Republicans and Democrats Are Not the Same Thing

Published in Público
(Portugal) on 19 September 2020
by Amílcar Correia (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by João Pedro Bichinho. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
Will Ginsburg’s legacy, and its possible reversal, be enough to make a portion of the electorate aware of what’s at stake a few weeks before this incandescent election?

The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the ingredient that had been missing from this crucial race for the White House. Donald Trump wants to quickly replace the longest-serving woman on the Supreme Court and erase her singular legacy defending civil rights issues such as gender equality, as if inequality based on gender roles was not an intolerable stupidity.

The Republicans will spare no effort trying to bring about their goal of creating a comfortable majority in the Supreme Court that will guarantee, for more than a generation (since these are lifetime appointments), a backward conservative agenda that flies in the face of all the battles that Ginsburg fought against gender inequality.

And they will do this in contradiction of the position they held almost exactly four years ago, when the very same Republican Senate leader blocked Barack Obama’s nomination of a new justice from advancing seven months from the end of his term, arguing that it was necessary to wait for the results of the election that ultimately resulted in Trump’s victory.

Mitch McConnell’s contradictory move reveals an immense shamelessness and lack of respect for the country and for democracy. If Trump succeeds in seating a new justice during this presidential term, it is certain that his agenda will be able to draw on a reinvigorated rehearing of issues including abortion rights, same-sex marriage, religious freedom, immigration law and the opposite of all that is minimally humanist or progressive, with inevitable repercussions everywhere.

Ginsburg’s replacement and the ensuing hearings and confirmation process will not be innocuous. They will help Trump free himself of the COVID-19 disaster, which he can’t manage, reinforce his “law and order” message, and serve to anchor his campaign even more clearly in an unabashedly conservative tone. Joe Biden has before him the challenge of convincing a young and bitter electorate, far from loyal to his record, about the importance of voting and its ramifications on the hierarchies of power.

Will Ginsburg’s legacy, and its possible reversal, be enough to make a portion of the electorate aware of what’s at stake a few weeks before this incandescent election? The nomination of a new Supreme Court justice is the clearest indication that, in this election, choosing Republicans or Democrats still makes some difference.


A morte de Ruth Bader Ginsburg é o condimento político que faltava a estas cruciais eleições para a Casa Branca. Donald Trump quer substituir, rapidamente, a mais antiga juíza do Tribunal Supremo dos Estados Unidos e apagar o seu legado ímpar na defesa dos direitos humanos, nomeadamente na igualdade de género, como se a desigualdade com base em papéis de género não fosse uma intolerável boçalidade.

Os republicanos não vão olhar a meios para atingir essa finalidade, a de constituírem uma confortável maioria no Supremo, que garanta por mais de uma geração, uma vez que os juízes são nomeados vitaliciamente, uma agenda de um conservadorismo bacoco, nos antípodas de todas as batalhas que Ruth Bader Ginsburg travou contra a desigualdade de género.

E vão fazê-lo em contradição com o que fizeram há precisamente há quatro anos, quando o mesmo líder republicano do Senado impediu que Barack Obama nomeasse um juiz a sete meses do final do mandato, com o argumento de que era necessário esperar pelo resultado das eleições que então elegeram Trump.

A contradição de Mitch McConnell é uma imensa falta de vergonha, de sentido de Estado e de respeito pela democracia. Caso Donald Trump consiga nomear um novo juiz ainda durante a sua presidência, é certo e garantido que a sua agenda passará a ter um eco reforçado em temas como o aborto, o casamento entre pessoas do mesmo sexo, a liberdade religiosa, a regulação da imigração e o oposto a tudo o que seja minimamente humanista ou progressista, com as inevitáveis repercussões por todo lado.

A substituição de Ruth Bader Ginsburg e o processo que se prevê não serão inócuos. Servirão a Trump para tentar libertar-se do desastre da covid-19 nos EUA, que não consegue gerir, reforçar a linguagem da “lei e da ordem” e sedimentar uma campanha num discurso descaradamente conservador. Joe Biden tem pela frente o desafio de convencer um eleitorado mais jovem e inconformado, que está longe de lhe ser indefectível, sobre a importância do voto e as suas ramificações na hierarquia do poder.

O legado de Ginsburg e a sua possível reversão terão influência suficiente para que uma parte do eleitorado esteja consciente da importância do que está em causa com a sua morte a poucas semanas desta eleição incandescente? A escolha do novo juiz do Supremo dos EUA é a melhor demonstração de que, nestas eleições, votar nos republicanos ou nos democratas ainda faz alguma diferença.
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