The rage of Brett Kavanaugh and the implosion of the GOP

This is a Hindenburg-level disaster for Republicans

Brett Kavanaugh.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images, jessicahyde/iStock)

It was clear moments into yesterday's hearing about allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh that the day was going to be a Hindenburg-level public relations disaster for Republicans. Doddering Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) took the stage and droned angrily on, haltingly and seemingly endlessly, about Senate process instead of conveying even an iota of human feeling for the woman about to testify about her experience. By using his time on the stage to air grievances against his colleagues and Ford's lawyers, he made it clear on behalf of his Republican colleagues that they were not interested in a fair-minded evaluation of Ford's testimony.

The contrast between Ford's gut-wrenching testimony and the cavalier, interrupting, mansplaining Grassley could not have been more stark. Ford, her voice quavering, obviously in a state of barely contained terror and emotional violence, slowly walked through her detailed statement. It is difficult to imagine how anyone with a soul could listen to her speaking and not have a visceral understanding of the lifelong emotional trauma inflicted on survivors of rape and sexual assault. Her testimony was inarguably credible, and she was able to convey the damage that Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge's attempted rape inflicted on her, both in the immediate aftermath of the alleged assault, and then long afterwards, the attack casting a shadow over her life, as it does for all survivors of sexual assault.

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David Faris

David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. He is a frequent contributor to Informed Comment, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Indy Week.