Why Every Senator Must Vote YES

Every Senator who cares about this country must vote Yes on the Kavanaugh nomination.

At this point if his nomination fails they are authorizing the sort of smear campaign against any and every future nominee that we have seen play out against Judge Kavanaugh.

What we have is a good nominee who was faced with unsubstantiated accusations the investigation of which (along with the search for dirt) may have found some less than honorable episodes or words in his youth (throwing ice in a bar; perhaps becoming over intoxicated; using sophomoric jokes in yearbook; etc.)  Let’s remember that we are all human, none of us is perfect, and if we search hard enough we will find some less than honorable event in the life of everyone, even a saint.

Now having been accused of poor character and his character smeared beyond belief, we are told he cannot be a judge because of that character.  We are told that righteous indignation in the face of allegations which he claims are false is sufficient to keep him from the Bench – essentially that his claims of innocence are proof of guilt, or should at least disqualify him from this nomination.  This is a catch-22 that is not democratic, not the way this country operates.

We cannot let the screams of hatred and anger intimidate the country into complicity with and authorization of this horrendous political assassination tactic along with its obvious use of troubled individuals for nothing more than political gain.  We cannot let the stall tactics of the democrats continue as they now attack the investigation that they called for.

I understand that Judge Kavanaugh might not be the individual that some would pick for the Supreme Court if their role was to nominate, but that does not mean that he is not highly qualified for the position.  The Senate’s role in confirmation is not one of personal preference.  In its role of advice and consent I would hope that the Senate would look to those legitimate qualifications and not at the distracting political circus and its many red herrings that have been produced over the past few weeks.

I will not rehash all the appalling events and red herrings of that circus.  Let me just point out a few that are most troubling:  the disregard of our Constitution, the rule of law, and core principles of democracy such as innocence until proof of guilt; the callous use of a clearly troubled woman for political purposes and with little if any regard for that woman herself, despite Democrat claims of this being about protecting women; the inflation of this nomination into a representative battle of various identity groups; the complete failure to focus on the qualifications and record of the nominee that are relevant to his service as a justice and failure of the Senate to properly carry out its role of Advice and Consent; the effect that this willingness to use smear tactics reminiscent of the Inquisition, McCarthyism, and Communist Russia will have on the likelihood of qualified individuals entering public service in the future.

The bottom line is that the tactics used by the Democrats to stall this nomination should be unacceptable to every American.  The end does not justify by any means necessary.  To accept that premise is to deny the importance of the principles of our Constitution and our democracy.   It is those principles that allow for an honest and fair opposition, not the Stalinesque tactics that we have seen employed over the past few weeks.  A no vote on Kavanaugh effectively endorses those undemocratic tactics.

We have a qualified candidate for Supreme Court Justice.  Personal preferences aside, there is no reason not to vote YES.  In this instance, that YES vote will further indicate a stand against the unsavory tactics demonstrated by the Democrats over the past weeks. 

Anyone who believes in fairness and justice must now stand up for what is right, renounce the political assault we have been witnessing, and urge the Senate to confirm this highly qualified jurist.

The Play Book Is Truly Frightening

So, here is the play book:  Accuse a good man of poor character, based on unsubstantiated allegations and his denial, then, argue that the man is not qualified because of his poor character.  Continue to demand investigation upon investigation, forever if necessary, until he is eliminated. (Even before its release, the Democrats claim that the FBI investigation is not sufficient and demand more)

I can think of several labels for this:  Catch 22; Salem Witch Trials; McCarthyism; Kafkaesque; Black lynchings in the segregated South; Stalin Show Trials; the Inquisition.  None of these should be part of America in the 21^st Century.

Perhaps the political assassins don’t think we will notice.  They distract us with all sorts of red herrings (A “red herring” is defined as “something, especially a clue, that is or is intended to be misleading or distracting.”).   Failure to produce classified documents; questionable and unfounded allegations; media frenzy about whom to believe and who put on the better “performance.”; juvenile humor in a high school yearbook; claiming outrage of a man who claims his innocence is proof of his poor character; the need to believe women and treat them with special care; etc. etc. 

