The Unseemly Art of Borking

This post is for all you youngsters out there.  Here at the Reckonings' International Headquarters, we define youngster as, "anyone under the age of 40, or so."

As the age of the staff here at HQ increases, so will the definition of youngster.

Speaking of definitions, I have one for ya.  See if you can guess the definition:

Bork

1.  n.  A Cajun Beef and Pork sausage well-seasoned to perfection.

2.  n.  An idiot (Dork) who has been bonked on the head.

3.  v.  Obstruct (someone, especially a candidate for public office) by systematically defaming or vilifying them.

President Ronald W. Reagan

If you guessed 1 or 2, you're prolly a dork who needs a bonk on the head.  Although, number one actually sounds pretty good.

If you are unfamiliar with the concept of borking, you're about to get a first class demonstration of the process.  Since Democratic senators invented this blood sport, they're the perfect group to show you how it's done.  And they will do just that in the weeks to come.

See, wha' happen wuz...

Way back in 1987 (ancient history to you youngsters, just yesterday to the rest of us old-timers) the Hon. Ronald W. Reagan nominated a judge by the name of Robert Bork to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Holy cow, you'd have thought he nominated Satan himself.

Within 45 minutes, Sen. Edward "Teddy" Kennedy, of "his car doesn't float" fame, (that's an even older story, kids) was predicting the end of civilization if Judge Bork was confirmed.  No kidding.





Take a look at this clip of Kennedy describing "Bork's America"

And the Borking Begins

Women forced into back-alley abortions?

Blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters?

Rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids?

Schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution?

Writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government?

Doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens?

 

 

Holy bad guys, Batman, who was this monster?!

Judge Bork and President Reagan

Turns out that Judge Bork was simply a conservative judge who thought that the constitution means what it says.  I know, I know... it's a radical concept.

I guess I didn't know that the founding fathers thought all of these terrible things.

Come to think of it, though, censoring artists who use my taxes to display feces as art sounds pretty good.  But, I digress.

The long and short of it is this: The United States Senate denied Judge Bork's nomination because they didn't like his politics.  Their issue with him had nothing to do with his qualifications (which were excellent), but with his political ideology.

And history was made.

President George H. W. Bush

Fast forward to Justice Clarence Thomas' nomination by President George H.W. Bush in 1990.  (He was the first Bush if you keep track of such things.)

Emboldened by the whole Bork thing, the Dems thrust America into an x-rated odyssey. 

They found this gal, Anita Hill, to say that he said all sorts of nasty things to her.  The thing that really sticks in our minds all these years later is the bit about a pubic hair on a can of coke.  There were other things, too.  Like references to bestiality, for example. 

Ms. Hill was questioned endlessly about how she knew the hair in question was of a pubic nature.

Ick.

Thomas didn't much care for the whole process.  In fact, he took the opportunity to make the ironic accusation that the Democratic Senators were engaged in a "high-tech lynching."

Check out this clip:



Justice Clarence Thomas at his conformation hearing

Not a stellar day for the Senate.

In the end, Thomas survived, but just barely.  Since then, he's comported himself with grace and dignity as a Supreme Court Justice.

He was raised in abject poverty and managed to rise to the highest court in the land.  If that's not an American story, I don't know that is.

If you're interested in how American heroes are made, check out Judge Thomas' autobiography, My Grandfather's Son.  If you take the time to read it, you won't be sorry.

Judge Kavanaugh and his family

All of this to say that Judge Brett Kavanaugh is about to be subjected to the same kind of thing.

I'm not a legal scholar by any stretch of the imagination, so I truly have no idea about his qualifications.

But I do know one thing: it's going to be brutal and unseemly.

Pay attention to the process youngsters; maybe someday, after your hair gets thin and grey, you'll tell a thick-haired kid about the time that Judge Kavanaugh got borked.

TheCurmudgeon