One week ago, I said that I believed Christine Blasey Ford believes what she’s saying. Her testimony wasn’t proof of her claims — and she was unable to say where or when it happened, or name any witnesses to back her up, or provide any substantiation whatsoever — but I thought she sounded like she sincerely believed it happened. After the events of this past week, I’m not even sure of that much. Her story hasn’t held up under scrutiny, and the inconsistencies are too glaring to ignore. That is, if you care about the truth. Which leaves out the Democratic Party.

Hey, remember when they all waved away the solid evidence of a prominent Democrat’s shoddy treatment of women? It was a long, long time ago, but I’ve been thinking about it in the new light of recent developments.

I wasn’t really paying attention to politics during the Clinton years, but you couldn’t escape the Lewinsky fiasco. It was everywhere. It may not have been the first time a U.S. president ever cheated on his wife under their own roof, but it was the first time it was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. And it was all America could talk about, for months on end. Dave Chappelle had a funny bit about missing the whole scandal when it was over: “The news was gettin’ so good! I was tapin’ it…” All you had to say was “blue dress,” and everybody knew what you were talking about. It became a punchline.

And you know what else that blue dress was?

Evidence.

Clinton and his fans couldn’t escape the evidence. They couldn’t make the DNA go away. So what did they do? They just pretended it didn’t matter. “What’s the big deal? He only lied about a blowjob, you prudes. What, are you jealous?” Etc., etc. If you get caught red-handed, just say it’s no big deal that your hand is all red. In fact, a red hand is pretty cool, right?

“I didn’t do it. And so what if I did?” That’s the Clinton way. His wife almost took that strategy all the way back to the White House.*

This Brett Kavanaugh smear is just the opposite. Here, the Democrats are desperate to believe increasingly outrageous claims of decades-old events, with no evidence whatsoever. You’ll never prove to their satisfaction that it didn’t happen. The FBI could investigate for a year. They could track down every “witness” who heard a rumor about somebody who might have seen Kavanaugh doing something bad 30 years ago, maybe. They could jump through every hoop held up by a circus clown like Michael Avenatti. And when they came up empty, it still wouldn’t be good enough because these people need it to be true. It’s an article of faith now.

LAST WEEK: “You know what would clear this up?”

THIS WEEK: “You know who’s covering this up?”

So now, unless there’s another literally unbelievable development in this 59th minute of the 11th hour, it looks like Kavanaugh will be confirmed. All the people who smeared him will convince themselves that his decisions are illegitimate. They didn’t get what they wanted, and it’s not fair, so they’ll just deny reality. They’re children.

In the process, they’ve only damaged the #MeToo cause. They’ve made it more difficult for victims of sexual assault to come forward. If 99% of the press is going to commit themselves so completely to a fake accusation, that will just plant a seed of doubt when a woman genuinely needs help.

If you cared about women, Dems, you wouldn’t exploit them for political purposes. You wouldn’t lie, and in the process complicate things for women who are telling the truth.

Do not forget what these people did to this man, just to keep what’s left of their power. Watch their thwarted rage. And on November 6, do what you think is right. Your vote counts just as much as theirs.

And if they had their way, it wouldn’t.

*Not that the guy who defeated her is much better than her husband, when it comes to the treatment of women. But you don’t want to hear that, do you?