The Milwaukee Post

October 5, 2018 • Milwaukee County Post • 9 OPINION By AL RUDNITZKI You probably feel the hearings on the confirmation of federal Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court are nothing more than annoying partisan political noise and you've tuned them out. Of course, you have the right to do that, and quite frankly, I'd love to join you. But annoying as they might be, it's possible that, other than your wedding, this may be the most important event of your life, because the outcome of these hearings could very well affect every breath you take from now until your very last. I know that sounds extreme, but it's actu- ally spot on. Let me explain. Kavanaugh is being considered as the replacement for recently retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. During his time on the court, more often than not, Justice Kennedy has cast the tie-breaking vote on the nine-member Court. In other words, if Kavanaugh replaces Justice Kennedy, he may very well be the deciding vote on whether or not you have health care, Social Security, consumer pro- tection, a living wage, limits to corporate power, bought-and-paid-for politicians, a fair legal system, gerrymandered voting districts, educational opportunities, clean air, reproductive rights, gun rights, reli- gious freedom and much, much more, affecting virtually every minute of the rest of your life. When you buy a can of soup, you don't put a great deal of thought into it. You don't stay awake at night thinking about the decision. When you are deciding to purchase a house, however, you almost certainly experience a number of restless nights. We take big deci- sions very seriously and think them through very carefully. So why wouldn't we expect our elected officials to be extremely cautious and thorough in the irreversible selection of a Supreme Court justice who will affect the very length and breadth of our lives? We should not only expect it; we should demand it in the strongest terms. Yet, is that what we see our senators doing? Or do we see them ramrodding an extreme candidate onto the court? With a 26 percent approval rating among inde- pendents, Kavanaugh is hardly the peo- ple's choice. Why the hurry? What are the Kavanaugh promoters afraid of ? Why did- n't they call for the FBI to reopen its back- ground investigation as it has in all other cases were new evidence has come to light? The president accused Democrats of playing a con game — smearing Kavanaugh with false accusations and claiming any male judicial candidate would be subject to such allegations. If that were the case, however, why wasn't conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch accused of similar misconduct during his confir- mation process? Some Kavanaugh-supporting senators claimed reopening the background investi- gation would be too time-consuming. However, in the past, these investigations have typically taken only a few days. If those senators fear the vote on Kavanaugh will be postponed until after the midterm elections less than 40 days from now, they should remind themselves that they held Justice Antonin Scalia's Supreme Court vacancy open for more than 400 days to allow the people's voice to be heard in the next national election. Shouldn't our primary goal be to deter- mine the truth? If any or all of the five sex- ual misconduct allegations made against Kavanaugh are true, shouldn't the FBI investigate them and eliminate him as a candidate for the highest court in the land? And if these allegations are false, should- n't we want to investigate them and clear his name? One way or the other, these accusations will be investigated, if not by the FBI, then by the news media. If Kavanaugh is appointed to the court and a subsequent investigation finds any of these allega- tions to be true, he would be impeached and removed from the court. How would that make this appointment and process look to future fair-minded voters? People who viewed research psycholo- gist Christine Blasey Ford providing testi- mony Sept. 27 before the Senate Judiciary Committee could easily have drawn the conclusion that she was on trial. That was- n't the case, however. Actually, it is the Senate and our justice system on trial. Our Constitution provides us with the right and obligation to petition our government. We plead with our citizens to say some- thing if they see something because we know that our law enforcement and judi- cial systems can't function unless citizens do their civic duty. After seeing the Senate force an educat- ed and sincere witness to answer questions as detailed as her fear of flying, do we envision the American people being more or less likely to step forward in the future? Neither Kavanaugh nor Ford are on trial. This is basically a televised job inter- view; not a court of law. There is no need to prove guilt or innocence beyond a rea- sonable doubt. The goal is to find the best possible candidate to fill Anthony Kennedy's Supreme Court vacancy. (Al Rudnitzki is a retired insurance man- ager, past educator and a town of West Bend resident.) A choice to live with every day for the rest of your life Rudnitzki Who will teach the children that a con- firmation hearing from the the "world's greatest deliberative body," the U.S Senate, has been trashed? Who will teach the children that ... the Democratic Party and some that are called Republicans have destroyed a judge in order to delay the confirmation of an outstanding legal mind, a volunteer to those less fortunate and just a good, good man? Who is going to tell the children that we accused a person without a single corroborating witness, no physical evi- dence and information that varies from one testimony to another? Who will tell the children we are investigating a judge who has been already investigated six times and has passed their thorough scrutiny and not investigate the accuser who proved to have holes in her story? Who is professor Christine Blasey Ford, what did the yearbook say of her, where and who were her friends, did she have an unknown social history? This is not about "women's rights." This is clearly an attempt to railroad this nom- ination. This accusation could have been brought forward and investigated long before the last hour. We will tell the children this is not the government of our forefathers and pray for forgiveness and humble ourselves before God. — Suzanne McKinney Cudahy *** In my opinion, the alleged sexual assault does not disqualify Brett Kavanaugh as a candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court. Last I heard, in this country you're pre- sumed innocent until proven guilty. Christine Blasey Ford states that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in high school. I have no reason not to believe her. Kavanaugh adamantly denies he did any such thing. I have no reason not to believe him. So where does that leave us? She-said, he-said? I have much sympathy for Ford if she was sexually assaulted as stated. Again, I have no reason not to believe her. Also, I have much empathy for Kavanaugh if he is not the perpetrator. Once again, I have no reason not to believe him. Unfortunately, this alleged assault should have been reported to local authorities, investigated and adjudicated in the state where it happened. True, those were different times, but a lot of water has gone under the bridge in 36 years. It should come as no surprise that accusing Kavanaugh just as he is appearing before a Senate committee smacks of political opportunism. And so we add to the staggering divi- sions in this country. We drive another large wedge between men and women with cases like this. With huge problems affecting millions of people in this country, we have a sena- tor on national television thumbing through a high school yearbook and ask- ing Kavanaugh what certain words mean. And we let these people run the coun- try? — Tom Tarkowski Milwaukee *** The Democratic Party is not the party of many years ago. It has been taken over by power- and money-hungry liberals who will destroy anyone who gets in their way. What they have done to a very qualified judge and his family is past dis- gusting and disgraceful. They know that Brett Kavanaugh was investigated over the years — six times now.The letter that Christine Blasey Ford gave Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she want- ed to remain anonymous. Feinstein never acted on her one-on-one meeting after she received the letter. Ford was treated respectfully by every- one. Kavanaugh was answering the ques- tions asked by the left and was repeated- ly interrupted by the left. The left used Ford for their own pur- poses. This is why they didn't want a closed session. Destroying a good, honest constitu- tional judge and his family, and also Ford, is beyond despicable. Everyone needs to read Kavanaugh's testimony. — Marilyn Fedran Milwaukee This week's question What do you attribute the Milwaukee Brewers success to this season after owning the best record in the National League? Editor's note: When responding to the Question of the Week, please include your full name with spelling, phone number and city where you live. Call 744-6370, Ext. 15 and leave a brief answer. Readers may also send an email with a brief answer to: dmuck@conleynet.com. Question of the week continued from Page 8

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