No Hearing; Just Vote on Kavanaugh Nomination nationalreview.com/2018/09/brett-…
This is about preventing a conservative justice from being added to the Supreme Court, nothing more.
Bluntly, Democrats do not care about Dr. Ford. If she were lodging a similar complaint against, say, Congressman @KeithEllison (D., Minn.), she would not be heard, and the media would be pretending she did not exist.
Democrats are exploiting Dr. Ford (or perhaps capitalizing with her willful complicity) because they believe they might win enough seats in the November midterms to take control of the Senate and, with a committee majority, defeat Kavanaugh’s nomination.
It is absurd for Republicans to let Democrats get away with this — to allow the alleged victim to dictate the terms of the investigation (something that never is permitted in ordinary investigations), while the minority dictates the terms of hearings and votes.
There is no conceivable way that Dr. Ford’s allegation can ever be resolved in the sense of a firm conclusion about what happened. The allegation is far too stale to support a prosecution.
Ford cannot remember rudimentary details, while Kavanaugh and other witnesses strongly deny that the incident happened.
No matter how many hearings are held, we are never going to have a more definitive resolution than what we have now: Dr. Ford insists, not very convincingly, that it happened;
Judge Kavanaugh forcefully insists that it did not; and other evidence developed at the hearing indicates without establishing (for it will never be possible to establish) that Kavanaugh should be credited.
Overwhelming evidence establishes, moreover, that Kavanaugh is, in any event, a meritorious nominee.
Why is this important? Because it demonstrates conclusively that there is no reason to have a hearing. The only time it is necessary to hold a hearing is when some potentially dispositive issue is capable of resolution.
Ford’s allegation is not capable of resolution. It is inevitably destined for an inconclusive outcome, regardless of whether Ford testifies.
At this overdue point, then, the committee majority should simply force a vote. There is no need for an inconclusive hearing. Democrats’ simultaneous demand for a hearing and interminable postponement of a hearing is just a stalling tactic.
There is no reason to abide further delay. Delay is just additional reward for the Democrats’ contemptuous abuse of the committee hearing process, which means additional incentive for Democrats to continue such abuse.
If the committee insists on proceeding with a pointless hearing, a subpoena should be issued to Dr. Ford, compelling her appearance before the committee on Monday, with the caveat that the committee will accept an affidavit in lieu of a personal appearance.
(If such an affidavit unexpectedly raises any new issues, the committee can always revisit the question of compelling Ford’s appearance.)
The committee should further spell out to Ford that, should she choose to submit an affidavit or decline to honor the subpoena, the committee is unlikely to hold her in contempt... BUT
... is certain to draw a negative inference from her refusal to submit to questioning after creating tumult with her allegation.
In no event should there be any further delay. The Supreme Court term begins in a couple of weeks, and it should begin with a full complement of justices. That is more consequential to the country than the comfort level of Dr. Ford’s lawyers.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), the committee chairman, should have held a vote on Thursday, and should hold a vote on Friday or over the weekend.
If Republicans are too timid to do this — i.e., if Republicans lack the fortitude to defend their own proceedings, and if they decide instead to keep encouraging Dem obstructionism — Grassley should at least issue the subpoena (as described above) directing Ford to appear Monday.
A (wholly unnecessary) hearing should be scheduled for Monday with the understanding that the committee will proceed to a vote at the hearing’s conclusion.
Democrats are in no position to complain that Republicans have already made up their minds (though they will, of course, complain because complaints, echoed by the media-Democrat complex, often cow the opposition into delay).
It is time to stop playing games. This confirmation process, coupled with Kavanaugh’s ample record as a judge, has developed more information about the fitness of this nominee than any confirmation process in American history.
IT IS TIME TO VOTE.
Past time.
#ConfirmKavanaugh
IT IS TIME TO VOTE.
Past time.
#ConfirmKavanaugh
