So politics & controversy aside, to what extent do Gorsuch & Kavanaugh picks represent the old power/new power tension?
Trump is decidedly new power & has been shut out of old power structures his whole life. Gorsuch & Kavanaugh graduated from same prep school & Ivy Leagues.
So you've a decidedly new power president nominating old power judges. Was *this* the true exchange of 2016 election?
SCOTUS nominees was the rallying cry for evangelicals to support Trump but what if it was more than that? What if SCOTUS nominees was also about preserving old power structures?
Is this the "deal" that Trump & GOP made: Old power supports new power in exchange for new power appointing old power to SCOTUS.
I think an old/new power lens might explain the rallying around Kavanaugh. Why not just pick someone else? You're assured the seat--why does it matter that *Kavanaugh* fill it?
If you've followed the conversations, many of them have been about "career" & "life." Some aren't even making pretense of disbelieving Ford. Instead they're asking "Should actions at 17 ruin a career at 53?" They assume accusations are plausible but say they're not consequential.
Which underscores the point that sexual assault is not about sex. It's about power. It's about what you can do to another person & get away with. Kavanaugh may be innocent or he may be guilty, but people are parsing the Q thru the lens of power.
And to me, that's the larger issue. It may be impossible to prove what happened 35 years ago. But it's clear to me that TODAY we're watching a power struggle.
What a brave new world. What a time to be alive.
More about old/new power clash here: amazon.com/New-Power-Work…
(My husband & I have been talking a lot about old/new power class in context of church ministry & discipleship--implications are vast & far reaching.)
(For example, how will elder-led churches survive emergence of new power? How will church polity adapt--will power become more distributed? Will congregationalism become more popular? So many things to think about.)
