The Atlantic

The Wounds Won’t Heal

The fight over Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation has left the United States deeply divided.
Source: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

The battle over Brett Kavanaugh was more divisive—and stands to be more consequential—than the 2016 election that made his nomination to the Supreme Court possible. While no one can doubt the viciousness of the last presidential election, the contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was a poor proxy for the true cultural and intellectual divides between left and right. By contrast, the contest in the Senate, online, and in person after Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault cut right to the heart of our profound cultural and moral divide.

Trump and Clinton were an odd couple for a battle of the ages. Despite the fervent hopes and dreams of their partisan believers, they were both far more fixated on personal advancement than on any other political value. Both had shifted positions on countless issues. Both had played fast and loose with law and decorum in their respective climbs to wealth and

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