Neil Gorsuch (top) and Alexander Acosta (bottom).
They have proven their reliability for the capitalist class.

You would have to be a capitalist or Rip Van Winkle to expect anything positive to come from Trump’s appointments, but that’s not the point. Looking at his two latest to be “questioned” by the Senate, we can see how the capitalist class rules, how it controls the government.

Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch
Consider Neil Gorsuch, nominee for the US Supreme Court: Gorsuch was born with a silver spoon in his mouth (as was Trump) and attended an elite (and conservative) Catholic school. His mother, Anne Gorsuch, was appointed by Reagan to run the EPA and had to resign in disgrace due to investigations over what amounted to corruption. He then went on to attend the elite, Harvard law school and from there went on to clerk for US Supreme Court justices White and Kennedy.

So we see how, right from birth, Gorsuch was born into and connected to the upper reaches of the capitalist class.

He parlayed these connections, including those with the Supreme Court, into a job at the law firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figal. Through that job, he connected up with the far right billionaire Phillip Anschutz. Anschutz, in turn, “inherited an oil and gas firm and built it into an empire that has sprawled into telecommunications, railroads, real estate, resorts, sports teams, stadiums, movies and conservative publications like The Weekly Standard and The Washington Examiner,” according to the New York Times. His net “worth” is close to $13 billion. Meanwhile, Gorsuch, Anschutz and other billionaires jointly bought a vacation lodge in the Colorado mountains.

And it was Anschutz who is primarily responsible for Gorsuch’s nomination. Anschutz is a major donor to the right-wing Heritage Fund, and it was Heritage that provided the list of potential Supreme Court nominees which Trump adopted. Gorsuch was at the head of that list. So we see how his connections from birth all the way through adulthood brought Gorsuch to the brink of being on the Supreme Court.

Senate Hearings: What Won’t be Asked
Meanwhile, the hearings drag on, including some “tough” questioning by the liberal Senator Al Franken. But what they won’t question him about is this:

• Gorsuch claims to strictly follow the “original intent” of the framers of the US Constitution. But their
  

  Gorsuch in his college yearbook.
  This was his favorite quote.

  original intent was to organize a form of government that would guarantee the continued rule of capital over labor and of slave-owner over slave. None of the senators is going to raise that point.

• Gorsuch says his “only client is the law” and he pledges to follow exactly what the law says. It’s virtually certain he won’t be asked why, then, in his college year book he wrote that his favorite quote was from Henry Kissinger: “The illegal we will do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.”

And don’t think it’s only the far right that supports Gorsuch. Even Obama’s former ethics chief, Norm Eisen, tweeted about Gorsuch that he’s “a great guy” upon hearing that he would be the nominee. And why not? They all represent and are rooted in the same class.

Alexander Acosta
Unlike Gorsuch, Acosta did not have the good sense to be born to the rich, famous and powerful. Instead, he took a slightly different path: He “chose” Cuban immigrants – the right-wing “gusanos” – as parents. In Miami, where he was born and raised, the Cuban immigrant community is a powerful bloc for the right wing capitalists. Acosta, too, graduated from the elite Harvard law school and clerked for future Supreme Court Supreme Court judge Samuel Alito, who was then on the Third Circuit Court. Similar to Gorsuch, he parlayed that to a position on one of the world’s most elite corporate law firms, Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

Federal Attorney and the Epstein Affair
In 2005, Acosta went to serve as the US Attorney for Southern District of Florida. Three years later, he proved his reliability to the capitalists in the case of Jeffrey Epstein. A fabulously (some might say “suspiciously”) successful Wall Street investor, Epstein retired from that business to a mansion in Florida, where he started another business: Procurer of young (as young as 13 years old) girls for the rich and famous. He used his mansion for orgies (also known as “parties”) to which he transported the young girls for the pleasure of older and more powerful men. He also had a tricked out airplane, known as the “Lolita Express” on which he flew his guests to his private island in the Caribbean. The island was known as “Sex Slave Island.” Bill Clinton was among the guests on the “Lolita Express”. Donald Trump was also a close associate of Epstein. (See this article for the details. )

In 2008, on the complaint of one of these underage girls, Epstein was brought up on federal criminal charges. It was here that Acosta proved his value to his class, as he cut a deal giving Epstein a mere six months in county jail (rather than prison) for a crime whose usual punishment is ten years. Not only that, but Epstein was allowed to leave jail during the day and only return to sleep there at night!

The web that Acosta protected. Jeffrey Epstein at center.

Epstein, by the way, was known to have installed secret video cameras throughout his mansion. It was widely considered that these were used to video his rich and powerful clients (some might call them “guests”) so that he could blackmail them later. It is likely that a more serious prosecution would have led to his use of these videos to reveal what all his clients were up to and who they were.

If anybody thinks Acosta will be closely questioned about how Epstein got off so light, Oaklandsocialist urges them to contact us. We have a very nice bridge to sell you.

Acosta will no more protect workers who are abused by their bosses than he protected those young girls who were abused by Epstein and his fellow capitalists.

So we see the web of economic and social ties that bring these two gentlemen to the pinnacles of power. From sexual predators to predators on the economy and the environment, these two representatives of the capitalist class are tied to and protect them all.