The accusation that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted someone while in high school is a bombshell, but it is too early to know what effect it will have on his confirmation to the Supreme Court. It is, however, not too soon to say that the position, as reported by the New Yorker, of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) staff, “that the incident was too distant in the past to merit public discussion” is hardly satisfactory.
Seemingly it has become common-place for male politicians to try to brush aside past bad behavior as irrelevant incidents from childhood, we should no longer tolerate such excuses.
Someone’s past, including actions done prior to reaching age 18, can shed light on his or her character and is certainly relevant when considering Supreme Court appointments. Feinstein’s office may have had a number of good reasons for sitting on the allegation since July, including protecting the privacy of the accuser, but the “time-heals-all-wounds argument” offered by staff is troubling.
Kavanaugh is not the first person seeking high office to face questions about actions they took when they were younger. Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) was accused of leading an attack on a fellow student who did not fit in, forcibly cutting off the kid’s hair while other boys held the kid down.
The issue shouldn’t be that he may have committed sexual assault in high school. The issue should be that he is lying to the American people about it.
Feinstein had this letter for months before she went public with it. It’s clear to me that this was part of a calculated effort to derail the Kavanaugh confirmation and put the GOP in a tough position before the midterms. If Senate Republicans ignore the accusation and push the nomination through, they will suffer a major backlash in November. However, if they delay confirming Kavanaugh to allow the accuser to testify, chances are that he won’t be confirmed before January and the Democrats will have picked up more seats to allow them to block the confirmation. Well played by Feinstein in that regard.
I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand I think it’s wrong to pull up a an almost 40 year old incident that was never reported and use it to derail a man’s career. On the other hand, I believe that Kavanaugh is bad for America and he should be denied the bench by any means necessary. Trump confirmed today that Kavanaugh is another one of his “very fine people”, and we know what kind of people Trump considers to be “very fine” and where many of them are now.
Then there is a third hand where I would kind of like to watch the Republicans flail about as they try to explain why they forced the confirmation through as quickly as possible without allowing the accuser to testify.
So many possible scenarios. I guess we’ll just see what happens.
It also looks bad when the Judge spends a lot of time at the White House, as he did yesterday. I wish that they would just start placing the names of 10 qualified candidates from both sides into a hat, and pull one out blindly for the seat on the court. That would take some of the politics out of it. The system in place now encourages federal judges to audition for a seat by tailoring all of their rulings to either a liberal or a conservative bent. The Supreme Court gets less and less “judicial” every year. Politics and money rule.
Your adding to the mentality that if you commited a sexual crime your condemned for life. I was drunk once at a high school party and grabbed a girls breast. Your saying my entire life should ignored no matter how good it was. Leave your personal politics out of FAC. 🤯
Michael, the comment was a “The Hill” comment and not a FAC comment. I made the same error.
It sure is interesting that these kinds of sexual allegations seemingly arise at a time when politicians and Supreme Court nominees are about to take office, not earlier. For instance, Justice Thomas was scrutinzed for allegedly harrassing Anita Hill sexually when he was in another powerful position. Yet, those allegations only came to light at his confirmation hearings…not sooner. Suspicious. Now another SCOTUS nominee faces a similar struggle at a time when too many women are being prosecuted for making similar false claims against average Joe’s. If false claims are vetted out and proven false then it devalues the stories of real victims. In an age of media distrust and so called “reality TV” that is in reality scripted and fake, it’s hard to know what the truth really is. It’s has recently come to light that social media giants such as Google and Facebook have been manipulating the news. When it comes to sexual allegations I say tread lightly in judgement, especially when the incident purportedly occurred decades ago in a much different generation with much different values and laws. Recall, that just a few decades ago it was legal in many states for a much older man to marry a minor female, something virtually unheard of today because it would likely bring about a prosecution and sex offender registration requirements. Again, I tread lightly with these types of allegations and view them with an eye of skepticism.
