U.S. Senate on a Perilous Path Thanks for Flake

In 1982, Greg Watson turned in a thesis to his professor at Texas Christian University.  In it, he argued that an unratified constitutional amendment first proposed by Madison as part of the Bill of Rights could still become law. His efforts earned him a C.  Not because of poor writing skills or shoddy workmanship, but because his professor thought his contention was in error.

So upset was Watson over his grade that he wrote every state legislator in the country about having his or her state ratify Madison’s constitutional amendment.  The letter caught the attention of a state legislator in Maine who moved it in his state, and shortly thereafter, Maine became the first state in modern American history to ratify one of James Madison’s amendments.  Others followed, and by 1992, the Twenty Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting congressional salaries from being altered without an intervening election became law, just as Watson had predicted.

Watson’s story is a wonderful example of the greatness of the power of one.  It is a testament of what happens when a single individual, motivated by the vision of new reality, mobilizes and convinces others that his is the correct way to proceed.

Yes, Senator Jeff Flake moved a mountain on Friday, or at least the United States Senate, when he announced that he would be voting Judge Kavanaugh out of committee but demanding an FBI investigation be performed prior to his casting a favorable vote at the floor of the Senate. His actions, however, did not rise to the level of a Watsonian performance.

Flake’s motivation was based on fear and submission to intimidation tactics, or personal gain, not the promotion of a unique insight.  On Friday morning, shortly after announcing that he would be voting to confirm Judge Kavanaugh, Flake was accosted by a group of rabid feminists who reproachfully and illogically insisted that a vote for Kavanaugh was equivalent to an assertion by Flake of his disbelief of those women’s stories regarding their own alleged sexual assaults.

Of course, the claim of any association between Jeff Flake’s vote on the confirmation of a competent judge and any opinion on a totally unrelated sexual assault upon another party is patently absurd. And the fact that a senator would be allowed to be accosted by a group of very aggressive advocates, regardless of the issue being espoused, within the capitol grounds is equally as unbelievable. But whatever the pressures upon Flake to capitulate, he did, and he did so in deference to fear, guilt, or personal ambition.

Moreover, the contention that Democrats are searching for some greater truth or guidance before making their decision is untenable. Between Senator Feinstein’s near month long suppression of an anonymous complaint, to the concealment of the complaint from the nominee, to the circus environment the Democrat caucus developed during the nomination process, to the numerous, ridiculous comments made by individual senators in the Judiciary Committee during and after the proceedings, it is evident that theirs was an all out effort to embarrass and subvert the nominee.  The search for truth does not figure into the Democrats’ plan.

But still, one may ask, what’s the harm in just doing yet another FBI investigation?  If he’s innocent as he says he is, then what’s the harm?  The questions drip with hypocrisy in the face of the damage that has already transpired.  All that this delay is causing is to allow more time for the forces of evil in this country to continue their unabashed and shameless assault on a nominee with an impeccable record of service to his country, his family, and his community.

No, despite what the media is saying, Dr. Christine Blaisey Ford is not a credible witness.  Yes, her testimony was compelling, and it was emotional, but there were more holes in it than in a block of Swiss cheese, and that’s without the benefit of a cross-examination.  Honestly, if Dr. Ford, who is no psychologist despite her claim, were subjected to a cross examination, I believe she would not have even been able to finish her testimony.

Additionally, there is absolutely no good that will come from an FBI probe.  It is an investigation based on events that allegedly took place thirty-five years earlier, brought by a seriously flawed informant with ulterior motives, without time certain, nor location, and where there is no possibility for the collection of forensic or physical evidence to support or dispel the allegation.  The FBI’s efforts are dead before they even started.

Clearly, the only thing the delay will accomplish is to allow more time for the further salacious destruction of Judge Kavanaugh’s reputation and the degradation of the Senate by a bunch of reckless Senate Democrats. And it will allow more time for those nefarious detractors to conjure up more false stories about the judge and to further throw the process into disarray.

Nor will the further protraction do anything to heal the country, nor give comfort to those who would otherwise not have voted for the Judge.  There is no Senate Democrat who will suddenly change his or her mind merely because of an inconclusive FBI investigation.  Just the opposite.  When the FBI investigation fails to find anything new, the only thing that will come of it is the opportunity for Kavanaugh’s opponents to criticize the investigation for not finding anything!

No, Jeff Flake offered no improvement upon the horrible situation in which this country finds itself.  Unlike Greg Watson who was able to bring insight and wisdom to light, all Flake accomplished was the opportunity for the Senate and the nomination process to sink to new lows with ne’er an opportunity for something good to come out of this mess.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in The Federalist Pages. The featured image is by Jomar on Unsplash.

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