{"id":65988,"date":"2018-10-05T10:44:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T16:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=65988"},"modified":"2018-10-05T10:44:24","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T16:44:24","slug":"do-the-right-thing-jeff-flake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/do-the-right-thing-jeff-flake.html","title":{"rendered":"Do the Right Thing, Jeff Flake!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Ms.<\/a>
Barack Obama, then President of the United States of America, crawling on the floor of the Oval Office with Ella, the daughter of Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes. Would Democrats agree that his self-acknowledged youthful indiscretions made him an irredeemable moral monster, unworthy of public office or trust? \u00a0\u00a0(Official White House public domain photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a strong admirer of Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ). \u00a0I\u2019ve been proud of him for his criticisms of Donald Trump. \u00a0He is a principled, libertarian-leaning conservative and a courageous voice of political morality. \u00a0I regret that he\u2019s leaving the Senate after this year.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m even fine with his recent successful call for a one-week FBI investigation of the charges against Judge Brett Kavanaugh. \u00a0The report of that investigation is now in, and it has evidently (and unsurprisingly) failed to find any corroborating evidence for Christine Blasey Ford\u2019s accusation. \u00a0(The charges leveled by Deborah Ramirez and especially Julie Sweatnick were extremely flimsy to begin with.) \u00a0That fact probably provides some cover for wavering senators to vote to confirm him, invoking the now-rather-quaint principle that we presume innocence until an accused person is proven guilty. \u00a0(As opposed to the principle apparently espoused by at least some Democrats that, as one of my readers puts it, a Supreme Court nominee is guilty until proven liberal.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moreover, the extra week has also made the brazen Democrat machinations against Judge Kavanaugh even more transparently obvious than they were before. \u00a0Literally within minutes of the announcement of Judge Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s nomination to the Supreme Court, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) vowed to \u201coppose Judge Kavanaugh\u2019s nomination with everything I have.\u201d \u00a0He had very likely prepared his statement in advance, simply waiting to fill in the name of the nominee.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s definitely now time for Senator Flake to do his duty, in what will surely be the last and perhaps most important act of his career in the Senate:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDo the Right Thing, Jeff Flake\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I expect that Brother Flake will<\/em> do the right thing. \u00a0And, increasingly, I expect that, although his reputation has been grievously damaged and will never recover during his lifetime, Judge Kavanaugh will<\/em> be confirmed as a member of the United States Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I hope that Judge Kavanaugh accepts the confirmation. \u00a0I\u2019m confident that he will, but, in some ways, I wouldn\u2019t blame him if, at the moment, he were to tell the Senate and the nation to go to Hell.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having gone through the ordeal of much milder accusations of sexual misbehavior from Anita Hill (during a much less irregular Senate process), Clarence Thomas apparently took little pleasure in his confirmation to the Supreme Court when it finally came. \u00a0Instead of watching the Senate roll call vote, he drew himself a bath. His wife came to tell him he had been confirmed, 52 to 48. \u00a0His reaction? \u00a0\u201cWhoop-dee-damn-doo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But things are still up in the air, so here are some worthwhile links:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocrats\u2019 High-School-Hijinks Standard Flunks Redemption Test:\u00a0Where would we all be if we were judged for life based on our 18-year-old selves?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFord\u2019s Friend Felt Pressured to Revise Her Initial Statement Denying Knowledge of Assault\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Ford Continues to Keep Her \u2018Evidence\u2019 Secret\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Kavanaugh Didn\u2019t Lie:\u00a0He never denied drinking to excess in high school.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA Modest Compromise on Judge Kavanaugh\u2019s \u2018Temperament\u2019\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Wrong to Assume Kavanaugh Would Be a Partisan Justice:\u00a0Conservatives such as Kavanaugh believe the Court belongs to no faction save the Constitution itself.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNot All Women: Understanding Female Support for Brett Kavanaugh\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moreover, if you have the time, you might enjoy recent comments by Judge Jeanine Pirro<\/a> regard the Kavanaugh matter, kindly brought to my attention by Anne Palmieri.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve made no secret of the fact that Donald J. Trump appalls me. \u00a0The current administration has actually done a number of good things, which please me \u2014 the nominations of Justice Gorsuch and Judge Kavanaugh prominent among them \u2014 but I\u2019m ashamed that Donald Trump is the president of my country and a successor to Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan. \u00a0I left the Republican Party on the night that he accepted its presidential nomination.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be frank, though: \u00a0The behavior of the Senate Democrats and of other liberals in the matter of Brett Kavanaugh has radicalized me. \u00a0I despise that they\u2019ve done. \u00a0I\u2019m repulsed and horrified by their cavalier dismissal of the essential presumption of innocence. \u00a0I\u2019m disgusted by the depths to which they\u2019ve taken our political process.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this sort of thing that gave us Trumpism, and it may yet save the Republicans in the November midterm elections. \u00a0(We\u2019ll soon know.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In any event \u2014 I realize that it makes little difference in Utah, and especially in my congressional district \u2014 I will happily cast my vote in a few weeks to support continuing Republican control of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and I hope that many millions across the country will join me in doing so.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The current group of congressional Democrats doesn\u2019t deserve power and shouldn\u2019t be entrusted with it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019m a strong admirer of Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ). \u00a0I\u2019ve been proud of him for his criticisms of Donald Trump. \u00a0He is a principled, libertarian-leaning conservative and a courageous voice of political morality. \u00a0I regret that he\u2019s leaving the Senate after this year. \u00a0 I\u2019m even fine with his recent successful call for […]<\/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-65988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDo the Right Thing, Jeff Flake!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I'm a strong admirer of Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ). \u00a0I've been proud of him for his criticisms of Donald Trump. \u00a0He is a principled,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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