Kavanaugh Confirmation Clamor

Unless you just don’t watch the news or get it off the internet you are probably aware of who Brett Kavanaugh is. For those “who just tuned in” Mr. Kavanaugh is a former White House Staff Secretary, a Yale Law School graduate and a former United States Circuit Court Judge. Most people had never heard of Mr. Kavanaugh until he was nominated as a candidate for a Supreme Court Justice position by President Donald Trump. The grumbling from the ‘Left”, (liberals and Democrats) began at that point. The Left did not want to have another Justice appointed by President Trump. The so-called “Trump Derangement Syndrome” began to kick in. However, Congressional hearings started on September 4th and it appeared Judge Kavanaugh was on his way to having his appointment vote brought before the United States Senate.

The Denver Post Editorial Board said” Democrats can take the high road. They are vetting (Brett) Kavanaugh with the kind of rigor appropriate for a lifetime appointment. But so far nothing has appeared that would make Kavanaugh unfit for the job.” The appointment seemed to be sailing along.

Then shortly before a Senate Committee vote it was alleged that 30 plus years ago Judge Kavanaugh had pinned a woman down on a bed and depending on the source either fumbled at her clothing or tried to remove her clothing. Where did this accusation come from?

In July, Senator Diane Feinstein received a letter from a Christine Blasey Ford alleging that Kavanaugh had done something to her at a party at an unknown location on an unknown date in the 1980’s. Mrs. Ford was pretty vague on several details of the alleged incident. Reportedly Ford did not want to go public but her name was “leaked”.

Judge Kavanaugh denies any involvement or knowledge of such an incident.

Of course this set off a media frenzy/circus. The Left and many others called for a hearing to question Kavanaugh and his accuser Mrs. Ford.

Some people have called for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate this alleged incident. The FBI does not investigate crimes like attempted rape. They can do background investigations on Supreme Court nominees. However they have done prior background checks on Judge Kavanaugh with no mention of this incident involving Mrs. Ford ever coming to light. As a former police Detective I do not envy any investigator trying to delve into a 36 year old case.

Some other problems with the allegations are that three witnesses named by Ford do not support her allegation. One “witness” named by Ford, Mark Judge, advises he does not recall any such party.

Another denies attending any such party while a Leland Keyser, a longtime friend of Ford’s, states she does not recall the party. If a longtime friend does not support your story I think it makes it hard to believe its credibility. We report you decide.

Another problem with Ford’s allegation is that she did not report it for all these years. When she finally mentioned it in a therapy session in 2012 she did not name Kavanaugh. Only this year after Kavanaugh was named as a nominee and just prior to a Senate Judiciary committee vote did this accusation leak out. We used to have a saying in the Chattanooga Police Department Burglary/Robbery Division that there is no coincidence in crime. Maybe that should be applied to politics as well.

Now before the “me too” movement people pile on me. I think that Mrs. Ford believes something happened to her at a party back in the 1980’s. Or perhaps by some suggestion she has convinced herself something happened and somehow she has involved Mr. Kavanaugh. There have been plenty of cases where people believe things happened to them that actually did not. Again though no witnesses are corroborating Ford’s story.

In Kavanaugh’s defense a letter has circulated signed by 65 women who actually knew him in high school . The letter says in part, “For the entire time we have known Brett Kavanaugh, he has behaved honorably and treated women with respect.” some of the signers were Democrats so it’s not just women on the conservative side who supported Kavanaugh in this letter.

A letter backing Ford soon appeared signed by hundreds of ‘supporters” of Ford. However, it is signed by a mix of peers and students from before or after her time at her school. So many of these people did not even know Ford.

One of the Ford support letter-signers tweeted the alleged attack “was spoken about for days afterward in school” . The supporter, Cristina King Miranda, later said on Facebook that she had no firsthand knowledge of the matter and wouldn’t comment further.

So there is an accusation against a family man who was about to be appointed to the highest court in the land (United States}. His accuser cannot remember when, where or certain other details of the alleged attack. Most of the people Ford places at the incident state they don’t recall it. Some pundits are saying it’s simply “he said, she said”. However, this allegation has besmirched Judge Kavanaugh forever. The timing of this all seems very suspicious. If Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination is defeated or withdrawn it would make it unlikely that a new nominee could be confirmed prior to the November elections.

Only time will tell what will happen to Judge Kavanaugh and this appointment. It appears to me that the accusations by Mrs. Ford will be impossible to substantiate. Will the sheer weight of such an accusation cause Judge Kavanaugh to lose the nomination? Is this just a political move to delay a conservative appointment to the Supreme Court while ignoring the Constitutional right to be considered innocent until proven guilty and besmirching a thus far unblemished reputation? Has our society become so schismatic that one party will achieve their objective “by any means necessary”? Will any nominee become viable if all it takes to stop their nomination is an allegation supported by vague details and few or no witnesses? Perhaps this forebodes divisive political upheaval the likes of which have never been seen here in America. Only time will tell.

Recently there were numerous memorial services conducted on September 11th to remember that horrific day and honor the victims. As I watched them I saw old news footage of how we Americans pulled together united to confront the tragedy. I wondered what happened to that spirit of unity. Sadly I fear to quote the band Seals & Crofts “we may never pass this way again”.

– Mark Haskins