The full force of the Democratic Party has been deployed in a last-minute smear campaign to prevent the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
First, there was Christine Blasey Ford. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) had been holding her ace in the hole since July: A letter from Ford that claims Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her 36 years ago at a high school party. And though she’d had it for months, Feinstein conveniently chose to release it last week, a few days before Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
The problem? Ford can’t remember much more than that. She doesn’t remember the year, or her age, the location of the party, or how she got there. She told nobody at the time, and all four people she identified as being present at the party have denied being there (including her lifelong friend Leland Ingham Keyser, who both denies attending the party and knowing Kavanaugh altogether). Her various accounts even contradict themselves, identifying different numbers of people at the party.
When asked to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ford, a California resident, demanded in a letter to Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) permission to drive across the country rather than fly. She also required that in any hearing, Kavanaugh — the defendant — must testify first. If this sounds more like the plot of a Franz Kafka novel than a serious attempt to unearth the truth, that’s because it is.
As for Ford herself, she is a college professor, an outspoken Democrat, and an anti-Trump marcher.
Does this claim, made with absolutely no corroborating evidence on the eve of Kavanaugh’s confirmation, seem credible? Is this all it takes to stall the confirmation process of the nation’s highest court?
Kavanaugh has “categorically and unequivocally” denied the accusations multiple times. His response has always been the same: “I have never sexually assaulted anyone — not in high school, not in college, not ever.” His friend Mark Judge, the other alleged participant, has also denied the allegation.
But it doesn’t end there. Deborah Ramirez, after six days of “assessing her memories” and consulting with attorneys, came forward with a new accusation: She claims she was another victim of Kavanaugh’s aggressions at Yale Law School. Her story is also baseless — by her own admission, she wasn’t even sure it was Kavanaugh who did it. And, like Ford, she has no witnesses to corroborate her account.
And lastly, Michael Avenatti, lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels and outspoken member of the “Resistance,” has released a “sworn declaration” from a client, Julie Swetnick, that claims Kavanaugh was part of a gang rape in the early 1980s.
This claim is the most fantastical of them all. Swetnick graduated three years before Kavanaugh: Why did a college-aged woman attend 10 high school parties over a period of three years, especially if she knew there were gang rapes happening? Why didn’t she do anything about it? And why has nobody else made this claim?
Each accusation grows more ridiculous than the last. To sober minds, this reeks of desperation.
But in the eyes of the Democratic Party, this is more than enough evidence to delay the vote until after the midterm elections, when they hope to retake the Senate and permanently shelve Kavanaugh.
Remember, this is not the Democratic Party’s first attempt to delay Kavanaugh’s confirmation. From the circus-show interruptions during Kavanaugh’s initial hearings to Cory Booker’s “Spartacus moment” gaffe, Democrats have shown increasing desperation to prevent Kavanaugh from reaching the Supreme Court.
But why the hysteria?
Democrats are terrified the Supreme Court will reject their understanding of the Constitution as a hopelessly outdated, infinitely malleable document stained by a history of racism, sexism, and bigotry.
If Kavanaugh takes Justice Anthony Kennedy’s swing seat, Democrats’ central idea that the Constitution is a “living document” will be in jeopardy. And without this reasoning, the Supreme Court might no longer read “new rights” into the Constitution.
Consider some of the biggest triumphs of the left today: Abortion, gay marriage, and racial preferences. The people approved none of these through elected representatives. Instead, courts imposed them.
Because in the left’s formulation, these “rights” were really hidden in the Founders’ Constitution all along! Or is the Constitution outdated and irrelevant to the modern era? Which one is it?
The justification itself doesn’t seem to matter, so long as the end result is the enacting of the liberal political agenda.
The Democrats will resort to any absurdity to keep Kavanaugh off the court. The Republicans don’t seem to be backing down.
Regardless of what happens at the testimony, the aftermath won’t be pretty.
Garrison Grisedale is a George Washington Fellow and a senior studying politics.
