Brett Kavanaugh-Washington's Latest Muppet Show

This article first appeared in New English Review.

Having watched the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings back in the 1990s, I thought the Senate couldn’t sink any lower. When Anita Hill was dragged forth at the last moment, the hearings became a total circus. There were discussions of pubic hairs on coke cans, a porn movie featuring a male actor named “Long Dong Silver”, and other delicacies. Believe it or not, Ted “Chappaquiddick” Kennedy sat on that committee, slouched down in his chair and daring not to say a word until his final tub-thumping statement in which he stated that he believed Anita Hill while slamming Judge Thomas. It was high theater. Even old Strom Thurmond sat there befuddled finally stating in exasperation, “I still don’t know what Long John Silver’s got to do with all this”.

The Kavanaugh hearings are now passing the Thomas hearings in silliness. If Anita Hill was lacking in corroboration for her allegations against Clarence Thomas, Christine Blasey Ford is similarly lacking in corroboration. With this kind of evidence, you couldn’t put a dog in the pound let alone deny Kavanaugh his confirmation. As things stand now, by any measure of American justice and fairness, Kavanaugh must be given the benefit of the doubt.

It’s not that I take sexual assault lightly. I don’t. Nor do I care to go into detail about the allegations of Ford’s sex life as a young girl. I could point out that both she and Anita Hill happen to be liberal college professors, but that is not evidence either. The fact is that I, like just about everybody else on the planet, don’t know what happened or didn’t happen. Either do the clowns in the US Senate who are conducting this Muppet show.

But that doesn’t keep people like Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) from hysterically proclaiming that she believes Ford “because she is telling the truth”. It didn’t keep Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) from saying that all the men in the country should “shut up and step up”.

Then there are the plastic bananas of Hollywood. Silly Joy Behar extended her rhetoric to “white men protecting a probably guilty Kavanaugh” . What does whiteness have to do in this discussion? Similarly, a group of Hollywood b- actresses produced a video telling Ford that they believe her. Even Hillary Clinton, oblivious to the irony of it all, had to weigh in on Ford’s behalf. Remember Hillary was the woman who proclaimed not so long ago that victims of sexual abuse deserved to be believed (except Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broaderick and others who crossed Bill Clinton’s path). When these women were coming forth during the Clinton administration, it was Hillary herself who formed her own goon squad to discredit and shut down the accusers. Remember “nuts and sluts”?

I am not dismissing Ford’s claims out of hand. I also understand the part about how sexual assault victims go years without saying anything about it. Of course she should be afforded the chance to come before the Senate committee and state her case under oath. Let Kavanaugh respond under oath. The committee members and the rest of the Senate can decide whether to vote yea or nay on Kavanaugh. Ms. Ford has been afforded the time on Monday. There should be no negotiating the conditions or delay the hearings any further. The FBI is not going to go back and investigate a 36-year-old sexual assault claim. That is hardly their expertise. It is now up to Senator Charles Grassley, the committee chair, to not let this spin out of control. This should all be decided on one simple point: Is there concrete supporting evidence to back up the charge? If not, it is Judge Kavanaugh – not Ms Ford as the left is proclaiming-who must get the benefit of the doubt. If Ford doesn’t show up Monday, it is time to vote.