WEEKEND BLOG

  

 What has happened to ethics, morality, and decency in government? Locally, statewide, and nationally?

There is a Council meeting Tuesday night. It will be another example of politicians collecting a stipend for being rubber stamps.

  There is little need to attend, out of the 24 resolutions almost all are on the consent docket, even those involving large sums of  money. The few that have to be voted on deal with are the appointment of the NEW Department heads and these resolutions which I could not read in detail ,contained no mention of salary range or what the  new Dept. Directors would receive. Sanchez is to be appointed Plainfield Business Administrator, but as far s I can gather his role as City Administrator has not yet been abolished.   Ron. West will now only be Director of Finance; but since he is no longer responsible for “administration” in his present role is his compensation going to be the same?

  Even if member’s of the public speak in the little time allotted them; no attention is paid to their comments. Even when there are responses from Administration they are vague or Kavenaughish in nature.

   As to Kavanaugh himself; Although my feeling is that he should not be appointed; he will be nominated today by a 51:49 vote.

  Why do I object to him? It is not because he undoubtedly drank heavily as a teenager and a college student . That was a norm for that era. Not because despite his denials  and claims of being a ‘choir boy”, I am sure that he did had sex at those parties, since once again that was the game of those year which included fondling of sexual areas. Girls expected that as part of the ritual and they also expected that a “NO” would stop it at a point which they would not want to go beyond..

   However “gang bangs” and holding  a hand over the girls mouth to keep her quiet are not “normal”. Using alcohol or drugs as a route  to have sex by making the girl incapable of resisting is a form of rape.

  Physical rape  must not be condoned, nor should the victim treated as the one responsible. In  this case no honest attempt was made to determine if “rape had taken place. Ford was treated as if she had made up the whole charge in a character assassination attempt.

  Whether Kavanaugh was guilty of any of the above was not determined by the farcical FBI investigation which had strict limits on its scope; limits that would prevent any possible conformation.

  Despite his Friday Op-ed letter in the Walls Street Journal in which he apologized for his abrasives actions Thursday and  claimed-which I do believe- that he would be as an impartial justice as one can be-I can not ignore his evasiveness’ which never included answers to pointed questions.

  It is a fact that appointments to SCOTUS has always had a  political flair depending on which party had the Senate Power as well as the Presidentcy.

  This time the hearings were again a battle for political supremacy, not a job interview based on qualifications. The Democrats tried by all means possible for revenge for the Republicans stonewalling Obama’s nomination. At  the same time the Republicans were going to shotgun through their selection.