Bruce Lowry

North Jersey Record Opinion

Cry me a river for Brett Kavanaugh, who is, by all indications, another rich frat boy who was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.

And who will, partly because of that entitlement, in all likelihood soon be seated on the Supreme Court despite real concerns about his character, his past and his treatment of women.

And let’s not forget despite serious questions about his own credibility, under oath.

Anyone who doubts that should watch and listen to the nominee — who has lived, supporters say, “an exemplary life” — in testy exchanges Thursday with two Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee — with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., about his teenage drinking, and with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., about inscriptions regarding a former classmate named “Renate” in his Georgetown Prep yearbook.

To think that, somehow, as Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina posed in his five minutes of high-Shakespearean meltdown, we are supposed to “feel sorry” for this privileged son of the East Coast establishment, is laughable on its face.

Save me your outrage senator; save me your grandstanding.

Save it for President Donald Trump and those red-meat crowds he so delights in parading in front of, and persuading with old-style chicanery, and George Wallace-type demagoguery.

GOP is so tone-deaf

Last week, Senate Republicans seemed intent on making sure that parade played on.

Despite a last-minute stand by Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., that he wanted an FBI investigation before a full vote takes place in the Senate, the committee voted on partisan lines Friday to advance the nomination.

I have no idea what will come of any new investigation, but it was clear enough late last week that the great majority of Republicans had, in the words of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, decided to “plow right through” the hearings and compelling testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, take a few obligatory swipes at the free press, and then march on to victory in the name of preserving the virtue of “this good man.”

Their tone deafness on the matter of sexual assault or on sexual abuse victims came through loud and clear.

As to Ford, how could any reasonable person not listen to her testimony about the actual attack and not find it wholly believable? She did not remember some guy with a ski mask jumping out of the bushes and pinning her down. She actually knew the guy; she called him by name: “Brett.”

“I believed he was going to rape me,” Ford said. “I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me.”

On FBI investigation:Let the FBI do its job. Don't make Kavanaugh investigation a fig leaf for Republicans.

Personal experience:I confronted Jeff Flake over Brett Kavanaugh. Survivors like me won't stand for injustice.

Related column:Even with Jeff Flake's FBI investigation, Brett Kavanaugh Is unfit to serve

Hearing such gripping detail, though, didn’t faze Republicans, not near as much as the tear-stained, rage-filled opening words of Kavanaugh himself did. While many said they could totally sympathize with the trauma Ford suffered, in the end they weren’t really interested in what New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker called “her truth.”

And as to this issue of “fairness” Graham, Sen. Ted Cruz and others railed on about, I defer to legendary CBS newsman Dan Rather, who tweeted his own words of truth on Friday: “It’s amazing how many of the process arguments Republican senators are making can be countered with just two words: Merrick Garland.”

Now, with Kavanaugh seemingly cleared for confirmation, there is reason to believe, or at least for Trump to believe, he will soon have his ace in the hole should the Russia collusion investigation continue to go south for him. Democrats believe Kavanaugh will be hesitant to sign off on any sort of indictment of a sitting president, based on his past writings.

Which brings us back close to where we started before anyone had ever heard of Christine Blasey Ford, or at least two other named accusers. As much as we might have hoped the nation had moved on since Anita Hill testified against Clarence Thomas 27 years ago — to a more sensible and sensitive place — last week's goings-on proved otherwise.

As Booker said during his committee time on Friday, this was a “moral moment” in our nation. And just like 27 years ago, we failed, again, to live up to it.

Bruce Lowry is the editorial page editor for The North Jersey Record, where this column first appeared. You can follow him on Twitter: @BruceLowry21.