Usually America’s legions of political cartoonists are capable of clawing chortles from the throats of jaded political observers by capturing the shenanigans of our country’s charlatans in a single portrait, as Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings demonstrate. Thus, Chip Bok’s pen shows a pair of donkeys observing judicial nominee Brett Kavanaugh seated with phlegmatic indifference to a screeching cat swung over his head by a deranged leftist. Tom Stiglich draws a pair of tickets to the confirmation hearings, showing a three-ring circus; Bob Gorrell displays a donkey dressed in Little Rascals’ child’s clothing, ranting, crying, and pounding the ground, with the caption beneath, “Another carefully considered, well crafted, and sober argument by liberal Democrats against the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.” Strokes from the hand of the incomparable Michael Ramirez view a screaming baby splattering the kitchen with food while seated in a high chair, in a richly detailed portrait that also includes one of the few adults present, Judge Kavanaugh. Kudos to all of them and others for attempting to portray as much political reality as possible, but in this instance, failing to capture it all, or even the most important parts.
Why is this? Because Democrats’ behavior at Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings goes beyond preposterous; it cannot even be parodied with full effect. Their invective, theatrics, and demonic infantilism were too vicious, too demented to draw and dismiss with a shrug and a giggle. In fact, Democrats’ churlishness on a national stage paraded their descent into madness, which means that when it comes to civilized discourse among honest political opponents, Democrats simply have nothing to say. Hence, their inmates-running-the-asylum antics.
One of the consequences of this national embarrassment was Democrats’ showcasing their convictions about the Supreme Court, which they see as a sort of super-legislature, permanently leftist and totally unaccountable. Hence, their trotting out children to testify against Kavanaugh, which, in addition to constituting child abuse, reveals their sponsors’ cynicism and perfidy. As Paula Bolyard writes, “Hunter Lechance, a 15-year-old asthma sufferer, warned that if Kavanaugh is confirmed it would mean ‘more air pollution, more asthma attacks, and more premature deaths for the millions of Americans unfortunate enough to be afflicted with asthma like me’.” Which is a horrible situation. But isn’t all that the constitutional responsibility of Congress to solve? Apparently not; the Constitution is just “that book that you carry,” according to Kamala Harris, and nothing else.
President Trump captured these moments well in one of his less over-the-top tweets: "The Brett Kavanaugh hearings for the future Justice of the Supreme Court are truly a display of how mean, angry, and despicable the other side is," the president said. Focus on the word, “despicable.” Nothing better captures the beliefs and behavior of the political left, over the last few years especially, than this devastating characterization—despicable. As Roger Simon noted in his acerbic dismissal of the so-called “resistance” movement, “Making your extreme dislike for Donald Trump and his policies equivalent to battling the Nazi murder of six million Jews and countless other people — when the original Resistance came into being and got its name — is beyond absurd and completely despicable (emphasis added).”
It doesn’t stop there. In the dyslexic world of the political left, cowards are heroes and opponents are Nazis. For instance, elite news media outlets stumbled over themselves to gush about the anonymous New York Times editorial trashing President Trump. In an effervescence of narcissism, the writer apparently regards himself/herself as part of a courageous cabal of self-appointed righteous ones to save the country from Trump. How should we understand this? David French got to the point quickly in his open letter to the author of the piece: “If you’re lying or badly exaggerating the facts for the thrill of constant media contact or the approval of your peers, then you’re just despicable (emphasis added).”
The only positive news that can be extracted from these events is that ordinary citizens are again witnessing the hatreds, fantasies, and viciousness of the despicables in American politics. Donald Trump has had the effect of lifting the veil from despicables’ blustery, self-righteous veneer, as in Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray, exposing the hideous reality for all to see.
The bad news is the scale of it all and the fact that despicables dominate national institutions—academia, media, entertainment, sports, as well as politics—nothing is untouched. Thus, Colin Kaepernick, a cop-hating miscreant millionaire, is vaulted to more national prominence by Nike; elite media continue their scurrilous propaganda campaign against President Trump; academicians regularly indoctrinate young minds with hatred for Republicans, free speech, and America; entertainment icons spout profanity-scorched invectives against President Trump with impunity (usually receiving praise); and more recently, the NFL doesn’t have the guts to condemn or take action against overprivileged, unpatriotic athletes for their play-acting protests before millions of viewers. There seems no end to it, despicables dominate everyone.
Or perhaps not everyone. After enduring decades of denunciation from cultural and political elites, deplorables in fly-over country concluded that while Trump may be a loose cannon, Hillary was much worse, corrupt to the core. So, they put Trump into office and few have regretted it since. Now, the challenge is to keep him there long enough to drain the swamp and, yes, to make America great again.
Anything less than that would be despicable.