Twenty-five years ago this week, now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh had one of his finest moments of wisdom. Alas, his wisdom wasn’t heeded, and American politics has suffered ever since.
In retrospect, the sea-change in politics from mere nastiness to flat-out toxicity was catalyzed by the Lewinsky scandal that almost took down Bill Clinton’s presidency. The fulcrum point in the scandal came Sept. 9 of that year , when Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, for whom Kavanaugh worked, delivered his report on the subject to the House Judiciary Committee.
Starr rejected Kavanaugh’s advice. He kept all the details within a single narrative. Kavanaugh then publicly urged the House to “treat as confidential” some of the “information of a personal nature.” Gingrich and the House paid no heed, but instead immediately released the entire report to the public.
The result, from both sides, created a poisonous public square. Politically, many voters otherwise favorably disposed towards Republicans instead saw Republicans as the bad guys befouling the body politic. Widely predicted to gain seats in the House, the GOP instead lost five seats. Gingrich, a transformational figure, was ousted from the speakership.
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