Post-Kavanaugh

Turning it over to the FBI was probably a good idea.  An objective investigation by non-partisan law enforcement officers could dig deeper and offer an objective assessment.  Senators, at least those few who haven’t already made up their mind, could decide according to the findings of the FBI.

Unfortunately, the FBI did not receive the punt.  They conducted their usual background checks, interviewing additional witnesses whose names had come up.  They then turned in their usual forms.  Just interview notes, no bottom line conclusion.  The FBI punted back to the Senators.  It is forbidden by law to release FBI background checks, so outraged demands to release them are out of line.  This new information may be enough for some of the undecided Senators, since they apparently turned up no evidence to add to the current lack of evidence.  Meanwhile, the progressives are insisting that the investigation did not have enough time (though it didn’t take the complete time that they did have) and that it was superficial, failing to interview people whom had already been interviewed or whom the FBI determined were not credible enough to be interviewed. (UPDATE:  The FBI said that they only interviewed those who had first hand knowledge, not those who were passing along hearsay.)

So now, the motion to confirm Kavanaugh–which did pass the committee last week–will go to the Senate for a vote on “cloture,” which will limit debate.  (Supreme Court justices are no longer subject to filibusters, which would have required an unlikely 60 votes to overcome.  Eliminating the filibuster for judges was an initiative of the Democrats, though the Republicans applied it to the Supreme Court with Justice Gorsuch’s nomination.)  This vote is scheduled to happen TODAY, possibly this evening.

Then on SATURDAY, the full Senate will vote on whether or not to elevate Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

I’ll try to update this post once we know how the vote went, though I’ll be on the road this weekend.  But however it turns out, we will enter the era of  post-Kavanaugh politics.

Here are some of my thoughts on what that might look like.  Feel free to add your own predictions in the comments.

(1)  If accusations do not need to be verified in order to be widely accepted and to destroy a person’s reputation, we will be getting a lot more false accusations.

(2)  Both sides will play this game.  Progressives will not be safe.  (Already the left’s star politician who has raised hopes of toppling Ted Cruz in deep-read Texas, no less, Beto O’Rourke is groveling in apology for a college theater review that mentioned the physical attributes of some of the dancers.  This may hurt him more than his actual more recent crime of drunk driving and fleeing the scene of an accident.)

(3) The sexual revolution is over.  This is a good thing.

(4)  Teen-agers and college students had better cut out the drunken parties, the casual hook-ups, and the culture of debauchery.  This too would be a good thing.  They still need adult supervision.

(5)  You children had better behave.  Because if you don’t, your bad behavior will follow you for the rest of your life.

(6)  Yes, Trump has disrupted the civility of politics.  But he only insults his opponents.  Democrats destroy their lives and drive them out of restaurants.  Have you ever known of a Republican mob that disrupts official hearings with screaming protests, throws Democrats out of movie theaters, refuses to serve them at restaurants, and attacks their homes?  Why is that?

(7)  Those who don’t believe in objective truth cannot be trusted to tell the truth.  Those who believe that truth is nothing more than the imposition of oppressive power are likely to impose oppressive power themselves once they get the chance.

Photo:  “Brett Kavanaugh at his Yale commencement,” provided by the White House [Public domain ], via Wikimedia Commons

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