Before examining the revolting political racket choreographed by Senate Democrats around the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a brief trip down memory lane:

On the night of July 18, 1969, a U.S. senator drank heavily, got behind the wheel of a car with a young woman beside him and drove off a bridge. He saved himself, stumbled back to his hotel and passed out. She suffocated to death in an air pocket, according to the diver who recovered her body, although the official conclusion was that she drowned. The senator, Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), was 37 years old; the woman, Mary Jo Kopechne, just 28.

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Sixteen years later, Kennedy, then 53, had dinner with fellow Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), at a swanky Washington restaurant. Michael Kelly reported the scene for GQ in 1990:

“It is after midnight and Kennedy and Dodd are just finishing up a long dinner in a private room …They are drunk. Their dates, two very young blondes, leave the table to go to the bathroom. (The dates are drunk too. “They’d always get their girls very, very drunk,” says a former Brasserie waitress.) … Raymond Campet, the co-owner of La Brasserie, tells [waitress Carla] Gaviglio the senators want to see her.

“As Gaviglio enters the room, the six-foot-two, 225-plus-pound Kennedy grabs the five-foot-three, 103-pound waitress and throws her on the table. She lands on her back, scattering crystal, plates and cutlery and the lit candles. Several glasses and a crystal candlestick are broken. Kennedy then picks her up from the table and throws her on Dodd, who is sprawled in a chair. With Gaviglio on Dodd’s lap, Kennedy jumps on top and begins rubbing his genital area against hers, supporting his weight on the arms of the chair. As he is doing this, [Betty] Loh [another server] enters the room. She and Gaviglio both scream …Startled, Kennedy leaps up. He laughs. Bruised, shaken and angry over what she considered a sexual assault, Gaviglio runs from the room. Kennedy, Dodd and their dates leave shortly thereafter, following a friendly argument between the senators over the check.”

The infamous “waitress sandwich” sexual assault, after which the drunk senator laughed. The death of a young woman, after which he slept.

Not only was Kennedy never held accountable for his long reign of terror against women, he was continually re-elected, lionized as a leftist icon and granted a state funeral. The Left justifies endless scrutiny of Kavanaugh by arguing that a lifetime appointment requires it, but Kennedy and others enjoyed de facto lifetime appointments, both in office and out via enduring influence.

Would Kennedy have survived the #MeToo era? Perhaps. President Bill Clinton William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonChelsea Clinton: Trump isn't building public confidence in a vaccine Hillary Clinton launching podcast this month GOP brushes back charges of hypocrisy in Supreme Court fight MORE, accused of rape and sexual assault by multiple women, is still hailed. #BelieveAllWomen? Right. Too bad Mary Jo can’t speak “her truth.” Too bad Juanita Broaddrick tried to speak and remains shunned. And too bad Kavanaugh’s legion of female defenders apparently aren’t “women” enough to be believed.

All sins — even the most grievous ones committed against women — are forgiven by progressives if the offender holds the “right” views, particularly on abortion. For Democrats today, politics dictates morality, not the reverse as has been the case traditionally.

Witness the Democratic Party’s and the press’ relative blackout on allegations of domestic violence against Keith Ellison Keith Maurice EllisonOfficers in George Floyd's death appear in court, motion for separate trials Ex-Minneapolis officer involved in Floyd death asks judge to dismiss murder charge Over 50 current, former law enforcement professionals sign letter urging Congress to decriminalize marijuana MORE (D-Minn.), the No. 2 official at the Democratic National Committee and current candidate for Minnesota attorney general (and who certainly aspires to a “lifetime” political career). Two women have accused him of relatively recent abuse, claiming medical records, video proof, contemporaneous witnesses and a restraining order, and yet there is silence from the same Democrats condemning the wholly uncorroborated tales of a teenaged Kavanaugh.

When it comes to leftist champions, it’s “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.” But when it comes to conservatives, it’s all evil, all the time, even when there is zero evidence of evil.

A constitutional originalist, Kavanaugh stepped right into the progressives’ line of fire. The political left knows that he will halt its long practice of using the judiciary to impose its agenda. Equally horrifying, Kavanaugh will serve on the court far longer than Donald Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE will serve as president, extending the loathsome Trump era well into the future. Unwilling to abide this, the Left must destroy him.

It was laughable to watch beam-in-their-own-eye Democrats sitting in judgment of Kavanaugh: Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel FeinsteinBiden leads Trump by 12 points among Catholic voters: poll Names to watch as Trump picks Ginsburg replacement on Supreme Court McConnell says Trump nominee to replace Ginsburg will get Senate vote MORE (D-Calif.), who employed a Chinese spy on her staff for decades; Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who lied about serving in Vietnam; and Sen. Cory Booker Cory Anthony BookerBipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death DHS opens probe into allegations at Georgia ICE facility Democratic lawmakers call for an investigation into allegations of medical neglect at Georgia ICE facility MORE (D-N.J.), who admitted to groping a woman years ago.

Instead of exhibiting humility and grace, these Democrats luxuriated in virtue-signaling, trying to “out-woke” one another as they ditched the rule of law while showboating via “performance anger.” By contrast, Kavanaugh’s authentic anger at being smeared was weaponized to argue he lacked “judicial temperament.”

For them, Kavanaugh was, is and always will be guilty — not of high school boozing or a teenage assault. Those things are mere pretexts for their wider fight. No, he’s guilty of something far more threatening: getting to a position to stop their forward march.

Shortly before the Senate Judiciary Committee vote, Sen. Kamala Harris Kamala HarrisButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice First presidential debate to cover coronavirus, Supreme Court Harris joins women's voter mobilization event also featuring Pelosi, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda MORE (D-Calif.) bolted to a waiting microphone to vent outrage at Republicans. “This is about raw power!” she thundered.

Indeed, but it’s about the left’s relentless pursuit of raw power to, in President Obama’s words, “fundamentally transform the nation” — and Kavanaugh’s ability to thwart it.

So while Democrats still genuflect to Kennedy and ignore credible standing accusations against their own such as Ellison, they trash a highly accomplished man, truth be damned.

Kennedy — one of the masterminds of the scathing attacks on Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas — would be proud of his shameless successors, who will likely gin up more accusations and demand further investigation until they can push the process past the November vote, when they hope to have more leverage. Having scored a few delays already, they are circling sharks.

For them, this pantomime is about getting, wielding and keeping “raw power.” That end justifies all means.

Monica Crowley is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research based at King’s College in New York City, which examines national security, energy, risk-analysis and other public policy issues.