Peter Lemiska
Republicans must not cower in the face of Democratic treachery
By Peter Lemiska
From the very beginning, Democratic lawmakers made it clear they intended to oppose Judge Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court. Deeply enmeshed in the resistance movement and anti-Trump hysteria, the rationale for their opposition is clear. Kavanaugh is a conservative judge, nominated by a president they revile. Their desperation to derail his nomination was made apparent during the recent chaotic confirmation hearings.
Nothing was disclosed during those hearings that disqualified Judge Kavanaugh, and to the contrary, objective viewers perceived him as an eminently qualified nominee, of the highest moral character.
But desperate Democrats are a resourceful lot, and if they couldn't stop Kavanaugh through the normal political process maybe they could tarnish his reputation, brand him as unsuitable for the Supreme Court. So after the hearings had ended, and Judge Kavanaugh was well on his way to become Justice Kavanaugh, Democrats triumphantly produced what they saw as the silver bullet. It was a letter that Senator Dianne Feinstein had been secretly holding for several weeks. In it, a constituent, Christine Blasey Ford, a California college professor, alleged that she was sexually molested 36 years ago by a drunken Brett Kavanaugh during a high school party. It's an allegation vehemently denied by Judge Kavanaugh.
Democrats are calling it a "sexual assault," but that term trivializes the countless women brutalized by true predators. It draws no distinction, for instance, between this allegation and the alleged violent rape of Juanita Broaddrick, perpetrated by Bill Clinton, an allegation Democrats have always chosen to ignore.
Now, based solely on the vague account of Dr. Ford, they've already indicted and convicted Kavanaugh of a heinous crime. At the same time, they're demanding that the FBI thoroughly investigate a drunken incident that supposedly happened sometime in 1982, an incident that was never even reported to local authorities. There are no records to review, and there is no evidence to collect. There is only the fragmented recollection of the accuser, one who undoubtedly shares the same deep commitments as those Democratic senators, and who felt "compelled as a citizen" to report this decades-old incident, regardless of the consequences. It seems she's experiencing her own "I am Spartacus" moment.
But an FBI investigation will change nothing. Additional testimony will change nothing. We simply don't know if this incident happened the way Christine Ford reported it, or if it happened at all. And there's one other thing to consider. Democrats, and all those who subscribe to the lynch-mob mentality of the Me Too movement, all those who believe every word Dr. Ford says should at least acknowledge one simple truth: No successful adult professional is the same person they were in adolescence. The 15 year-old girl partying with drunken high school seniors has grown into a responsible wife, mother, and college professor, just as the 17 year old boy she now accuses of molesting her has become a beloved husband and responsible father, and a respectable judge, without a hint of moral turpitude, even after six FBI background investigations.
This is not the first time Democrats have tried to use scurrilous accusations against political opponents. In 2012, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the floor and made this outlandish claim about presidential candidate Mitt Romney, "The word's out that he hasn't paid any taxes for ten years. Let him prove that he has paid taxes." Reid was proud of his bald-faced lie, and when asked about it later, he responded with a smirk, "Romney didn't win, did he?" In another interview, Reid was asked if there was any line he would not cross in political warfare. His response, "I don't know what that line would be."
We don't know if today's Democrats learned from Harry Reid, or if deception just comes naturally to them. Regardless, they're still using innuendo, lies, and smear tactics to malign the reputations of political opponents and achieve their political goals. That is what this is all about.
Still, Republicans can't ignore Christine Ford in the same way Democrats ignored Juanita Broaddrick. They have offered her the forum that Broaddrick never had. They've given her every reasonable opportunity to tell the story she never told 36 years ago. It won't make any difference to Democrats. They have already decided how they will vote.
As for Republicans, nothing Christine Ford says can change one inescapable fact: We will simply never know if her account is embellished or distorted, or if the incident ever even happened. Republicans now have a slim majority in the senate, a solid Supreme Court nominee, a mandate by the people who elected President Trump, and the best opportunity to correct the liberal slant of the Court. They only need the moral courage to stand up to the treachery of the Democratic Party and confirm Judge Kavanaugh without delay.
