‘I have no reason to tear down this man…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) Democrats have upped the ante by digging back to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s high school days to find an 11th-hour controversy before Thursday’s razor-thin Senate vote to approve him.
The scandal—in which Palo Alto University professor Christine Blasey Ford, an outspoken Democrat, alleges that a drunken, teenage Kavanaugh forced himself upon her before she was able to escape—has all the trappings of a pre-fabbed ‘October surprise.’
First, Sen. Dianne Feinstein sat on Ford’s letter for months before acting on it, undercutting the notion that the decades-old episode was a wrong that needed to be righted with any level of urgency. Then came the anonymous whistleblower’s dramatic reveal to give more steam to the story, just as a hurricane was about to blow it from the headlines.
The Democrats are now calling for a delay in the confirmation vote to investigate further (despite the FBI having said it did not intend to investigate).
Whether the gambit succeeds or fails, though, Democrats are forgetting an important lesson from the past when it comes to their “ends justify the means” tactics: They always backfire.
Whether it be Congressional protocol, such as Harry Reid’s introduction of the “nuclear option” for judicial appointments, or the appropriation of the #MeToo movement as part of a feminist campaign to damage President Donald Trump, leaving several high-profile Democrats in its wake, the answer ultimately comes back to tu quoque.
The Left’s latest scorched-earth tactic combines both of those examples, using the yet unsubstantiated harassment claim against Kavanaugh as a way to effectively filibuster the nomination (at least until the midterm election).
However, the Left, which still has plenty of beams in its own eye, may not be considering the unintended consequences of borking Kavanaugh, which will open every public official—past, present or future—to having their own high school records scrutinized, whether justifiably or not.
Already, The Daily Caller has pointed out one such hypocrisy among the Democratic ranks, noting that DNC chair Tom Perez has hopped on the Kavanaugh investigation bandwagon despite refusing to address the very real domestic abuse allegations against his own deputy, Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison.
Ellison, who is running for Minnesota attorney general, has been accused of physically abusing ex-girlfriend Karen Monahan, including dragging her off a bed. Monahan’s son, Austin, corroborated the accusations, saying he had seen video footage on his mother’s computer.
“I only know what I saw and I know what’s true,” Austin Monahan said. “It was my job to stand up for my mother. … I have no reason to tear down this man.”
While the DNC claimed on Aug. 14 to be reviewing the accusations against Ellison, Perez later punted the investigation to the Minnesota branch, the Democratic Farmer-Labor party, without ever publicly addressing the findings.
The Daily Caller noted that “Like the DNC, the DFL has remained elusive about the details of its Ellison investigation—for example, who exactly is running the investigation, how they’re conducting it and what the status of the probe is.”
One critical difference, of course, is that the accusations against Ellison relate to the actions of a fully-grown adult who, like other #MeToo culprits, exploited a position of power and authority.
By contrast, Ford’s account of the failed hookup with Kavanaugh alleges that he “clumsily attempt[ed] to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it” until a friend jumped on top of the bed they were on, according to The Washington Post.
Republicans might well come out on top in the race to capitalize on youthful indiscretions, but the terror of having teenage baggage aired out and privacy violated should be enough to give pause to many, whether for their own sake or their children‘s.