When President Trump appointed Justices Amy Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, conservatives were sure they had new allies in the battle against abortion. Liberals acted as if these nominations represented a significant threat to Roe v. Wade. There were some obvious warning signs this wasn’t the case. For instance, Kavanaugh, while the left was berating him during his confirmation hearings, was assuring liberal senators he would never vote against Roe v Wade because it was established law. Furthermore, during a confirmation hearing to The D.C. Court of Appeals, he told Senator Chuck Schumer the same thing. Amy Barrett has been showing her true colors recently as well. She rejected an attempt to block an Indiana University vaccine mandate by not referring the case to the full court. She and Kavanaugh led the court in blocking an attempt by healthcare workers to file a religious exemption suit against Maine’s vaccine mandate as well. In fact, Barrett and Kavanaugh have yet to make any significant rulings that show a conservative-leaning, and the most recent ruling shows their willingness to side with the left on abortion and, of all things, transgender surgeries. With a major second amendment case currently in front of the court, these rulings should be concerning. The bigger point is, sometimes people are not who we think they are.
We live in a world where most people accept the perceptions of what media defines as left and right politics. Major news outlets like Fox and CNN, frame the stories from within the borders of the politically correct definitions of conservatism and liberalism. For instance, many people love the shows on Fox News. One host speaks very fondly of people he insists we all should think highly of. President Reagan is one of these people. Reagan will forever be known as one of the greatest conservative presidents because of the way right-wing media portrays him. Is he though? Why do none of the talking heads who tell us what to think, never mention the fact that Reagan played a huge part in gun control? It is because of the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act that we can no longer purchase fully automatic firearms. This provision of the bill paved the way for Congress to pass the 1994 “assault weapons ban.” Reagan also passed sweeping gun control legislation while Governor of California, including banning the open carry of handguns. Finally, after his presidency, he openly supported many of the gun control provisions we are still dealing with today, like background checks under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. President Reagan also signed the Cultural and Educational Exchange Agreements with the Soviet Union in 1985. This essentially merged our two education systems, giving the Soviets major influence in our schools.
What about Donald Trump? Many people were skeptical of Barrett and Kavanaugh, however, most Trump supporters jumped on board insisting they were the answer to America’s cultural rot. President Trump was viewed in the same light as Reagan, a great conservative hero who would save us from the left. What we were ultimately left with was Joe Biden stealing the election and the house going to the Democrats. Trump consistently showed inconsistency between his so-called conservative values and his policies. For instance, his call for the banning of bump stocks was viewed by many to be a major infringement as he authorized the ATF to redefine what a machine gun is to justify the ban. Trump’s biggest supports, however, viewed it as nothing but a brilliant strategy to discredit the left. While many courts have ruled against the idea that a bump stock can be a machine gun, they are still banned. This action has paved the way for other ATF infringements. They are attempting to redefine what a Short Barrel Rifle is by targeting hand braces on AR-15 pistols. There are also bills circulating in Congress that would add all semi-automatic weapons to the National Firearms Act registration requirements as well as a….wait for it….NATIONAL RED FLAG LAW. After the Parkland Florida shooting, President Trump sat right smack next to Diane Feinstein, who supposedly hated him by the way, and stated he supported the idea of Red Flag Laws and taking the guns first and going for Due Process second. Again, many of Trump’s biggest supporters treated this as a brilliant strategy of four-dimensional chess. This idea was first put forth by conservative icon, Rush Limbaugh. After Trump made that statement, his administration began bribing states with taxpayer money to put these Red Flag laws in place. Many did, including those with Republican governors.
Many people were not convinced from the start that Trump was as big as a conservative as he was portrayed to be. He did, after all, write a book where he stated his support for universal health care and gun control. In fact, Trump’s positions on gun control have been anything but steady, rather, he shows a willingness to go along with whatever needs to be said in the moment. In any case, Trump has supported stronger background checks, bans on assault weapons, and longer waiting periods to buy a gun. He told Feinstein and other congressional leaders that if they sent him a bill, he would sign it. Thankfully, they never sent him one.
The point of this article isn’t to berate Donald Trump, but to show that sometimes, the people we put our faith in to make changes are not who they say they are. People believed in Barrett and Kavanaugh because they believed in Trump, and the media portrayed them to be the Justices that would put the left in their place and set the Supreme Court on the right track. Both Barrett and Kavanaugh were presented as staunch pro-life conservatives, and liberals played their part dutifully, acting petrified that they would bring an end to their cherished abortion industry. Which recent rulings prove otherwise. I am almost afraid to look up their records on gun rights considering the case being heard on November third.
