Who Will Be the American Margaret Thatcher? Who Will Be Our Deborah? [Updated]

 

Deborah portrayed in Gustave Doré’s illustrations for La Grande Bible de Tours (1865)

Too many Republican “men” of the Senate are passively complicit in the Kavanaugh smear (Clarence Thomas smear, part II), or cowering in vision-distorting fear. Senator Collins was praiseworthy early last week, as was Senator Grassley. Time, however, has exposed the danger of their failure to stand strongly for justice, and for protecting the seriousness of real cases of sexual violence. Senator Collins has it right, that women must lead in this matter. So let one or a group of the Republican Senators who are women, or a great, aspiring stateswoman, like Congresswoman Martha McSally, take inspiration from Deborah, and stand forth!

4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
5 She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.
6Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali *, and said to him, “Behold, the LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun.
7 ‘I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.’ “
8 Then Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”
9 She said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless *, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 

(Judges 4:4-9, NASV, emphasis added)

As Dr. Bastiat wrote late last week, This Has Nothing to Do With Kavanaugh“– he’s just collateral damage. It’s a shame somebody had to be destroyed, but as long as he’s conservative, it’s not too much of a shame.” Andrew McCarthy warned “It’s a Set-up.”

As I argued yesterday, you are not going to have decent, meritorious people in law and politics if Democrats are permitted to mug Kavanaugh the way they mugged Judge Bork and Justice Thomas, the way they try to mug every Republican judicial candidate whose nomination threatens to close off the courts as an avenue of radical social change — i.e., whose confirmation makes it more likely that the Left will have to try to convince voters and lawmakers in the democratic process, rather than have unaccountable judges impose progressive pieties.

To both I answered: “Yes, *And*

And it is about the fundamental transformation of America along the correct arc of history. […]

And, this seat fundamentally threatens the left’s project. Hence, the Bork, Thomas, Estrada, Kavanaugh playbook.

And, there should have been no surprise at personally destructive surprises. […]

And, we know that the Senate Republicans set themselves, and the American people, up with that pasty panel of dudes. […] And the best and brightest, led by the most experienced, had no rehearsal, nor any game plan to rehearse. […]

And, if there is an arc of history, none of us can truly trace it. The events of our lifetimes suggest that we, collectively, can change our nation’s direction. America’s fate is what her citizens make of it.

History records the raising up of great men, and, more importantly today, great women. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did not take office after the old boys all died out of office. She did not wait her turn. And, she most certainly did not speak timidly, trimming her sails to the blustering airs of the House of Commons and the BBC. Challenged from within the party, and without, she answered: “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.” After over a decade in office, she went out in a blaze of alpha female glory (highlights here).

As Susan Quinn notes, “the goal of humiliating Republicans and delaying the confirmation vote is crystal clear. It’s time for the Republicans to take swift and deliberate action.”

I’m hopeful there are enough people (including women) who are appalled at the actions of Ms. Ford and the Democrats, and will see through their unconscionable plan and vote for a Republican Senate majority. And I recognize that with Kavanaugh on the bench, the Democrats will continue to investigate him if they win the election. He should be consulted to determine if he’s willing to go through that process.

If nothing else, we will see if the Republicans have a backbone.

Unfortunately, Judge Kavanaugh and his family have no choice but to fight for their lives now. Understand this: if he is judged unfit by the Republican Senators, tainted by these sexual charges, then he is also unfit for the bench from which he seeks to rise. His wife and children will be hounded to denounce him and to separate themselves from him, as the price of remaining in polite society.

It is also no coincidence that Justice Clarence Thomas’s reputation is being smeared again. It is not just Kavanaugh that is in peril. Throw Kavanaugh to the leftist mob and you grant the premise on which Thomas may be hounded from the Court. This is why I argued Senator Grassley must confront the “Never Trump” Senators, and Senators Collins and Murkowski, with a vote to forward the Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s confirmation records, for both Kavanaugh and Thomas, to the House for impeachment consideration, if Kavanaugh is rejected. They must be made to own the consequences of their actions and inaction before the world.


