There Will Come a Time

...in the dark night, when the accusers - AND their facilitators, AND those who said "No smoke without fire", AND those who said, "It's really too bad, but I don't want to go on record as supporting him", will all have to face the reality of just what they have done.

I hope that they will be able to survive that night. It would be tempting to just give up.

There was an old book about a confirmation process. The targeted character, who was being blackmailed to vote for the President's nominee, had a brief gay affair. It was unearthed by one of those scurrilous hangers-on who float around the periphery of Presidents. The guy committed suicide. The leadership of the Senate reacted by organizing an action to defeat the nominee.

It was called Advise and Consent.

From a Senate old-timer’s wily maneuvers, a vicious demagogue’s blistering smear campaign, the ugly personal jealousies that turn a highly qualified candidate into a public spectacle, to the tragic martyrdom of a presidential aspirant who refuses to sacrifice his principles for his career—never has there been a more revealing picture of Washington’s intricate political, diplomatic, and social worlds. Advise and Consent is a timeless story with clear echoes of today’s headlines.

 Not a lot has changed in the Senate. Except, this time, the body spreading rumors is the Senate.