I suppose for the first time that I must disagree with FAC. To say that an act by someone under 18 is a good indication of their character in adulthood is just not true. You show me a person who says they have not done some sort of unsavory act while under the age of 18 and I’ll show you a liar. It is valiant to not support acts of a sexual nature and I am 100% behind that support but to deny human nature is just not realistic. And such acts just don’t apply to boys. Over the years both stateside and overseas I have seen females perform deplorable acts of an unspeakable nature. Boys will be boys but so will girls be girls. Just take a look at today’s beaches and see the ‘dress code’…if you want to call it that…that is being followed. It is up to men to be gentlemen and up to women to be ladies. When either act otherwise we have problems. Not all men are gentlemen, and not all women are ladies. We must remember that. Our past does not always…and usually doesn’t…direct our future. We all…and I do mean all…have a past we would like to undo but we can only do that by living by responsible standards today and in the future.
I don’t think that FAC has expressed an opinion here one way or the other Captain. They just posted the article for discussion and information.
Correct – FAC is not going to engage in political discussion. The point of posting the article is because Kavanaugh has been accused of sexual wrongdoing.
I’m sorry FAC. I took the “someone’s past” comment to be a FAC comment. I see now that is a “The Hill” comment. Please forgive me. My disagreement was with “The Hill”.
Accused is the correct term. But like so many on the registry, he’s being demonized despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary.
We cannot separate politics from injustice. They go hand in hand.
The timing of this is far too perfect to NOT be anything but a political assassination attempt. I’m no trump fan. Can’t stand him. But this expose followed by Schumer and the gang trotting out to delay and have their little show investigation is pure politics. And something like these accusations should be serious; not politics.
If that man is guilty he should have been outed LONG ago. Like when he was ascending the steps of judicial power for the last 40 years. Not just now that the most hated Republican in history nominates him to SCOTUS.
President Trump has done more positive for this nation in the past year and a half than his predecessors have done in the past 8-16 years. He, like all of us, is not perfect, and is ‘crass’ in much of his communications but the ‘fake news’ is no longer able to make false claims without being ‘called on the carpet’. I believe President Trump loves this nation, otherwise, why would he give up the lifestyle of a billionaire to experience the ‘BS’ he is being put through?
You are kidding ..right??? Tax evasion and financial fraud are the leading growth industries under the trump administration. Get real.
Howard, name one person who has committed tax evasion or financial fraud under the direction of President Trump. What flavor of coolade have you been sipping? Are you in control of everyone you associate with? If one of your friends commits a crime are you guilty too? Come on now…be real!
Guys – enough debating politics. This is not the place for it.
Right. The debate does nothing but make enemies of people who are struggling with the same issues here. I only pray for common sense to finally get rid of these archaic registry laws.
If I’m not mistaken it is politics that has placed these onerous restrictions on RSO’s. We have a problem in our society today in that too many citizens are buying the ‘garbage’ spewed by sore losers and when asked why they believe what they do they do not have a clue. RSO restrictions are based mostly on lies that have been promulgated to support an agenda and society has taken in these lies ‘hook, line, and sinker’. That’s politics! When I see an RSO sipping that ‘coolade’ I feel obligated to say something. We are all obligated to say something when a lie is presented as the truth. To do otherwise is a dereliction of responsibility. I do not say what I do to offend but to educate. When it gets to the point that the truth offends then so be it. I am always ready to have the truth thrown back at me, but not opinion established on false premise. It is my desire to see all RSO’s eventually freed from the oppression that lies have created but in the process we must not fall victim to the lies that are out there about anything and everything. It has gotten to the point that no one is qualified to serve in government because of long past unsavory actions. Besides, who would even want to put themselves and their families through such torture especially when lies are just as acceptable as the truth?
Agree with the Captain – we do have to play politics in regards to the registry. Politics is what drives it; certainly not facts. Politicians know (or at least have) the facts and ignore them for political expedience.
No matter who the president is, the registry is still in place, still punitive, and still useless for all intents and purposes (not just the stated ones). And it remains political suicide for any elected official to challenge it, at least until one of their relatives or backers ends up on it.
This isn’t the place to praise or complain about Trump or whoever the president is; save it for Facebook.