The grandstanding theatricality of the Kavanaugh hearings

The first day of the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court went exactly as one would expect ...

Brett Kavanaugh.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Drew Angerer/Getty Images, fergregory/iStock)

The first day of the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court went exactly as one would expect. It was a circus.

But from liberal protesters caterwauling to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) urging Kavanaugh to suspend his own hearing, from Republicans complaining of "mob rule" to Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) schoolmarming everyone, one has to wonder: Was the chaos merely political theater?

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.