Cloning Trump

 

There are days when professional journalists cover the news much better than any amateur blogger with way too many degrees in political science.  And then there are mornings like today when the mainstream media cannot see the trees for the forest.

A lot has already been said about why Donald Trump, considering all of the conservative candidates put forth by the Federalist Society to replace Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, chose Brett Kavanaugh.  He fulfills Trump’s campaign promise to appoint judges who believe Roe v. Wade was judicial overreach.  After aggressively assisting in the prosecution and impeachment of Bill Clinton, he now believes investigations of presidential conduct are an unacceptable distraction.  You get the point.

However, thanks to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who has offered to testify publicly that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were both in high school, we may learn the real reason Trump is so enamored by Kavanaugh.  And it is not because they are both alleged sexual predators, which they are.  It is because they both have a blatant disregard for facts and the truth.  The saddest chapter of this saga is the necessity of Ford coming forward to make this point even though the evidence was there throughout the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing.

On numerous occasions, statements made by Kavanaugh to the Committee were contradicted by the few documents the White House and Republican Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley opened to public scrutiny.  Emails prove Kavanaugh’s claim he did not weigh in on judicial nominations during the Bush 43 administration are not true.  Transcripts of speeches and journal articles authored by Kavanaugh contradict his claim he believes Roe v. Wade is settled law.  In other words, Trump found a Supreme Court candidate who behaves EXACTLY as he would if he had been the nominee.  Kavanaugh is to Trump what Mini-Me is to Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers trilogy.

If two or more Republican Senators find Ford’s allegation to be credible, Kavanaugh’s downfall will not be the result of his behavior 30 plus years ago.  None of us would want to have every incident over our lifetimes examined under a magnifying glass.  It will be his behavior three days ago when he issued the following statement.

I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation.  I did not do this back in high school or at any time.

This could turn out to be the undeniable lie which proves Kavanaugh is unfit to sit on the nation’s highest court.  Forget concerns Kavanaugh will look at facts through an ideological or partisan filter.  To believe otherwise is to deny the history associated with many landmark legal decisions over the past 229 years.  Like his genetic twin, Kavanaugh demonstrates he will either ignore or deny factual information.  That is what is unacceptable.

Image result for wasted: tales of a gen x drunkAnd per usual, Trump will blame Democrats, the deep state or some other cabal of undermining his presidency.  But as Shakespeare would have admonished the nominee, “The fault, dear Kavanaugh, is not in your stars, but in yourself, for you are an underling.”  In hindsight, Kavanaugh might eventually understand this was totally unnecessary.  All he had to do was admit he had a drinking problem as a young man, confirmed by his boyhood friend Mark Judge whom Ford claims witnessed the assault.  In his 1997 memoir Wasted: Tales of a Gen X Drunk, Judge chronicles the rampant alcoholism at Georgetown Prep and the accompanying questionable behavior.

Just imagine if Kavanaugh had acknowledged this educational environment, echoed Mark Judge’s conclusion it was unhealthy,  sought help and, if his drinking ever put someone in danger or in a position where they felt violated, apologized and asked for their forgiveness.  But he is Donald Trump’s clone.  And his genetic make-up precludes his ever admitting he was wrong.  And like his DNA donor, he refuses to use these occasions as a learning moment.  Deny and move on is the order of the day.

Related imageSadly, there is no provision for a national recall election as provided for in many state and local constitutions.  The authors of the U.S. Constitution left that responsibility to Congress.  So let me close with a parody of the scene in National Lampoon’s Animal House when the members of Delta House console pledge Flounder after wrecking his brother’s car.

Mitch McConnell: Hey, quit your blubberin’. When I get through with this baby (the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice) you won’t even recognize it.

Chuck Grassley: Mr. Madison(considered the father of the U.S. Constitution), you can’t spend your whole life worrying about your mistakes! You fucked up… you trusted us! Hey, make the best of it! Maybe we can help.

James Madison: [crying] That’s easy for you to say! What am I going to tell the American people?

Grassley: I’ll tell you what. We’ll tell them you were doing a great job taking care of the country, but you parked it out back last night and this morning… it was gone. We report it as stolen.  McConnell takes care of the wreck. And we offer the American people a totally different car.

Madison: Will that work?

Grassley: Hey, it’s gotta work better than the truth.

It’s time to put the Republican Party on “double secret probation.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP