Never before has the Republican Party so explicitly shown its true colors. It is now so far off to the right the Clintons look like raging communists. The all-male Republican membership of the Senate judiciary committee refused to interview a female sexual assault victim themselves. They hired a prosecutor to interrogate the victim and say next to nothing to the accused. Senators whom had previously railed against Trump lost all moderate credibility when they leapt to the defense of a Supreme Court nominee accused of sex crimes and perjury. The entire party has been astoundingly flagrant in its disrespect and disregard for women.

The nation’s attention was captured last Thursday when Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh testified before the Senate judiciary committee. Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa began the hearing with a very shaky introduction. The 85-year-old mispronounced names, completely changed some words, and almost choked a few times. If he is too old to read, he is too old to serve in the United States Senate. He went through his teens and twenties at a time when the country was segregated and Elvis’s hips were leading kids astray. His political ideology was built before interstates and when women were kept in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant. It is detrimental to the entire country to have him voting on matters from abortion to net neutrality and public education.

Grassley just about managed to get through his speech before keeling over and I stopped cringing. However, Dianne Feinstein spoke next and she was almost as painful to watch. Feinstein, also 85, had a constant tremble in her voice and the papers she was holding shook so violently I thought she was pretending to hold Kavanaugh’s neck. She was predictable and uninspiring, which is far less than can be said for the hero of the hour.

Dr. Ford went before Kavanaugh, presumably so he could have a little extra time to fabricate a story that refuted hers. The Republicans ceded all of their time to sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell; she asked every question from the conservative side and except for Chuck Grassley greeting her in the morning, not one Republican senator said anything to her. The official reasoning for that was that they did not want a victim of sexual assault to be interrogated by a bunch of men. Instead, they really wanted political safety gained by not personally going after Dr. Ford. They could please their base by having a “tough on crime” prosecutor execute the interrogation but not draw ire from the left and/or be accused of bullying a witness. The plan did not work. Mitchell’s primary aim was to discredit Dr. Ford and create a clear path to confirmation for Kavanaugh. Her questioning failed to remove partisan politics from the process and made the Republicans look even more out of touch. The row of ugly white men staring at Dr. Ford the entire time did not exactly fix their image issues either.

Dr. Ford read a truly heartbreaking opening statement, informing the world on how she feared for not only her safety but her life when she was attacked by Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge. Mitchell never went near the attack itself, only focusing on events immediately preceding and succeeding it. She tried to throw doubt on Dr. Ford even knowing Kavanaugh and lost. She suggested the attacker could have been someone else and was embarrassed. She brought out a giant street map and I don’t know, I just, I cannot describe how ridiculous that was.

The Democrats didn’t ask too many questions because there was little else Dr. Ford could offer up and they wanted her to feel believed, trusted, and valued as a human being. One Democratic question did provide a huge moment, though. Dr. Ford was asked how certain she was that Brett Kavanaugh was the man who attacked her. She leaned into the microphone and coolly said “100%.”

She shared every detail she remembered and somehow maintained her composure throughout. Not once did she show anger or frustration, nor did she flinch at Mitchell’s questions or become overconfident when talking to the Democrats. She gave the Senate and its processes the respect they frankly no longer deserve. Her strength and poise were altogether remarkable.

After a break so the senators could pee, take stool softeners, and put their teeth back in, the hearing resumed with Brett Kavanaugh providing testimony. The second he walked into the room the tone and atmosphere changed entirely. His opening statement was full of partisan jabs and conspiracy theories. Every word dripped with contempt and his face could not hide his rage and indignation.

Kavanaugh reduced the sex crime accusations against him to supposed political revenge by the Clintons and a “well-funded effort to destroy [his] good name.” Like every contestant on every TV singing contest, he also played for the sympathy vote. He told the committee his daughter’s response to sexual assault is prayer then cried when describing how his father kept a schedule.

Once the ugly soliloquy had ended under the weight of its own darkness, the Republicans proceeded with a gentle chitchat. The Democrats, on the other hand, actually had a solid performance. They tested the various defenses offered by Kavanaugh and his far-right buddies, and they lured him into showing his real personality. Due to inebriation playing a major role in Dr. Ford’s story, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota questioned Kavanaugh on whether he had drunk to the point of blacking out. He quipped that he didn’t know and asked her if she had. When pressed for a straight answer, he smugly retorted: “I’m curious if you have.” It was insolent and wholly inappropriate for the venue and occasion.

Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island also wanted to know about Kavanaugh’s well-documented history with alcohol. In response to a series of questions, Kavanaugh said to Senator Whitehouse: “I like beer, I don’t know if you do . . . Do you like beer, Senator, or not? . . . What do you like to drink?” Kavanaugh wasn’t some punk before a traffic court judge, he is a judge on the second-highest court in the land and was talking to United States senators. If my daughter pulled the same faces, used the same tone, and/or answered serious questions with questions, she would be in a world of trouble. It is difficult to see past Kavanaugh leaning back in his chair and sneering at the Democrats, but a deeper investigation shows Kavanaugh is a seasoned liar.