Update:

The two senior Republican men, who matter, have responded, to all the maneuvering, with solid answers. Senator Grassley wrote a strong letter leaving little cover for the four Republicans, who might be looking to stop President Trump’s SCOTUS-changing nominee. The most pointed parts, of the letter, available at the Senate Majority Press page:

It is unforgivable that Dr. Ford and her family have been subjected to threats and intimidation. But Judge Kavanaugh and his family, including his two young daughters, have also faced threats and intimidation. We must take his family’s safety, and the trauma this is causing to his young daughters, into account no less than we must account for the threats and intimidation suffered by Dr. Ford and her family.

[…]

As of now, the only allegations of which the Committee is aware with respect to Ms. Ramirez are the allegations described in the New Yorker. As you know, false statements made to the press are not subject to criminal penalty, but false statements to Congress are.

Senate Majority Leader McConnell publicly announced Grassley’s hiring of an experienced sex crimes prosecutor, to conduct the questioning of both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. “Rachel Mitchell, a career prosecutor [from Arizona] with decades of experience prosecuting sex crimes” will represent the all-male Republican members of the Judicial Committee, improving the audio and visual track on this televised hearing. McConnell and Grassley also nicely played Ford’s lawyer’s “safety” demand by placing the hearing in a room too small for a rent-a-mob audience. McConnell also strengthened his public expectation of Kavanaugh being confirmed. This is all to the good, and we know this, because Ford’s lawyer and the Democrats are howling about both.

It is all to the good, but not good enough to maximize the likelihood of immediate success (confirm the nominee), short term success (get a positive response in the midterms), and long term success (ensure Kavanaugh is not marginalized for years, as Justice Thomas was). We need the women of the Senate Republican caucus, and those campaigning to join that select sisterhood, to stand forth now. They must put steel in the spine, or fear in the hearts, of the would be “Republican” destroyers of the Kavanaugh family: the eggs broken to make a principled conservative omelet, or the sacrifices necessary to maintain the sanctity of abortion.

It will take women to make the point that a “no” vote creates a new, low, and dangerous standard — one that will surely be applied to the families of many others. “Others” include the Republicans who fail to vote “yes.” Senator Flake has already seen a possibly politically motivated prosecution of one of his sons. He, and others, would do well to remember that Senator Packwood was safe for years, as a useful ally of abortion supporters, and then one day he was not. “Conservative” pets of leftist organizations, media or otherwise, have very precarious tenures.

It will also take women to effectively denounce the debasing of #MeToo and sexual assault victims by partisan hacks weaponizing charges to destroy political opponents. Indeed, Anita Hill is sufficiently worried, about the effect of the Kavanaugh hearing on #MeToo, to deny the outcome matters to the movement: “I don’t think any one episode is going to define a whole movement.” Republican women should lead the way, publicly, in redeeming the movement in the Senate. [end update]

I urge every Republican Senator, and those currently contending for that office, to read Senator Margaret Smith Chase’s first shot across the bow of Senator McCarthy’s smear campaign, her “Declaration of Conscience” delivered June 1, 1950.

I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some real soul searching and to weigh our consciences as to the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America and the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges. I think that it is high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. I think that it is high time that we remembered that the Constitution, as amended, speaks not only of the freedom of speech but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation. Whether it be a criminal prosecution in court or a character prosecution in the Senate, there is little practical distinction when the life of a person has been ruined.

Between that, and the righteous wrath that Clarence Thomas poured forth, the first great speech of our Deborah, our Thatcher, could almost write itself. I pray for it, along with protection for the Kavanaughs, and the future of our Republic.

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  1. She Member
    She
    @She

    Clifford A. Brown: History records the raising up of great men, and, more importantly today, great women. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did not take office after the old boys all died out of office. She did not wait her turn. And, she most certainly did not speak timidly, trimming her sails to the blustering airs of the House of Commons and the BBC. Challenged from within the party, and without, she answered: “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.” After over a decade in office, she went out in a blaze of alpha female glory (highlights here).

    Bravo.

    “That Bloody Woman.”  (A soubriquet I, on occasion, relish and aspire to myself.  All women should.)

    I, also, hope her sister across the pond is about to step out of the shadows.  I’m not sure that support among American Republican/conservative women for a leader of their own sex is particularly strong, though, and I’m afraid she’ll be eaten, or at least chewed over and perhaps spat out, by her own sex before she gets anywhere near a seat of real power, no matter how much support she gets from right-thinking men.  I’m not sure the same was true in Maggie Thatcher’s Britain.

