Monday, September 24, 2018

The politics of destruction


What we're seeing from the Democratic Party and the progressive far-left-wing of US politics, in connection with the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be the next Justice of the Supreme Court, is nothing less than the politics of destruction.  It's straight out of Alinsky's book "Rules for Radicals", aimed squarely at not just the discrediting, but the demolition, of a good man by any means, fair or foul.  If Judge Kavanaugh's nomination is defeated, he will be so damaged and besmirched that I don't see any way he can continue in his present position as a judge on an appeal court.  He'll be professionally destroyed - and that's precisely the point.  If they succeed in destroying him, I'm sure many of them calculate that no other good, honorable, upright person will ever dare accept nomination to SCOTUS, because they'll know that they face destruction too.

The Wall Street Journal put it well.

The last-minute accusation of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is an ugly spectacle by any measure. But if there is a silver lining, it is that the episode is providing an education for Americans on the new liberal standard of legal and political due process.

As Ms. Hill and Sen. Hirono aver, the Democratic standard for sexual-assault allegations is that they should be accepted as true merely for having been made. The accuser is assumed to be telling the truth because the accuser is a woman. The burden is on Mr. Kavanaugh to prove his innocence. If he cannot do so, then he is unfit to serve on the Court.

This turns American justice and due process upside down. The core tenet of Anglo-American law is that the burden of proof always rests with the person making the accusation. An accuser can’t doom someone’s freedom or career merely by making a charge.

The accuser has to prove the allegation in a court of law or in some other venue where the accused can challenge the facts. Otherwise we have a Jacobin system of justice in which “J’accuse” becomes the standard and anyone can be ruined on a whim or a vendetta.

. . .

We don’t doubt that Ms. Ford believes what she claims. But the set of facts she currently provides wouldn’t pass even the “preponderance of evidence”—or 50.01% evidence of guilt—test that prevails today on college campuses. If this is the extent of her evidence and it is allowed to defeat a Supreme Court nominee, a charge of sexual assault will become a killer political weapon regardless of facts. And the new American standard of due process will be the presumption of guilt.

There's more at the link.

Nobody in his or her right mind believes the accusations leveled against Judge Kavanaugh by Ms. Ford and, most recently, by another woman.  As far as I know, every witness they've put forward to support their claims has done the opposite, denying them.  They can't name the date, time, place or circumstances accurately enough to permit verification of those details.  Their supporters only say that they should be believed because of their sex, whereas Judge Kavanaugh has received endorsements (and outright statements that he would never have acted in that way) from literally scores of people who knew him at the time.  The allegations against him simply don't pass the "smell test", much less any legal standard.  No law enforcement investigation of them will be possible, because there aren't enough details to investigate.  In short, the accusations are (in my opinion, and the opinion of many) trumped-up charges, designed for no other purpose but to prevent his confirmation to SCOTUS.

If those making and supporting such charges are allowed to prevail, they will have done permanent damage to the Supreme Court, effectively reducing its status and bringing into contention its role as the third pillar of the US constitution.  The personal destruction of Judge Kavanaugh will deter many otherwise good judges from accepting nomination to SCOTUS, and in due course to any higher court, for fear of what liberal radicals might do to them, too.  (That, of course, is precisely the idea.)

The judiciary has always been (in theory at least) a check and balance on the legislative and executive elements.  If these attacks succeed, it will have been brought into check by the legislative arm, and will from now on function with one eye over its shoulder, wary of new attacks against any judge who dares to rule according to the constitution and laws of the United States, rather than the current standard of political correctness.

I hope and pray that Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed to SCOTUS as soon as possible.  That's the only effective answer to these politics of destruction.  They are nothing less than terrorism against the society and political order of the United States - and they must be stopped, by any and all legal means available.  If they are not, there are those who will resort to extra-legal means to do so . . . and that may mean the end of the Republic as we know it.  At all costs, we must prevent that.

Peter

EDITED TO ADD:  The letter that Prof. Ford wrote to raise her allegations against Judge Kavanaugh now appears to have been submitted in a very interesting manner, one that has legal implications in and of itself.  Read about it here.  If that's true, it casts yet more doubt on her accusations.

