Reece Gardner: The election is over

Before I get into the discussion of some of the results of our recent election, I just want to express my gratitude to so many wonderful people outside our immediate family who have shown great love and compassion to My Emma and me during her ongoing illness. 

We have also been blessed to have our precious children and grandchildren and other family members staying in close touch with us during this trying time. THANK YOU! Sometimes it is tough times in our lives that show us just how truly loved and blessed we all are.

Now, to the election. It is hard to believe that this mid-term election is finally over. It has undoubtedly been one of the most divisive elections ever, and probably one of the most important ever.

We can now at least hope for some "cooling down" of tension and confrontation that has been so prevalent for many months. One good result of this poisonous atmosphere was that it perhaps brought into the political arena millions of people who had not in the past been active participants in this area of life. 

There were obviously many occurrences during the election that caused that greater awareness, but for now I will just concentrate on one of them, which was the battle over confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

As an editorial in the magazine Beyond Today pointed out, Kavanaugh was one of the most highly qualified candidates ever. For 12 years he served as a U.S. Court of Appeals judge, while also teaching at law schools of Yale, Harvard and Georgetown Universities. The American Bar Association standing committee on the federal judiciary UNANIMOUSLY gave him its highest possible rating.

Over the course of his career he went though six separate FBI background checks, none of which raised concerns. In his private time he coached a girls' basketball team, tutored at a school, and served meals to the homeless. Yet when he was nominated to the Supreme Court, liberal senators and organizations immediately opposed him. 

As part of the U.S. Senate's "advise and consent" role mandated by the U.S. Constitution, Judge Kavanaugh met for hundreds of hours with senators, who were given more than a million pages of documents, hundreds of Kavanaugh's previous legal rulings, and more than 6,000 pages he submitted in response to nearly 1,300 questions. 

Senate hearings degenerated into something of a circus, with demonstrators repeatedly interrupting and dozens being arrested. Then when hearings finally concluded and a vote was to be taken, three women emerged alleging 30-year-old never-reported sexual crimes and misbehavior by Judge Kavanaugh dating back to his teen years. 

An additional FBI investigation found no credibility in any of these claims. After more days of demonstrations and accusations, Judge Kavanaugh was finally confirmed to the Supreme Court. Millions of Americans watched all this ugliness unfold and I am convinced that this was one of the main reasons  for the enthusiastic participation in this election.

Now, a little humor: A man was asked how he and his wife had stayed married for 60 years, and he told about how they had celebrated their honeymoon by going to the Grand Canyon. He said they went on a journey at the Canyon by riding two pack mules. He said his wife's mule stumbled, and she said, "one." They went a little further, and her mule stumbled again.

She said, "Two." A little further down the trail her mule stumbled a third time, at which time she took out her pistol and shot the mule dead. He said he immediately told her that she was wrong to have done such a thing, and how he strongly opposed her action. When he finally stopped shouting at her, she very quietly said, "One."

Have a great day!