I am a political moderate on most issues, but on social issues I am a liberal. I favor equal rights for everyone. I support racial equality. I support affirmative action. I support gender equality. I support equal pay for men and women. I support gay and lesbian equality. I support gay marriage.

I am 100% against Donald Trump and his right-wing agenda. I am a registered independent, but in recent elections I have voted only for Democrats.

However, I am disgusted by the behavior of Democrats and liberals in the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”? Why was the woman’s allegation (Dr. Ford) kept secret by Senator Diane Feinstein until the very last minute? Why wasn’t this allegation investigated in the usual manner: in secret by congressional staff members? Why was it made public?

A human being’s reputation and career is on the line. The fact that this human being is a man should not matter. His life, the life of his wife, and the lives of his children could be forever destroyed by what amounts to, at least at this point, a case of “he said, she said”.

I believe that we should all take allegations of sexual assault very seriously. Dr. Ford’s side of the story should be heard. Her claim should have been investigated by the FBI. But it should have been heard and investigated privately, months ago, not dumped into the media just days before the confirmation voting was to begin. This is nothing more than a partisan witch hunt (yes, I will use that term).

Liberal Democrats seem to be willing to do anything to stop the confirmation of another conservative Supreme Court justice, a conservative justice who will tip the balance of power on the court, even if it means destroying a man. This behavior is beneath us. It is un-American. We moderates and liberals knew that the balance of power on the Supreme Court would be decided in the 2016 presidential election but we failed to turn out and vote. That is why Trump won. That is why the Supreme Court is going to be conservative for decades. It is our fault!

This is a democracy, folks. Elections matter. Elections should decide the direction of the country and the direction of the Supreme Court, not coups, not civil wars, and not assassinations, including character assassinations.

What liberals seem to be pushing is this: Any man in the country accused of sexual assault by a woman is automatically guilty (and immediately labeled a “sexual predator”) until he proves his innocence. That is outrageous. That is un-American. Imagine if conservatives pushed the following: Any Jew or Muslim in the country accused by a Christian of a crime is guilty until he or she proves his or her innocence. Liberals would be outraged. Yet, when it comes to men, in particular white men, liberals have a double standard.

Every American, whether black, white, brown, gay, straight, woman or man deserves to be treated fairly.

As the father of a daughter, I want women to feel safe in our society. I want them to feel that they will be taken seriously if they believe that they have been victims of sexual assault. However, I want the entire matter to be handled following the law and following the principle of “innocent until proven guilty”.

Americans today are horrified and outraged by pictures of public lynchings which occurred in our not so distant past. I believe we should be equally horrified and outraged at the public lynching of someone’s character. And I believe that is exactly what is happening to Brett Kavanaugh.

End of post.