Callous disregard for victims’ rights

Senate Republicans’ fabricated outrage over the treatment of fratboy Kavanaugh during the vetting process is one of the most insincere theatrical episodes the legislative branch has undertaken during the trainwreck that is the Trump era. And that’s saying a lot. Their handling of the accusations levied by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and other women in Kavanaugh’s social sphere decades ago sets a chilling tone of callous disregard for victims’ rights.

We know from watching the confirmation hearings that Kavanaugh is far from Supreme Court material. There, he dodged questions, vocalized conspiracy theories involving Bill and Hillary Clinton, and quarreled with those who attempted to determine if he is a serial drinker and would-be rapist. Indeed, Brett Kavanaugh showed us exactly who he is: a petty, belligerent, unstable partisan who admittedly has a penchant for alcohol.

Here is a choice quote from his testimony: “This is a circus. The consequences will extend long past my nomination. The consequences will be with us for decades. This grotesque and coordinated character assassination will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from serving our country.

“And as we all know, in the United States’ political system of the early 2000s, what goes around comes around.”

How’s that for a not-so-veiled threat?

Among his many character flaws—the drinking and misogyny, etc.—Kavanaugh is a liar.

In fact, he lied under oath. Several classmates, also Republicans, have contradicted his testimony that he never drank to the point of blacking out. They also contradicted Kavanaugh’s testimony about the crude and sexist passages he penned for his yearbook entry. Moreover, he lied under oath about how he learned about the sexual misconduct allegations—he testified he’d read about them in a news story, but it’s been revealed he began to try to discredit his alleged victims months prior to the confirmation hearings.

The Senate’s efforts to jam through the embattled, ultra-conservative Kavanaugh—in spite of a mound of questions as to his fitness—are demonstrative of just how out of touch the predominately white, aged, male senators are with everyday America. Many of the aforementioned pols are part of a dying breed clinging to the last vestiges of their prominence and power. The price to the republic be damned.

In this case, the cost is the legitimacy of the nation’s highest court. It is marred for the foreseeable future.