Republicans gave all of their time to prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to question Christine Blasey Ford. When it was their turn to question Brett Kavanaugh, at first it looked like Mitchell would also be questioning him. That quickly came to an end after Mitchell had time to ask only a few serious questions to press Kavanaugh on. After that, Republican senators talked about how hard it was for Kavanaugh and his family to go through this process and railed against the handling of the allegations by Democrats. That made the hearing about how the allegations were handled, not the allegations themselves — which, conveniently, is not the issue at hand.

Republicans would have been much better off if they had sat back and let Mitchell continue with her even, fair and, yes, tough questions.

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For one thing, that would have meant that Kavanuagh would actually have a good chance of clearing his name. Mitchell was off to a good start on this point — she identified key dates on Kavanaugh’s calendar and asked pointed and important questions about them. She didn't get enough time, though, and wasn’t able to pursue that line of questioning.

Without such questions and Kavanaugh’s answers to them, there is no possibility that he can clear his name and repair his reputation that he has acknowledged has been damaged. That does Kavanaugh, who has repeatedly asked for a chance to answer questions and thus have the opportunity clear his name, a true disservice.

More importantly, without such pointed questioning, there cannot be any claim to a fair and impartial hearing. Republicans have the majority and Kavanaugh is their nominee. If they stand by him, as they have repeatedly claimed they do, then it is fundamentally important that they make effort to have an impartial hearing so that his confirmation and position on the Supreme Court cannot be overshadowed by the potential of illegitimacy.

Plus, inviting Mitchell to speak and having much more time to press Ford but little time to press Kavanaugh made her invitation look partisan instead of productive.

These Republican senators know better than this. Did they change their mind after the first 10 minutes of questioning? That made what could easily have been a helpful and illustrative hearing into an angry, partisan charade — the very things that Republican senators and their nominee spoke out against.

Senators, Kavanaugh, and the public would have been far better served if Mitchell had kept up her questions. Then, at least, the hearing might have had some semblance of credibility and a focus on allegations rather than partisan wrangling.