Passion, chaos ruled the day on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON — “This is what democracy looks like!” protesters shouted outside the Supreme Court, voicing their opposition to Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the high court but somehow speaking for everyone on every side on a day of passion, chaos and consequence.

Democracy on Thursday looked like:

• Senators scurrying AWAY from the cameras, not their natural state.

• Sexual assault victims pouring out their stories in the halls of the Capitol and from the steps of the high court across the street.

•”Confirm Brett!” cries from members of the “Women for Kavanaugh” outside the office of Sen. Jeff Flake, one of three Republicans and perhaps one Democrat who will determine whether the judge accused of sexual misconduct will become a justice.

• “We believe Christine Ford” banners, unfurled at a Senate office building where police began arresting A demonstrator joins others in protesting and chanting against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during a rally Thursday in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. hundreds of protesters staging a sit-in.

• Partisan characterizations of the FBI report on the accusations against Kavanaugh, so at odds that the casual observer could not hope to divine the truth from listening to them. the decisive fifth vote for a conservative majority on the nine-member court.

On the hot seat, some senators have been using police escorts in recent days to shield them from protesters and the media. The stepped-up police presence comes as senators — especially Republicans — have expressed unease over protesters who have confronted them at their Senate offices, restaurants, airports and even their homes. Personal information about some lawmakers also has been released online.

On Thursday, with Collins praising the reach of the brief FBI investigation and Flake indicating he had seen nothing incriminating in the results, the pro-Kavanaugh forces appeared closer to the prize.

But anger and frustration knew no party on the eve of expected voting.

“This is almost rock bottom,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the Republican who presided over last week’s hearing as chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

It was a day when you could not tell who was winning by watching them.