Purging “Enemies of the Party” with Accusation Alone

In Communist Russia under Stalin, people were sent to the Gulag on accusation alone.  If there was a trial, is was a kangaroo court where the accused was already guilty.  This was the way that the country was purged of “enemies of the party.”  People's lives and the lives of their families were destroyed based on nothing more than a whispered accusation.

We like to think this wouldn’t happen here, that our country stands for freedom and justice.  A person is innocent until proven guilty.  Mere accusation alone is not enough; justice requires proof.  That justice, that freedom, is part of what our country stands for.

Or, so we thought.

This past week we have watched the destruction of a man’s life based on the accusation of one person alone.  No proof.  No evidence.  No innocence until proven guilty.  Brett Kavanaugh has been sent to the gulag of public hatred and his life, along with the life of his family, will never be the same.

To demand that a woman provide more than just an accusation – here one that is about something alleged to have happened 36 years ago – is not an attack on that woman.  It is simply a demand for the fairness and justice that our country demands. 

I don’t know if some incident happened or did not, but if it did, it apparently did not have enough impact to cause the “victim” to have any sort of contemporaneous reaction.   Aside from her word, there is apparently no evidence that the incident did indeed occur.  This may change now that we have a group of Democrat operatives hired who are putting out the call for something more, though new evidence suddenly appearing at this point should be suspect.  Essentially, we now have her word against his.  If we get more sudden memories on both sides it is still just their word against their word. 

In this country we require evidence.  We have rules.  We do not have lynch mobs.  Or at least we didn’t used to.   But what is the press and the Democrat behavior but that of a lynch mob out to destroy Judge Kavanaugh?  Of course, that destruction is part of a greater plan.  Just as Stalin and his right hand man Beria rounded up and destroyed all enemies of the party – anyone with any kind of dissenting viewpoint – so the Democrats are one by one trying to destroy anyone associated with Trump and his policies because those dissenting views are enemies of their party.

Does anyone really think that the Democrats care at all about Ms. Ford other than as her use as a weapon in their own fight for power?  Or that they really even care about the act of sexual abuse?  If they do, why are they not investigating their own darling Rep. Ellison for the far more substantiated allegations against him?  Why do Democrats including Feinstein and Hirono (both of whom are so “outraged” about Kavanaugh’s behavior of which they have already and without proof determined him guilty) take campaign funding from a fellow Democrat who admitted hitting his wife?  Why do the same Democrat lawyers and operatives who are working with Ms. Ford defend Al Franken and Bill Clinton for the again far more substantiated claims against them? 

This has nothing to do with MeToo or women’s rights or sexual abuse.  It has everything to do with the Democrats' unquenchable thirst for power.  And, more importantly, in taking a page from the playbook of Stalin and Beria, it is a direct assault upon our freedom and our system of government.

Today I thought that this circus would be on its way to being over.  But the farce continues.  Ms. Ford was given a deadline of 10 am this morning to indicate if she would testify, but that deadline has passed and yet, as of this writing,  “negotiations” continue. 

We have rules for a reason.  In the Senate they allow for an orderly process.  In the case of the Kavanaugh nomination, a hearing was scheduled, Kavanaugh was questioned, witnesses appeared, and the hearing closed.  The next step should have been a vote.  The ranking Democrat on the Committee, Diane Feinstein, had received the accusation from Kavanaugh’s accuser before the hearing began.  She still refuses to share the letter she received with the full committee, but apparently she had shared it with her Democrat colleagues because they asked questions that in hindsight were obviously intended to be able to catch him in a lie about the accusation.  Feinstein could have brought the accusation forward at the hearing so that the committee could consider it, possibly seek more information from the accuser.  She chose not to.  The hearing ended and then, as a vote was scheduled, she raised the issue.  Instead of saying "you had your chance, too late," the vote was canceled and a date was planned for the “victim” to testify or tell her story.  Then the accuser started making demands:  FBI investigations; security; who could question her and how; more time to meet with her Democrat handlers; more accusations of insensitivity against anyone who will not meet her demands.  Finally, she was given a deadline to simply state if she would appear or not.  She said she needed more time (for what?  She has a story, it’s not going to change, so either tell it or be quiet).  The delay goes on.  Justice does not.  The rules are forgotten as sympathy for the “victim” becomes the calling card and rule of the day. And we the people are being denied a vote on a highly qualified nominee.

