Kavanagh – Today’s Thoughts.

So, now the Thursday hearing is in jeopardy and suddenly more accusers have discovered their memories.  Just a few points:

1. Ms. Ford has received far too many concessions already.  If this accusation had been brought in a court of law (as it should have been if the goal was justice and not political gain), a hearing date would have been set, Ford would have had to appear or her claim would be dismissed, and she would have no choice about who would question her or the format of the questions or of the hearing.  Fairness and due process would have been afforded to both parties.

2. This is not about justice for what Ms. Ford alleges happened.  This is about destroying a man whose views are not in accord with those who are now using Ms. Ford and a smear campaign to keep a qualified jurist from the bench.  They are willing to throw out rules of fairness, justice, democracy in order to further their own power.  They don’t care about Ms. Ford or the American people.  They just want to destroy their opposition.

3. The question before the Senate is whether or not Judge Kavanaugh should become Justice Kavanaugh, not whether rules of fairness and justice, including the concept of innocent until proven guilty, should be waived for any woman with an unsubstantiated accusation.

4. Nor should this one alleged incident be the sole criteria for the nomination.  Even if this were proven true, it would be one event – one teenage act of poor judgment – to be weighed with 30+ years of adulthood, and with especial emphasis on his proven abilities as a judge.  If one incident during the teen years when the mind is not fully developed is enough to destroy one’s life forever, than there are few people on earth whose lives should not be ruined.  In a court of law, crimes, including murder, that take place before adulthood are usually tried and sentenced in juvenile courts with likely expungement of records when adulthood is reached.  The law recognizes the difference between a teen indiscretion and an intentional adult act.

5. Women are not victims as the MeToo movement would have us believe.  Giving a MeToo accuser everything she wants simply because she brings forth an accusation does nothing for women’s rights.    We all know that not all accusations are true and that there are many reasons for bringing an accusation forward.  But to treat all accusations, especially those with no supporting evidence, as true cheapens those that are true and provable and in a way makes them more suspect.  Additionally, demanding that a woman be believed without more, without the due process that justice demands, in a way makes all women victims – they are apparently unable to stand up for themselves but instead must be coddled and believed with nothing more.  This is unfair to both men and women and horribly contrary to the justice that we all should demand.

6. I think women are strong – stronger than the treatment of Ms. Ford would have us believe.  When she decided to come forward (and especially because she had hired legal counsel) she knew what she was getting into.  She is a well educated woman; it is time we stopped babying her.   While she may or may not be emotionally distraught, this is America; we do not let any type of accuser (even those who represent some cause or identity group that many support) destroy another human being without far more than an accusation.  I suspect that Ms. Ford knows that even if she is being counseled otherwise.

7. Perhaps what Ms. Ford claims happened indeed did happen.  Perhaps there is more to the story.  Perhaps different individuals were involved.  Perhaps this is a memory that she has somehow constructed in her mind over the course of 36 years and truly believes it is true, even if it is not.  Or perhaps it is all a fabrication.  Since she has brought this allegation forward, she must allow her allegation to be questioned and examined in a way that is fair and just to both individuals involved.

8. This is a criminal allegation and should be given the due process standards that criminal allegations deserve.  It should not be tried in the media or the court of public opinion or based upon a political or identity group’s agenda.

9. These hearings are a complete farce.  Before they began we had the Democrats in unison telling us they would not vote for Kavanaugh no matter what was said at the hearings.  They had Ms. Ford’s accusation but did not bring it forward.  They waited, hoping it would look like Kavanaugh would not get the votes he needed, but, when the hearings ended and he had proven himself to be an outstanding jurist and the vote seemed certain in his favor, the Democrats then brought forward the unsubstantiated allegation and demanded a hearing.  That served as a nice delay.  And delay.  And delay.  And still delay.  The accuser and her Democrat attorneys made demands for the hearing that essential threw out any semblance of fairness, instead weighting the hearing in the accuser’s favor before it has even begun.  Sadly, the Republican leadership, apparently fearful of this woman who can’t stand up for herself or show up at a hearing, caved to many of the demands.  Yet we still have no certain hearing as demands continue.  And now, the call having been put out for more, we have other accusers.  Yet, all the witnesses named by the accusers have said nothing happened.  No matter.  It’s all about delay and keeping a good jurist from the bench.

