Are the Kavanaugh Accusations a “Smear Campaign?”
Senate Democrats are looking into new accusations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Deborah Ramirez, who claims Kavanaugh assaulted her when the two were in college, came forward just shortly after Christine Blasey Ford agreed to testify before the Senate regarding her own accusations against Kavanaugh. Amidst calls for Kavanaugh to step down, Republicans are charging Democrats with conducting a coordinated character assassination and smear campaign.
We warned Republicans not to fall for this politics of uncorroborated accusation, and perhaps now they understand that they are being played. Women who are abused deserve to be heard, but turning #MeToo into a political weapon undermines that cause. Once Ms. Ford and Mr. Kavanaugh are heard on Thursday, there should be no more delay. Call the roll and vote.
This right here, right now is about men. Men sexually assaulting women, and men normalizing sexual assault… What is fair is to recognize the torrent of horrifying #WhyIDidntReport stories as an epidemic and say, ENOUGH. Enough dismissing women in order to promote men, and enough of making them relive their traumas, again and again so maybe — just maybe — you’ll consider believing them. Memo to the GOP: “Believe women” means treating their stories seriously on the way to seeking the truth. But alas, for that to happen, truth would have to be a goal.
How many more women are Republicans willing to destroy in their desperate attempt to pack the court with another extreme conservative? Clearly, the “Me Too” movement, which has swept most of the country — Wall Street, Hollywood, academia, professional sports, entertainment — hasn’t yet reached Mitch McConnell, Chuck Grassley or most Republican members of the U.S. Senate. There’s only one reasonable option left: To save the reputation of the Supreme Court and to spare the Republican Party any further embarrassment, Kavanaugh should withdraw his nomination.