We have processes for victims that protect both victim and accuser.  When someone is a victim, the proper place to seek recompense is in a court of law.  When someone seeks revenge, then one will avoid a court of law because the law seeks justice, not revenge.  This “victim” has had 36 years to seek justice.  But, justice would require that she actually prove that the person that she is accusing is guilty of the alleged crime.    I don’t know what this accuser’s motive is – revenge, power, attention, or something else.  It certainly is not justice.

Many courts have statutes of limitations on some types of claims, and there is a reason for that too.  People’s memories fade, evidence is lost, memories change or are generated.  Similarly, teenage crimes are treated differently than those of adults.  We know that the teen mind is not fully formed and so most juvenile crimes up to and including murder are tried in juvenile courts and, if convicted, the sentence is usually in a special juvenile facility with an end date of the sentence corresponding to the date the juvenile becomes and adult.  At that time the record is often expunged so that the individual can begin adulthood with a clean slate. 

Here we have something that allegedly happened at a teenage party 36 years ago.   There was allegedly alcohol involved.  A boy allegedly grabbed at or tried to kiss a girl.  She was allegedly frightened; perhaps he was going further than she had expected.  She ran away.  He did not pursue her.  Her story does not suggest rape or anything close to that.  This is just not a big deal, or at least not the big deal that the media is making it.  This happens at teen parties every weekend in America.   Should it?  Probably not.  But it is part of what goes on in the teen years as young people begin to discover who they are, what their values are, and how they incorporate those values into their lives and the lives of others.  It is called growing up. 

This accusation should not be permitted to ruin a man’s life.  Even if her fuzzy story were true, can any of us say that we did not have one less than honorable incident during our childhood or teen years?  Is this really the sort of thing that should keep an outstanding jurist from the Court?  If so then there is truly no one on this earth qualified for the position of Justice.

What we have here is the Democrat party using and blowing out of proportion a simple allegation of teen misbehavior.  I do not know what the accuser’s mental state is in regard to this alleged incident.  I do know that she had 36 years to seek justice or make a claim against Judge Kavanaugh in a venue that would have allowed him due process.  She has had 36 years to deal with whatever psychological traumas she believes stem from this alleged incident.    Did it happen?  I don’t know.  Does she believe it happened?  I don’t know.   Do the Democrats care?  I don’t think so.  Does the media care?  Only so far as it gives them a good story.

What is lost in all this?  Justice.  Our Country.  Our Democracy.  Our rule of law.  When we start convicting people in the kangaroo court of public opinion based on mere accusation alone we have lost the fairness, justice, and due process that make this country what it is.   

This nomination may actually be a watershed moment for all of us.  I hope that Kavanaugh will not be driven to withdraw (as I am sure the threats to him, his wife, and his family are intended to cause).  Anyone who cares about this country or justice should demand that this kangaroo court, this lynching by the Democrats and the media stop immediately.  If we do not, then are we any better than those who stood silently watching their fellow citizens be sent to the gulag on questionable accusation alone?

It's About More Than the Nominee; It's About America

This is more than a fight for the Supreme Court.  It is a fight for America itself.

It is hard to keep up with the allegations as the Democrats try to block the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.  They made a mockery of the hearings, using innuendo and misleading if not false statements in their accusations against him during the questioning.  They have tried to stir up fear that he will take away all important rights if he is a Justice.  None of this seemed to work; the confirmation seemed to be certain, so what happens?  They pull a 36 year old, completely unsubstantiated sexual allegation out of the hat.  And, in this MeToo era we must indulge every possible statement by anyone.  Soon I suspect others will have sudden “memories” as they jump on the bandwagon to smear the nominee with completely unprovable and unsubstantiated charges and no way for the accused to defend himself since the current view seems to be guilty until proven innocent – an impossibility with a fuzzy 36 year old allegation that essentially amounts to he said – she said with no witnesses to substantiate either side.

This should remind one of the Salem Witch trials, but it is the Desperation of the Democrats that leads the circus here.  They lost the election.  The president has appointed a conservative judge – one who will follow the Constitution and the law rather than go with and make popular policy of the day.  That is, he will do what a Supreme Court Justice is supposed to do – apply and interpret the law, leaving law-making to the legislative branch.  The Democrats cannot abide this rule of law, this basic Constitutional principle.  They will only tolerate someone who will join them in their jihad against the president.

So, we have a woman come forward with some fuzzy recollection of a teenage party where some teenager that she now identifies as Kavanaugh made some sort of advance towards her.  And, what happens?  We indulge her.  There is so much wrong with this; let me make just a few points:

First, this was a bunch of high school kids at a party in the early 80s.  No one should be surprised that there might have been alcohol there and a boy might have tried to kiss a girl.  What high school student has not been involved in a situation where things started to go too far?  This is just part of growing up and learning one’s limits and values.   If it was anything more than that then one would expect there would have been some contemporaneous reporting to someone.

