I was here, this evening, in the East Room covering the swearing-in ceremony of the “Honorable” Brett M. Kavanaugh. I was supposed to join the press line behind the velvet rope and report it at face value, as it happened, but to hell with that.
“Swearing-In Ceremony of the Honorable Brett M. Kavanaugh as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by President Donald J. Trump in the East Room at 7:00 pm on Monday, October 8, 2018”, read the White House media advisory confirming my attendance.
It’s history. The one I will be able to tell one day, that then and there, I was standing in the East Room that Monday, October 8, 2018, when Brett Kavanaugh was sworn-in for a life appointment for the Supreme Court of the United States.
As I woke up on that Columbus Day—I will be saying one day—it was the first time since covering the White House that I felt a stirring set of emotions. Holding a press confirmation for a historic event, I had a front-row view to the irony of justice, with the word “honorable” stamped next to the name of Brett Kavanaugh.
I understand partisanship and agendas, it would be an anomaly for a career politician not to have one, but the bottom line here was a premise, and a testimony of a sexual assault, Brett Kavanaugh was accused of.
Trump, with the rest of Republicans and main anchors on Fox news, rushed to celebrate the news of the confirmation as it was an abolition of his culpability, when in fact was just a political confirmation.
Kavanaugh did not undergo a trial where the jury proclaimed him innocent, he went through a highly politicized Senate hearing where the members of Congress failed the American public in upholding the moral truth on their behalf.
Having this debate with the Republicans is like watching Fox and CNN: an opposing view of reality, and while many say that the American divide is ideological, I came to the conclusion that it surpasses that basic division – it’s a worldview.
Republicans just have a completely different view of the world, their interpretation of reality could be best summarized in Sen Collins misinterpretation of Dr.Ford’s statement. She said that Christine Ford could not remember who assaulted her, when in fact, she unequivocally stated that it was Kavanaugh.
Denial of facts and the distortion of truth makes the American political landscape an experiment in gaslighting, one that goes beyond fake news and partisan politics.
I am not sure what to be a Democrat or a Republican really means these days? I just know that the problem we are facing, not only as a nation but within a global context, is setting up a very bad precedent where America is losing its foundational principles and the ideals of merit, justice and virtue the Founding fathers based this beacon on the hill upon.
Finding myself at the swearing-in ceremony of the “honorable” Brett Kavanaugh who until the rest of his life will sit in the chair of the supreme justice, I could not help but notice how uncomfortable that made me feel. I have asked the American public on Twitter on the night of his confirmation to share with me their reaction, and their anger and disgust were encapsulated in their responses to me.
How did we get here? And by we, I mean all the Americans, immigrants, and all those around the world who believe in the American justice system? Commander in Chief leading the country with a credo: “Stop apologizing, start intimidating” is demolishing the base of what it means to be an American. He is turning this country into Milosevic’s counterpart, inflaming nationalism and demolishing the political center.
Kavanaugh is confirmed but he is far from being honorable, and what I am deeply troubled with is that “doing the right thing” the White House called the Senate for, was never the right thing to do.
A man who had a history of social behavior like Kavanaugh did, should have never become appointed to the Supreme Court Justice. What the White House and Senate showed by this act is that the victims do not matter and the irony is, it was the SCOTUS who was supposed to ensure that these victims of sexual assault will get justice.
The FBI investigation was a formality without any substantiated process. Having the President of the United States dictating the scope of the investigation was symbolic of a dictatorship. When people lose faith in the justice system, it marks the end of democracy. And Donald Trump has set America on the path of moral decline.
Today is an important day in American history, one that should serve as a wake-up call. A wake-up call about the limits of liberal world order, and how fragile liberty is. Democrats are unprepared and they have no idea what they are up against as this has never happened in this country. They have their own Slobodan Milosevic in power. And it is not going to be pretty.
Melania Trump is watching quietly, claiming how she has her own voice and opinions, when in fact, we have not heard her voice once. She said that Kavanagh was “highly qualified”, but this was not a subject of contention during the confirmation process.
No one ever objected Kavanaugh’s professional qualifications. Asking Melania what she thinks was futile.
It would be unrealistic to expect a voice of moral integrity, reason and feminism from the First Lady, as not once did she stand up for what women of America expected of her.
As I am standing in the East Room, witnessing the inauguration of a moral failing, a lie packed into a sound bite of the White House publicity machine, I see, the ugliness of Trump’s politics in all its details.
They are convinced they will win in November and keep the House intact. But this is not about who’s going to keep the House. It is about a defense of democracy.
Independent voters are those who will lead this fight for a restoration of the American identity Donald Trump has pushed to the far right. How’s that for a counterpunch?