The mash up between Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh has produced very strong opinions for and against the claims of each. Our views on the veracity of each are based on our emotional assessments of the testimony of each. Unless the FBI interviews contain new facts, there is no evidence to confirm Prof. Ford’s claim that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her nor evidence to confirm his claim that he didn’t. This is the horrible fact for acts, or alleged acts, with no witnesses (Ford claims Mark Judge witnessed the events she describes but he denies it).
This is the sad situation of “She said—he said” for which there seems no easy remedy. Actual rape generally produces evidence (semen) if promptly reported. But we have come to understand why many women do not promptly report their assaults. Memories and evidence fade with time. The sworn statements of Prof. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh have holes and inconsistencies and you will believe the one you choose, for whatever reasons, to believe. Prof. Ford can’t remember where or when her assault occurred or how as a 15 year old girl she got there or returned home. Her fear of flying didn’t prevent her from doing a lot of it, etc. Judge Kavanaugh’s choirboy depiction of his youth doesn’t square with the police report of a bar brawl he started in college and testimony of roommates and classmates of his hot temper when drunk, etc.
“Democrats, the left, and various other anti-Kavanaugh persons can thank attorney Michael Avenatti for this outcome, at least in part.
“The spotlight-stealing lawyer, who also represented Stormy Daniels, is responsible for drawing the media’s attention to Julie Swetnick, an alleged victim of Kavanaugh who told an inconsistent and unpersuasive story. Swetnick’s wild accusation provided cover for fence-sitting senators to overlook the more plausible allegation leveled by psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford, and to declare that Kavanaugh was being subjected to false smears.” “Brett Kavanaugh-Michael Avenatti Collins”
The sad consequences for the reputations of Ford and Kavanaugh, tragic as they are, are compounded by the despicable behavior of both the Republican and Democrat parties. The refusal of the Republican controlled Senate to confirm President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, was a shocking breach of protocol. “Even before Obama had named Garland, and in fact only hours after Scalia’s death was announced, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared any appointment by the sitting president to be null and void. He said the next Supreme Court justice should be chosen by the next president — to be elected [eight months] later that year.” “What-happened-with-merrick-garland-in-2016”-NPR
The Democrats have behaved as badly: “Sen. Bob Casey and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also announced that they opposed Trump’s pick without knowing whom the president had selected.” “Democrats-race-to-oppose-trumps-scotus-nominee-even-before-name-announced” Senator Feinstein’s withholding of Prof. Ford’s letter accusing Kavanaugh until the last minute was either stupid or malicious.
Sadly we didn’t have much of the debate we should have had about Kavanaugh’s judicial qualifications and judicial philosophy. He is clearly highly qualified as was Judge Garland who as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit headed the same court on which Kavanaugh has sat for the last 12 years. His job, he says, is to fairly interpret and enforce the law, not make it. Is he an originalist or texturalist and what do those mean?
Since 9/11 and The Patriot Act we have lived in a semi surveillance state that violates our constitutional rights to privacy and due process. As an official in the W Bush White House, Kavanaugh helped write the Patriot Act and later as a Federal judge he ruled to uphold parts of it that many of us consider unconstitutional:
“In a ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Kavanaugh ruled that ‘the Government’s metadata collection program is entirely consistent with the Fourth Amendment.’ He also later stated ‘that critical national security need outweighs the impact on privacy occasioned by this program.’ Again, a rather odd conclusion for a staunch ‘constitutionalist’ to support.” https://fee.org/articles/the-constitutional-reasons-to-oppose-kavanaugh-for-the-supreme-court/?utm_campaign=FEE%20Weekly&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=66477479&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–ZykcA0d1RgLgdKULIW6mqsBca_Mo6JDsC32-QU_CuMj4Tjcd7zNZA3lLuA0j1VucrH83ejT1Zrte2fKpGKnJS7qGN6w&_hsmi=66477479
But in most areas of protecting constitutionally protected rights or constitutionally mandated restraints on government, Judge Kavanaugh has been on the side of strict constitutionalism. While constitutional scholars are divided over just what a proper adherence to the constitution in the twenty first century should means, there is almost universal agreement that former justice Antonin Scalia helped sharpen the debate around that question.
The left wing historian and activist Howard Zinn puts the issue of judicial philosophy of SC judges in perspective in the following article. https://progressive.org/op-eds/howard-zinn-despair-supreme-court/
I assumed that he was writing about Judge Kavanaugh. After reading it I was surprise to realize that it had been written thirteen years ago. Mr. Zinn died in 2010.
Britt Kavanaugh’s scrutiny by the Senate has been ugly and painful. The Senate’s abandonment of traditional procedures, with their checks and balances, first by the Democrats and now by the Republicans is shortsighted and regrettable. The lack of deference to the President when consenting to his or her choices for her government is recent and regrettable. But most regrettable of all is the divisive lack of commitment to service to the nation as a whole rather than narrow partisan interests by our congressional representatives and our tweeting President.
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