10. We can easily infer that the Democrats’ concern is not with Ms. Ford or women victims of violence when we look at their reactions to members of their own party who have been accused with actual substantiating evidence, unlike this case.  When it is one of their own, the women are ignored, shamed, or in some other way silenced while excuses are made and inquiries are not held.  In those instances it is rare that there is a demand that the woman must always be believed.

11. This has really got to stop.  I don’t care how many more “memories” are suddenly found.  I don’t care what other concessions Ford and her attorneys demand.  There is a hearing set for Thursday.  She can come testify or she can go home.  Anyone else has had plenty of time to come forward.  They have lost their chance to testify here.  If they really feel aggrieved, let them go to a court of law and seek justice as Ms. Ford should have done.

12. This smear campaign, in addition to making a mockery of the judicial nomination process, has a frightening chilling effect on the future of our democracy.  If those who step forward to serve are forced to face what Judge Kavanaugh is now enduring, how can we expect good people to come forward?   This is a way of silencing those views with which one party does not agree.  A democracy requires diverse views.  It deserves good public servants who do not have to go through the equivalent of a Salem Witch trial and risk the destruction of their lives as well as the lives of their families in order to serve.

13. This whole circus is a full out attack on Democracy.  It is time that it stop, that a vote is taken and that decisions are made based on the criteria for sitting as a Justice, not on the basis of a 36 year old unsubstantiated teenage allegation and the undemocratic demand that all women must be believed, period, without more, without proof,  without due process for the accused, and in direct opposition to democracy’s core belief in innocent until proven guilty.  Proof does not and cannot consist of someone’s accusation alone.

14. I have trouble keeping up with this ridiculous spectacle.  I want to ignore it, but no American should.  Rather, we should all stand up against what is going on and demand a return to fairness, justice, and the rule of law.

My past 3 blogs have addressed some of the above and some other points in more detail – I encourage you to read them:

https://ps.pinkspolitics.com/2018/09/this-is-crucial-moment-for-america.html  This addresses the convergence of tactics used by the Left for over 30 years to keep conservative, non-activist jurists from the Appellate and Supreme Court benches with the use of identity politics and its companion hatred as a weapon against those standing in the way of a political agenda.

https://ps.pinkspolitics.com/2018/09/purging-enemies-of-party-with.html This includes the parallels between this demand of a guilt sentence upon accusation alone to the same tactics of accusation alone used by dictatorships to silence and remove the opposition.  It discusses democracy’s need for due process and fairness and a real belief in innocence until proof of guilt is shown.

https://ps.pinkspolitics.com/2018/09/its-about-more-than-nominee-its-about.html  This is about the broader implications for our country of this nomination and the farce that it has become.  If we let the Democrats get away with their antics, if we let them stop a perfectly valid nomination based on accusation and innuendo alone, then we are empowering further their assault on our democracy and we are well on the way to losing America as we know it.

See also: https://ps.pinkspolitics.com/2017/11/me-too-does-not-empower-you.html, a post from last year about the MeToo movement

This is a Crucial Moment for America

There are two major political practices in our country today that are converging to make the circus that is the Kavanaugh nomination a frightening and serious moment in American history.

One is the historical (beginning at least as long ago as the 1980s;  for a summary of some of the most egregious see: http://video.foxnews.com/v/5839042505001/?#sp=show-clips)  efforts by the Left to keep from the bench (both Supreme and Appellate Courts) judges appointed by non-Leftist administrations; judges that hold the view that a judge must focus on law, not policy, and should interpret and apply but not create law.  This view, while consistent with the Constitution, contrasts with progressive views that would like to have more partisan judges willing to make, change, or ignore law when policy demands; that is, they seek activist judges.

The trouble with this is that the attempt to destroy via unsubstantiated accusations just because one doesn’t agree with the philosophy of the nominee is totally un-American.  In this country we have elections and when a more conservative party wins, of course they will appoint more conservative jurists.  The answer is not to smear these nominees with false and unfounded accusations, but simply to win the next election.  And, in the meantime, to use the actual criteria (as laid out in our Constitution) for choosing a Justice.

