Kavanaugh Confirmation is Another #MeToo Moment

Reporting of sexual abuse by prominent members of society has been on the rise for quite a while having reached from the Catholic Church most recently in Pennsylvania, to Hollywood especially Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein, to the halls of Congress including Democrat Anthony Weiner and Texas Republicans Blake Farenthold and Joe Barton. The man in the White House has been repeatedly accused of sexual assaults and on occasion has paid substantial out of court settlements to silence his accusers. Now we have a Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, who is being accused of sexual assault by three separate women.

The charges against Catholic priests in many cases go back decades and stem as much from the coverups as the original crimes. Weinstein and Cosby got away with their crimes for decades by using the power of their positions to deter accusations. Kavanaugh supporters claim disbelief because the assaults weren’t reported at the time of occurrence. The same supporters also question the accusers veracity claiming suspicions that they are making the accusations for political reasons.

Most research shows that between 70% and 80% of sexual assaults go unreported for one reason or another. The accusations against Kavanaugh go back 30 plus years just like the accusations against Cosby for which he was recently sentenced to 3 to 10 years in jail showing that the number of years since the crime doesn’t matter. It appears that there are several reasons that the three brave women have suddenly spoken up about their experiences at the hands of Kavanaugh, the #MeToo movement that began with the downfall of Harvey Weinstein not least among them. Another likely reason is that the first Kavanaugh accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, saw that telling the story of her life changing attack could protect others from such an experience and an opportunity to strike back at her assailant with maximum effect. Now that Senate Republicans have been working to push aside Dr. Ford’s testimony and rush to confirm Kavanaugh other victims have come out to tell their stories in support. This is similar to the Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby accusers, once someone was brave enough to speak of their attacks it emboldened those who had previously held their tongues in fear.

They are even Republican women on national television making the excuse that such behavior is just what teenage boys do. As the father of a young woman; I say if that’s what you believe then you’re an awful parent and your sons need to be locked up to protect the safety of girls everywhere.

Some of my Republican neighbors complain that the women’s accusations are just political attacks and are unworthy of consideration on that basis alone. I’ve got news for them, confirmation hearings are political events by their very nature just like nearly everything else Congress does so that’s just an excuse to get their guy on the Supreme Court. The rush to confirm Kavanaugh is political, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley recognize that there is a chance that if they have to start the confirmation process all over with a new nominee it won’t happen until after the mid-terms and it’s possible they’ll lose control of the Senate in addition to the House which is already likely lost. This could be their only chance to stack the Supreme Court and Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz want to make darn sure it happens especially since Cruz is one of those at risk of losing his seat.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - September 28, 2018

Kavanaugh Nomination Tainted by Conspiracy with Foreign Adversaries

There are a host of reasons to reject Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. From the purely partisan point of view there’s the theft of a seat in the last year of President Obama’s second term. From power perspective Kavanaugh has expressed some dangerous ideas such as his belief that a sitting President should be insulated from justice unless dispensed by congress through impeachment. From an issues point of view Kavanaugh’s decisions and dissents in numerous cases in ways that show his deference to corporate power over workers’ rights, religious bigotry over religious diversity, and the use of wealth to achieve political power in order to enhance that wealth.

I could write pages on how Kavanaugh could be one of the very worst possible choices for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court but Kavanaugh’s views and rulings are not the only reasons to object. We should also consider that the man occupying the White House and nominated Kavanaugh has been all but named as an unindicted co-conspirator to felony crimes involving campaign finance violations that have a penalty of 5 years in prison attached. Michael Cohen who infamously organized the payoff of porn star Stormy Daniels testified in open court as he plead guilty to 8 counts that he acted at the instruction of the “candidate”. That means that Cohen not only committed a violation of campaign finance laws he was involved in a conspiracy with Donald Trump to do so.

In addition other Trump associates have been given immunity from prosecution for testimony that at present we can only propose educated guesses given their positions and what we already know about them through leaks. The publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, kept a safe full of documents which tell a tale of Trump’s cover-ups and possibly other illegal acts and he is prepared to testify. The Trump Organization’s Chief Financial Officer, Allen Weisselberg, who served in that capacity for over 20 years has also received immunity from prosecution for his testimony. That makes three of Trump’s closest associates, people who know “where the bodies are buried”, willing to testify against Trump.

Perhaps the most import of all the Cohen revelations is his statement that he witnessed the discussion Donald Trump denies having with his son in advance the meeting with Russian’s to collect dirt they claimed to have on Hillary Clinton. This provides evidence that Trump did indeed conspire with a foreign power against the United States.

Of course Trump hasn’t been convicted, but his legitimacy has definitely been called into question and while it is still too early to talk about impeachment it isn’t too early to put a stop to every judicial nominee’s appointment until such time as all the evidence has been presented and assessed. Most especially no President tainted by dalliances with foreign adversaries should be allowed to place their appointees on the federal bench for their lifetimes. The legitimacy of every single one of the judges he’s already appointed is also tainted.

The allegations against Trump are too significant to allow him to continue to reshape the federal judiciary unless and until the allegations are put to rest after a thorough review of the evidence presented. That won’t happen for months and likely not until after the election and only if his enablers on congress are defeated at the polls in November.