    Ultimately, of course, it was the “old grey men” who did Maggie in, to Britain’s enduring shame.

    • #1
  2. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Clifford A. Brown: he is judged unfit by the Republican Senators, tainted by these sexual charges, then he is also unfit for the bench from which he seeks to rise.

    I have been thinking about this for days. 

    This is becoming less about the Supreme Court, and more about being and defending decent human beings.

     

    • #2
  3. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Jules PA (View Comment):

    Clifford A. Brown: he is judged unfit by the Republican Senators, tainted by these sexual charges, then he is also unfit for the bench from which he seeks to rise.

    I have been thinking about this for days.

    This is becoming less about the Supreme Court, and more about being and defending decent human beings.

     

    Then the game is over.  There is very little decent about human beings in pursuit of power and fame.

    • #3
  4. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    I vote for this fellow Iowan to come to the rescue of Chairman Grassley …

     

    • #4
  5. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Columbo (View Comment):

    I vote for this fellow Iowan to come to the rescue of Chairman Grassley …

    Joni Ernst came to mind for me, too. I think the Republicans on the SJC need to call a press conference and call these actions what they are–not only an effort to destroy Kavanaugh and Republicans, but to destroy this country as we know it. 

    • #5
  6. Al French, sad sack Moderator
    Al French, sad sack
    @AlFrench

    Well and powerfully said.

    • #6
  7. Ralphie Inactive
    Ralphie
    @Ralphie

    At this point Kavanaugh has to fight; as mentioned he has everything to lose by not pushing back.  

    • #7
  8. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Encouraging that Hugh Hewitt assesses the second accusation has already collapsed on itself:

    Hard-left anti-#JudgeKavanaugh activists fleeing @new Yorker smear, retreating to the “polling doesn’t support him” —an admission of the story repulsive nature, and an indictment generally of tactics of the left.

    • #8
  9. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Marketwatch reports:

    President Donald Trump said Monday allegations against Brett Kavanaugh are “totally political” as he stood by his Supreme Court nominee ahead of a planned hearing.

    • #9
  10. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    When the most important thing in your socio-political life is continuing the ability to kill 1,000,000 babies every year, why would the character assignation of a thoroughly honorable man be seen as a matter of concern?

    As others have said, this is a different kind of contest going on here, and if the Leftists succeed it’s going to be an altogether different country going forward. It can only get worse.

    • #10
  11. David Foster Member
    David Foster
    @DavidFoster

    The behavior of the Democrats in the Kavanaugh matter makes it totally clear, as if it were not already, the importance of keeping that party as far a possible from the levers of political power.  Even if you don’t much like the Republicans on offer, the consequences of a Dem House….even worse, a Dem House and Senate…would be devastating.  

    • #11
  12. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    When the most important thing in your socio-political life is continuing the ability to kill 1,000,000 babies every year, why would the character assignation of a thoroughly honorable may be seen as a matter of concern?

    As others have said, this is a different kind of contest going on here and if the Leftists succeed it’s going to be an altogether different country going forward. It can only get worse.

    The Bork hearings 31 years ago made this an altogether different country. I’m hoping not to see the next stage.

    • #12
  13. She Member
    She
    @She

    Columbo (View Comment):

    I vote for this fellow Iowan to come to the rescue of Chairman Grassley …

    I was initially quite impressed with Ernst, and loved her ad (although as a farm-girl myself, I have to question whether her “special talent” is really needed in DC, as most of the boars (well chosen word, in at least three senses) there seem to have had that operation already).  But she gave a rather poor performance (I thought) in a response to a State of the Union Address shortly after entering Congress (it’s possible she was overhandled and just not set up well), and I haven’t really kept up with her.  How is she doing?

     

     

    • #13
  14. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    She (View Comment):

    Columbo (View Comment):

    I vote for this fellow Iowan to come to the rescue of Chairman Grassley …

    I was initially quite impressed with Ernst, and loved her ad (although as a farm-girl myself, I have to question whether her “special talent” is really needed in DC, as most of the boars (well chosen word, in at least three senses) there seem to have had that operation already). But she gave a rather poor performance (I thought) in a response to a State of the Union Address shortly after entering Congress (it’s possible she was overhandled and just not set up well), and I haven’t really kept up with her. How is she doing?

