EJ Montini:
Cowards were on display.
One pathetic thing was proved definitively by the hearing featuring the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday:
An FBI investigation was necessary. And senators are cowards. OK, two things. Wait, three: Someone, or several someones, involved in this fiasco is, or are, con artists. And we may never know who that is, because the senators who are trying to be fair — if there are any — have no unbiased, independent investigative material upon which to contemplate their judgment.
The argument against using the FBI is that nothing could be verified after all these years. Perhaps not. But the only way to know that for sure would have been to investigate.
Besides, there are a number of other people who could have been interviewed. There is a lot of background work that could have been done on Ford, her friends and her associates, as well as those of Kavanaugh.
It may not have been possible to prove in a strictly criminal sense if the assault took place, but I’d guess the FBI would have been able to paint a pretty good picture of what life was like for young people in that place at that time. And that could help assess who is telling the truth. We can’t know for sure, since no investigation took place, and since no other individuals were interviewed or investigated.
I’d guess Maricopa County prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, who served as a surrogate for the all-male Republican cowards on the committee, was operating with information provided by Republican investigators, whose job it was to try to discredit Ford.
As a prosecutor, Mitchell has a reputation for seeking truth, so an unbiased investigation would have assisted her, too. Likewise, as a prosecutor known for seeking the truth, I’d guess there is no way she would move a case forward without first having investigated all of the claims made against someone. I’m guessing she would never — ever — ignore two other accusers while performing her duties as a prosecutor. But that is what the Republicans who control the Senate Judiciary Committee did.
It doesn’t seem as if the senators who support Kavanaugh were ever interested in finding out the truth. Truth takes time and effort.
Maybe you were sympathetic to the apprehensive but unwavering Ford. Perhaps you felt more for the occasionally weepy, occasionally bombastic Kavanaugh. Those are emotional reactions. A thorough, unbiased investigation by a qualified law-enforcement agency would have been useful for senators who are looking to be fair.
Although maybe that’s another thing we learned from the Kavanaugh hearing: There aren’t any senators who are looking to be fair.