Dirty Politics

            Ford vs. Kavanaugh.  It is not be a case being argued before the Supreme Court, but it may as well be for all the attention it is getting and for the lasting impact it will have on future nominations to the Supreme Court. In the process, Ford vs. Kavanaugh will have established new benchmarks for incivility, political weaponry, and utter disregard for judicial principles, such as the presumption of innocence and preponderance of evidence. It will also have set a new low for dirty politics.

            There is no question in my mind that Christine Blasey Ford is telling the truth when she says she was assaulted at a party when she was 15 years old. But I do question the clarity of her recollection after the passage of 36 years. How sure is she now that Brett Kavanaugh was her assailant, given the judge’s categorical denial and the contradictory statements by others who were supposedly in the room at the time? If, as she has said, alcohol was a factor in the conduct of her assailant, could it also have been a factor affecting her recall? Given her initial reluctance to testify under oath and given demands by her attorney to shield her from harsh interrogation, is there something she is afraid of revealing during questioning on these points?

            There is another gaping hole in this affair, and it has to do with Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. I’m not so much troubled by senators Hirono and Gillibrand pronouncing Judge Kavanaugh necessarily guilty because he is a man and his accuser is a woman; I think fair-minded people can see through their bias. But I am troubled by Senator Feinstein’s introduction of Dr. Ford’s allegations at the last minute, and especially by her refusal to give a copy of Dr. Ford’s letter to Chairman Grassley.* Is she so bent on destroying Judge Kavanaugh that she would withhold exculpatory evidence?

            If Judge Kavanaugh is guilty, his nomination should be withdrawn. But if he is prevented from taking his seat on the Supreme Court as the result of an uncorroborated accusation by one woman based on her fuzzy recollection of what happened 36 years ago, judicial fairness will have been turned on its head. Democrats will have found the way to prevent the accession of any conservative to the Court. Dirty politics will have won. America will have lost.

* As of this writing, only portions of the letter have been made public by the Washington Post and CNN. The full text has not.