{"id":65295,"date":"2018-09-17T10:26:57","date_gmt":"2018-09-17T16:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=65295"},"modified":"2018-09-17T10:33:00","modified_gmt":"2018-09-17T16:33:00","slug":"on-judge-brett-kavanaugh-and-his-accuser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/09\/on-judge-brett-kavanaugh-and-his-accuser.html","title":{"rendered":"On Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SCOTUS<\/a>
The Supreme Court Building in Washington DC
(Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The situation could change \u2014 has, in fact, been changing \u2014 with stunning rapidity. \u00a0We don\u2019t know what new allegations or evidence might or might not come forward.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If I had to make a prediction right now, though, I would guess that the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court is dead or, at \u00a0best, on life support.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I say this as someone who has supported Judge Kavanaugh, who has been disgusted by the Democratic circus at the hearings of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and who believes that the Court would be greatly improved by his replacing Justice Anthony Kennedy there.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But we\u2019re living in the #MeToo moment. \u00a0Moreover, 24\/7 new cycles are a reality today that they were not during the days of Anita Hill\u2019s allegations against then-nominee Clarence Thomas. \u00a0And, most importantly, this isn\u2019t a criminal trial. \u00a0If it were, the burden of proof would rest upon Judge Kavanaugh\u2019s accuser, while he would enjoy, at least initially, the presumption of innocence.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this case, though, it\u2019s a matter of public perceptions, senatorial perceptions, and public pressure upon senators. \u00a0And the vote, like the Senate itself, was already close. \u00a0Now, if even one or two Republican senators abandon Judge Kavanaugh, there will likely be no great public pressure on any Democratic senator to step forward on his behalf.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The accusation against Judge Kavanaugh is disturbing. \u00a0If it\u2019s true, it\u2019s serious. \u00a0It certainly would have been serious at the time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking personally, I take<\/em>\u00a0it seriously. \u00a0After all, I\u2019m a believing Latter-day Saint, so I\u2019m scarcely the kind of person who\u2019s inclined to minimize underage drinking, let alone drunkenness, to say nothing of forceful attempts on the chastity of a young woman. \u00a0Moreover, I began to be a serious Latter-day Saint (in a marginally Mormon, part-member family) in high school, and I never drank, never took drugs \u2014 even though it was sixties California, and many of my best friends did \u2014 and never attended the kinds of parties that the accuser describes. \u00a0I have no sympathy for them whatever.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the delay in bringing the accusation until so very late is also disturbing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brett Kavanaugh and the other man mentioned in the accusation vehemently deny the charge. \u00a0But, of course, that\u2019s unsurprising. \u00a0They would, wouldn\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, is evidently a committed and rather fiercely partisan Bernie Sanders progressive. \u00a0But that, of course, doesn\u2019t prove her allegations false.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As of now, though, there are no other such accusations against Judge Kavanaugh \u2014 which seems significant, since men guilty of these offenses are typically serial offenders. \u00a0And he\u2019s now been vetted fully six times by the FBI for various federal positions, without so much as a whiff of this kind of behavior arising.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Further: \u00a0I\u2019ve been unable to confirm it, but I heard one commentator describe Professor Ford\u2019s charge against Brett Kavanaugh as having come to the surface out of \u201crepressed memories\u201d while working with a therapist. \u00a0If so, this is troubling to me. \u00a0I\u2019m extremely<\/em> skeptical of \u201crepressed memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Serious question: \u00a0Let\u2019s assume that the accuser\u2019s claim is true: \u00a0Should even grossly inappropriate one-time<\/em> behavior at a drunken high school party more than thirty years ago \u2014 where both the offender and the alleged victim were hormone-driven teenagers who may both have been impaired in their judgment by excessive alcohol consumption \u2014 forever hang over a person whose behavior, by almost all accounts (and by\u00a0all<\/em> non-partisan accounts), has been exemplary since then?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the other hand, if Judge Kavanaugh is lying, might that not be enough, right there, to disqualify him from service on the Supreme Court and, indeed, in the federal judiciary?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an ugly situation. \u00a0I hate it. \u00a0And no matter what happens or what the truth is, Judge Brett Kavanaugh is now publicly tainted for life. \u00a0Even Justice<\/em> Brett Kavanaugh won\u2019t be able to transcend this completely; Justice Thomas hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here, incidentally, are three articles on the subject that I\u2019ve found valuable. \u00a0The first was published before Professor Ford had come forward publicly:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNow Even Evidence of Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s Good Character Is Used Against Him\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWeighing the Allegations against Brett Kavanaugh\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocrats Want Their Pound of Kavanaugh Flesh\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pray for the United States of America. \u00a0We\u2019re in a very distasteful time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 The situation could change \u2014 has, in fact, been changing \u2014 with stunning rapidity. \u00a0We don\u2019t know what new allegations or evidence might or might not come forward. \u00a0 If I had to make a prediction right now, though, I would guess that the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOn Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    The situation could change -- has, in fact, been changing -- with stunning rapidity. \u00a0We don't know what new allegations or evidence might\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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