I am on record as disliking the pick of Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. I am on record as finding Professor Ford’s hearing testimony believable. I firmly believe Kavanaugh intentionally lied multiple times during his hearing.
I will also not condemn the Republicans if they confirm him next week, should no further damaging testimony or evidence be found by the FBI investigation.
My problem with the way the Republicans have handled this has been the rush to get him seated, bypassing valid concerns which have been raised. It’s not that his character is poor, as I believe it is. It is not that I distrust his judgement, although I do. Those are reasons I don’t want him on the court. I didn’t want Sotomayor or Kagan on the court, either, for similar reasons. They were seated anyway, because it’s a Constitutional function of the Presidency, with the consent of Congress. Were I President, Kavanaugh would not have been nominated. It’s up to Americans to choose better Presidents.
I recognize that my judgement, while generally good, is not always perfect. I did not believe any of the allegations against Bill Cosby, for example, when they first arose. As with most people, I’m inclined toward people I find pleasant and against those I find unpleasant. If I were in the Senate, I would have more access to information and I would expect to pore over the available facts before rendering my decision. I am not in the Senate.
Aside: Considering that the overwhelming majority of the Senate signaled their decisions about Kavanaugh well in advance of the hearings, I believe it’s up to Americans to choose better Senators, too.
I greatly dislike the efforts of the Republicans to push Kavanaugh through… especially because it seems the most likely reason for that is to get him onto the court immediately, where there is a case which could affect Trump’s ability to pardon criminals who have been convicted on State charges in addition to Federal ones. It smacks of not just cheap politics but open corruption on the part of Republican Senators.
Ultimately, though, the Kavanaugh confirmation should rely on two things: the facts determined by the FBI and the honor of the Senators.
The FBI agents are only given a week, but the task before them is fairly small in scope. They have experts in exactly this sort of investigation. If there is no interference, I trust they will do a proper job.
As far as the honor of the Senators goes, as I stated above, I believe Kavanaugh repeatedly lied during the hearing and I believe his demeanor was inappropriate. There are others who watched the same hearing and honestly came away with a diametrically opposed view of his demeanor and who are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as using terms for which he does not understand the meanings. It is on the individual Senators to make their determinations of what they believe. If their constituents don’t believe them, the Senators should be voted out.
In any case, we have a process and that process should be followed. I’m upset by the way so many in the Senate seemed to make their determinations of guilt or innocence before any facts had been presented, because they were ignoring the intent of the confirmation process (particularly galling from the group that claims to respect original intent.) This is one more situation in which I am not going to follow their lead.
The FBI hasn’t even had its investigation yet. I’m going to see what comes of it before I make a final decision about Kavanaugh, Ford, or any of the other players in this drama.
