Durbin calls Kavanaugh protesters ‘voice of democracy’

Dick Durbin
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin criticized Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for not being forthcoming about his record. (Facebook/Dick Durbin)

By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Illinois’ voice in the vetting of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee is siding with the protesters who were ushered out of the hearing.

Protesters of Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s nominee to replace the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, disrupted the first day of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and were escorted out.

In his opening statements, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin from Illinois voiced his support for the protesters.

“There have been times where it was uncomfortable. I’m sure it was for your children. I hope you can explain this to them at some point but it does represent what we are about in this democracy,” he said. “What we’ve heard is the noise of democracy. This is what happens in a free country when people can stand up and speak and not be jailed.”

Turning his attention to Kavanaugh, he told the nominee that the Republican effort to hide his record is telling.

“Ask this meeting, this gathering to suspend until all the documents of your public career are there for the American people to see,” Durbin told Kavanaugh.

There were a number of issues Durbin had with Kavanaugh, but he told the nominee the biggest reason to oppose him is simply that of who nominated him.

“Over and above all of those things is this: You are the nominee of President Donald John Trump,” Durbin said, listing a number of things Trump has done that Durbin said shows he is “contemptuous of the rule of law.”

President Barack Obama’s pick for the nation’s highest court, Illinois resident Merrick Garland, wasn’t given a hearing shortly before his tenure ended, another bone of contention with Democrats over the Republican majority.

In spite of the politics, the American Bar Association gave Kavanaugh their highest rating of “well-qualified” before the hearings began.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…