The idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Gut reactions to the Kavanaugh delay
I'm trying to be adult in my response to yet another delay in Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation. I can understand why some Senate Republicans wanted a further investigation, and why President Trump acceded to their wishes. They have a one-vote - one single vote - margin in the Senate, and at least three RINO senators who may, for their own reasons, prefer not to support Judge Kavanaugh. If they're lucky, they may get one or two Democratic senators to support him . . . but that still means that his confirmation is not certain. It may be that the Vice-President will have to cast a tie-breaking ballot to decide the issue. That would be anything but ideal, and would open to question any ruling of the Supreme Court in which Mr. Kavanaugh's vote was decisive. The Administration is bending over backwards to avoid going to such extremes, and get him confirmed by even one vote rather than risk such consequences.
Nevertheless, I'm sickened by the arrogance, dishonesty and partisanship displayed by so many Senators in recent days. Democrats, in particular, have abandoned any semblance of decency. They ignore allegations of sexual misconduct against their own members (some with convincing medical and other evidence to support them) and give credence to completely unsupported charges against Judge Kavanaugh - even ones where every single witness named by the accuser has denied, or at least refused to confirm, her version of events. This is a travesty of justice. I think Judge Kavanaugh was absolutely right when he said:
There is no evidence whatsoever to support any of the charges, allegations and accusations leveled against this man. No evidence whatsoever. Therefore, why is any credence being given to them? If there is no evidence, no conviction is possible. Don't argue to me that this isn't a court of law. In a very real sense, Judge Kavanaugh is on trial here. His reputation has already been damaged severely. If he is not confirmed, his opponents will bruit it about that it was because he was guilty. If he is confirmed, they will allege that this was in spite of his guilt, not because of his innocence. They're even threatening to impeach him if they regain power - again, without any evidence to warrant such threats.
We live - or are supposed to live - according to the rule of law in these United States. The Kavanaugh hearings have shown that for too many of us, the rule of law is no longer relevant. It's become the rule of feelings, the rule of sympathy, the rule of partisan bias. Facts no longer matter. Proof no longer matters. It's all about how we perceive things. This country cannot survive that. It really is that simple. We cannot survive as a nation on the basis of how we feel about things. We can only deal with reality if we're rooted in and grounded on reality. If we're living in some fantasy existence in our minds, then reality will rear up and bash us over the head with a clue-by-four. Reality doesn't care how we feel. Reality simply is. We can deal with it, or not, as we choose - but if we choose not to deal with it, it will deal with us. Count on that.
I'm ashamed of our Senators for the way in which they've treated Judge Kavanaugh. I'm ashamed on behalf of all who trust in the rule of law, because our trust has been betrayed. What's more, there's a growing groundswell of anger amongst those who are watching this farce being played out in Washington. To see a well-expressed sense of that anger, read this article, and judge for yourselves. That anger, that bitterness, is very close to bursting out in some quarters. Have things gone too far to be salvaged? That remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, I'll be praying for Judge Kavanaugh and his family. They will find precious little peace in this world until this thing is settled, and probably not much even then: so, may the God of Peace grant them that which the world cannot, and give them courage and strength.
Peter
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