These questions are red herrings.  The country’s obsession with them is distracting us from the violation and rape of the Constitution that is occurring under our noses as the Democrats turn their role of Advice and Consent into an inquisition designed to serve their own political agenda to the detriment of our Country and with the destruction of a man and his family as some sort of collateral damage.

What we have is a good nominee who was faced with false accusations the investigation of which may have found some less than honorable episodes or words in his youth.  Let’s remember that we are all human, none of us is perfect, and if we search hard enough we will find some less than honorable event in the life of everyone, even a saint. 

What we are witnessing is political assassination by a group of people who are unwilling to accept the fact that they are not in power, that the people of this country elected a president the Democrats do not like and that the election was a signal that their policies were not the direction that the country wanted to go.  This assassination attempt in itself is bad enough, but it sets a precedent for future behavior as well as a warning to anyone who might seek public office in the future.  This smear and scare campaign is detrimental to us all.

It is apparent today that many are willing to ignore the Constitution when they believe that it furthers their political or social agenda.  There are many pretexts for this act of ignoring the constitution, all of which are nothing more than excuses that boil down to justifying “by any means necessary” to get one’s way.  There are small excuses: “this is just a job interview” (of course, questions such as many of those being asked of Kavanaugh would be impermissible and often illegal at a job interview).   There are the rumblings of underlying revenge:  for failure to put Merrick Garland on the bench, for the nomination of a constitutional conservative, simply for the fact that the country elected Donald Trump.   And, some come from the “social justice warriors” who in the case of the Kavanaugh hearing seem to less concerned about the questionable allegations here than in fighting for justice for all women or against all men or at least powerful men.  The problem with ignoring the constitution in this social justice battle is that it is that very constitution that allows those warriors to fight their battle.

Our country is far from perfect, but it is our country’s democracy and its Constitution that allow us to improve ourselves.  It was the 1^st Amendment and its freedoms of speech and assembly that allowed the suffragettes to be heard and gain the vote for women.  Similarly, it was our Constitution that allowed the civil rights movement to arise and become successful.   It is the Constitution that allowed the President to enforce the orders for school desegregation.  Without the freedoms and the rights provided to the people in the Constitution these movements and many others could have been stopped before they even began.

In this era of the 24-hour news cycle, of social media, of the need for instant gratification of every desire, it is hard to have the patience that a democracy requires.  On top of that, people are encouraged in intimidation tactics when, because of those very tactics, even our representatives are afraid to stand up to them and for what is right.  We must not let the screams of hatred and anger from his opposition intimidate us into complicity with and authorization of this horrendous political assassination tactic.  We must remember that we are a country with a constitution and the rule of law and basic concepts including innocence until proof of guilt.

Changes happen, but they happen slowly.  Most importantly, they happen via and because of the rule of law.  Those who want to rectify all the wrongs instantly and without the process that democracy requires are making a huge mistake.  I can perhaps understand the emotional need for instant results, but that need is complicit with those who would change our constitutional democratic republic to some other form.  The red herrings that they conjure and present may seem to be the key issue but they are not.  They distract those who, in the passion and sincerity of their plea for change, fail to look beyond those red herrings and see the bigger picture along with the underlying and real issue of the method by which they are seeking change.

In the case of Judge Kavanaugh the tactics used from the beginning have not been for the people, not for the accusers, not for women, not for justice.  They have been only for political power of those who now find themselves out of power and are hoping that will change with the midterm election.  No one should stand by and let this happen; no one should stand by as if this were OK. We are seeking a qualified jurist.  Judge Kavanaugh is that.  It is because he is that, because he cannot be challenged on his credentials, that the smear campaign was undertaken. 

At this point, anything other than a Yes vote on his nomination sends a frightening message to our leadership – that all the stops are out, all systems go – assassinate at your will, ruin families and lives, all for your own power and with complete and total disregard for the people whom you were elected to represent.  This is not the playbook that we should be using in America.