CT Blue

In light of the Times puff pieceyesterday, and the Times was not alone (my wife says Twitter is full of folks praising his principled actions), I think it’s time to, as Randy Newman’s devil sang,“inject a note of reality on this festive occasion”, for, as Randy went on to sing, “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard such bullshit”. I’m not the first to point all this out, but I do want to add my voice to the somewhat drowned out chorus of naysayers.

Flake is a fraud, as are all the other so called moderates in the Republican caucus. He has cultivated an image of “moderation”, while, along with Corker, Murkowski, Collins, et. al., he has enabled Trump at every turn.

Here’s what I think we can expect.

It is practically a given that the FBI will be unable to confirm Dr. Ford’s story. We all know it’s true, but other than her word, there is no hard evidence, unless Mark Judge decides to confess, but he’ll say he doesn’t recall. This is no surprise; she’s been upfront from day one about the lack of any contemporary witnesses.

So, even if the FBI truly does go beyond Trump’s original limitson the investigation, and looks into Kavanaugh’s perjury and other crimes, Flake, Murkowski, and Collins will limit their personal inquiries to whether the FBI establishes Kavanaugh’s guilt of attempted rape of Dr. Ford. They will disregard all other disqualifying factors, whether the FBI exposes them or not. His lies have been called out and cataloguedfor what they are, or, in the case of the New York Times, catalogued while tippy toeingaround the word “lie”. He lies even when he doesn’t have to. His testimony at the hearing demonstrated beyond doubt that he lacks the temperament and personal qualities that should be required of a Supreme Court justice. 

None of this will matter to Flake. Should the FBI fail to find Kavanaugh guilty beyond reasonable doubt of attempting to rape Dr. Ford, which it surely must, Flake will vote to confirm, as will Collins and Murkowski. He will nonetheless reap the benefits of his courageous stand for principle. It’s amazing how low the bar is for a Republican to qualify as a principled moderate.