During his Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Judge Kavanaugh was subjected to charges of attempted rape and gang rape. These charges were levied with stories over 30 years old told by alleged victims of Judge Kavanaugh with no confirmation and no evidence. The allegation was that a man with this kind of history should never be allowed to sit on the Supreme Court and participate in judgements against other people. Women that currently know Judge Kavanaugh came forward to defend him maintaining he is not the kind of man being portrayed in these charges. Needless to say this was a very contentious confirmation hearing.
During this time, the addresses of various Republican leaders were released so that, at a minimum, protest could be held outside their homes. I say at a minimum because if these protest turned violent or the wrong person became knowledgeable of the addresses, it could have placed the lives of these leaders or their families at risk. Recently a second Democratic Congressional aid, Samantha Deforest Davis, has been charged in this scheme. The first Democratic aid, Jackson A. Cosko, is serving four years in prison for his part. Cosko plead guilty to federal charges so there was no question of guilt. In connection with his sentencing, Cosko's attorney made the statement:
No one should be judged by their worst act but how they emerge from it. Mr. Cosko is sincerely remorseful for his conduct, is in recovery, and looks forward to living a purposeful life after he serves his sentence.
Isn't it amazing, this young man claims to have changed because of his actions but hasn't had the time for his life to show these changes. Because he has changed, we shouldn't judge Cosko over these actions. Contrast this to the treatment of Judge Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh spent a career as a judge with no issues. There we no issues or evidence pointing to him secretly being a potential rapist. But still, Judge Kavanaugh was unfit to sit on the Supreme Court because of sketchy allegations of sexual misconduct 30 years ago. Even if Judge Kavanaugh was guilty, which I don't beleive, shouldn't we have been looking at the "purposeful life" he led after the actions?
Liberals call this change in one's beliefs "evolving" and the ability to "evolve" is not granted to conservatives, "evolving" on issues is strictly an ability granted to liberals. Let's take a look at some "evolving" that has taken place over the years.
- In the 1970's Joe Biden worked tirelessly against busing to integrate schools. Biden worked alongside segregationists such as Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, Sen. James Eastland of Mississippi, Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, and Senator James Allen of Alabama. A recount of Biden's activities in the area of busing can be found in the article When Joe Biden Chose the Wrong Side of History. Today, Biden promotes himself as a champion of civil rights even declaring LGBTQ rights his number one legislative agenda. Joe Biden has evolved.
- On October 26, 2006, President George Bush signed into law the Secure Fence Act of 2006. Part of this law required the building of fencing along the southern border and enhancing existing fencing. The law was passed in the Senate on September 29, 2006 with the support of Senators Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Diane Feinstein, Joe Biden, and then Sen. Barack Obama. Obviously, these Democrats have "evolved" their position on infrastructure along our southern border.
- While in college at Stanford, Senator Cory Booker wrote of sexual misconduct he perpetrated against a female friend. His written admission was a means of detailing a transformation he experienced due to the event. In his writings, Senator Booker admitted to groping his female friend while she was intoxicated. There's never been a serious investigation into this matter, possibly due to Senator Booker's evolution.
Flash forward however and Senator Booker has allegations of sexual misconduct he perpetrated on a young gay man. This incident happened during the summer of 2014 and again has gotten no investigation or, to my knowledge, any comment from Senator Booker. Even with this accusation being somewhat public, Senator Booker took a lead role in pushing the significance of the misconduct allegations against Justice Kavanaugh.
There you have a few examples of how liberals are allowed to "evolve" on an issue. Conservatives are not allowed the possibility of evolving their stance on an issue and it's probably true that conservatives don't change their views as quickly as liberals do. In my opinion, true conservatives tend to have a firmer stance on their beliefs because conservative beliefs are based on morals, values, and, yes, often religion. Liberal beliefs, again in my opinion, tend to be based more on what would an immediate desire to "feel good" about a situation. While liberals appear to take the easy route to the "feel good" solution to a problem without looking at other consequences of their position, true conservatives understand that sometimes the "feel good" solution causes more problems than it solves. As society changes, these "feel good" solutions of liberals also change forcing the individuals to "evolve" to the new solution.
Conservatives are not allowed the flexibility of "evolving" like liberals are. Fortunately this is less of a problem than one would think it is since conservatives rarely go around chasing that "feel good" solution.