Issue 1: Politics

POLITICS

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Dr. Ford vs. Brett Kavanaugh

By: Laura Nguyen

Where Supreme Court justices are typically dignified and composed, Brett Kavanaugh was volatile and belligerent, the varying degree to which he took his combative behavior perhaps less significant—at least, by Republican standards—in providing substantive evidence as to whether he sexually assaulted Dr. Blasey Ford, and more indicative of his clear lack of the proper temperament and demeanor that a justice should have. He angrily accused the “Left” for “totally and permanently” destroying his name in an orchestrated “political hit.”

Kavanaugh’s tone was not the tone of a man who would someday like to have the honor of being aSupreme Court justice; his tone was that of a man, privileged and wealthy, believing that he is entitledto a seat on the bench of America’s most powerful court.

As incidences of unprecedented degrees of secrecy and backdoor partisan strategy permeated the newsfrom the moment that Trump announced his nomination to the moment that Kavanaugh was finally

confirmed, those within the political circle scrambled to maneuver around the allegations. Senators Orrin Hatch and Lindsey Graham lamented the he-said, she-said manner of gathering evidence during the hearings, but the truth is that they partook in a collective partisan failure in very feasibly changing that. Instead of gathering evidence from such individuals as Kavanaugh’s classmates, Republicans only brought in two witnesses—not inadvertently, the two individuals that the hearings concern.

Senators thus had to rely on Kavanaugh’s tears at the memory of lifting weights at his friend Tobin’s house, unchanging reiterations of his apparently wide circle of female friends who respect him, and constant affirmations of liking and drinking beer, his deliverance discomfort-inducing and and vaguely artificial. In addition to openly disrespecting the Senators on the committee, Kavanaugh misstated facts and misused evidence under oath, which means that even if there existed incontrovertible evidence that he did not sexually assault Dr. Blasey Ford, the evidence shows that Kavanaugh lacks the skills and qualities that Americans can expect from Supreme Court nominees.

Alexandra Schwartz at the New Yorker called such behavior “a model of American conservativemasculinity…directly tied to the loutish, aggressive frat-boy persona that Kavanaugh is purportedlyseeking to dissociate himself from.”

The American Civil Liberties Union rarely uses their platform to oppose the confirmation of Supreme Court nominees, but for Kavanaugh, the organization has made an exception. Although noting that Kavanaugh’s temper may be somewhat justifiable coming from a man who very possibly does believe he is innocent, what the ACLU and thousands of Americans find is that there is now and forever will be incontrovertible evidence made widely available to the public of unsettling anger and wild volatility in a man who is trying to persuade the nation of his proper judicial qualifications.

Lest we forget that Brett Kavanaugh was nominated by a President who undermines daily the democratic order of our nation and has a long track record of both formal and informal statements that disrespect sexual assault survivors, Americans will have the Kavanaugh hearings seared into their memories the difficult direction that this nation has chosen to take. The fundamental problem here is that the Supreme Court has become an intensely partisan arm that pretends otherwise. The Founders envisioned the Court the branch of government free from the violence of faction, but justices have divided neatly along partisan lines, especially on controversial cases involving hot-button issues.

Kavanaugh therefore threatens the integrity of the Supreme Court. And Republicans have been brushing this under the rug for a number of reasons, the main one being that while they hold unified power in Washington, most of their agenda is hugely unpopular. Even if Kavanaugh undermines the reputation of the Supreme Court, Republicans needed him on the bench before November came.