Republican Leader Mitch McConnell stood before a gathering of evangelical conservatives last week and told them to "keep the faith." In the "very near future," he said, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would be sitting on the Supreme Court.
"We're going to plow through it and do our job,” McConnell promised. Donald Trump joined in with personal attacks on Kavanaugh accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, saying he had "no doubt" that if the sexual assault Kavanaugh perpetrated was "as bad as she says," it would have been reported to the FBI. At the time, Republicans were still trying to intimidate Dr. Blasey Ford out of testifying, promising a swift hearing by Monday followed by accelerated committee and floor votes.
But those plans were thwarted when the lawyers for Dr. Blasey Ford called their bluff, saying Sunday their client was willing to testify despite the fact that Senate Republicans had met almost none of her requests—including that she testify after Kavanaugh, that an FBI investigation be conducted, and that other witnesses be called, including Kavanaugh drinking buddy Mark Judge specifically.
By Monday, McConnell, still bullying from his bully pulpit, reaffirmed on the Senate floor: "Judge Kavanaugh will be confirmed."
But whatever McConnell had in mind, it never included the week-long FBI investigation that's now been ordered by the White House. He and Trump got backed into the corner by the pitch-perfect testimony of a sexual assault survivor who came to their turf Thursday, dispensed with their games, and spoke from her heart about a horrific memory that fundamentally altered the course of her life.
Right from the start, Dr. Blasey Ford was a vision of bravery, poise, candor, and relatability, beginning with admitting in the first seconds of her opening statement that she was "terrified" to be testifying. When she was quizzed by the GOP's hired female gun about when she had originally sought to hire a lawyer, Dr. Blasey Ford replied that her "beach friends" had advised it. When asked how she ultimately chose her attorneys, she described sitting in her car in a Walgreens parking lot interview lawyers out of earshot of her parents with whom she was staying and "trying to figure out how the whole system works" of picking counsel. When asked if she spoke to her parents about what was going on, Blasey Ford exclaimed, "Definitely not," reminding us all that no matter how old we are, we really never stop worrying what our parents might think about the direction of our lives.
Ultimately, Blasey Ford was so likable, accessible, and forthcoming she left Washington's attack dogs with no avenue for attack. From her expert explanation of how the "hippocampus" stores trauma memories to her searing description of the "uproarious laughter" shared by Kavanaugh and his pal Judge while she was pinned beneath them, Dr. Blasey Ford was at once the accomplished psychology scholar she's become and the frightened teenager who would never be same.
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