© Peter Lemiska
September 21, 2018
From the very beginning, Democratic lawmakers made it clear they intended to oppose Judge Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court. Deeply enmeshed in the resistance movement and anti-Trump hysteria, the rationale for their opposition is clear. Kavanaugh is a conservative judge, nominated by a president they revile. Their desperation to derail his nomination was made apparent during the recent chaotic confirmation hearings.
Nothing was disclosed during those hearings that disqualified Judge Kavanaugh, and to the contrary, objective viewers perceived him as an eminently qualified nominee, of the highest moral character.
But desperate Democrats are a resourceful lot, and if they couldn't stop Kavanaugh through the normal political process maybe they could tarnish his reputation, brand him as unsuitable for the Supreme Court. So after the hearings had ended, and Judge Kavanaugh was well on his way to become Justice Kavanaugh, Democrats triumphantly produced what they saw as the silver bullet. It was a letter that Senator Dianne Feinstein had been secretly holding for several weeks. In it, a constituent, Christine Blasey Ford, a California college professor, alleged that she was sexually molested 36 years ago by a drunken Brett Kavanaugh during a high school party. It's an allegation vehemently denied by Judge Kavanaugh.
Democrats are calling it a "sexual assault," but that term trivializes the countless women brutalized by true predators. It draws no distinction, for instance, between this allegation and the alleged violent rape of Juanita Broaddrick, perpetrated by Bill Clinton, an allegation Democrats have always chosen to ignore.
Now, based solely on the vague account of Dr. Ford, they've already indicted and convicted Kavanaugh of a heinous crime. At the same time, they're demanding that the FBI thoroughly investigate a drunken incident that supposedly happened sometime in 1982, an incident that was never even reported to local authorities. There are no records to review, and there is no evidence to collect. There is only the fragmented recollection of the accuser, one who undoubtedly shares the same deep commitments as those Democratic senators, and who felt "compelled as a citizen" to report this decades-old incident, regardless of the consequences. It seems she's experiencing her own "I am Spartacus" moment.
But an FBI investigation will change nothing. Additional testimony will change nothing. We simply don't know if this incident happened the way Christine Ford reported it, or if it happened at all. And there's one other thing to consider. Democrats, and all those who subscribe to the lynch-mob mentality of the Me Too movement, all those who believe every word Dr. Ford says should at least acknowledge one simple truth: No successful adult professional is the same person they were in adolescence. The 15 year-old girl partying with drunken high school seniors has grown into a responsible wife, mother, and college professor, just as the 17 year old boy she now accuses of molesting her has become a beloved husband and responsible father, and a respectable judge, without a hint of moral turpitude, even after six FBI background investigations.
This is not the first time Democrats have tried to use scurrilous accusations against political opponents. In 2012, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the floor and made this outlandish claim about presidential candidate Mitt Romney, "The word's out that he hasn't paid any taxes for ten years. Let him prove that he has paid taxes." Reid was proud of his bald-faced lie, and when asked about it later, he responded with a smirk, "Romney didn't win, did he?" In another interview, Reid was asked if there was any line he would not cross in political warfare. His response, "I don't know what that line would be."
We don't know if today's Democrats learned from Harry Reid, or if deception just comes naturally to them. Regardless, they're still using innuendo, lies, and smear tactics to malign the reputations of political opponents and achieve their political goals. That is what this is all about.
Still, Republicans can't ignore Christine Ford in the same way Democrats ignored Juanita Broaddrick. They have offered her the forum that Broaddrick never had. They've given her every reasonable opportunity to tell the story she never told 36 years ago. It won't make any difference to Democrats. They have already decided how they will vote.
As for Republicans, nothing Christine Ford says can change one inescapable fact: We will simply never know if her account is embellished or distorted, or if the incident ever even happened. Republicans now have a slim majority in the senate, a solid Supreme Court nominee, a mandate by the people who elected President Trump, and the best opportunity to correct the liberal slant of the Court. They only need the moral courage to stand up to the treachery of the Democratic Party and confirm Judge Kavanaugh without delay.
© Peter Lemiska
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