EDITORIAL: Manchin should vote NO on Kavanaugh

The last several weeks in politics have been unprecedented, as President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, battles against accusations of sexual assault from Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University. Ford claims that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party while the two were in high school in 1982.

The nation watched in shock and awe as both Ford and Kavanaugh delivered emotional testimonies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Only one day after the hearings, the committee voted to confirm Kavanaugh, where the vote will now move on to the senate, pending the results of an FBI investigation into the allegations made by Ford, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calling for a vote before the end of the week.

One of the senators being labeled “at risk” by the conservative group the Judicial Crisis Network is West Virginia’s own Joe Manchin, a democrat who is often noted as one of the more moderate senators in congress. His decision will likely directly affect our nation for generations to come.

The West Virginia senator, facing re-election next month in a state that is deeply red, told WV News on Monday he would make his decision after the FBI reached a conclusion.

“I’m undecided until I see what comes this week,” Manchin said. “I have been very open-minded.”

As a democrat, Manchin has to convince his home state that he is not a puppet of the democratic party but now is not the time for political posturing.

“She’s absolutely certain that it was Brett Kavanaugh, and he’s absolutely certain it wasn’t him,” Manchin said.

That is what this whole situation has come down to, but from what was shown to the nation last Thursday by Brett Kavanaugh, without needing proof or justification of Ford’s accusations, it is clear that Kavanaugh should not be permitted to sit on the supreme court.

Kavanaugh was aggressive and combative, arrogant and entitled. If this were any other job interview, his consideration would be dropped immediately. Even if none of this behavior concerns you, Senator Manchin, it is clear that he has lied and mischaracterized himself and his past to the committee. He also distinctly took a Republican side, blaming democrats and even the Clintons, as he aims for a job that must be impartial, by the intention of the founding fathers.

If nothing else, Kavanaugh’s behavior at the hearings showed us a man who is unfit to reside for a lifetime on the nation’s highest court.