You know, I didn’t expect to talk about Clarence Thomas and the current political climate without making a comparison of his confirmation hearing back in the 90s to Brett Kavanaugh’s this last month. But here we are! No talking about Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford! (Except for that). So Clarence Thomas spoke at some random event last week (I think it was the expansion of some judicial building or something…It makes me wonder what kind of events command his attention…) and he spoke about a number of things. Of the topics he brought up, most prescient was probably the importance of avoiding partisanship on the bench, and not being a puppet or mouthpiece for people in power. It’s admittedly hard not to see that as a jab at the Kavanaugh confirmations. Whether that was meant as an unsubtle message at his new coworker remains to be seen.
The Brett Kavanaugh confirmation to the Supreme Court was problematic, and left a bad taste in a lot of mouths. Christine Blasey Ford has been dragged through the mud in the name of pushing through a temperamental partisan Republican mouthpiece, who even if he was innocent, proved by his behavior and his blatant lies that he was unfit to sit on the bench of the highest court of the land. So of course, leave it to Donald Trump to continue to mean spiritedly rub salt in the wound. Because of course he couldn’t just let it happen. He had to make a big show of the swearing in, and then, on behalf of the country, apologize for the treatment of Kavanaugh. I’m sorry, but he certainly doesn’t speak for me in that apology. And I would argue that he doesn’t speak for most Americans. Indeed, I’m pretty sure most Americans who have been paying attention don’t think he was treated harshly enough for his infantile behavior. The softball investigation by the FBI, with it’s overly limited scope was an embarrassment and a total miscarriage of justice. So no, Don. You don’t speak on behalf of America. And seeing as you don’t apologize for anything in general, I don’t know that you were speaking on behalf of anyone.
I honestly would have been shocked had Brett Kavanaugh NOT been confirmed. Seriously, it would have blown my mind. The GOP was just too gung ho about getting this done. Having a conservative majority directing the course of legal discourse for the foreseeable future was just too important. That said, there was hope of some Republican holdouts. Unfortunately, that amounted to one of them (Lisa Murkowski from my state, Alaska) basically just no voting, which helped no one, and another, Susan Collins, giving a long diatribe that betrayed decades of principles on her part. Susan Collins fancies herself something a champion for women, yet the day before the confirmation vote, she went on a rant that was tantamount to victim blaming. She attacked Christine Blasey Ford’s recollection, and suggested that she was less reliable than Brett Kavanaugh, a man who lied right to her face. And let’s not mince words: He lied. Provably so. He lied and handed the Senate proof of his lies while doing it. And the fact that he did and the Republicans didn’t seem to care, showed me that no FBI investigation, no matter how impressive the scale allowed, would have stopped this confirmation from moving forward. So, Justice Brett Kavanaugh is moving forward as the most disliked Supreme Court Justice at confirmation, and Susan Collins moves forward as a hypocrite that no one with any sense will ever take seriously again.
Last Friday, I watched some clips of the Brett Kavanaugh testimony, and I had trouble getting through just some of the clips. Watching a rich, white judge spout off like an entitled 5 year old who is acting like he’s upset that he might not get the birthday present he demanded for his birthday was a little hard to handle. I have trouble sympathizing with the plight of a man’s ruined reputation when he is blatantly lying about things that I can call him out on based on the evidence HE SUBMITTED! He claims never to have been to a gathering where he allegedly tried to rape Christine Blasey Ford? Really? Because based on the calendar that he submitted, on July 1, 1982, he went to EXACTLY that type of gathering with EXACTLY the people she mentioned. Reading the totality of his testimony over the weekend was ever more gag inducing. As soon as it’s his neck on the chopping block, he’s more than ready to abandon his judicial principles to excuse himself. He’s your classic 80’s bad guy hoping to get a pass because that’s what he’s grown to expect. And at the same time, I’m afraid he’s going to get exactly what he expects. Let’s hope the FBI investigation manages to bring to light exactly what kind of monster he is.
I would be quite surprised if Brett Kavanaugh isn’t confirmed for the Supreme Court. This whole situation smells an awful lot like the Anita Hill incident which didn’t stop Clarence Thomas from getting confirmed, and the fact is that the Republicans really want their agenda represented in the highest court in the land. I just don’t see how it won’t happen. THAT said, he certainly doesn’t have a lot of great people helping his case. Roy Moore, ex-Senate candidate and accused sex offender and pedophile, is trying to make his voice heard on what he is declaring a liberal smear job. The fact is, NO ONE would want Roy Moore defending them against sexual assault allegations. He is in the unfortunate position of having basically no one believe he’s innocent of what he’s being accused of. Only adding to Kavanaugh’s problematic defenders were a panel of Conservative women out of Florida. They were interviewed by CNN, and their argument wasn’t “Kavanaugh is innocent”, but it was more of a “What guy hasn’t done this kind of thing when they were that age?” And to that I would say…most? No one I hang around with has, to my knowledge, ever attempted to sexually assault anyone. And if they did, it wouldn’t be an “aw shucks, boys will be boys” moment. It would be a friendship ender. So yeah…Kavanaugh will get confirmed despite there being no good reason he should be. Politics in America.
Mind the Exit 