Obviously, what I’m about to propose would never happen. Still, it would be great for America if it did.
Brett Kavanaugh should announce he supports an FBI investigation into Dr. Ford’s allegation. He should also tell the Senate’s Judiciary Committee to subpoena all relevant witnesses.
Kavanaugh has categorically denied Dr. Ford’s allegation. Yet, a majority of Americans oppose his nomination to the Supreme Court; intact, his nomination has the least amount of public support since Robert Bork’s nomination was rejected by Republicans and Democrats in 1987.
If Kavanaugh is so certain he is innocent and he wants to remove some of the cloud hanging over his nomination, he should call for a full, fair investigation. If Kavanaugh is, as he wants us to believe, committed to the idea of equality for women, he should call for a full, fair investigation.
By failing to do so, Kavanaugh is making it clear he is going to do as little as Republicans require of him to rubber-stamp his lifetime place on the Supreme Court. Given the critical value of the Supreme Court in the functioning of American democracy and the serious issues set to be tried by the court, the reality that the tie-breaking nominee has the support of barely a third of the population is truly sad.
It’s very likely Kavanaugh will be confirmed, most of the population will be further alienated by the process, and we will all know how little has changed for women in the halls of power since Anita Hill was brutalized.
The Kavanaugh nomination and confirmation seem to be headed for another demonstration of how America’s “leaders” are now always smaller than the moment. If Kavanaugh were to call for an investigation, Kavanaugh could rise above the moment. Given his outrageous ego, the fact that he can’t even entertain the possibility is more reason to doubt his denial.
Here’s a post I wrote with an idea for Dr. Ford.