My work in various countries, occasionally included giving an opinion as to the legality or otherwise of a Government's or company's or individuals' actions. A dodgy business for a foreigner.
An Attorney General, when I was in a quandary, once told me - no matter what it is, you can always follow it back to the Constitution, which, after all, is what the Supreme Court is there for.
From what I have read over the years, increasingly the Supreme Court relies purely on the meaning of the words of the Constitution. This is in stark contrast to the view of Abraham Lincoln, who, alluding to Proverbs 25, called it the “picture of silver” inside of which was the “apple of gold,” the Declaration of Independence. “I never had a feeling politically,” Lincoln declared, “that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence”, especially the “self-evident” truth that “all men are created equal” in their God-given natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Indeed, from his earliest days in politics, Lincoln maintained that equality of natural rights “is the great fundamental principle upon which our free institutions rest.” .
Americans are not bound together “by blood,” he declared; rather, it “is the electric cord in that Declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world.” It was the Declaration, not the Constitution, which formed the moral and political basis of the Union. The Declaration made Americans into “We the People” who then gave the Constitution its authority by their consent.
Therefore the Constitution needs to be viewed in the light of the Declaration of Independence. Apparently, the Supreme Court no longer does this. The words, and only the words of the Constitution, are considered - not the spirit that informs them.
No matter what happens on Kavanaugh's nomination, it is likely that any nomination from Republicans will continue this approach, and the fundamental fairness - equality of natural rights - spoken of in the Declaration will continue to be eroded, as will the USA.
