Wisdom gets its day in Congress. Imagine that.

I was ready to watch the 1:30 p.m. political show known as the committee vote to send Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the full Senate. I figured it was a done deal. Final expected score: Republicans 11, Democrats at least one less depending on how many members opted to abstain.

Funny thing happened on the way to that done deal. It was marvelous reality TV, much more enjoyable than Thursday's battle royal featuring testimony from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. We can thank Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona for Friday's surprise.

Flake had an attack of conscience, or maybe he read the political winds better than his allies, and requested an investigation to last no more than one week. The focus of the investigation will be the other people identified by Dr. Ford as being at the site of the alleged sexual abuse by Judge Kavanaugh, then a teenager at a D.C. area prep school.

It was the wise request. Imagine that in Congress.

A major force behind the move is optics. The additional investigation looks good, just as having a female prosecutor ask questions to Dr. Ford did. This isn't a Republican majority filled with old white men ramming a nomination through the process. This is a Republican majority taking time to examine areas of concern raised by Democrats. Flake was smart to put a one-week limit on his request. Still to be seen is whether such questioning centers on only those involved in the Dr. Ford allegations, or whether two other accusers will be added. There is also the possibility of new accusers coming forward, and what would the committee do about that?

The additional investigation probably won't find a single thing that isn't already available. No one's mind is going to be changed. It just looks better. The Democrats should feel better. So should two Republican senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who were seen as potential key votes against Kavanaugh.

The other surprising turn of events is that President Trump had to approve such an investigation, and he did it without hesitation. This was a man who wanted a timeline that put Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court by Oct. 1. Now it's okay to wait. He seemed to understand the value of optics. He also seemed to recognize the need for wisdom.

Imagine that.

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 2, 2018 at 6:09 AM

    What is interesting to me is that you could not have had the Flack moment without the Thursday event. There are several interesting fallouts from this call for pause, investigation, and reflection. Flack has one enormous political advantage because he has announced in advance that he is not seeking reelection, and this has freed him to be candid and honest. One such moment was when he calmly stated he was a conservative and that he wanted a conservative justice such as Kavanaugh on the supreme court, and that he was inclined to vote for him. He said it calmly, without rancor towards Democrats for their opposition. He then went on to say that it was important to investigate Kavanaugh more closely.

    A second fallout is president Trump's evolving musings about Kavanaugh. Trump is a complete tea toddler, and on Monday he mused that Kavanaugh has an alcohol problem. This is a conclusion he reached through observation, not from anything he has read or been briefed on. He did not say that he "had" a problem, but that he "has" a drinking problem. Because his older brother had a serious drinking problem, Trump does not like drinking, and has been described as someone who sees excess drinking as a weakness.

    As you posted this on at the beginning of the FBI process, and there have been several twists and turns immediately following its launch, it may be a little early to say they will find nothing new. And this also depends on how one defines "new". New might be might be something we didn't know before, or it might mean more people supporting accusations made by Ford and others. And new might also mean that these accusations are reported as corroborated by new people.

    And, then again, it could reveal nothing new but fence sitters changing their minds given the weight of the accusations. Even if there is no conclusive evidence brought forward. After all, this is not being heard in a court of law, it is being heard in committee meetings that can swing totally on argument.

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