Brett Kavanaugh…my take.
I am not a student of politics. I enjoy reading articles and watching programs about things that go on in our government, but I get annoyed at MSNBC and FOX News for being so one-sided. I get annoyed at both sides for blindly making decisions and statements based solely on the platform of their chosen party. I truly try to stay quiet, especially if I don’t feel educated enough on a subject to speak on it intelligently.
All that was nothing but a little personal backstory.
This is why I’m stepping outside of all of that. The Kavanaugh thing is bugging the shit out of me. I just don’t get it. I don’t get the rush. I don’t get the politics. I don’t get the lack of basic due process. Mostly though, I don’t get why it must be Kavanaugh. Seriously…why Kavanaugh?
There are dozens, if not scores, if not hundreds, if not thousands of judges who are fundamentally Republican with great records, who would love the opportunity to serve on the highest bench in our country. I personally don’t know why anyone would put themselves through the process, but I assume its worth it to them.
So why Kavanaugh?
I’ve looked for reasons, and there are a lot. I get why he was on the list of potential nominees President Trump chose from. He has a solid record, he is a solid Republican, he has experience in public, private, and government positions. He was a good candidate.
Then we found out he allegedly assaulted a woman. Then more than one woman. Then we found out he struggles controlling his emotions. Then we heard him defiantly turn questions from the committee around and act like a belligerent child.
Then came the excuses and retaliations. “That was 40 years ago,” “She isn’t credible,” “They’re trying to ruin the reputation of a great man,” the list goes on and on and on.
So I wonder; is there an amount of time we should set for a person who is assaulted to be able to speak up? Is there list of jobs, positions, or titles that trump any sort of negative accusation? Is that what we need to explain to all of the women in our country, way too many of whom are currently sitting silently on an experience of their own that they have not yet found the comfort to speak up about?
Why don’t we listen to his drinking buddies who say he lied under oath? Why don’t we listen to both parts of the alleged victim’s best friend who said while she doesn’t remember the night, believes 100% that it happened? Why don’t we listen to his roommate at Yale who says Kavanagh knows full well that a devil’s triangle is no drinking game?
Why don’t we take another look at some of the other candidates who I feel very certain would have been ‘perfect’ candidates to those who now love Kavanaugh if they would have originally been nominated in his stead.
Like Joan Larsen from Michigan. She once clerked for Justice Scalia. Her anti-gay rulings in the past are bullshit, but she’s never been accused of sexual assault.
How about Thomas Hardiman who was recommended by President Trump’s sister. He ruled that asylum-seekers could be deported while awaiting hearing to challenge their removal and pursue citizenship, but he’s never been accused of sexual assault or lying under oath before a Senate committee.
There’s also Amy Coney Barrett, a 15-year professor of Fighting Irish law students at Notre Dame. She once said that Catholic judges like herself should potentially recuse themselves from death penalty hearings and has been criticized for being too easily swayed by religious aspects of a case, but she hasn’t been accused of sexual assault, accused of lying under oath before a Senate committee, or thrown an emotional temper tantrum at a hearing.
Is Kavanaugh somehow too something (I don’t know what it could be) to be fully investigated?
I don’t know the answer to that, or to these questions.
Instead of Brett Kavanaugh, why not one of the other candidates who despite having annoying partisan pasts, don’t pose the threat to what we want for all citizens of our country. To want and expect safe treatment when they decide to speak up against people who wrong them, assault them, rape them, control them, blackmail them, or any other unfair treatment.
All that said, if Kavanaugh has been wrongfully accused, that’s terrible. A full investigation could prove that he was, and if that happened, he should have the right to the SCOTUS position. Since we apparently can’t wait for said investigation he shouldn’t be confirmed. Sucks for him if it’s all a lie, but apparently, we couldn’t wait.
If the right thing happens, and he isn’t confirmed, and he was wrongfully accused, I hope he sues in civil court and buries everyone involved in the accusations. If that is what happened I hope he writes books and has an incredible career making sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.
Unfortunately, though, I think he will likely spend the next 30 years behind the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States. That makes me sad.
