What the Kavanaugh Spectacle says about Our Nation

This afternoon, the long-awaited vote on the Honorable Brett Kavanaugh finally happened. I must say I am relieved that this whole process is coming to an end, but I am still reeling over the things I have seen and heard these last few weeks. I have prayed often for the Kavanaugh family. I have also prayed for  Christy Ford. Whatever her story, both of them have been used as pawns in a nasty, partisan game where there are no rules and the losers are the American people.

I have made the intentional decision to try not to post about politics over the last few years. Especially via Facebook. My reasons are both practical and spiritual. For one, it's a terrible forum for reasonable discourse. It is far too brief, far too easy to be misunderstood,  and it separates friends. We all have our opinions, and when frustration over a highly divisive issue sets in,  I can forget to "love mercy" pretty quickly. My faith in the Lord and trust in His ultimate judgment plays a much deeper factor in my life than who is in public office. Although I frequently ask the Lord to slap a hand over my mouth, sometimes I believe the right thing to do is to speak up. Blogs are better. For one, you can be more thorough; for another, no one reads them, anyway ;).

I've seen many angry posts this week. Some have been from Kavanaugh supporters. Some have been from Ford supporters. Either way, they showed a passionate support and a desire for justice. We are each going to believe what we choose to believe. As finite human beings, none of us know 100% where the truth lies, so we can choose to go with our feelings or with the evidence. People who have been hurt understandably feel hurt, and 7 FBI probes or not, they are transferring those feelings onto Kavanaugh. More often, though, I saw angry people who were just angry people. They admitted the sexual allegations against him weren't solid, but they don't care one way or the other. They just don't like the man. More specifically, they don't like his ideology. And this anger led to ruthless chiding, merciless jokes, and bogus excuses to attack his character and deem him "unworthy" to be a Justice, even as he sat crying after feeling unjustly accused. Some even made fun of his minor daughter. People can be so unkind.

The Kavanaugh spectacle shows us who we are becoming as a nation. How ugly we can be; how low we can sink. The message from Washington this week was, "It is no longer out of step to do all you can to destroy a man's character, career and family simply because you disagree with him. Even Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg, one of the most liberal judges in history, criticized the Kavanaugh hearings as "a highly partisan show". Referring back to the days of her confirmation, she said, "The way it was was right. The way it is is wrong." I have much respect for this voice of reason, no matter how much we disagree on issues! Kavanaugh was confirmed, but there will be long-lasting repercussions from the attempted plot to destroy him. All in the name of partisanship.

Chelsea Clinton spoke out against this cruel cartoon.

I recognize partisanship is not new, nor is it exclusive to one party. Our national leaders over the last several years seem to have spent more time squabbling than finding ways to work together for the good of the people they represent. This has been frustrating for many Americans, including myself. For this reason and other reasons, I moved away from a tight party association in favor of considering Independence. I wish I could say the work my Democrat friends have done in having fruitful discussions over issues and showing kindness and human decency were enough...but the hate and sheer ugliness that has taken place since the Trump presidency has me running as far as I can get from the Democratic Party. Instead of reaching out to the people that didn't vote for them, Washington Democrats have done nothing but belittle and berate us. Not exactly a way to win friends and influence people. Then, when the Democrats had a chance to "play nice" and quietly let a Kavanaugh confirmation slip through...which would have given our exhausted nation a much-needed break...they balked as usual.

Even more bothersome are continuous directives from some party members intended to inflame more hostility, intimidation, and ugly behavior from their Far Left constituents.

Think I'm exaggerating? Consider the hateful remarks of Georgetown professor Carol Christine Fair, “Look at [this] chorus of entitled white men justifying a serial rapist’s arrogated entitlement,” she wrote. “All of them deserve miserable deaths while feminists laugh as they take their last gasps. Bonus: we castrate their corpses and feed them to swine? Yes.”

If that doesn't disturb you, it probably should. Thank goodness many of our leaders are distance themselves from colleagues who incite fear tactics as a means to an end. Some claim they are only responding to the "hostility and verbal attacks of our current president". While he certainly is his own breed, I dare say if Mike Pence were president, the hostile political climate would be the same. (And I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more polite, gracious person.) The current political environment is so heated, we should have serious concerns about the safety of ALL of our national leaders, their staff and their families. We should also recognize that political extremism, no matter what the source, is a significant threat to our nation's freedom. Are we really ready for an America ruled by tyrants?

Georgetown Professor Christine Fair said
"entitled white men" should be killed and
"fed to swine". 

"No longer does your vote count. No longer do we respect the democratic process. We don't care what you want. We want what we want, and we will stop at nothing to get it."

Whether you are a moderate, left-leaning, right-leaning...a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or none of the above ~ this approach to governance should concern you. Consider what kind of nation you want, what kind of nation you hope to leave your children. Is this it?

If not, now is the time to respond decisively. Let your leaders know what you expect from them. Then, get off the couch and vote! Get out the vote. Don't leave it to others. Help the people you want to see in office get elected. And if you are praying person, pray for our nation. Prayer for unity. Pray for peace. Pray for changed hearts. Pray for the safety of our leaders and their loved ones. Pray for mercy. Pray for favor. Pray you will be the kind of person who you want others to be...even when it's hard. And while you are praying about all of this, be confident in a God who is bigger than our nation's political problems and more just than any human will ever be. He knows and sees all we don't. And in the end, he will get the last say.