    I am not qualified to comment since I have not followed her closely enough. My reactions have mirrored yours. Initially impressed, but have been underwhelmed since then. She still needs to prove her anti-Swamp bonifides. Perhaps this is the opportunity for her to do so.

    • #14
  15. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Jon Gabriel has posted Judge Kavanaugh’s declaration of defiance and moral outrage. The letter is posted on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s website. So the judge gets it.

    Senator Grassley has also posted the unredacted letter Ford sent Feinstein, shining public light on it for the first time. Maybe he is getting his head around the mess he allowed to grow, uncontrolled.

    Finally, Senate Majority Leader McConnell used his morning floor speech time to denounce the attacks on Kavanaugh as a smear campaign coordinated by Democrats in the Senate. This will make any false moral preening, as pretext to stick a thumb in Trump voters’ eyes, almost untenable for Flake.

    https://youtu.be/QoplfrVLBJo

    • #15
  16. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):
    Senator Grassley has also posted the unredacted letter Ford sent Feinstein, shining public light on it for the first time. Maybe he is getting his head around the mess he allowed to grow, uncontrolled. 

    I’m sure Sen. Grassley is a fine human being and is trying his best to do the right thing by all concerned in a difficult situation.  But, it’s obvious he’s past his sell by date. 

    • #16
  17. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    Goldwaterwoman (View Comment):
    Goldwaterwoman  

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):
    Senator Grassley has also posted the unredacted letter Ford sent Feinstein, shining public light on it for the first time. Maybe he is getting his head around the mess he allowed to grow, uncontrolled. 

    I’m sure Sen. Grassley is a fine human being and is trying his best to do the right thing by all concerned in a difficult situation. But, it’s obvious he’s past his sell by date. 

    I, too, am sure that Senator Grassley is a fine human being, but he’s working at the “disadvantage” under which a moral gentleman is placed when contending with those who let no scruple stand in the way of achieving their goals.

    • #17
  18. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):
    I, too, am sure that Senator Grassley is a fine human being, but he’s working at the “disadvantage” under which a moral gentleman is placed when contending with those who let no scruple stand in the way of achieving their goals.

    We need a Rottweiler in his position, not a Golden Retriever. Politics is war by other means.

    • #18
  19. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Pretty sure this issue is done.  GOP need to dump Kavanaugh and move on to disappointing us on the next thing they will fail at.

    • #19
  20. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Pretty sure this issue is done. GOP need to dump Kavanaugh and move on to disappointing us on the next thing they will fail at.

    Good provocateur riff, but no, no, and maybe.

    The stink may have gotten so bad that Flake will not vote “no” — that is, Leftists gonna leftist and Flake doesn’t want to get  the crazy brand.

    Oh, and Ted Cruz reportedly insisted on the first accuser and Kavanaugh appearing, to hear the woman, and to hear Kavanaugh’s reply. He is up in the polls, but is not handing a hammer to his opponent.

     

    • #20
  21. Danny Alexander Member
    Danny Alexander
    @DannyAlexander

    All I can add is this:  Editors — please Main-Feed this stat!

    • #21
  22. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Senate Majority Leader McConnell has done the right thing, hiring outside counsel, expert in sexual assault cases, who is a woman. She will conduct the Republican questioning of both Ford and Kavanaugh. 

    McConnell also dealt with the alleged and real safety concerns by selecting a hearing room so small as to exclude the Democrats’ rent-a-mob.

    C-SPAN is also the only place you could have seen the press conference called by 65 women who have known and who support Brett Kavanaugh.

    • #22
  23. She Member
    She
    @She

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):

    McConnell also dealt with the alleged and real safety concerns by selecting a hearing room so small as to exclude the Democrats’ rent-a-mob.

    Oh, I hope this is true, and that it doesn’t change (the article seems to imply that it might).  Seems to me that McConnell is on very firm ground though, from the standpoint mentioned in the article that

    “[t]here is also the possibility the location was part of the negotiations between Ford and the Judiciary Committee. Ford was concerned about her safety and being inundated by the press.”

