Senate GOP Has Created Huge Problems For Themselves

In their desire to ram through the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, the Senate Republicans have created problems for themselves. Here is how Jennifer Rubin (pictured) describes that in The Washington Post:
They (Senate Republicans) will have no one to blame but themselves for setting up a number of lose-lose propositions:

• One cannot simultaneously claim there is not enough known and refuse to authorize an FBI follow-up to its original background check.
• When more allegations arise, one cannot perpetuate the notion that there is nothing to investigate.
• If the 11 male Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have to hide behind the skirts of an outside, female attorney who will ask questions of Ford, they will look cowardly and inept; if they do it themselves, they will no doubt look like bullies. (Sen. Ted Cruz, who faces a tough Senate reelection campaign in Texas, could easily blow his race by a true-to-form obnoxious performance.)
• The committee is not calling other witnesses, but the Farrow and Mayer account set forth a batch of people who might have critical information.
• The Republicans won’t put Judge under oath as a witness, strongly suggesting that he has something damaging to say. Since he won’t be there, Democrats will accept as true that the Georgetown Prep teens regularly got intoxicated, making it impossible for them to recall accurate events when they were stone-cold drunk.
• Through a Wile E. Coyote-like disastrous attempt to prove mistaken identity, Republicans in effect conceded that Ford was attacked. They also made it nearly impossible to convince the public that someone else was the attacker.
• Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who wanted to calm down President Trump, publicly conceded that nothing Ford said was going to change their minds. They thereby set a new low standard: Even if there is credible evidence of a sex crime, the nominee gets a pass. One wonders how many women will have to come forward before they take this seriously.
• Since Trump inadvertently launched the #WhyIDidn’tReport movement, it would be awfully hard for Republicans to grill Ford (or Ramirez) on the failure to report. Ironically, Ford got some inoculation, if you will, on her decision not to step forward as a 15-year-old. She should thank the president for jump-starting the #WhyIDidn’tReport movement.

One cannot help but sense that the (ultimately losing) hardball tactics that Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) used in negotiating Ford’s appearance were designed to dissuade her from appearing for testimony. Really, that was the best chance Republicans had to get past this. Now, with their own position damaged in ways described above, they have to bet that Ford isn’t a good witness for herself and that Ramirez doesn’t offer to appear, too. In any case, one senses that Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination is in deep trouble and even his current status on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit might be imperiled.