Juan Cole's Hysterical Comment

Juan Cole
"I'm smarter than you."


University of Michigan professor Juan Cole is one of academia's biggest apologists for Islamic extremism. That goes along with his opposition to Israel and conservatives here in the US. So on his blog, which has the improbable name of "Informed Comment", the learned professor now tells us that the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court will take us back to the Dark Ages.

https://www.juancole.com/2018/10/plutocratic-kavanaugh-court.html

Hysterical?

 "Given that we have a racist, authoritarian demagogue in the White House, the gutting of the Supreme Court comes at the most perilous possible time for what’s left of our democracy."

Then there is this:

"The really dangerous thing is that Trump may not be done excluding Muslims, and the Kavanaugh court will let him do pretty much anything he wants to those applying for immigration."

Our country, like any other sovereign country, has the absolute right to decide who can or can not enter the country. Nobody applying for immigration has the right to come unless we say yes. That is determined by the executive branch as represented by our consular and immigration officers.

Naturally, Cole objects to Trump's travel ban, in which most of the countries listed are Muslim-majority. Although the vast majority of Muslim-majority countries are not affected, Cole calls this discriminatory. First of all, the reason for the restrictions is...read this carefully, Dr Cole......SAFETY. Trump doesn't want to see American citizens slaughtered by Muslim terrorists that we carelessly allow into the country. It's called saving lives.

Cole also probably forgets that we once banned communists from entering the country. It had nothing to do with their race (communists have no race); it was about their belief system, which sought to overturn our democratic system of government.  Likewise, Muslim extremists or Muslims in general are not a race. They represent  a belief system that is antithetical to our freedoms. 

"Over time he could well undermine this right for the LGBTQ community."

Based on what? Gay marriage is the law of the land. Kavanaugh has already stated that he respects stare decisis. Cole would have made this argument against any judge he considers conservative.

"Kavanaugh was a White House lawyer in the Bush administration and although he denies he ever was involved in torture debates back then, it remains to be see (sic) if he is eager (as Scalia was) to see people tortured by the US government."

Cole makes it  sound like Scalia was a regular Simon Legree, and because Kavanaugh was  a  White House lawyer in the Bush administration, he just may be too. What kind of reasoning is this for a university professor?

"Many women have been de facto deprived of the right to decide whether to have a child by the unavailability of abortion facilities, which the states have connived at. (Many women don’t have the money to travel hundreds of miles and stay at a hotel for the procedure)."

This is weak. Even if the Supreme Court one day reversed itself and overturned Roe v Wade, the question of abortion would go back to the states. Coles's argument even in that case is about as strong as saying that minorities cannot afford or don't know how to get picture IDs for voting purposes.

Ironically, Cole lists as his 5th and 6th points of concern, the Citizens United case and the state of unions respectively. Cole deplores the money flowing to political candidates from bui corporations, but fails to mention the flow of money to political causes by unions using forced employee union dues. That workers might be free to choose whether to join a union and avoid his/her money going to political causes they are opposed to apparently matters little to Cole.

Let's be honest, Dr Cole. You are opposed to any conservative getting on the Supreme Court. To you, any conservative justice, who would rule according to the Constitution, constitutes ushering in the Dark Ages. Contrary to what you say, we are not "screwed as a nation", and there is much left to our democracy. We elected a president (Trump), and he gets to nominate Supreme Court justices. The Senate held hearings, allowed Christine Ford to testify, and delayed the hearings as requested by the Democrats to allow the FBI to interview pertinent witnesses to her claims. Then they voted. The problem with the left and the Juan Coles of the world  is that they cannot accept it when the votes go against them.