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Kavanaugh raised red flags Thursday

Brett Kavanaugh

The hearing to nominate Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court Justice has been riveting to follow, with more twists and turn than driving through the Cascade lakes.

Minutes after the scheduled vote to approve Kavanaugh at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, a voice of reason, Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, called for an FBI probe. This request is supposed to delay the process for no more than a week and satisfy those who feel due diligence wasn’t done.

This should be a relief to insure that there will be an investigation into this serious allegation of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford. After all, how could he be chosen as a Supreme Court justice, who needs to make wise decisions and seek the truth, when he didn’t want the truth uncovered for himself? Why wouldn’t he want an FBI investigation if he is innocent? Why not allow testimony from friends? Why not take a polygraph detector test?

Rushing such an important decision as picking someone for a lifetime term on the Supreme Court, without the candidate being transparent and truthful, is unfair to all parties. Such an important decision must be made with as much evidence and facts that can be found.

Suppose you had a person at a job interview and, as the supervisor, you asked similar questions that were asked at the hearing about drinking, and the job candidate smugly didn’t answer but instead threw back the question to you. Wouldn’t that be a red flag?

If you asked the same person in a job interview if he or she would be open to a random drug and alcohol test, and he or she didn’t answer, wouldn’t that be a red flag?

If the candidate was asked for references to call and verify about whether what he or she put on the resume was true, and he/she refused, wouldn’t that be a red flag?

At least, if you still decided to hire that person, you wouldn’t necessarily be stuck with him or her making crucial decisions affecting your employees and customers for a lifetime.

But this is the Supreme Court, our nation’s final word on what’s fair. It has only eight members (plus a chief justice), and they serve for life or until they choose to retire. (By contrast, Congress has 535 members, whom we can vote out every few years if we choose.) These justices must be our nation’s absolute best and brightest.

After watching Thursday’s hearings, we don’t think Kavanaugh is one of our best and brightest.

The Senate has easily approved highly qualified candidates from both parties, including the most recent: Neil Gorsuch and Elena Kagan. We all know Supreme Court justices can be partisan — they’re nominated by presidents, after all — but for the sake of the country, we expect them to transcend their parties’ loyalties and trench warfare, and prioritize the Constitution and its opening call “to form a more perfect Union.”

Seeing Kavanaugh on TV Friday, we’re not sure he will do that.

There are many issues Americans want to discuss and improve, and regardless of your opinions or ideology, the best way to do this is to vote. This next election is crucial, and it is up to you to do your part and vote on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

If you want to learn more about the upcoming election, read this newspaper’s daily coverage as well as our Election Guide in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and the Lake Placid News on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018.

So, make sure you do your due diligence and read up on the candidates and decide which one you like best.

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