    Even if it wasn’t “part of the negotiations,” if I were McConnell, I’d be bruiting about that I chose the small room because I, Mitch McConnell, was concerned for Professor Ford’s  “safety and being inundated by the press,” so I chose the small room to avert that.  Then let the Dems explain why they want a media circus, when the whole thing will be on national television and visible to all anyway.

     

    • #23
  24. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Men cannot go after women without looking evil. Men are not supposed to fight women. The good women on this nation need to stand up and say “Enough! These men are our fathers, our brothers, and sons. We will no longer allow for this!”

    • #24
  25. Arizona Patriot Member
    Arizona Patriot
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Men cannot go after women without looking evil. Men are not supposed to fight women. 

    Yeah, I think that this is a really big problem. 

    There is a plausible feminism, by which I mean  something like the equal-opportunity principle of first-wave feminism and part of second-wave feminism.  There is a wicked feminism too, which is the third-wave (and part of the second) based on equality of outcome at best, and hateful stereotyping of men as worst.

    I tend to be a supporter of the plausible feminism, but I must admit that Bryan’s comment points to a serious flaw.  It is not reasonable to expect people to treat men and women identically, either socially or physically, because of the situations in which significant social or even physical confrontation are necessary.  These create no-win situations for men, who seem to be automatically perceived as bullies if they act forcefully toward a woman, even if her actions would plainly warrant such forceful action if she were a man.

    I do not have a perfect solution for this.  As I get older, I find myself increasingly convinced that there was great wisdom in our traditional views and social arrangements, and that the major changes of the past century were not well thought through.

    • #25
  26. Arizona Patriot Member
    Arizona Patriot
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Pretty sure this issue is done. GOP need to dump Kavanaugh and move on to disappointing us on the next thing they will fail at.

    Pretty sure that almost all of your comments are sarcastic. 

    My uncertainty suggests that you’re doing a particularly good job.  Part of being an effective provocateur is maintaining that slim possibility that you’re really being serious.

    • #26
  27. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Arizona Patriot (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Men cannot go after women without looking evil. Men are not supposed to fight women.

    Yeah, I think that this is a really big problem.

    There is a plausible feminism, by which I mean something like the equal-opportunity principle of first-wave feminism and part of second-wave feminism. There is a wicked feminism too, which is the third-wave (and part of the second) based on equality of outcome at best, and hateful stereotyping of men as worst.

    I tend to be a supporter of the plausible feminism, but I must admit that Bryan’s comment points to a serious flaw. It is not reasonable to expect people to treat men and women identically, either socially or physically, because of the situations in which significant social or even physical confrontation are necessary. These create no-win situations for men, who seem to be automatically perceived as bullies if they act forcefully toward a woman, even if her actions would plainly warrant such forceful action if she were a man.

    I do not have a perfect solution for this. As I get older, I find myself increasingly convinced that there was great wisdom in our traditional views and social arrangements, and that the major changes of the past century were not well thought through.

    I think The Pill has been the most disrupted technology of the 20th Century

    • #27
  28. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Jules PA (View Comment):

    Clifford A. Brown: he is judged unfit by the Republican Senators, tainted by these sexual charges, then he is also unfit for the bench from which he seeks to rise.

    I have been thinking about this for days.

    This is becoming less about the Supreme Court, and more about being and defending decent human beings.

     

    That is how the Left views it.  It is about defending and believing decent womyn against male sexual predators.  

    • #28
  29. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Jules PA (View Comment):

    Clifford A. Brown: he is judged unfit by the Republican Senators, tainted by these sexual charges, then he is also unfit for the bench from which he seeks to rise.

    I have been thinking about this for days.

    This is becoming less about the Supreme Court, and more about being and defending decent human beings.

     

    That is how the Left views frames it. It is about defending and believing decent womyn against male sexual predators, whose destruction benefits the progress of social justice, or at least benefits the latest manifestation of the vanguard of the proletariat.

    FIFY.

    • #29
  30. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    The false accusations demonstrate the serious predatory nature of these women, their lawyers, the supporting leftist Senators, and their voters. 

     

     

    • #30
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