Progressives will no doubt choose to disagree with much of what Judge Brett Kavanaugh said Thursday, but it would take an eternal optimist to ignore that Thursday’s testimonies forever changed and damaged the process of nominating a lawyer to the Supreme Court. Much of the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of Democrats, who chose to throw out an unsubstantiated, decadesold smear after sitting on it for weeks, refusing to air the grievance at the hearings or privately, as is protocol.
However, liberals alone didn’t destroy the process for good — Republicans played a part and all should be held accountable and work to set a new format for future nominations.
In his powerful opening statement, Kavanaugh himself articulated that he was not just a sacrificial lamb here, being systematically fed to the lions, but that in doing this, future nominations would be marred:
From now on, the standard for nominating Supreme Court justices will appear fluid and hypervigilant.
She’s a great judge — but she’s Catholic. Is that OK?
He sits on the bench impartially, but he joked about drinking beer in his yearbook. Will he make it through?
Instead of sticking to the normal, quite high standards of a Supreme Court justice — which usually include attending top law schools, enjoying a robust career as an attorney, professor, or judge, and having outstanding personal integrity and character — both sides will now vet and overvet any man or woman who looks like they might originally fit the bill.
It’s not that both sides don’t realize people are flawed — I would like to think we can agree on that — it’s just that now the standards for nominating and confirming someone have been forever altered, and not even altered in a way that makes sense. I mean altered in a way that draws a bright line between allegations and possibilities, between character flaws and normal behavior as a young person. The standards for a Supreme Court justice have now been skewed and cannot return to a sense of normalcy. This will need to be rectified, if it can be.
In addition to a new set or more firm set of qualifications for Supreme Court justices, there will now need to be a new process for confirming this person, should allegations like Ford’s come forth in the future. As Kavanaugh said in his statement, “As no doubt was expected if not planned came a long series of false, last minute smears designed to scare me … crazy stuff … all nonsense. Reported breathlessly and often uncritically by the media. This has destroyed my family and my good name. A good name built up through decades of very hard work and public service at the highest level of the American government.”
Because of the way Democrats handled this allegation, which somehow was leaked to the press, which in turn had a field day with it, Ford and Kavanaugh had to suffer through a public hearing. The testimonies, while powerful, were also heartbreaking and intense, but also repetitive and nonsensical. They were a window into what a person who believes to have suffered or has suffered some kind of intense trauma looks like and sounds like. They were also a look into what a person who believes he has been falsely accused of a serious crime at the top of his career looks like and sounds like. In that, the hearings Thursday will be forever seared in the nation’s political and judicial history — and not in a terribly good way.
In the future, despite who is president and despite who is nominated and when, allegations like this must be handled differently for everybody’s sake. They must be handled delicately, with class, and with dignity — not as a clown show prancing around the stage for the highest political bidder, Republican or Democrat.
While much of this rests on Democrats, Republicans share some of the blame for Thursday’s debacle. In the name of partisanship, or trying to act that way, Republicans supplicated themselves as beta politicians. They ignored that Ford’s allegations were just that — no proof, no evidence, no corroboration. The format which Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, set, allowing Ford and Kavanaugh to be peppered with questions in five minute intervals by different people, was jarring, inconsistent, and unfair to both Ford and Kavanaugh. That format, if there ever is a similar hearing in the future (and there should not be) should be done away with immediately.
Another unfortunate side effect of Thursday’s political fiasco is the effect it will have on society, particularly women who have been assaulted or worse. Because of the way Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., paraded out Ford’s allegations, as a political matter rather than a private grievance, women who truly have experienced assault may hesitate to contact police or tell anyone who can help them. This is no one’s fault but Feinstein, who selfishly saved a flimsy allegation so Feinstein could grandstand. In doing so, Feinstein threw what would be best for Ford and Kavanaugh out the window.
Thursday’s hearings have irrevocably changed the way future Supreme Court nominations occur. Given how they went, that might be a good thing.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
