The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, (87) a justice of the United States High Court comes at a critical time with a presidential election just seven weeks away. Justice Ginsburg was a liberal with a strong leaning towards women's rights on a court that has been moving towards a more conservative stance.
Her replacement will be nominated by the sitting president and confirmed by as vote in the US Senate. Donald Trump has had the opportunity to add two new justices to the court during his term and this death could enable him to permanently tilt the court into a conservative stance.
If Trump is reading the polls and thinks he will be defeated in November he may try to rush a nominee through selection and confirmation, and leave office with damage the incoming president may take many years to correct. High Court justices serve a life term and a Democrat president would need to wait for deaths to occur before he could change the outlook of the court.
Normally, political goodwill would apply so close to a presidential election and a replacement would wait until that has been decided, but Trump makes no secret of his conservative agenda and the Republicans have the numbers in the Senate to bulldoze through a confirmation. Trump is unlikely to hesitate to try and impose his outlook permanently on the nation long after he has lost office.
The interesting question is whether the American public will tolerate the manipulation of the High Court, and exactly what that may impose on the American way of life. The Republicans are already placing restrictions in the way of abortions and all this is leading to the " Roe versus Wade " decision being revisited. It is possible - even likely - that abortion may again become illegal in the United States of America.
We live in a world that has been moving away from the iron grip of the churches. Many were surprised that referendums on gay marriage romped home in countries that usually moved in lockstep with the churches. The sheer economics of raising children are making families limit the number of children and contraception makes that possible. Where contraception fails, abortion is an available standby.
The women's movement in America has been growing in strength and militancy. The " Me Too " movement has struck a blow against sexual oppression and the " Black lives matter " issue has seen thousands marching in the streets to combat police brutality. It is unlikely that the masses will tolerate the rigging of the High Court by an arch conservative replacing Ruth Ginsburg.
It could even come down to a decision by the High Court as to whether a replacement should wait until after this election, but the damage may already have been done during Trump's term in office. The Democrats may seek to delay that vote in the Senate, but the Constitution is against them and the same political alliance that allowed Trump to avoid impeachment may apply.
The streets of America are awash with guns. There are actually more hand guns that people in the United States and an amazing number of assault rifles are in private ownership. This issue of a High Court replacement could be the issue that brings people onto the streets and gives Trump an excuse to delay the election and bring in the army.
What happens next will be more than of passing interest to the world !
No comments:
Post a Comment