The other practice is the use of identity politics to stir up hatred that can then be channeled against those standing in the way of progressive power as well as assist in the unfair and unfounded attacks against those with differing views.  This method creates an identity group, finds affronts to members of that group, and then demands that any accusation of that group be believed without more.  The Left uses these identity accusations to gin up a sort of mob-hatred against anything that might keep them from power.  (An interesting piece on the underpinnings and beginnings of the hatred that goes hand in hand with identity politics is: https://outline.com/TXW6L8)\

There are historical parallels to this mob-like hysteria.  Of course the Salem Witch Trials come to mind.  But also, what about the lynchings of Blacks in the south?  A white woman could claim a Black man sexually assaulted her and without more he would likely be lynched.  More recently, the instigation of anti-white and/or anti-law enforcement hatred reached a peak during the Obama administration as many believed any Black person arrested or injured by law enforcement was wronged and the police became targets of both verbal and physical assaults including murder.  Individual incidents and their facts become no longer relevant as an entire identity group is urged to rise up against another group.  And now we have MeToo where “women must be believed.”  That command goes directly against our Constitution.

America was founded as a democratic republic.  It has stood as a shining light to other countries, especially those whose people live under dictatorial regimes with little if any freedom of thought or speech.  One key underpinning of our democracy has been the principle that one is innocent until proven guilty.

That phrase, uttered often and easily, actually has great and deep significance.  If one can be found guilty without proof or evidence, without any sort of due process, without an opportunity to face his or her accuser and tell his or her side, without the opportunity to cross-examine the accuser to pull out additional or questionable facts, without all the procedures that we equate with fairness and justice, then the many freedoms and rights that we hold dear fail and fall.  And without those rights, our country as we know it must also fall.

Allowing one to be determined guilty on the mere accusation of another  silences all our First Amendment rights.  One cannot speak freely, hold religious beliefs, express those beliefs, associate with others if someone else who finds those words, beliefs, actions offensive can simply accuse with the result that the accused is in someway cast aside and silenced.

Yet isn’t that what we see happening now?  The accusation against Brett Kavanaugh should not be used as a political tool to thwart the Constitution and our Democratic Republic form of government.  If the accusation actually occurred, or even if Ms. Ford simply believes it occurred, her claim should receive the due process that our Constitution demands.  That includes both due process for the accuser and due process for the accused.  And, that is why this accusation belongs in a court of law where the goal is justice, achieved through due process, rather than a goal of revenge and political gain.

There is another concern with the use of these tactics (questionable accusations to derail nominations of otherwise qualified jurists and identity politics to foment mob hatred against those standing in the way of the fomenters’ power).  As it becomes clear that those qualified individuals on the wrong side of the hatred will be vilified and destroyed, it becomes less and less likely that they will come forward to serve their country.  How many people are willing to put themselves and their families through the ordeal that Judge Kavanaugh is currently enduring?

Without diverse voices and the freedom to express them we lose a key ingredient of our democracy and instead begin to approach the necessary environment for a thriving dictatorship.  My two previous blog posts have discussed some of these points further.  I encourage you to read them.  Today I want to encourage everyone who cares about this country to open their eyes and see what is happening.  If your political leanings are on the Left, please open your eyes and see what your group is doing to America.  I realize that some on the Left no longer believe in America and seek to fundamentally change it.  I argue that this is a huge mistake.

I urge people to review history.  Countries which silence opposing viewpoints – by accusation and by intimidation – end up being a very unpleasant place for the majority of their people.  It seems to me that the convergence of political hatred and quests for power with ignorance of the very nature of our country and its constitution along with a willingness to ignore what it stands for have reached a critical mass; this is the time to either take a stand and say STOP or to acquiesce in the movement of this country to a very different and far less free place.  It is time to look beyond today and see the direction we are headed; if we allow this country to continue to veer Left to the point that it is no longer recognizable as the great country that it is, then it will be its own people that will have extinguished its shining light and they will have no one to blame but themselves.