Some pundits worry that our current level of virulent political attacks and reputational assassination unleashed by rabid ideologues threaten our very democracy.

I don’t believe that.

But certainly the American republic is traversing a rocky patch in 2018. One that challenges our nation’s civil resolve and questions whether we can rescue dispassionate, intelligent debate from the clutches of maniacal hate groups and individuals intent on destroying the foundations of free discussion and exchanges our forefathers struggle to defend.

The despicable spectacle of the Judge Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court (SCOTUS) nomination hearings is embarrassing proof of the latter.

Any intelligent person–not allied with the lunatic fringe of contemporary society–recognizes that Judge Kavanaugh is eminently qualified to be the next SCOTUS associate justice.

But intelligence has been supplanted in America this century by bitter emotional partisan diatribes devoid of meritorious content and replaced by moronic delaying tactics designed to derail worthwhile candidates for either appointed or elective office.

Yes, the decision by the Republican-controlled Senate to deny Judge Merrick Garland a confirmation hearing when nominated by President Obama was despicable. It was an inexcusable abuse of power based on a disingenuous rationale that was only a diaphanous excuse to avoid possible confirmation of a liberal justice.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was complicit in this shameless moment and deserves condemnation.

Equally despicable are the phony efforts by California Senator Diane Feinstein and her liberal colleagues on the same committee this year to thwart a fair hearing and scrutiny of Judge Kavanaugh.   The last minute questionable allegations revealed by Feinstein and her liberal colleagues is simply character assassination by anti-Trump activists pretending to be public servants.

Case in point is Christine Blasey, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct at a party when the two were adolescents.

Democrats who hate President Trump want to delay the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Judge Kavanagh until Blasey’s accusations are fully investigated. Their opposition is another desperate stalling tactic to postpone a confirmation vote by the full Republican-controlled Senate before the Supreme Court’s fall session that begins October 6.

Judiciary Committee Chair Grassley has scheduled public testimony for next Monday to hear both Professor Blasey and Judge Kavanaugh. But now Blasey says she won’t testify until the FBI investigates her claims—despite the fact that the bureau already has completed its background probe of Kavanaugh and, according to its website, does not investigate sexual crimes unless they pose a national threat or are linked to serial rapists. Professor Blasey’s claim fails this test.

My first reaction to the anonymous allegation was disbelief. When the identify of the accuser was revealed I tended to believe her. But now that Blasely refuses to face Kavanaugh and the American people before the lights and camera of a public judiciary committee hearing next Monday, I doubt her story.

Instead I now believe she is a stooge by the anti-Trump cabal intent on resorting to any tactic no matter how disgusting to sabotage the appointment of a presumed conservative justice to the Supreme Court.

Republicans, Democrats, conservatives and liberals all have acted shameless in both the case of Merrick Garland and now in the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh.

They have demonstrated their willingness to disregard almost all standards of ethics, honesty, civility and decency to achieve victory.

I think America will survive this moment. But future citizens should recognize this as a sad chapter in the nation’s history. A time when our elected leaders in the Senate and anti-Trump activists abandoned their commitment to a better America in exchange for selfish individual victories.

Our Founding Fathers surely would weep to witness this betrayal.