Ten Observations on the Brett Kavanaugh Smear Campaign
On September 4–7, the United States Senate held hearings on the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court to replace outgoing Justice Anthony Kennedy. After the hearings, Kavanaugh was accused of sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford, a professor in clinical psychology at Palo Alto University, while they were both in high school. An additional hearing on this matter occurred on September 27. Other accusations were made by Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick. The FBI investigated Kavanaugh again, finding no corroboration of these accusations. Kavanaugh was then confirmed to the Supreme Court on October 6. Ten observations on these events follow.
1. The entire spectacle was unnecessary. In July, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D–CA) received a letter from Dr. Ford, who wished to remain anonymous, that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in 1982. Rather than reveal this to other Senators then so that arrangements could be made to resolve the issue in a manner that was respectful of both Ford’s desire to remain anonymous and Kavanaugh’s reputation, she sat on this information until it was politically expedient to release. Republicans then made the mistake of treating this at face value rather than as a cynical political ploy. However, they did seem to learn the lesson once the other accusations came forward, but some political damage was already done.
2. None of the accusers are remotely credible. Of the three, Ford’s claims sounded the most believable, and it is quite possible either that someone else victimized her or that she has false memory syndrome. But she could not recall the time or place, and all of the people that she named as witnesses said that the party at which the alleged assault took place never happened. The difficulties and inconsistencies involved in getting Ford to testify before the Senate as well as in her other statements further discredit her accusations. A similar accusation from Ramirez concerning a drunken party at Yale was likewise unsupported by any witnesses or evidence. Taking the cake, of course, are Swetnick’s allegations of parties at which women were drugged and gang-raped. She claims to have gone to ten such parties, despite being aware of their nature. Upon questioning, she also could not name a corroborating witness; one person she named is deceased, two others say the events never happened, and another claims not to know Swetnick.
3. Democrats used this tactic because it worked on Roy Moore. Following President Trump’s appointment of Jeff Sessions as attorney general, there was a special election in Alabama on December 12, 2017 to fill Sessions’ vacated Senate seat. A few weeks before the election was held, nine women accused Moore of sexual misconduct in the late 1970s, some of whom were minors at the time of the alleged incidents.[1] Moore claimed to know some of the women, but denied any wrongdoing. Trump stood with Moore, but few other Republicans did.[2,3] Democrat Doug Jones narrowly and unexpectedly defeated Moore, becoming the first Democrat to hold a US Senate seat in Alabama since 1992.
4. The contention that the presumption of innocence is only valid in a court of law is politically autistic at best. Several Senate Democrats defended their treatment of Kavanaugh by claiming that because the hearings are not a criminal trial, the standard of presumption of innocence need not apply. The most charitable interpretation, indeed the only one that does not assume active malice on their part, is that they are pathologically unable to understand context. The norm of innocent until proven guilty did not magically appear out of the ether, only to be found in courtrooms; it was developed in Western cultures in response to the horrors of witch hunts by morally panicked peasants and arbitrary punishments by despotic rulers. To ignore this is to risk the return of such practices, which is certainly malicious if one does understand the implications.
5. “Listen and believe” is religious nonsense. Many leftists claim to want a secular society based on reason and science. Indeed, the idea of designing and imposing the ideal social order by such means lies at the heart of progressive liberalism. But “listen and believe” rejects science, as it calls not only for belief in the absence of evidence, but belief despite all available evidence suggesting the opposing conclusion. This reveals progressivism as the religious faith that it is, especially given the number of Kavanaugh’s classmates who have spoken in his favor.
6. The term “rape survivor” is redundant at best, a power play most likely, and a form of Holocaust denial at worst. A person who does not survive rape is a murder victim first and foremost, so calling oneself a “rape survivor” is a redundancy. Of course, anyone who expects leftist activists to accept such cold hard logic will be sorely disappointed, so let us work through their emotional manipulations. Wanting to empower victims seems natural, as it can prevent further victimization and aid in the healing process. But such empowerment is weaponizable; if victimhood is granted high social status, then it will be actively sought out, especially by people who wish to wield power. Not only does this behavior harm real victims, but it minimizes the experiences of victims of greater atrocities. The practice of identification of victims of crimes as survivors began with Holocaust survivors, who endured many indignities at the hands of Nazis. Sexual assault is a terrible experience, but it pales in comparison to experiencing a concentration camp. Let us therefore reserve the term “survivor” for those who have faced the worst horrors and managed to remain alive.
7. Mentioning whiteness is a verbal tic that social justice warriors cannot control. One can become so accustomed to speaking about a topic that it becomes automatic. Social justice warriors can develop such an obsession with “deconstructing whiteness” and attacking “white privilege” that they broach the subject when it does not apply. This explains why some commentators have denigrated white people in general and white males in particular even though all people involved in the accusations against Kavanaugh are white.
8. The accusations against Kavanaugh crowded out more substantive reasons to oppose his nomination. Kavanaugh’s record on government surveillance and other Fourth Amendment issues is troubling. During the Bush administration, he worked against transparency and Congressional oversight. He also effectively defended Obamacare, claiming that courts had no business ruling on the matter at the time. These positions should give pause to any libertarian or rightist, but Democrats were too focused on their in-house grievance industry and too much in agreement with Kavanaugh on these issues to argue such a case.
9. Sexual assault accusations have an interesting way of disappearing once the accused is no longer up for election or nomination. Following Moore’s defeat, no criminal charges were brought against him, and media coverage of the matter ceased. This is because the accusations against him served their purpose. Following Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Ford’s attorneys stated that she will not pursue further legal action against him. This is because her accusations can do no more damage. There is far too little evidence to win even a civil court case, and removing a Supreme Court Justice has only been attempted once, without success.
10. The tactic of defaming people with sexual assault allegations will not be as effective when used by Republicans against Democratic nominees. Unless Republicans in positions of power remain thoroughly cuckolded, there will be future efforts to smear nominees advanced by Democrats. But the establishment media, academia, and the rest of what neoreactionaries call the Cathedral have a leftist bias, so the GOP will not enjoy the complicit treatment that Senate Democrats and Kavanaugh’s accusers have. Instead, even credible accusations with supporting evidence will be ridiculed and dismissed as conspiracy theories, while the victims and witnesses are revictimized by a hostile lügenpresse. The only exceptions will occur when a particular leftist has outlived their usefulness in order to present a facade of objectivity. There is also the matter that Machiavellianism is rarely a match for steadfast dedication to fantasy.
References:
- Martin, Jonathan; Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (Nov. 14, 2017). “Roy Moore Is Accused of Sexual Misconduct by a Fifth Woman”. The New York Times. p. A1.
- Sullivan, Sean; Viebeck, Elise (Nov. 13, 2017). “McConnell calls on Roy Moore to end Senate campaign following accusations of sexual misconduct”. The Washington Post.
- Jackson, David (Dec. 4, 2017). “Trump endorses Roy Moore for Alabama Senate seat despite sex assault allegations”. USA Today.
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