The Burden of Innocence: Reviewing the Kavanaugh Hearings

Years ago, in 1991 as Americans watched the unfolding political dog and pony show that came to be the Anita Hill testimonies unfold, few likely would have imagined (however it turned out) that the country would stumble right back into the circus tent in a matter of a couple decades for a reboot of the act. 

Yet here we are again, with a nation undeniably captivated by hearings that once again appear to have boiled down to a glorified ‘he said she said’ with seemingly every possible narrative gaining airtime except the one the victims, the committee, and America at large wanted most; the truth.

Doctor Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing appointee Kavanaugh of a primary role in sexually assaulting her, took to the chamber to tell her story today with what by all means appears a tale she genuinely believes. The fact that she submitted an anonymous letter decrying Kavanaugh for the alleged assault before Trump had even singled him out from a list of Supreme Court potentials lends credence to this; at the least alleviating any immediate concern/accusations of purely partisan motives.

Unfortunately for Ford her story still remains murky and entirely uncorroborated. She was incredibly honest about details she did not remember, unfortunately that just happens to be most everything, including no detail at all surrounding her arrival and departure from the scene (which also remains a mystery locale). While Ford was a far cry from evasive or combative, the distinct lack of information she’s able to provide amounts to much less than the acceptable threshold of evidence for a crime. 

This is, of course, compounded massively by the fact that all named potential witnesses to the alleged crime are not only unable to confirm Ford’s story, they’ve categorically denied it. This includes Ford’s purported female friend Leland Kaiser who denied knowing Kavanaugh or ever socializing with him whatsoever. Ford, in fairness, was quick to point out today that it would have been an unremarkable evening for those who were not allegedly assaulted. 

So instead of a woman on the path to justice, today America truly saw a victim; a woman whose life has been entirely upended against her wishes and will. A woman who is being tragically forced to do the one thing she overtly did not desire; tell America and the World about a clearly painful piece of her past. But while we’re no closer to a factual truth regarding Kavanaugh we can say, unequivocally and empirically, that the Democrat elite betrayed this woman’s trust and endangered her chances for justice, as well as her life, for purely political ends.

During Ford’s testimony, the Democrat members of the committee unsurprisingly deigned to use their respective 5 minutes of time on every screen in America to grandstand; the near dozen essentially regurgitating the same condemnation of Republicans, Kavanaugh, and the lack of an FBI investigation. Much more surprising, and perhaps brilliant, was the decision by the Republicans on the committee to all cede their respective time to veteran sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell. 

Instead of inflammatory speeches and hardline interrogation, breaking up every 5 minutes of Democrat virtue signaling was Ms. Mitchell, as she politely and compassionately went through Doctor Ford’s experiences. Mitchell did not, to the chagrin of many conservative pundits, ‘go for Ford’s throat’ aggressively pulling inconsistencies to the forefront. Instead, she simply let the truth unfurl itself for the evaluation of the Senate and the public.

This distinct gap in approaches, and the underlying motivations for putting together today’s chain of soundbites, are epitomized by the actions of Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein. Through questioning Mitchell established Ford only gave her initial letter, in which she extremely clearly wished for confidentiality, to Ms. Feinstein and her lawyers (who claim to be working pro bono). The ‘magical’ appearance of the content of the letter, as well as spotlighting Ford’s identity on the national airwaves and headlines is of course familiar to all, and now clearly the work of Feinstein and co.

If this were not enough Mitchell methodically displayed for the public and Ford (absent any contention or combativeness which again was excellent) how Democrats and their lawyers completely failed Dr. Ford as a victim at every level. Instead of medically and scientifically recommended therapy to recall and recount a story at a pace she found comfortable, Ford’s partisan handlers dragged her to a random hotel room for an immediate polygraph test; an experience she described on national airwaves as nothing short of extremely traumatic. Not that a polygraph is even empirically helpful in this case (makes for great midterm soundbites though!)

Beyond that was Ford’s apparent ignorance of the availability of Senate staff to travel to her for a private hearing in light of her supposed fear of air travel (something by the way that Mitchell displayed as nebulous and exaggerated at best) and desire to avoid the public spotlight. If she was truly ignorant of this the Democrats and their lawyers nothing short of manipulated her into coming to DC, as the offer (and her apparent declining of it according to these same lawyers) was national news splayed across most every headline.

Final Thoughts: At the end of the day (figuratively and literally in this instance) in a system that proclaims to uphold innocence until proof of guilt, we remain absent any corroborating evidence of Ford’s claims. While Democrats were sure to repeat 10 times in various flavors of ‘old elite senator’ that this was entirely because of a lack of FBI investigation that just isn’t the truth of the matter, with all witnesses Ford herself named including self-described friends and fellow women denying the allegations.

The real crime and real victimization I saw undeniable proof of today was Ford’s abuse at the hands of political motivation. Today I learned a woman was betrayed and denied anonymity when just trying to do the right thing by her country. Today I learned a woman wasn’t informed of her rights by her own lawyers and lied to purely to make for better media optics. Today I listened as a woman sobbed over a useless lie detector test her overlords thrust upon her instead of ethical therapeutic treatment because it could win them votes. And you know what? I believe her.

I’m not a Republican. I’ve never been a Republican, and in fact, it’s entirely possible I disagree with Kavanaugh more than I don’t. But I refuse to condemn a man of a crime without proof, however apparently genuine the accuser.

Above all, though I am disgusted; disgusted by Democrat Senators that have the complete lack of moral character, and frankly the gall, to smile at the cameras and read a speech about their compassion for victims like Ford while they ruin her life. Ford and her family have had to move, to hire security, to completely reshape their lives, because Democrats broke her trust and ignored her wishes. There’s only one crime I *know* happened: Diane Feinstein and her shills deliberately exposed a woman without her consent (in fact despite an emphatic ‘no’) because it suited their personal whims and agenda, and because they wanted to parade her in front of America. I genuinely and profoundly hope they reap the consequences in this life or the next.

Editor’s note: As a former intelligence officer I can affirm that the polygraph is competely useless in this setting. Someone who is an emotional wreck will not provide interpretable polygraph tests.