I was reminded of Dickens' beginning to "A Tale of Two Cities" in 1981.
Ronald Reagan had
assumed the presidency and the
long dark night was, for a time, over. It was a new "Morning in
America" as President Reagan promised. It would be the best of times, for a few years, after he spent the first term repairing much of the damage done by the Carter
administration. Fortunately he was soundly reelected four years later and was able to do some good, even if George Bush began tearing it down as quickly as Reagan had
repaired it. It was the best of times for a while, and the worst of times because the Democrat party, weaker then than now but every bit as determined, was doing its
best to thwart all his attempts.
The Democrats used every opportunity to attack, but Reagan gave them few. Today of course they simply
manufacture pretexts,
as with President Trump. And while the
state controlled media state-run media was complicit (Fox News,
the only marginally honest outlet, didn't exist then) they got few opportunities. They did their best with Supreme Court nominees, but Sandra Day O'Connor got through because in those days attacking a woman
wasn't a good idea. Antonin Scalia was also approved handily, albeit with then-senator (a capo in the
Biden Crime Family) stated
that he "regretted not having opposed Scalia "because he was so effective".
The third appointment, Anthony Kennedy, was a second choice because when Reagan nominated
Robert Bork the Democrats did pull out all the
stops to block him. Well, it was mild compared to what they did to Trump appointee Kavanaugh, and to Clarence Thomas. But it was pretty bad, even for that time. Kennedy, by the way, was the deciding vote
in
Obergefell v. Hodges.
Chappaquidick Ted Kennedy led the attacks, with this bit (no doubt written for him, Ted wasn't very bright):
Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens'
doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal
courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is--and is often the only--protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy. ...
The damage that President Reagan will do through this nomination, if it is not rejected by the Senate, could live on far beyond the end of his presidential term. President Reagan is
still our president. But he should not be able to reach out from the muck of Irangate, reach into the muck of Watergate and impose his reactionary vision of the Constitution on the
Supreme Court and the next generation of Americans. No justice would be better than this injustice.
Bork responded, "There was not a line in that speech that was accurate." In an obituary of Kennedy, The Economist remarked that Bork may well have been correct, "but it worked".
Indeed, which for
Democrats is the only thing that matters.
Dingy Harry said something similar when he admitted lying about Mitt Romney. The
Democrats had the majority in the Senate, so it was a foregone conclusion. Bork, a truly brilliant judge and along with Scalia the last decent appointment to the court by anyone. Gorsuch is decent,
but is the first since Thomas. He wrote a few books, two best-sellers (The Tempting of America and Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline) of which I recommend the second
and haven't read the first. He did a lot of television appearances, and was impressive in his knowledge and communications ability, even though he seemed not to be that much seeking attention, as is the case
with most.
And his name became a verb, due to the character assassination which ended his career. Bork was actually already a verb, but only to techies.
Merrick Garland, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have written any books. Who'd want to read one if he did? I expect they would end up in Dollar Tree with the other minions
of the regime who didn't have truckloads of their books purchased by their wealthy supporters. Perhaps, if sanity is soon restored and he and the other minions of the regime go to prison where they belong, he
can use the time to write a weaselly self-serving account of how he was wronged. We can only hope.
Garland didn't go to the Supreme Court either, but for a different reason. Justice Scalia (rather mysteriously) died suddenly (pre-Covid vax) and an opening was created in early 2016, plenty of
time for him to be appointed by the Manchurian President and confirmed by the Senate before the election, even with a Republican majority. It was then that Mitch 'the Turtle' McConnell inexplicably
did something right for once in his lengthy career. He refused to hold hearings on Garland's nonimation and it would be Donald Trump who appointed a replacement. No need to tell you how angry the
communists were, but there was nothing they could do. So Garland would ascend to that place every lawyer dreams about.
No need to guess how angry Garland was. And given the opportunity he takes revenge on his enemies at every opportunity. Appointed Attorney General by
Joetato on 6 January 2021 and now languish in
gulags, held for years now
without trial and subjected to physical and mental abuse by their captors.
At the same time he has protected the Biden Crime Family (and other unrelated miscreants) and subjecting innocent citizens to... remember those "midnight raids" and "writers and artists being censored at
the whim of the Government"? Yeah, Garland is making that happen. This is one angry little man, given power to hurt - not Mitch McConnell and the senators who wouldn't give him the thing he desired so
madly - just thousands of innocent citizens, the little people. I'm one of the little people and I don't like it, but there is more reason that that to despise the travesty of humanity that is Marrick Garland.
Bork endured the character assassination and lies with dignity and grace and went on with his life, Merrick let the anger eat him up inside, like
Gollum brooding over his 'precious'. He is a mean and angry little man, who lashes out in rage against anyone he perceives as an enemy. His
scripted speaking is weaselly and weak, compared to Bork's confident and authoritative speech. He has at the very least now committed perjury before Congress, and even if any of his other crimes aren't prosecuted this
should, if a competent and just administration is restored, spend as much time in prison as the law allows.