Few can argue that Trump has made something that used to be boring into something that is fun; politics. These days, most late night talk show hosts are talking about politics. Either about the President himself, his party, or to some politician running for office.
And while I long for the day when politics were boring, as they should be, I understand the need for entertainers to… well, entertain. However, because of all the shenanigans going on, we, the citizens of the US, have placed our gaze on the shiny object in front of us, rather than where it should.
While Trump behaves like he does and gets little done from the outside, his party, the GOP, are busy stacking the judicial system in their favor. Most of us have only been made aware Trump’s two supreme court nominees, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh, and we may not think much of it. After all, President Obama nominated eventual Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Two for two we would say.
But we would fail to realize that under Trump, his administration has processed and appointed 106 other judges so far (a grand total of 108). While President Obama was in office, 8 years, his administration appointed a total of 329 judges, or about 2 judges per month. At Trump’s current rate of appointments, 3.8 per month, he may very well surpass President Obama by 2020, and definitely by 2024, should Trump be re-elected.
So while we are all enjoying the show, few of us are paying attention to what will impact us the most in our life times. These appointments will make it easier for conservatives to pass laws which a more neutral or progressive court would not have enforced and vice versa. These laws, or lack thereof, will impact us for our life times and not for the potential 8 years of this President.
It will be these judges that will review the legality of abortion laws passed by states. And for those thinking that once a law, always a law, remember that abortion was illegal in 30 states until 1973. Just as easily as our society can evolve, it too, can regress.
