I Say Rename the GOP the GOB

I Say Rename the GOP the GOB September 23, 2018

I am not a Democrat. I have voted almost all Republican all of my life. But I have blogged lately about how upset I am about how the Republican Party in recent years has changed for the worse, in my opinion. It is not only Donald Trump–he is a symptom.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is about to vote on President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the empty seat on the Supreme Court. This is a really important decision that could tilt the court to one side of the political partisan divide that our nation is suffering, and it could last for a long time.

But something has arisen lately that potentially jeopardizes Judge Kavanaugh’s appointment. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford claims that when her and Brett Kavanaugh were in high school at a house party, Kavanaugh pushed her into a bedroom, locked the door, shoved her onto a bed, and attempted to rape her, even putting his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream. Kavavaugh’s high school friend, Mike Judge, was with them. It supposedly occurred almost 40 years ago.

It appears that Mrs. Ford has nothing to gain in making this accusation, so that it seems she is doing it as she says–due to her conscience. And she has told multiple friends about it over the years, and how it has negatively affected her, but without revealing who was the perpetrator. I agree with her and many people learning of this, that if Kavanaugh did do this, even though he was 17 years old and drunk, he should not be on the Supreme Court. Witnesses could be called for the Committee hearing. Rather, they should be called. If not, the male Republican members are at fault.

Dr. Ford is now a professor of psychology in California and a married woman with children. She admits to being a Democrat voter. She has never publicly come forward and made this accusation until now. She first sent a letter about it this year to Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein, who is on the Committee. Dr. Ford said in her letter she was struggling with this matter and that she preferred to remain anonymous about it if the letter was made known.  But the media found out about the matter and published it. Mrs. Ford has now agreed to testify in a hearing before the Committee about it, with Kavanaugh testifying as well.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is head of the Judiciary Committee. He is trying to get this hearing over with and done soon. He rejected Dr. Ford’s request for an FBI investigation of the matter prior to a hearing. She has agreed to testify, nevertheless. Both Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Senator Orin Hatch, who I have met, have recently made deplorable statements about this, in my opinion.

Republican majority leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, recently spoke publicly to Republican members of Congress, saying forcefully that Kavanaugh will “soon” become a Supreme Court Justice. Pitiful! He cares nothing about the woman’s accusation. The Committee has a majority of Republicans, and all of them are male. This is looking like the Clarence Thomas v. Anita Hill debacle in 1991, in which she accused him of sexual harrassment, yet the Senate Judiciary Committee mistreated Hill in her testimony and approved of Thomas for the Supreme Court.

There are too many hardheaded, old, white guys in Congress. It shouldn’t be this way. When a man ages, he should become wiser. It doesn’t look like that is happening in Congress, at least in the Republican Party. The number of women in Congress has been increasing in recent years. That needs to continue. I think the GOP for the Grand Old Party should be renamed the GOB for the Good Old Boys. To me, there’s not much grand left in it anymore.


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