A least one good thing has come from the otherwise disgusting Judge Kavanaugh confirmation hearings.  Always willing to put an optimistic face on even the worst situation, we  have found an excellent way to tell if a person own principles put them on the conservative or progressive team.  Simply, if you used the phrase, “Credible Accusation”, in speech and/or print in describing Mrs. Ford’s unsubstantiated 36 yr old allegation you’re a Progressive.  Simply, centuries of principles of fairness and justice took no part in your judgement just simple expediency.  She’s a women with an elite background so her accusation must be taken as credible. Now, she can be considered a credible witness in the sense of not being a convicted felon or perjurer. A credible accusation is entirely different.  It requires substantiation which to this point is totally lacking. Forget time-tested principles, if you don’t like his policies or him personally, she’s credible and must be believed.  This means disregarding the long accepted concepts of fairness whereby unsubstantiated 36yr old  claims are not to be used to destroy someone.  It means disregarding the presumption of innocence by demanding the accused prove his innocence.  Remember, it was Edmond Burke, revered by many as the father of conservatism, who remarked of those who put “policy” above justice, “Justice is itself the great standing policy of civil society, and any eminent departure from it under any circumstances, lies under the suspicion of being no policy at all.”

Why is this important?  Because there are many masquerading as impartial or as conservatives who are nothing of the sort.  Reporters claiming to be fair are exposed by including their own judgement by using  “Credible Accusation” in their stories.  We’re talking straight news stories in any media. Opinion journalists have every right to make judgements, but not those reporting the news. When you do this you reveal your own and by extension your employer’s  bias.  You give credence to the cries “fake news.”  A free press in a cornerstone of our society, but it’s a two-way street. To maintain our esteem you need to keep your bias out of news stories.  If you’re thinking they can’t possibly be looking at me, just do a simple search of your reporting on the Kavanaugh Hearings.  If you find you said, wrote, tweeted or posted that Mrs. Ford made a “credible accusation” or it’s equivalent you violated your ethical obligations.  If you want to see this bias in living color, just look at the CNN programs featuring rotating panels of journalists from across media, Reliable Sources and Inside Politics, over the past few weeks.  The one thread throughout these programs is the use of “credible accusation” by these “journalists”. Check the record. Just this past weekend on CBS” Face the Nation, host John Dickerson opened the program with “current credible allegations” against Judge  Kavanaugh. How these “journalists” right this wrong we leave to them, but they can’t be expected to be trusted in the future until they  do.  Trust in the news media was at an all time low before the hearings. It is in no one’s interest to see how low you can go.

There are those claiming to be Conservatives but find Mrs. Ford’s accusation credible. No you aren’t a conservative.  You walked away from Conservative principles for some kind of expediency more closely descriptive of  Progressives.   Unless some actual evidence comes to light supporting Mrs. Ford’s allegations before a vote on Judge Kavanaugh, a no vote by any Senator puts them squarely in the Progressive camp. There are wannabe conservative thought leaders trashing Judge Kavanaugh with “credible accusation.”  For example, Jennifer Rubin who writes an opinion column from supposedly a right of center perspective for The Washington Post had the gall to write a recent column entitled ” Conservatism has lost all meaning” lambasting fellow conservatives for not totally accepting Mrs. Ford’s “completely credible victim testimony…”  Now we assume by right of center the Post means being to the Conservative side of things and left of center towards the Progressive side.  In this case, she makes the progressive case facts simply don’t matter. Does Jennifer Rubin even know what a Conservatism is about?  Maybe the Post should replace her with an actual Conservative.  Well, at least “credible accusation” exposes these frauds.

Probably the strangest abandonment of  “due process” came from one of the last places you’d think, the American Bar Association. The ABA committee charged with vetting and making recommendations on judicial nominations had already given Judge Kavanaugh  its highest rating.  Then out of nowhere, Robert M. Carlson the organization’s President wrote the Senate Judiciary  Committee heads demanding the vote be put off until “only after the appropriate background check into the allegations made by Professor Ford and others is completed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”  The clear implication is he found these to be “credible allegations.” needing to be disproved before the nomination could proceed to a vote.   Beyond the confusion as to what going on at the ABA, what facts does Mr,. Carlson have to justify his position? Where exactly does the ABA stand on “due process ” given to Judicial nominees?   Apparently, unsubstantiated allegations must be disproved before any federal judge can be confirmed.  This seems to throw ABA members nominated for the bench under the bus by shifting the burden of proof.  One thing for sure it’s another institution losing the respect.

If we continue down this road of unsubstantiated allegations being viewed as  “Credible Accusations”  everyone is in  danger.  Just remember you or yours could be the next one accused.  Good luck.

Late Notes:

Be careful what you wish for, you just might come true.  Sage advice. Democrats and Robert M. Carlson demanded another FBI background investigation and with Senator Jeff Flake’s intercession they were granted a seventh Kavanaugh FBI background check.  With all the relevant people already on a sworn record it is unlikely to find out much to hurt the judge, but the future may not be so bright for the accusers and the Democrats. We know very little about Mrs. Ford and the other accusers. With these fields yet to be plowed there can be only downside. After all,  their supporters already have assumed they’re credible and anything showing otherwise will be very damaging.  If the “Me Too” movement isn’t holding its c collective breath, it should be.  A Duke La Crosse or Rolling Stone moment in this setting would be devastating.

Also, Senator Lindsey Graham has asked for an investigation into Democrat and Mrs. Fords legal team’s actions in this mess. With Republicans in control he likely to get everything he wants. It’s possible the future news cycle might just be more favorable to Judge Kavanaugh and turn ugly for his accusers and their supporters.