As of this writing, Sen. Chuck Grassley and the other Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are openly trying to blackmail Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.  Appear alone, Grassley insists.  She has to submit to every condition the Republican majority might choose.  The Senate hearing will be closed to the public.  The GOP will not allow any corroborating evidence or testimony.  They will not question Brett Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge, the only other man in the room at the time.  The Senators “reserve the right” to prop up some women, staffers or outside counsel to ask their miserable questions for them.  (How corrupt is it when Republicans won’t even ask their questions themselves?)  And, the Republicans threaten, if Dr. Ford doesn’t agree to every single Republican precondition, the Judiciary committee will immediately vote (and presumably approve) Kavanaugh on Monday.

The theme for today appears to be ‘submit,’ at least if you’re a Republican.

Want to hear the rub?  Grassley has already said that nothing Dr. Ford or anyone else might say will change the result.  The Kavanaugh nomination, he shouts, is already a lock.  They have the votes.  It won’t matter to them, even if Kavanaugh is truly the perjuring rapist he appears to be.

As I write this, the self-created 10 PM ‘deadline’ from Senator Grassley has passed.  Dr. Ford’s attorneys wrote back, asking for another day.  Dr. Ford remains in hiding after wing-nuts threated to kill her and her family.  None of that matters to Grassley.  He insists that Dr. Ford either capitulate to the blackmail or face Grassley’s vengeance. 

It doesn’t sound like Republicans have learned much since Anita Hill, does it?  She asked for it; she’s a slut; she’s a liar; it was just horseplay; it wasn’t rape; it wasn’t a crime; maybe it was some other guy; it didn’t happen; besides, they can’t prove anything.  The same endless nonsense from the same bunch of angry old white men.  Literally, for Senators Grassley and Orrin Hatch.

Republicans don’t just threaten to ruin anyone they choose.   No, sir.  They succeed.  Nobody stands against them, no matter how obvious or evil they become.  It doesn’t matter if you did anything, or whether you were loyal.  The lesson is clear: cross any Republican, intentionally or accidentally, and you won’t just lose your job; they’ll ruin you.  Have fun finding a new career.  Ask Sally Yates, or James Comey, or Andrew McCabe, or Peter Strzok, or Lisa Page, or James Baker, or Mary McCord, or Mike Kortan.  And now Bruce Orr and Rod Rosenstein.  I can’t even count the reporters they’ve blackballed.

I haven’t written much recently.  It’s hard to know what to say to people who insist that the truth isn’t morally different from lies.  But, in this case, the evil right in front of us needs to be confronted.  The way that Republicans are openly intimidating and blackmailing Dr. Ford is wrong.  It’s all morally, ethically, legally, and democratically repugnant.  Think about it.  Republicans supporters are threatening to kill Dr. Ford.  Death threats.  None of the Republicans on the committee even acknowledge that.