The art of the smear campaign that started with Robert Bork.

"The fact here is that the critics have no credibility precisely because they have kept going the Borking route repeatedly over the years. Robert Bork first, later Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, then Bush 41 Vice President Dan Quayle, and so on — and on and on." . . .

The Borking of Pete Hegseth  "It all began with Robert Bork.

"Nominated for the United States Supreme Court by President Reagan in 1987, Bork was superbly qualified for the job. In his career, he had been a professor at Yale Law School, solicitor general of the United States, acting attorney general, and then served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He was enormously respected by his legal peers.

"And then.

"Bork would later write this of what happened after his nomination was announced:

During all of this time there was the incessant barrage of negative advertising, media coverage, a daily flood of mail, and constant telephone calls. The media varied, of course, but the reporting in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the three network news programs was almost unrelievedly hostile, as, of course, were the advertisements. The campaign was having its effect.

"Indeed the “Get Bork” campaign did in fact have a major effect. What was not foreseen on the day was that the campaign against Bork would, in fact, set the pattern for campaigns against not only future Republican nominees for the Court but for Cabinet positions as well.

"Court nominees Clarence Thomas and, later, Brett Kavanaugh were targeted for what had become known as “Borking” — virulent media campaigns designed to smear and defeat the nominee of the moment.

"This time the target in this latest “Borking” campaign is President-elect Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth.

"Any rational person would be impressed with Hegseth’s background. He received his bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University, then went on to earn his Master of Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He signed up for the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps while at Princeton, and while working as an equity analyst at Bear Stearns was a commissioned officer in the Minnesota National Guard." . . .

With Kamala Harris a laughing participant in the Borking of Judge Kavanaugh. TD