Democrats operating on 'beliefs' and not on facts in Kavanaugh smear

Jonah Goldberg:

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And belief is all that matters.

“We believe Dr. Ford,” Senator Chris Coons (D., Del.) said, speaking for many colleagues who’ve made similar declarations of faith.

“The truth is, I believe her,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.). “She has a credible allegation against Judge Kavanaugh.”

Okay, but credible means “believable,” not “true.”

Au contraire, cry the witch-hunters.

“The existence of credible allegations against Judge Kavanaugh should be disqualifying,” writes law professor Kate Shaw in the New York Times. “If members of the Senate conclude that a credible accusation of sexual misconduct has been made against Judge Kavanaugh, that should be enough to disqualify him.”

But even credibility requires more than simply saying the right words or incanting the required shibboleths.

“Look, if someone says, ‘My car got stolen,’ you don’t presume they’re lying,” Senator Patty Murray (D., Wash.) said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “But if someone says, ‘I was sexually abused,’ people today sometimes presume that they’re making it up.”

This is misleading on many levels. First, the only senator on the Judiciary Committee to dismiss Ford’s claim was Senator Dianne Feinstein, who sat on it for weeks until it was ripe enough to weaponize. The Republicans instantly offered to give Ford a hearing, in private or in public or even in California.

Second, we don’t presume the person whose car is stolen is lying. But we do presume the individual accused of stealing it is innocent until evidence says otherwise.

But when proof is subordinated to mere belief, the standard for evidence is reduced to whatever bolsters the belief. That’s why Senator Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii) could say with a straight face on CNN that she believes Judge Kavanaugh attempted rape 36 years ago because of the way he decides cases. Countless others have imputed guilt to Kavanaugh because other men “like him” have done bad things. Journalist Frank Rich tweeted, “Kavanaugh’s bragging about coaching girls’ basketball is troubling in retrospect.”
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There is more.

This is a thoughtful deconstruction of the arguments of the Democrats and how they fail.  They have turned a nomination into a Stalinist inquisition.