Uncategorized

Due Process – Can’t Be a Democracy Without It

Posted on by MV

 

The drama about Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court was something we had not seen before. Even the Clarence Thomas – Anita Hill conflict seemed to pale in comparison. As we recall, the fury of the debate between the accusations by Anita Hill and defense by Judge Clarence Thomas was essentially between those two individuals & their ability to persuade the Senate of their case.

In contrast, the storm that engulfed Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation went far beyond what he did and what he did not. The storm was fueled by a major issue of our times, a global issue at that. The issue is the deep & intense anger felt by many women who have suffered indignities & far worse at the hands of the powerful men. We think a large majority of men sympathize with this anger and support the conviction of men found guilty of such acts against women.

Unfortunately in the Kavanaugh case, the storm was about a side that claimed any woman who accuses a man of rape must be believed. But even this demand is not universal against all men, but only against men who belong to an opposing political party or beliefs. They justify this on the perceived morality of their struggle, a struggle that is greater in importance to them than mundane matters like the need for corroboration, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and the other codes of ethical justice that fall under the term Due Process. The idea of being innocent until proven gulilty can be something that is often overlooked by a jury, which is why it’s so important to have a top-quality criminal defense attorney if you have been wrongly accused.

Here the zealots ran up against a core belief that still governs the American psyche – the fundamental issue of fairness. Their battle cry of “women must be believed” was immediately, instinctively, & correctly perceived as the demand to label all men as guilty until explicitly proven innocent. Frankly, this feeling has been building for some time, the feeling that a mere accusation is enough to destroy a man’s career & the happiness of his family. This feeling turned into open outrage during the Kavanaugh hearing, outrage that was powerfully expressed during the hearing by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina:

 

The zealots forgot that women are not just women who exist in isolation from & in conflict with men. Every woman is a daughter of a man, many women are sisters of men & mothers of male children. And there is no force that can compete with the intense desire of a mother to protect her sons. Any one who reads, talks to people or listens could not miss the intensity of the fear & anger among American families, fear about what could happen to their sons in their lives. President Trump gave voice to this widespread fear:

By the end of the week, it was clear to all that middle America was galvanized to fight for Due Process. And their outrage was led & converted into an intense fight by President Trump and the Republicans in the Senate. Based on the cloture vote on Friday, it appears that Judge Kavanaugh would be confirmed & sit on the Supreme Court of the United States in a couple of days.

But how was this victory achieved? Who galvanized middle America to fight for Judge Kavanaugh & even more importantly for the future of their sons? Who do you think? President Trump tore into the accusations against Judge Kavanaugh & warned about the greater danger in his rally in Mississippi. Listen to the 4 minute clip below:

 

Many of you would find this attack distasteful. In fact, as the Washington Post wrote, “Establishment Republicans initially reacted with horror”. But, they added, this attack

  • “proved a key turning point toward victory for the polarizing nominee, White House officials and Kavanaugh allies said, turbocharging momentum behind Kavanaugh just as his fate appeared most in doubt.”

They added,

  • “As long as he was willing to go to the mat for him, it fortified probably people up here, too,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the chamber’s third-ranking Republican leader.
  • “And in Washington, Republican senators — though they condemned Trump’s mockery of Ford — felt emboldened to aggressively demand Kavanaugh’s confirmation, which became a near-certainty Friday and looks to become official with a vote Saturday.”

This victory may be a critical turning point in American society against the reckless, wanton zealotry of America’s anti-men, anti-American left. Many compared the attack on Kavanaugh as today’s McCarthism. If so, President Trump’s full throated attack and the Republican Senate’s courage in defending due process against the left wing mob will go down in history as a stunning victory of core America.

Judge Kavanaugh is fortunate to be an American citizen and that too during the tenure of President Trump just as we are. While we feel happy for him & us, we can’t help feeling sad & helpless about the condition of men in the land that calls itself the largest democracy in the world.

Here in America, the battle for due process for men was won in the case of Kavanaugh. Unfortunately this battle was not just lost in India, it was surrendered in the true Hindu tradition. The Indian people are now forced to accept that women who claim molestation should be believed and the accused man must be presumed guilty unless & until he categorically proves himself to be innocent. It does not stop there. This has been converted into legal doctrine that has been deemed constitutional by the Indian Supreme Court.

Today in India, a woman’s accusation of molestation is enough to presume a man is guilty; the woman need not present any evidence or corroboration. Her accusation is enough to subject the accused man to imprisonment. That is why the Indian police filed a charge against a 2-year old boy of sexual molestation of a 35-year old woman. The very fact that the police were able to file such a charge against a 2-year old boy should tell you how horrible this law is.

The atrocities inflicted on boys under this law will chill any normal human being. Recently we heard the story of a young boy who sent a text saying “hi” to a girl in his class. The girl complained and the boy was thrown out of the institution. Think about this. This boy is not only stigmatized for life but which other school will accept him with this stigma? A life shattered just because he texted “hi”? This is not the girl’s fault. If she felt the “hi” was unwelcome, she had a right to complain. The problem is with the school’s authorities. A simple rebuke would have been more than enough. But destroying a young boy’s life over a “hi” text?

An entire generation of young men is being criminalized in India just for being young boys & men. It is dome because the Government of India and the Indian Judiciary want to prove to the western left that they are not anti-women. Tragically, Prime Minister Modi, his Supreme Court & the entire Indian establishment work to curry favor with western media such as New York Times, Washington Post, BBC etc.

Unlike President Trump, Prime Minister Modi does not have the courage to fight the left wing global media. Instead he has virtually surrendered to them and to the Indian English language media that is servile to the western media. But, practically speaking, you can’t blame him too much. His election victory does not depend on issues like due process for men or even gender apartheid. His base is the several hundred million poor & very low middle class that care far more about bread & butter issues. So he doesn’t want to spend his political capital fighting Indian & Western media about due process for boys & men.

During the case of the 2-year old boy charged with sexual molestation of a 35-year old woman (on April 29, 2017), we reached out to several women at CNN, NBC, NYT & Washinton Post, women who are activists against sexual molestation:

None of them even cared to respond, let alone cover the case. Interestingly, these women have not protested the lack of due process in the Kavanaugh coverage of their networks & newspapers. You have to give them credit though. At least they are consistent in advocating their views globally. And they have built a global united movement.

In contrast, their media opponents like Fox are entirely local in their outlook. Fox anchors like Maria Bartiromo, Shannon Bream, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Martha MacCallum (in alphabetical last name order) have been dedicated & diligent in their coverage of the due process issues in the Kavanaugh case. But they have shown no interest in fighting the same battle in countries like India. We feel their case within America will be stronger if they can show what happens to other democratic societies when due process is sidelined.

Due process was saved in America this time because President Trump was willing to go to the mat for it. Next time under a different President, we may not be so lucky. Then we will turn into another India like society in which the elites rule & people suffer in silence.

Send your feedback to [email protected] or @MacroViewpoints on Twitter

 

MV