I only watched about 20 minutes of the confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh. I caught a segment of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony while I sat in a waiting room a few weeks ago. The rest of the affair seemed too predestined and too tragic to invest time and emotional reserves.
From the outset, we knew Kavanaugh would become the next Associate Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. Not because of his judicial pedigree — which was largely ignored over the past two months and is generally acknowledged to be sterling — nor any particular belief about his personal history.
Simple math assured Kavanaugh his seat. In these rancorous partisan times, being a Republican nominee sent to a chamber controlled by 51 Republicans guaranteed the outcome.
Nothing could unbalance that tipped scale of justice, even if the eventual math read 50-48 with one Democratic “yes” vote, a Republican “no” instead voting “present,” and, maybe the luckiest senator, one Republican “yes” vote absent to attend his daughter’s wedding.
The full weight of Democrats and victim advocates broke over the confirmation hearings like a great wave only to leave the stone jetty of partisan politics unmoved. This is the world we live in now.
