As we all know, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is being accused of sexual assault in an incident that occurred in 1982 when both he and the accuser were in high school. Hearings about the allegation are scheduled for this week. Kavanaugh vociferously denies the allegation. Now, word has emerged about another alleged incident from his freshman year at Yale. I have 3 questions about all this.
How much of this is about the President? I’m convinced that there are some people who will treat every word and action that President Trump is involved with as proof that he is the most evil human being that ever walked the Earth, and any decent human being would join them in their hatred. If Mother Teresa were to be raised from the dead and offered any job by Trump, these people would find a way to call Mother Teresa the embodiment of evil. Anyone connected with him in any way must be as evil as he is, they reason, and cannot be approved to any position. I believe that if any other President had nominated Kavanaugh, not much of this opposition would be present.
Why is this coming up now? Kavanaugh was nominated in January. The first allegation surfaced in September. That does not pass the smell test. If this came out in February, that would have carried a lot more weight for me. If what she says is true, and she was traumatized by memories once she heard he was nominated for the Supreme Court, and took several weeks to compose herself, contemplate and seek counsel, and then came forward, I’ll be sitting up straighter and wanting to hear more. But waiting 8 months, until just a few days before the judiciary committee is to vote whether to send the nomination to the full Senate, and then to demand to be the one to set the terms of her testimony, reeks of someone who is chasing fame and money. There is plenty of room for speculation that politicians, seeking political gain, has spent time recruiting this woman to be a player in their end game of Defeat Trump. I’ll be following the story, and want to hear what she has to say and what Kavanaugh has to say in response. I want the truth to win, not any one person or political party. I just believe there is reason to be suspicious of the allegations.
How does this affect the qualifications? Let’s just say that both Mrs. Ford’s allegation, and the one that just surfaced that he exposed himself to another lady at a party when he was a freshman at Yale, are 100% accurate. Would these events render him unqualified to serve on the Supreme Court? I’m not sure that they would. Both events are alleged to have occurred at parties, with alcohol involved, with all persons being teenagers. Is it possible that if he is guilty, that he is not the same person he was in 1982 and 1983? I would hope everyone that was a teenager in the 1980s is a different person in 2018. Science has found that the portion of the brain that controls impulses doesn’t fully mature until about age 25. Males up to that age are usually fixated on sex and other physical pleasures and activities like drinking. Rarely is a male 25 or younger in possession of the maturity that is necessary to accomplish much of anything. Beyond age 25, life usually happens. A guy figures out that partying and sleeping with as many women as possible does nothing to pay for the place to live, the car or that dadgum student loan note. He figures out that he has to be reliable and professional to make a living. He has to make a living to pay the bills. Once he figures that out, it dawns on him that women aren’t sex toys, but are people just like him and they deserve respect. Then he can attract one enough to get married. Then they have kids. Now he has a family to take care of and be responsible for, and all that stuff that was going on between 18 and 25 has no priority in his life. Sure, he can have his guy friends, and they can get together for drinks and sporting events and he can still have a good time, but he has to man up and take care of his responsibilities. Could that have possibly happened to Brett Kavanaugh?
Those that see the world through blue glasses (hard-core Democrats) will say no. They will say that if Kavanaugh did these things, that is proof that he has no regard for women, that he will make decisions on the high court that are hostile to women, because he does not value them or care about them, that he must be defined by these activities that took place in his teenage years, and if they are honest, will admit that they oppose Kavanaugh if for no other reason than Trump nominated him. Those who see the world through red glasses (hard-core Republicans) will say yes, he’s not the same person, and if they are honest, will admit that they support Kavanaugh if for no other reason than Trump nominated him.
And the rest of us, who are smart enough to be Libertarians, will ask, can we concentrate on his education and judicial record and vote on silly things, like, is he qualified to serve on the Supreme Court?
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