The Republicans were incensed at Kavanaugh’s yearbook entry being a major focus for the Democrats. Generally, I would agree with them. We shouldn’t be held back by silly things we did as kids, especially when everyone is an idiot through their teen years. I know I wouldn’t want to be turned down for a job because I threw snowballs at a teacher’s house when I was 14. Yet we’re not talking about some immature act, and who Kavanaugh was 36 years ago provides evidence for what he did 36 years ago. The Democratic senators justifiably picked the yearbook entry apart and asked Kavanaugh about almost every detail. He explained away “devil’s triangle” as a drinking game when it’s really an MFM threesome. He said boofing was flatulence even though it’s widely known to be taking drugs anally. He couldn’t completely deny his drinking issues so had to settle for justifications. He said he was a legal drinker in high school even though the age limit in Maryland was raised from 18 to 21 when he was still 17. He admitted to getting drunk but never to the point of not remembering the night before, a statement contradicted by Mark Judge’s books and the statements of numerous ex-classmates. Everything Dr. Ford said bolstered her credibility, everything Kavanaugh said tainted his.

The craziest part of the proceedings was Lindsey Graham’s near-total meltdown. Grassley gave him the floor and he used his time to scold the Democrats for daring to look into a sex crime and to say Kavanaugh’s nomination process was the most despicable thing he’d seen in politics. Actually, I agree with him. A credibly accused sexual predator being forced onto the Supreme Court by a bunch of old white men is despicable. Graham, 63, was for a long time seen as a more moderate Republican, aligning with John McCain on many issues and regularly calling out Trump. His borderline maniacal defense of Brett Kavanaugh erased all of that. Lindsey Graham is now a full-blown, bigoted, small-minded, evil Trump Republican. It was a surprising turn of events, but I guess with McCain passing away, Graham needs someone to keep him warm at night and maybe Brett Kavanaugh is who he desires.

Despite only a few hours with the testifiers, and less than 24 hours since the hearing, Grassley scheduled a vote on forwarding Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate. There wasn’t remotely enough time to weigh what had been said or to investigate further. The Republicans were desperate to push Kavanaugh through, and they exposed their lack of belief in Dr. Ford and their opinion that sexual assault does not disqualify someone from holding public office. By scheduling a vote for the very next day, the Republicans told all women their pain wasn’t real and that the wishes of the few (evangelicals and the economic 1%) mattered more than the rights of over half the entire population.

Anti-Trump Republican Jeff Flake began the Friday vote by stating he would only vote to advance the nomination if the floor vote was delayed for a week so the FBI could investigate Dr. Ford’s story. It was a pathetic attempt at looking good on women’s rights. Neither he nor anyone else on the committee can force the FBI to do anything so he was voting in favor of Kavanaugh with no guarantee of anything in return. There can be no conclusion other than he wants the sexual predator to be on the court for decades to come. The committee voted along party lines and Kavanaugh cleared the first hurdle.

Trump was quick to order a new FBI background check, so Flake was let off the hook. Reports were soon released accusing the administration of tying the FBI’s hands with the aim of preventing new evidence coming to light. Considering the Bureau works for the president and how determined he is to have Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, we should have no faith in the latest investigation. Even if it is legitimate, Mark Judge and the other witnesses aren’t likely to change their stories and there is no physical evidence that will prove Kavanaugh’s guilt beyond any doubt.

Some senators are on the fence about the final confirmation vote, but with the Republican majority, and Pence’s tie-breaking vote, Kavanaugh still has a very good chance of becoming a Supreme Court justice. Anyone who votes in his favor is also in favor of rape, perjury, violence against women, and condemning multiple generations to a neo-fascist court determining their futures.

The bottom line is that no matter what happens moving forward, Brett Kavanaugh shouldn’t be within 1,000 miles of the Supreme Court. On the sole issue of his confirmation, definitively proving he sexually assaulted Dr. Ford is irrelevant. His right-wing political jibes proved he will not be impartial in his judgments. His anger shows he will not be clear-headed when considering a case and will not react well if a decision doesn’t go his way. His perjury makes him a criminal and criminals should not be judges. As well as not being confirmed for the Supreme Court, he should be impeached from his current position.

In other news, Trump and John Bolton embarrassed the country at the UN General Assembly. Trump claimed his administration has achieved more than any other within the same timeframe. The room erupted into laughter and Trump was genuinely taken aback. Apparently, he’s not used to people laughing at him. It’s probably one reason why he’s surrounded by lifelong bootlickers and newfound sycophants (Flake and Graham, et al.). John Bolton promised American forces would stay in Syria as long as Iran continued to intervene. He is angling for a larger US presence in the Middle East and is trying to goad Iran into doing something stupid so he can have more people of color blown to pieces. The far-right Republicans (which is now all of them) just want to burn more oil, kill more foreigners, and justify the massive jobs program that is the Department of Defense.

Legislative progress was next to nonexistent last week and I’m sure you’re already familiar with America’s historical relationship with the Kingdom of Morocco, so there’s no need for me to write more on that topic.

The Republican Party has now lost all claims to the votes of good people. The GOP is entirely made up of lifelong neo-fascists and those who have recently climbed aboard the crazy train. There is no such thing as a moderate Republican anymore and new candidates who join the party will immediately be guilty by association. Every single one of them needs to be kept out of office along with all the dinosaurs of any political persuasion. The country is a school bus on fire and it is being driven off a cliff by conservatives and geriatrics.