I have been reading Ms. McArdle's work for over a decade and a half because she is always struck me as intelligent, serious, and in good faith. Her premises here, however, are fundamentally flawed.
Last night, she opined that the left cannot fathom the right's rage over late notice, and the right cannot fathom the left's rage over Kavanaugh's confirmation.
She's incorrect in both particulars, though not in parallel.
First, I am quite certain that we can fathom the depth of left-wing rage over Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation.
To consume virtually any mainstream media product is to bathe in that rage daily.
Moreover, those of us with memories that begin before the year 2008 can remember the apoplectic rage that strikes whenever the left perceives that Sacramental abortion is threatened
Add to this the inexplicable belief of some that the current threat is undeniably a sex offender, and again, it is neither hard to understand nor know.
But, the belief that Republican rage rises from a mere process deviation is only partially correct.
When Justice Kennedy announced his retirement, Democrats immediately began demanding that he not be replaced until the new Congress was sworn in.
Republicans quite reasonably, and, given that the court is not supposed to be political, correctly, demurred.
Judge Kavanaugh was nominated, and went through most of the confirmation process without the allegations over which we're currently fighting being revealed.
Suddenly, on the eve of his confirmation, and just in time to delay his vote even further, here are new allegations, about which the Democrats had known for months.
That's the process part. It is a consistent theme, and played out with what amounts to not merely a dirty trick, but one more piece of Senate tradition chipped away.
But here is where Ms. McArdle misunderstands why so many of us are suddenly angry.
The late allegation was not of some judicial impropriety, nor of some financial wrongdoing, both of which would be amenable to documentary evidence and a quick, unemotional resolution.
No. It was once again a reading from the third book of the Democratic Bible, All Republicans Are Prudish, Misogynistic, Fiendish Rapists.
That this is from the Holy scripture of the party of Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy is one of those ironies only those of us on the right appreciate.
And behold! As they do every time, the media wing of the Democratic Party leaked onto these allegations, every single one, as if the mere fact of an accusation against the Republican made it credible.
I am not engaging in hyperbole. Allegations without corroborating evidence we would demand of any other criminal allegation, such as corroborating witnesses, dates, times, places, etc., were labeled credible.
On the eve of yesterday's hearing, Republicans released just their investigation of every insane allegation against judge Kavanaugh. One of those was that he had raped a woman on a boat in Newport, Rhode Island.
The allegation was made by some random Twitter user, and Republicans clearly released this information as part of their message that they took every allegation, no matter how ridiculous, seriously enough to investigate.
Media figures pounced, airing the allegation alongside claims that a 15 year old had run a gang rape scheme in high school.
In other words, instead of treating gingerly one of the worst accusations that can be made against a man, Democrats fed a chain of accusations the media, who happily, without vetting, regurgitated them as writ.
I try very hard not to swear on this website, but it is precisely this b******* or some variant up with which we must constantly put whenever the left gets its panties in a twist.
Whatever the truth of Dr. Ford's allegations, they were weaponized against not only a judicial candidate, but the right, without direct corroborating evidence and with the megaphone of the media happily supplied.
The fact that there is no contemporaneous, corroborating, direct or even indirect evidence is strongly suggestive of at the very least the inaccuracy of the claims.
But in the same way the FBI's conclusion that the allegations against Clarence Thomas were baseless, ordinary rules of logic and evidence go out the window, and the media plays along, when Republicans are accused of sex crimes.
This b******* is why we are in raged. Democrats are sending a message that if you mess with their sacrament, they will burn you to the ground, and like so many clapping seals, are media cheers them on.
And then, the cherry on top? A man is accused of serial violation of helpless women, one of the worst possible accusations that can be made against a man, roars back his defiance, and is accused of being unbalanced.
F*** all that.
The message that both the political and media wings of the Democratic Party are sending is that if you are a conservative and want to be in public life, they will destroy you.
They will tell your spouses and children that you are one of the worst imaginable humans alive.
They will tell the morons who slavishly follow every word they say that you are beneath contempt, and then express shock when the death threats roll in.
And when you dare to say, "Come here and say that to my face and my fist, you wretched son-of-a-b****," they will accuse you of being unfit for office because of anger management issues.
So, for clarity, speaking only as a husband of almost 20 years and a father both sons and daughters, I would respectfully submit that we are angry about the process violation and enraged about the barbarity.
And I will close with this. If you have reached the point at which you have managed to piss off Lindsey Graham of all people, contemplate the very real possibility you've gone too far.
