Kavanaugh Circus

I watched the Kavanaugh hearing today.

 I imagined I’d be huddled over my phone trying to get a national radio program to stream since nearly every station was covering it. I was prepared to turn the TV to ESPN the way I do every day at work, and slink into my office to follow the Q&A from the Senate Judicial Committee. My boss told me early on to put the hearing up on the main TV so he could keep track. “Fantastic!” I thought. I get to see it at work and my boss isn’t going to care since he is interested too. So most of it I caught on the screen at work and some of it I caught listening to my phone while in my office. Here are some takeaways for me:

First, the idea that we can determine who is “believable” and who isn’t is a nonsensical idea. Statistics show that people can’t correctly judge guilt or innocence based on our feelings of a person’s character, demeanor, expression or tone. Most of us develop an opinion after watching a performance, it’s like we “must” develop a judgement. Ever watch those real life murder 'whodunnits' on NBC. They play out a disappearance or a murder and present both sides without revealing the verdict at the end? How often do you guess right?   

From what I saw they both seemed believable. That’s a problem because someone is lying.

 Opinion makers and talking heads seem to think it’s possible to believe both parties. That there is no contradiction between Ford’s “positive” ID of the Judge and of the Judge’s denial of the whole affair, is too much for me. I understand the need to be careful about calling either one a liar but one of them is doing it. They say Ford might be remembering someone else who tried to assault her. I doubt it. I think it was either him or she is lying. 

Of course none of us knows what happened but I lean toward believing Kavanaugh because the "witnesses" who were supposedly at the party denied being there. Also, the timing of this whole nasty affair is suspect. Just a few days before the committee was supposed to vote, the Democrats drop this letter on everyone. Feinstein’s office had the letter, written by Ford, for like two months. If  credible allegation of sexual assault pops up about a judge about to be on the Supreme Court, you act on it. She waited, suggesting the Democrats were hoping to spike the nomination a different way. When it didn't work, they went nuclear.

The details are impossible to know, no one confirms Ford's side of the story and a slew of “remembered” incidents suddenly appear in the news after it looks like she might not testify. You know, the slimy gang rape stuff. At least some part of this thing is cooked up by ‘outside’ groups desperate to keep a conservative off the court. I won’t say the entire testimony is a lie, she did seem sincere and I know she didn’t want to do this in front of the Senate, hoping for confidentiality.

The prosecutor who asked questions of Mrs. Ford tried to show possible influence from an outside group by asking who paid the polygraph fees. It wasn’t effective and I don’t know why the Republicans agreed to it.

Here is why Kavanaugh must be confirmed. It can't be this easy to hurl accusations and drag someone’s name through the mud just to squelch an appointment. You must provide evidence under our legal system. If this witch hunt succeeds it gives license for both Republicans and Democrats to rake each other’s candidates over the coals for sport. I’m convinced the only reason it’s been 30 years since the last one of these circus hearings (Clarence Thomas) is because it wasn’t successful. Despite a ruined reputation Thomas was confirmed. 

How can a 36 year old allegation with no witnesses, no date and no place be the basis for any investigation?  For all the hand wringing from the Democrats about the lack of an FBI investigation, what do they expect the bureau to investigate? This was a stall tactic all along. Lindsey Graham said it best in one of his finer moments, drag out the hearing until after the election and hopefully pick up enough seats to vote the judge down.

The last question of Kavanaugh, from Kennedy (LA), was the most appropriate of the entire hearing. He asked the judge if he believed in God, and if so this was his chance to tell it before “God and country”. It’s appropriate because it’s a reminder that God is the ultimate judge of our souls. 

It could be that Kavanaugh is a calculating liar that doesn’t believe in God anyway. It could also be that Christine Blasey Ford created the whole story with help from groups to create just enough doubt to force Trump to pull the nomination.Only God knows.