Rush to Judgment

What’s the Rush?

Do it Right this Time

What’s the rush to hold a vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the United States Supreme Court?

The Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled a hearing on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s

 accusations of sexual assault against the nominee for this coming Monday. Dr. Ford’s requested a short delay and rules to ensure a fair hearing and her safety. Grassley already rejected her request for an FBI investigation into her allegations but has offered to have the hearing next Wednesday with questioning to be conducted by an independent lawyer. Dr. Ford is still considering this offer. Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley seems hell bent on getting the distraction caused by Dr. Ford over with so his committee can vote to confirm Kavanaugh’s nomination and pass it on to the full Senate. 

This is no longer 1991 when Prof. Anita Hill leveled sexual misconduct accusations against another Supreme Court nominee, Clarence Thomas. Hill’s appearance before the same committee in that year played out on TV and showed the nation what little regard the male Senators had for issues of sexual violence against women. Some of the same Senators who dismissed Prof. Hill then still sit on the Judiciary Committee today and we will soon learn if they have made any progress on women’s issues in the decades that have passed. 

Dr. Ford’s life has already been turned upside down after she revealed her claims publicly in an interview with the Washington Post. She has received death threats, had her email hacked and had to leave her home for the safety of her family. She has every reason to request an independent investigation into her allegations so that there is more than a “she said, he said” record before the Committee hearing. While Kavanaugh’s original FBI background check has been completed, all President Trump has to do is ask that it be re-opened to include Dr. Ford’s claims. So far, Trump has failed to make that request.

Prof. Hill correctly pointed out in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Tuesday that the Senate lacks any kind of protocol for handling claims like those she and Dr. Ford have made. She suggests the outline for one that makes a lot of sense and would take much of the partisanship out of the process.

Prof. Hill suggests that Senators make both claims of sexual violence and the integrity of the judiciary priorities and craft rules that acknowledge the importance of both. Next, she proposes that a neutral body, well versed in sexual violence cases, be tasked with investigating the claims and issuing a report for the Committee to use when it develops questions for a fact-finding hearing. The Committee should also rely upon advice from experts in the field of sexual violence as the hearing unfolds to avoid many of the myths often raised to counter women’s claims, like the “failure to report, therefore she’s lying” claim Trump made Friday. Hill joins the voices calling for a delay in the fact-finding hearing so that a proper investigation of Ford’s claims can be conducted. Finally, Prof. Hill suggests calling Dr. Ford by her name and not referring to her as an accuser or other loaded terms. 

Unfortunately, Prof. Hill’s suggestions are likely to fall on the tone-deaf ears of highly partisan Senators who need Judge Kavanaugh confirmed before the Supreme Court’s new term begins on the first Monday in October, not to mention the mid-term elections that take place a little over a month later. The shaky GOP Congress does not want a slew of 4-4 votes from the Court when a clear 5-4 majority is close at hand. 

There are substantial downsides for the GOP rush to confirmation looming as well. Confirming Kavanaugh’s nomination without holding a meaningful investigation and a fair fact-finding hearing on Dr. Ford’s claims will further alienate suburban women who are already jumping from the GOP ship in droves over Trump’s treatment of women. If the male-dominated Senate pushes Dr. Ford aside, many of those up for re-election in the up-coming mid-terms will not fare well in the backlash.

The #MeToo movement and the passage of time since Prof. Hill was raked over the coals must have had some impact on those in the Senate with any compassion for women who have suffered from sexual violence. Hopefully, Senators Collins and Murkowski will join with Sen. Jeff Flake and slow the train by voting “no” if Kavanaugh’s nomination comes up for a speedy confirmation vote in the full Senate. The ten democratic Senators facing re-election in states that Trump won will have to stand strong as well. A dismissive treatment of Dr. Ford’s claims will make that an easier vote for them all. 

We have reached a pivotal moment in our history. We will soon see how those we elected to represent us choose to treat women’s claims of sexual violence by the prominent and important. They need to start taking women seriously. 

Trump Must Go

The President Must Resign

The hijacking of our democracy continues. Alarm bells ring loudly, but none in the corridors of power with the power to stop it seem to be paying attention. What will it take for those who can bring the madness to a peaceful conclusion to take decisive action?

This week one of the nation’s most respected and trusted journalists published a book on the failings of the Trump presidency only to be ridiculed and dismissed by Trump and his minions. This week one of the most trusted and respected newspapers in America published an anonymous op-ed piece that revealed serious resistance to Trump’s presidency inside the White House at the highest levels only to be called “gutless” by Trump. This week Trump’s nominee to fill a vacancy on the United States Supreme Court refused to answer basic questions from United States Senators charged with vetting his qualifications in advance of a confirmation vote. At the same time, the White House withheld tens of thousands of documents related to the nominee’s background and views from those who need them in order to do their work effectively. 

First, there was Bob Woodward’s book, “Fear: In the Trump White House.” Woodward was part of the team that broke the Watergate burglary and cover-up story at the Washington Post that helped end the Nixon presidency. His reputation since has been beyond reproach. His writings then and up to the present were and are always backed up by recorded interviews with multiple sources who have first-hand knowledge of the matters discussed. He follows up all of the leads and resolves the conflicts between different perspectives of the same event. His work is always documented and vetted. If Woodward makes a claim or puts a statement in quotes, he can back it up with ease when challenged. 

Woodward’s book has been excerpted from advance copies to other media outlets and many of his more telling descriptions of the Trump presidency should raise serious concerns and questions, especially for the members of the GOP in Congress who support the Trump presidency. Woodward’s reporting shows a White House run by fear and a president out of control. These GOP members, many of whom are up for re-election in the coming mid-term elections, stand with Trump at their peril.

On Wednesday, the New York Times took the highly unusual step of publishing an anonymous op-ed piece by a senior Trump White House staff person. The Times’ editors know the writer’s identity and must have believed what their source provided or they would not have published it, at least without attribution. The writer disclosed the existence of a “soft resistance” in the White House staff and, apparently, in the President’s own cabinet, that actively works against the worst of Trump’s ideas and plans. Trump is variously described as morally and politically adrift, issuing contradictory demands and proclamations while favoring America’s enemies over long standing allies and unable to look beyond his own selfish goals to see what the people of America need. The discussions of what this “resistance” should do to protect the country included consideration of the provisions of the 25^th Amendment to the United States Constitution that make it possible for the Vice-President and a majority of the cabinet to declare the President unable to perform the duties of his office and have the him removed from power. Never before in our nation’s history has there been such an active resistance within the White House against a sitting president.

Finally, we have the three-ring circus of the confirmation hearing for D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the seat on the Supreme Court vacated under questionable circumstances by Justice Anthony Kennedy. Here we see the partisan gridlock in full bloom. The republicans have the votes to confirm Judge Kavanaugh by the slimmest of margins. To keep their members in line, the leadership ramrodded the scheduling of the confirmation hearings before much of the Judge’s record could be examined. The White House invoked a claim of Executive Privilege and refused to release over 100,000 pages of documents related to Kavanaugh’s work in the Bush White House. The night before the hearing, the White House delivered 40,000 pages of Kavanaugh related documents to Congress, leaving no time for review or analysis before the hearing began. No previous Supreme Court nominee has had his or her record stonewalled like that. 

Even if one is compelled to forget all of the other atrocities committed by this President during his short tenure in the Oval Office, the events of this week alone should be enough to compel Americans of conscience to rise up and demand the President’s resignation.