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GUEST COMMENTARY--The White House ostensibly run by a pathological liar, irredeemable grifter and self-confessed serial sexual predator has now officially set the bar so low it's underground, or, more aptly these days, under water.
This weekend, they and their slimy apologists responded to the credible charge that a Supreme Court nominee with an already appalling record also tried to sexually assault someone in his youth by dismissing, distracting, desperately victim-smearing - she donated $72 to Democrats over four years! - crowing with gobsmacking cognitive dissonance about all the women he didn't try to rape, blindly urging a vote NOW, and otherwise insisting nothing to see here other than the usual venal and occasionally rapey shit show. If they had any shame, this would be the time for it. (Photo above: Good guy and honorably behaving Kavanaugh refuses to shake hands with the father of a Parkland victim.)
Judging from frenzied denials by zealots trumpeting, "Never bow to Leftist rage mob and the smear merchants!" Monday's news that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is willing to testify about her alleged assault by Brett Kavanaugh will likely do little to move the needle toward actual accountability To wit: Judiciary Committee Repubs issued a grotesque statement questioning the "tactics and motives" of Democrats who previously "said nothing" about the allegations, along with a list of previously published links to right-wing groups vowing Kavanaugh is a swell guy.
Fox News' Stephen Miller feverishly argued "there are discrepancies" in the story: "This was not a sexual assault. It was not a rape ... We’ve seen this before. Hold the vote. Confirm him. Be done with this charade."
Going one further, right-wing pundit Erick Erickson pulled the ultimate victim-switcheroo and intoned, "If the GOP does not stand up to this character assassination attempt on Kavanaugh, every judicial nominee moving forward is going to suffer last minute sexual assault allegations." Most weirdly, evidently super-well-prepared Sen. Chuck Grassley produced a letter within an hour of news of the charge signed by 65 women who knew Kavanaugh way back when – i.e. when he was attending an all-boys' school - and swore he "behaved honorably. "He was an outstanding student and athlete with a wide circle of friends ... He has always been a good person." See, and because he never tried to rape any of us, that means he obviously never tried to rape anyone, right? Skeptical response of the day goes to the Rude Pundit: "Next: a letter from all the people that Jeffrey Dahmer didn't eat."
Good people have already started pushing back: Over three dozen women who went to Dr. Ford’s high school have signed a letterof support, declaring her allegation “is all too consistent with stories we heard and lived while attending (the school). Many of us are survivors ourselves.”
But a final obscenity came from the White House of a sexual offender who's defended the likes of Roy Moore and multiple offenders - this time, against the accusations of mean women who want to stop one of their own from getting a lifetimeappointment to the Supreme Court so he can set back women's rights a coupla hundred years and not get flack for it.
Thus do we have a lawyer "close to the White House" issuing a statement vowing Kavanaugh's nomination will not be withdrawn. “No way,” the lawyer said. “If somebody can be brought down by accusations like this, then you, me, every man certainly should be worried. We can all be accused of something.” Umm. Where to start? Maybe with the wise words of the Smirking Chimp: "We need to ban rapey Supreme Court nominees until we can figure out just what the hell is going on."
(Guest columnist Abby Zimet writes for Common Dreams … where this perspective was first posted.)
-cw