Apparently the accuser first recalled this event during some sort of marital couples therapy in 2012.  Now, it would seem that since she, her husband, and the therapist have all now agreed that she mentioned it then, that any therapist-client privilege has been waived.  I would certainly like to see records from that therapy, especially the context in which the statement was made and what else she might recall.   For example, was this alleged incident used to explain or excuse the problems in her marriage that had brought the couple to therapy?  Or as an excuse for some other behavior of hers?  What else did she recall about the incident?  What else could she recall about that period of her life? Is her personality of the sort that would enjoy the attention from the reporting of such an incident or the power of having the ability to bring down someone important?  (These are not “blame the victim” questions, but legitimate questions when one suddenly has a 36 year old recollection that has the potential to destroy someone else’s life.)

Beyond the specific allegation, I have a real problem with looking at someone’s high school record as if that somehow has some bearing on one’s ability 30 years into adulthood.   We all know that teenagers do some stupid things.  Some even do illegal things.  Psychologists tell us their brains are not yet fully formed.  For these reasons we have juvenile courts and juvenile sentences, most of which end when the child reaches adulthood.  Juvenile records are frequently expunged in order to allow the juvenile a fresh start.  And, yet, we are allowing one woman’s foggy recollection to destroy a life.

We have no idea what the accuser’s motive is in bringing this accusation now.  What we do know is that it is unsubstantiated and that there is really no way for Kavanaugh to clear his name; even if the allegation does not keep him from the Court, he will always walk with this cloud over his head, this scarlet letter on his chest.  He has been denied the due process that any criminal defendant receives; rather, he is tried in the court of public opinion fraught with hysteria churned up by Democrats and the media.  He is guilty until proven innocent.   This is not the way America should work.

When I was in grade school a classmate gave me a valentine every day for a couple of months, then kissed me twice when we were alone on the steps of our classroom.  Today I guess we would call that stalking and sexual assault.  Perhaps I should check to see if he is rich or famous or perhaps up for some important nomination.  I know his name and actually have told many about it  extemporaneously both at the time of the incidents and through the years.  Just think,  I could suddenly realize the trauma this caused me and come forward to ruin this man’s life while enjoying my 15 minutes of fame, maybe get a book deal, and help the cause so as to be today’s darling of the resistance.

This is really where we are.  Anyone who does not speak out is complicit in the practice of doing whatever is necessary to destroy anyone who stands in the way of another’s goals.  Complicit in using anything from any moment in one’s life, substantiated or not, to destroy another human being.  In the days of Stalin, the Communists were famous for finding the most minor spot on the record of someone as an excuse to send them to the gulag for years.  The current behavior of the Democrats would seem to be taking us in that direction.

The Desperate Democrats, still not able to accept the simple fact that their candidate lost the election for President, will do any and everything they can to make sure that their opponent does not succeed.  They will not accept the Constitutional and Democratic process of our government.  Like little children they want their way and they want it now and the American people be damned.  They seem to fully believe that the end justifies the means.  Their end is restoration of their power, and they will lie, cheat, use people, and destroy people in order to achieve that end.  They have no regard for the Constitution or the rule of Law or Democracy.   They just want their way and they want to impose it on everyone else; elections seem to mean nothing to them.

So back to the nomination.  Every American citizen and anyone who cares about our Country and its form of government should be appalled by the Democrats' actions regarding the Kavanaugh hearing.  They have already revealed their ignorance of the role of a judge in our 3-branch form of government.  They have revealed that power for their Party is their primary if only goal.  They have revealed that they cannot accept or tolerate views and policies that they do not approve.  They have revealed that they are willing to deny to the people someone who will likely be one of the finest justices ever to sit on the Court simply as a way to “resist” a president they do not like.  This “resistance,” with their regular disparaging of Trump supporters, reveals that they do not understand how our democracy works or that, if they do, they are willing to destroy it for their own power.  Their encouragement of using unprovable and decades old allegations to destroy the reputation of a fine jurist reveals that they care nothing for the American people.

Someone needs to explain to the Democrats that this is not a game the goal of which is their power.  This is about our Country and what is best for its people – all of its people, deplorables included.  If we let the Democrats get away with their antics, if we let them stop a perfectly valid nomination, then we are empowering further their assault on our democracy and we are well on the way to losing America as we know it.