Please take 15 minutes to watch Senator Amy Klobuchar (Dem. MN) provide a clear, straightforward summary of the important issues at stake in the
contested nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court (watch here).
Yes, the charges of sexual assault are vitally important (see my previous posts here and here), but the Senator also refers to the history of Kavanaugh’s disturbing judicial rulings which have not received anywhere near the attention they deserve.
This is a man who believes that presidents should be exempt from criminal investigation (is this why Trump nominated him despite Senator McConnell’s objections?); supported the use of torture when he was in the George W. Bush administration; endorsed the Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision (allowing unlimited, “dark money” political contributions from corporations); supports the Patriot Act (the single most unconstitutional legislation since the Alien & Sedition Act); the mass, warrantless surveillance of the American public; has been hostile to the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act and anti-discrimination laws; and has consistently sided with corporations and CEOs against workers and workers’ rights in labor disputes.
As distressed as I am concerning the “way” that Judge Kavanaugh is being treated in this situation (i.e. Virtually any allegation of sexual misconduct by a woman is now considered unassailable veracity regardless of proof. (Except in the current case of Keith Ellison)). The silver lining is that Kavanaugh will hopefully be denied a place on the Supreme Court for all of the reasons listed in the commentary above. Judge Kavanaugh is a true authoritarian and an enemy to all freedom loving individuals. We are all being force-fed the Kabuki Theater of the Senate Judiciary Committee and not being told about the Judges support of oppressive centralized government.
Mike, I agree completely with your assessment of the Judiciary Committee and Kavanaugh’s authoritarianism, but you know you are exaggerating in your first point!
My hyperbole was an overly spacious attempt to point out that we should believe evidence, not just gender. I absolutely do not buy into uncorroborated allegations being tried in the court of public opinion, which is where we are in the Kavanaugh nomination.
“He said, she said”, where the default simply goes to the one who supposedly “has the least to lose” opens the door to far too many areas of abuse and outright lies.The presumption of innocence has to apply to all, even to a statist such as Brett Kavanaugh.