SENATE HEARINGS A DEBACLE FOR PUBLIC
In the words of Woody Allen, these hearings are “a sham of a farce of a mockery.”
Judge Brett Kavanaugh is right to say that they have turned into a disgrace. I cannot imagine a process that is less calculated to find the truth. I cannot imagine anything that is worse for the public interest.
Start with the process of chopping the entire inquiry into fiveminute chunks. From a lawyer’s
perspective, that is idiotic. In order to have any kind of coherent inquiry, one needs to set a foundation, probe details and pull facts together.
Imagine, if you will, watching five minutes of a murder mystery, then watching five minutes of “Star Wars,” then five minutes of a documentary on lions and so forth. Now imagine that someone’s reputation is at stake on keeping track of the story.
If that is not enough, the senators — and, to be frank, I am mostly talking about the Democratic senators — engaged in shockingly bad behavior.
For example, in a hearing that was called because the Democrats asserted they wanted to find the truth, and that was intensely negotiated for that purpose, Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced he believed the accuser (as a matter of personal policy, I will not use the name of an alleged victim of sexual assault) before he heard a word from Judge Kavanaugh.
Sen. Kamala Harris didn’t bother to ask a single question during the morning session. Instead, she decided to delivery a summation of the case before the accuser even finished her testimony. Democrat after Democrat did the same thing.
In the afternoon, the Democrats seemed to spend an inordinate time on his yearbook and the sense of humor of a 16- or 17-year-old. I never expected to hear about fart jokes in a confirmation hearing. I never expected a nominee to explain the rules to a teenage drinking game.
This is moved from deplorable to catastrophic. No matter what happens, I am not sure we can ever come back from this.
You might notice that I have not mentioned whom I believe. I am not going to.
Everyone has to reach his/her own conclusion and I am in no position to claim that my belief is better than anyone else’s. But I can tell you that this process has failed both the accused, Judge Kavanaugh, and the American public.