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Welcome to Evesplaining, political columnist Eve Peyser on why everyone is wrong and she's right.
No matter what you say about the truth about the sexual assault that several women have launched against Donald Trump's Supreme Court candidate Brett Kavanaugh, you have to wonder why the Conservatives are defending such a controversial candidate in the highest court in the country.
As Vox's Matt Yglesias argued, "Republicans are simply mocking whether Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted women in his youth," noting that Bill Shine has acceded to a senior position at the White House after his ouster from Fox News. because he had been named in too much trial as an accomplice to the numerous allegations of large-scale sexual harassment in the company. "And of course, Trump himself has been accused of sexual misconduct by many women, one of whom is being sued for defamation.
But for political reasons, you would think Republicans would not be eager to participate in another public debate on sexual assault less than a year after Roy Moore lost a race in the Senate in Alabama. Trump could have abandoned Kavanaugh when it was clear that his confirmation was in jeopardy a few weeks ago and had chosen one of the other conservative judges as the former George W. Bush prosecutor (Neil Gorsuch, after everything has been confirmed despite his very conservative opinions)). Kavanaugh would not even have to admit wrongdoing, just make a statement saying that the confirmation process was bad for his family and the country as a whole, etc., and again becomes an extremely powerful judge DC circuit. His replacement would almost certainly be easier to confirm – but pulling him would be a sign of weakness, a tacit abandonment to criticism that perhaps a guy accused of sexual assault is not the best candidate for the post.
The Conservatives stand behind Kavanaugh on a simple principle: they want to own libs. In the era of trump, "owning the libs" has become the GOP's main doctrine – whether it's the president who defeats Barack Obama's environmental regulations or his insistence on building the wall. These policies have occurred because, more than anything, they leave much to be desired.
"Having libs" as a political philosophy preceded Trump, but his rise to the presidency is the logical conclusion of the eight years spent by Republicans to do everything they can to thwart every move of Obama. Trump's presidential campaign focused on getting cheap points in cultural wars, rather than on a coherent political ideology. While former politicians could have defended political unity and compromise, the omnipresent political style of the Liberals makes compromise impossible by adopting principles to intentionally inflame your opponent. As I wrote recently for Rolling stoneowning libs "is not about promoting an ideological goal, but about purity – it's about making the world a naughtier and dumber place.
Much of the conservative response to Kavanaugh's allegations rests on the premise that Democrats play the same cynical game. "It's amazing that these allegations are coming out of nowhere at the last minute … it's not unusual for our friends on the other side to make that kind of nonsense," said Republican Senator Orrin Hatch. m said in response to a New Yorker story detailing a second allegation of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh. By placing yourself in this kind of position, if more women accuse Kavanaugh of wrongdoing, they are part of the same plot. There is no room for doubt or nuance, just more anger and pain.
One of the many problems of "owning libs" is that you find yourself in a tribalism so complicated that you end up on your own. Republicans are desperate to have a conservative supreme court before the mid-term elections, which is why they are attempting to pass Kavanaugh's confirmation without an investigation by the FBI into allegations against him. It's unclear whether the GOP would have enough time to confirm another candidate before the elections at this point, but if he wins the half-time, he'll have plenty of time to confirm somebody's luck. 39; another. and probably hurt their political perspectives in the process.
An easier way to create a Supreme Court that could potentially reverse Roe v. Wade Kavanaugh would have dropped at the first sign that it was going to turn into a meat grinder and find someone else. Instead, the Republicans gave priority to giving the middle finger to the left. If this results in a total failure, the defeat of Kavanaugh, a Senate takeover by the Democrats and no confirmation period of the Supreme Court, the GOP will have nothing to blame him.
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