The Republicans Are at Their Battle Stations Now
WASHINGTON-At the end of a long, weird day at the beginning of a long, weird week, Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was walking down a corridor in the Capitol outside the Senate chamber, the place where he took root at the latter end of the administration of Jimmy Carter, who left office at 57 and is now 93, which makes him nine years older than Senator Hatch. Anyway, Hatch was surrounded by a gaggle of reporters who were asking him about Deborah Ramirez, the second woman who has alleged on the record that Brett Kavanaugh sexually harassed and/or assaulted her in his younger days.
"We know what this is about," Hatch said. "We always have these phony allegations late in the process." Why, he was asked, does he say that Ramirez's charges are phony?
"Because I know they are, that's why," he replied.
He was then asked if he thought Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's allegations were "phony" as well, and Hatch was still sharp enough to see a low bridge coming. "I think she's probably sincere," he said. "At least I hope she is. I think she's sincerely wrong."
And so, at Monday's end, you could see the strategy shaping up. Dr. Ford will be treated with honey-dripping condescension and fake piety while the Republican members of the committee dismiss her charges out of hand. (Mitch McConnell even followed this bless-her-heart game plan in his otherwise rancid remarks to open the Senate on Monday.) Ramirez-and any other woman who pokes her head over the stone wall-will not be treated as gently. Thus are the people making the charges are divided, one from the other, and the basic he said/she said frame remains intact.
Meanwhile, outside the Senate, the counterattack went into maximum overdrive. First, Kavanaugh dispatched a letter to the Judiciary Committee in which he proclaimed himself to be somewhere between John Marshall and Mighty Mouse. The letter leaked, because of course it did.
“I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process. The coordinated effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out. The vile threats of violence against my family will not drive me out. The last minute character assassination will not succeed.”
It is here where we remind you that it is Dr. Ford and her family who have had to leave home because of the threats that she has received since her charges went public. It is also here where we have to remind everyone (again) that there is no such thing as a "last-minute" anything on a Supreme Court nomination. The only clock is in McConnell's head. As Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, said:
"We held a Supreme Court vacancy open for almost a year. This vacancy came open in August, so that's seven or eight weeks. People are saying, 'You could hold a vacancy open for a year but you can't delay a couple days for an FBI investigation?' People are mad."
Back to Kavanaugh's letter:
“There is now a frenzy to come up with something-anything-that will block this process and a vote on my confirmation from occurring. These are smears, pure and simple. And they debase our public discourse...Women from every phase of my life have come forward to attest to my character. I am grateful to them. I owe it to them, and to my family, to defend my integrity and my name. I look forward to answering questions from the Senate on Thursday.”
In addition, Kavanaugh and his wife committed to a sit-down interview with Martha McCallum of Fox News on Monday night. Everyone's at battle stations now, and everyone knows the plan of campaign.
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