11 comments:

C. S. P. Schofield said...

"We don’t doubt that Ms. Ford believes what she claims."

At this point, I do.

deb harvey said...

literally everywhere i see the angels of satan coming against everything and everybody who stand for right and justice.
how the devil got so many willing slaves, especially in the republic, i don't understand
the only thing we all can do, as one body, is to beg God to intervene.
He says He will answer us if we call upon Him.
please, everyone, call upon God to cast out from our nation every evil and every demon, causing the people to turn to God with the realization that there is no other salvation
please! start now!
time is short and action from God in there matters is imperative!!
thanks to all who pray.

Antibubba said...

The second alleged assault claims there are witnesses to the event.

I'm reserving judgement on this until both have had their day in the kangaroo court of the Senate. Both sides play dirty. Neither Kavanaugh nor Ford deserve the death threats and hounding they've received.

As to waiting years or decades to report the assaults, do you think these women's fears are any different than those of children sexually abused by Catholic clergy? Ask ANYONE who has been assaulted, and nearly every last one feels shame and GUILT, as if they had something to do with what happened, as if by not fighting to the death to stop it they are somehow culpable.

It all makes me sick.

c w swanson said...

As wise old Ben Franklin commented to a fellow citizen, " (we've given you) a republic, if you can keep it."

To keep it, we don't need radicals. The Constitution itself is a radical document and roadmap to good government, bucking all the trends of human nature to tyranny. It requires a moral and educated citizenry to function properly.

The lack of a moral and educated citizenry gets us what we see here, a cabal of political hacks and power seekers who will proudly stop at nothing to get their way, whether that way is good for the republic or not.

Yet, they are elected by their constituents. Hence, the risks involved in democracy. A poorly educated, distracted, or immoral electorate votes poorly, and is represented poorly, but doesn't even know it, until the republic is subverted and a tyranny emerges.

urbane legend said...

How can the democrats expect the long game to end in their favor? Americans with a sense of right and wrong have tolerated abuse by the elites so long that those elites think we are indifferent, that we don't notice. Did they learn nothing from the election of Donald Trump?

The day will come when this abuse will no longer be tolerated. I pray it does not come with violence. I do hope I get to see the look on Feinstein and Warren's faces when it does come.

Uncle Lar said...

Never forget that the goal of the Democrats was always to stop the Kavanaugh appointment by any means necessary.
Delay, delay, delay, with the expectation that they retake the Senate in the midterm and thus ensure that no Trump appointments are permitted for the following two years of his term in office.
These additional claims are pure and simple pile on to give some credence to the very shaky original accusation.
Speaking of which, there was no rape, only the charge of an admittedly drunk fifteen year old girl that one was attempted.
Cannot remember exactly where it happened, when it happened, but assures us that she only had that one beer.
It's far more likely that she had several, but depending on body mass even one could have made her tipsy.
And given that when she protested she was allowed to leave with no further actions on the part of those boys how much more likely is it that one of them got too fresh and groped her. And when she screamed put a hand over her mouth to quiet her, but then let her loose.
And we are relying on the memories of a 51 year old woman of what happened 36 years ago. Not to mention that the accused just happens to be someone on the hit list of the party she's known to have supported with funds and protests her entire life.
Yep, this stinks to high heaven. If Kavanaugh is not confirmed this will mark the end of rule by law in this country.

Will said...

I've read that this accusation was prepped for Romney's election attempt, as Kavanaugh was expected to be nominated by him. Since he didn't win, this was shelved for a rainy day.
Oh, look! A rainy day has arrived!

Will said...

Peter,
do you have a recommendation for the story of the Spanish war of ~1937?

What little I know of it is suggestive of our current difficulties here in the US. Mostly it seems to have been overshadowed by WW2, so not much coverage except to be noted as a "tuneup" for the German Luftwaffe.

joekr said...

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/408116-kavanaugh-i-will-not-be-intimidated-into-withdrawing

Paul said...

This is all just to ensure the left will get the one they want when Ginsberg retires. It is all part of a plan.

I would say it is about time to finish your final preps for the coming sparkiness.

Peter said...

@Will: I think the best one-volume history I've read is that by Antony Beevor:

https://amzn.to/2xEpLgU