made a movie about him. Take Hukom Bitay and make him white. That’s how US liberals look at Kavanaugh, an existential threat, though not in the way old Max Asuncion was to criminals.
In the United States, they have a weaponized court system that’s divided along partisan lines. What this means is that the US justice system has become a cudgel, which can be used by one faction against another faction. For a very long time, this system was on the side of the mainstream left, and they used this cudgel to push their own agenda, often at the expense of the conservative factions in the United States.
After Kavanaugh’s confirmation, however, the cudgel was perceived to have shifted from the left to the right. That’s why liberals in the United States are so angry at Kavanaugh’s confirmation. The Supreme Court was supposed to be theirs, and had Hillary Clinton won, it would have been theirs. But Trump is the President, and through him conservatives have the opportunity to control the court for decades. If other Justices in the United States die or resign, which is quite likely, then Trump will be able to do this.
He can pack the courts for his team.
The law is supposed to be impartial, but only in a stable cohesive society with a shared sense of purpose and interests. In a polarized society, it is a weapon to be used, and those who control this weapon also control a significant part of state power. This is what Kavanaugh’s confirmation was ultimately about: Political and State Power. Allegations of sexual misconduct, bad temperament, beer drinking and various other allegations are just excuses to obfuscate what was really at stake.
Now that Kavanaugh is on the Supreme Court, the cat is out of the bag. Everyone knows what’s at stake, and Kavanaugh’s confirmation is being used as ammunition to drive voters to the polls ahead of the US midterm elections.
Behind the notion of law and justice is state power. The legal profession was set up to make sure that this power was exercised fairly and judiciously for the good of society. But what if the different factions of society have separate definitions for fairness and judiciousness? What then?
Then all that’s left is raw power, and the willingness to use that power to create new laws and standards of justice. To put it another way, he who controls the courts controls the definition of justice. Breaks pencil./PN
