Let’s start by re-stating how David French succinctly summarized the haze of bizarre sexual allegations made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh:

“There is not a single third-party witness to any claim that can corroborate any accuser or even conclusively place Kavanaugh at the location of any alleged crime.”

That factual statement does not cheapen the seriousness of sexual assault.  It doesn’t even impugn the motives or sensibilities of the accuser(s).  It simply means that not only is there no evidence of any alleged assault committed by Brett Kavanaugh, there is no evidence that can he was at the party.

To reconcile that reality with the relentless public lynching he has received over the last two weeks should frighten every American – regardless of political persuasion – to the core.  What is unfolding is not merely a character assassination or defamation.  It is the undermining of one of the bedrock principles of the American experiment: the burden of proof rests not with the accused.

Think about this outside of the context of a Supreme Court seat.  Think about this outside the realm of politics.  Think about this personally.  Imagine that you are accused of a heinous crime by someone who cannot produce a single piece of corroborating evidence that you committed the offense or were even present where the alleged crime took place.

Then imagine hearing the judge of your case say to you in the courtroom: 

“I think (you) bear the burden of disproving these allegations.”

How do you prove a negative?  How do you prove that you didn’t do something for which there is no proof that you did?  It’s Kafkaesque. 

And then, when you point out that no one can corroborate the accusations against you, the judge points out:

"Right. And that actually corroborates (your accuser’s) story."

The accuser said, after all, that they slipped away after you committed the crime and didn’t tell anyone.  So now you’re being told that no proof of the accusation against you is actually proof of the allegation against you.

This isn’t evenhandedness, impartiality, or fairness.  It isn’t moral.  It’s kangaroo court.  It’s the very offense the Founders condemned the King of England for committing in the Declaration of Independence.  It’s the very kind of sham justice that our Founding Fathers went on to place safeguards in the Constitution to avoid. 

Yet this travesty of justice is being carried out right now by political opponents of Brett Kavanaugh.  Those two outrageous remarks above?  They were spoken by Democrat Senator Chris Coons and former Democrat Governor Jennifer Granholm, inverting the foundational principle of American jurisprudence – the presumption of innocence – in order to punish a political opponent.

If this succeeds, if this is tolerated, if this is defended and garrisoned by any significant portion of our population, this grand experiment in liberty hastens its own demise.  I implore Democrats everywhere, no Supreme Court seat is worth that.