Jewish groups react to Kavanaugh confirmation

SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Jewish organizations on both sides of the nation’s political divide responded to the 50-48 U.S. Senate vote confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court.  Here, in alphabetical order, is a compilation of their comments along with those of Jewish public figures.

Bend the Arc — “We are profoundly pained by the Senate’s vote today and what it means for the future of our democracy. In confirming Brett Kavanaugh largely along party lines, Republican leaders made it clear that there is nothing that will stop them from maintaining their own political power at any cost. In their view, survivors of sexual assault do not matter, lying under oath does not matter, hiding a nominee’s record does not matter, credibility does not matter, seeking the full truth does not matter, and respect for women does not matter. Instead, they have rewarded a wildly unpopular nominee — who was credibly accused of sexual assault, who wields an impetuous temperament, who has broken all norms by expressing partisan rhetoric, and who has outright promised to take revenge on Democrats — with a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court.

“We want to honor Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, Julie Swetnick, and the countless number of survivors who have stepped forward in recent weeks to speak truth to power and share their stories in the bravest possible ways, in the offices of their Senators, in hallways and elevators, and as a witness to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Their courage has laid the groundwork to transform our society — we thank them, and we believe them. We also thank the Senators who had the decency to listen to their constituents and vote No, even against their political interests.

“Kavanaugh’s confirmation is a fundamental threat to our values and to the rights of women, immigrants, workers, the LGBTQ community, people of color, and other vulnerable communities. We express anger and outrage in solidarity with all who recognize the grave harm the Senate has caused today and vow to redouble our efforts to hold all of Kavanaugh and Trump’s enablers accountable.”

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National Council of Jewish Women — “Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation deals a devastating blow to the confirmation process, and to women and all survivors of sexual assault. The expectation that the Supreme Court will deal fairly and dispassionately in the foreseeable future regarding the cases brought before it, has been seriously compromised. As an organization that has worked for nearly 20 years to support a fair and independent federal judiciary, the National Council of Jewish Women is outraged that the highest court in our nation will no longer be a place where balance and respect is given to all parties in a dispute.

“In the end, there were myriad issues that gave pause to Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation to a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court. His expressed hostility to every woman’s right to access abortion care was most obvious in his dissent from an appellate decision a year ago, when he accused the majority of creating ‘a new right for unlawful immigrant minors in US government detention to obtain immediate abortion on demand.’ Calling that ‘a radical extension of the Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence,’ he borrowed the phrase ‘abortion on demand” from the anti-abortion movement three times.  His later assertions to assuage doubters that Roe v. Wade is ‘settled law’ are meaningless in the context of his clear hostility and the opinions of the current court, which has overturned longstanding precedent multiple times on gun regulation, campaign finance, voting rights enforcement, worker’s rights, and administrative law.

“The accusation of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford that Judge Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in high school was compelling. His lack of candor regarding his repeated instances of inebriation to near incapacitation during high school and college tainted his entire testimony regarding this incident and others.

“Judge Kavanaugh’s resort to an emotional, accusatory outpouring asserting his innocence (written out by him in advance of his appearance before the committee on September 27) veered into partisan and conspiratorial territory. His accusations that a wide swath of the American political spectrum sought to destroy him (his word) rendered his testimony not credible. His disrespect for Democratic senators asking him perfectly reasonable questions lead us to the conclusion that he lacks the requisite dispassion and regard for the truth that is the underpinning of what we mean by the term judicial temperament.

We will now face a highly conservative court where women, survivors, and many other vulnerable people in our society can no longer look to the Supreme Court as their last hope for justice to prevail. And a terrible precedent has now been set for the lowered standard employed for confirmation to the court. Today is a sad day for Americans who have believed our democracy is a model for the rest of the world.
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Republican Jewish Coalition — RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman said: The Senate has the weighty duty of providing advice and consent to the President’s nominees to high public office. In this case, the Senate has acted fittingly in confirming an outstanding judge to the highest court of the land.  We’ve seen how toxic the atmosphere has gotten in Washington. We need to maintain the Republican majorities in Congress in order to see the successful economic, foreign policy, and national security initiatives of this President and this Congress move forward.

RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks said: The process of confirming Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court was difficult and contentious – and clear evidence of the tremendous importance of the upcoming midterm elections. Without a Republican majority in the Senate, Judge Kavanaugh could well be the last Trump nominee for any post to be confirmed.

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Schiff, Adam, U.S. Rep. (D-California):  At the end of the day, the truth just didn’t matter to the Republican members of the U.S. Senate. It didn’t matter that their nominee may have committed sexual assault or repeatedly lied during his confirmation hearing. Getting another arch-conservative Justice on the bench was all they cared about. And now, a deeply flawed and untruthful man, with multiple allegations of sexual assault against him, has been given a lifetime appointment to the highest court in our nation.

A deeply unethical man is running our country. And a deeply compromised and complicit Congress refuses to do anything about it.But we have the power to do something about it. We have the power to throw these bums out of Congress. We have the power to make the Congress a check on the president, a co-equal branch of government — not the rubber stamp it has become. Because we have the power to vote. And in four weeks, we need to vote as if our country depends on it. Because it does.

The Supreme Court has always motivated conservatives, let it motivate us. Let’s show Mitch McConnell and a president that mocks sexual assault victims that we will turn out in numbers they could never have imagined …  Election Day is one month away. If we all do our part, November 6th will be the day we took our country back and mark the beginning of the end of this dark chapter of our history.

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Preceding culled from news releases.  Send yours to editor@sdjewishworld.com