Capitol Hill drama new norm for U.S. politics

One of the most tumultuous weeks in American politics ended with no clear winner and plenty of losers

— fairness, sanity and most importantly the truth.

Senate Republicans caved and the nation is faced with at least another week of a new FBI investigation that’s likely to accomplish nothing except drag out this Supreme Court drama ever closer to the midterm election, which is what Democrats want.

At the end of next week, we’re likely to be no closer to the truth of what happened in suburban Maryland 36 years ago.

The nation will still be bitterly divided, and every Democrat in the Senate will vote against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh no matter what the FBI finds or doesn’t find.

President Trump called this an “incredible moment” in the history of the country and for once, the former reality show hawker was right.

What else do you call a farce of a Supreme Court hearing where Democrats breathlessly grilled the nominee over high school yearbooks and references to flatulence? What else do you call a hearing where the nominee asked a senator whether she drank too much?

And if Republicans think they can just delay Kavanaugh’s nomination for a week, get the FBI to clear his name and then proceed to approve him for the high court, they should think again.

A lot can happen in a week. Wavering senators worried about their re-election will be ambushed by more protesters. More women can come forward with new allegations, even if they are completely unsubstantiated. Will they get an FBI investigation, too?

And even if a week passes and Republicans successfully ram through the nomination, at what price? Kavanaugh’s reputation has been permanently stained, the Democrats will be galvanized for the election, and the odds increase of Republicans losing control of Congress.

The real goal of Democrats is to take over the Senate and House, and if they do, the Kavanaugh nomination will play a major role.

No matter whether Kavanaugh wins, the fight over the nomination has forever changed the way Congress reviews Supreme Court nominees — and not for the better.

The anything-goes tactics by Democrats are the new standard by which future nominees will be judged, no matter which party is in power.

It’s possible that if Democrats take control of the Senate, Trump will be prevented from filling any vacancy, leaving the court short-handed for long periods of time.

And if the situation reverses — with Democrats taking the White House and Republicans controlling the Senate — any nominee will be subjected to the same vicious attacks that greeted Kavanaugh’s nomination.

The fight over Kavanaugh’s nomination will even reverberate to other areas of politics. Elections will be nastier. Passing any kind of legislation will be tougher.

Welcome to the new realities of American politics.