The return of the Rockefeller Republicans

By Cliff Kincaid

One of the last remaining representatives of the old Rockefeller wing of the Republican Party, liberal Never-Trump Republican Senator Susan Collins, made history by casting the deciding vote for Judge Brett Kavanaugh after getting assurances that he would vote to preserve the pro-abortion ruling Roe v. Wade. The recipient of a Planned Parenthood award, Collins gave Kavanaugh his crucial 50th vote, confirming him as a Justice on the Supreme Court, after calling him a "centrist," not a conservative.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, who ended up opposing Kavanaugh, nevertheless declared, "I do not think that Judge Kavanaugh will be a vote to overturn Roe V. Wade."

But wait: haven't we been told, over and over again, that Kavanaugh's ascension to the court means there is now a conservative majority? Hasn't Fox News told us repeatedly that he is a "conservative" or "very conservative" judge? Didn't President Trump promise justices to overturn Roe?

Welcome to one of the biggest con jobs in history.

In her speech endorsing Kavanaugh, Collins went out of her way to highlight his pro-abortion views and rulings. Not only was she assured that he would treat Roe as precedent, Collins said that his record convinced her that he would save Obamacare, maintain "gay marriage" as the law of the land, and authorize a governmental "compelling interest" in promoting birth control.

On the matter of Roe, which has led to 60 million abortions, Collins said, "There has also been considerable focus on the future of abortion rights based on the concern that Judge Kavanaugh would seek to overturn Roe v. Wade. Protecting this right is important to me. To my knowledge, Judge Kavanaugh is the first Supreme Court nominee to express the view that precedent is not merely a practice and tradition, but rooted in Article III of our Constitution itself."

In other words, Kavanaugh accepted the liberal pro-abortion argument that Roe is not only "settled law" but is somehow rooted in the Constitution itself. No "constitutional conservative" could ever make such an absurd claim.

As a representative of the Rockefeller wing of the GOP, it is not surprising that she received Planned Parenthood's "Barry Goldwater Award" in 2017. Goldwater, the father of modern conservatism, became openly pro-abortion later in life.

While Collins was being honored by Planned Parenthood, the Center for Medical Progress was documenting in a series of videos how Planned Parenthood was selling the body parts of aborted babies. Nevertheless, Collins has remained a staunch advocate of federal funding of the organization, the largest abortion provider in the U.S.

In her speech announcing her vote for Kavanaugh, Collins said she had told him that Roe v. Wade had been decided 45 years ago, and reaffirmed 19 years later in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. She then asked Kavanaugh whether the passage of time was relevant to following precedent. "He said decisions become part of our legal framework with the passage of time and that honoring precedent is essential to maintaining public confidence," Collins reported, confirming Kavanaugh's pro-abortion stance.

Conservatives were "fooled again," to quote the title of Gregg Jackson's book on how the Christian Right went wrong. The book, We Won't Get Fooled Again: Where the Christian Right Went Wrong and How to Make America Right Again, documents a pattern of Religious Right and conservative personalities selling out the conservative cause.

While the liberal media exaggerated Kavanaugh's conservative credentials, in order to provoke Democratic Party voters, the conservative media deliberately distorted or ignored the evidence of what kind of "centrist" justice he would be. Gregg Jackson told me, "It truly saddens me to see so many self-described conservatives celebrating the nomination of a moderate establishment liberal who believes that Roe v. Wade is 'settled law.' Truly pathetic."

While the term "liberal" sounds like an exaggeration, there can be no doubt he was a creature of the establishment and a Washington insider. He was eventually confirmed without a thorough probe of his drinking habits while the ABA has launched an inquiry into his angry rant about the sex charges against him. Jesuit Father James Van Dyke, the president of his former high school, Georgetown Prep, has issued a letter saying it is "a time for us to continue to evaluate our school culture," in light of the excessive drinking and sexual misconduct by students in the 1980s, when Kavanaugh was a student there.

Former President Bush made calls on Kavanaugh's behalf, including several to Collins. This has been explained by the fact that Kavanaugh had worked in the Bush White House and was nominated to the federal bench by Bush. But the Bush family has a vested interest in maintaining the viability of the Rockefeller wing of the GOP. George W. Bush's grandfather Prescott Bush was a treasurer of Planned Parenthood. The former president's wife Laura is pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage, and his daughter, Barbara Pierce Bush, headlined a Planned Parenthood fundraiser.

Maine Senator Collins had met privately with Kavanaugh for two hours on August 21. In a press release, she called the meeting "productive" and said it had covered his judicial philosophy, his respect for precedent, the importance of an independent judiciary, Roe v. Wade, the role of the Special Counsel, executive power, the 2nd Amendment, and Obamacare. Collins apparently sought and received assurances about how Kavanaugh would rule from the bench.

At the time, Collins said she was "pleased to learn that Judge Kavanaugh believes, as I do, that Article III of the Constitution was intended to include the concept of precedent and that he sees precedent as much more than simply a matter of practice and tradition. In addition, he expressed agreement with Chief Justice Roberts' confirmation hearing statement that Roe is settled precedent and entitled to respect under principles of stare decisis."

This was another declaration of Kavanaugh's pro-abortion position.

Perhaps this Friday, October 12, after Kavanaugh has spent his first week on the Supreme Court, he can take some time to watch the pro-life movie, "Gosnell: The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer," about the notorious abortionist. Over 400 theaters have confirmed the showing of this movie on its opening weekend. David Daleiden of the Center for Medical Progress says, "I think this groundbreaking film is the most important contemporary movie about abortion, and it – the story of Gosnell's victims – deserves to go viral."

It would be nice to see some of the passion Kavanaugh expressed about his own reputation extended to the 60 million innocent victims of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion-on-demand. Instead, in order to get his lifetime job, he made a bargain with one of the most prominent congressional supporters of the abortion industry. We were fooled again.

But don't look for Kavanaugh's boosters in the "conservative" movement and media to admit they were in on the scam.

The alternative would have been to nominate a conservative woman free from scandal, such as Judge Amy Coney Barrett, and challenge the pro-abortion Republicans such as Collins and Murkowski to vote against this well-qualified nominee, while seeking the votes of moderate Democrats. In this way, Republicans could have stood for an alternative to the leftist women confirmed to the court (with Republican support) such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor.

Once again, Republicans blew an historic opportunity. The Rockefeller Republicans are back. Justice Brett Kavanaugh is their man. There is no conservative majority on the court on the major issue of our time – restoring the God-given rights of the innocent unborn.

Promises made. Promises broken.

© Cliff Kincaid