It’s a tale of two moderate Republican women. At the very end of the process of placing Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, his confirmation hinged on three or four votes on the Republican side. Two of those votes, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) made very different decisions.

Lisa Murkowski has decided to vote no on Kavanaugh. Her decision angers me but not just because she has decided to vote no. It’s the reason she cites to vote no that is so unbelievable to me. She cites Kavanaugh’s demeanor during his testimony as he defended himself and his family against the accusations of sexual assault, gang rape, drunken black-outs, and so on. You’ve heard the litany.

Murkowski is placing herself on a perch as better than – by that, I mean she cites herself as having a superior conscience. She has a very high standard. She just can’t possibly vote for Kavanaugh because of demeanor, or something.

She cited the Code of Judicial Conduct, saying that: “A judge should act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence” that maintains the “independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary and should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.”

The kicker is that she claims to have been leaning towards voting yes on Kavanaugh until he launched his passionate defense. Please. Judge Kavanaugh has been on the second highest court in the land for twelve years and is praised by both conservatives and liberals. He is known for his professional judicial demeanor, as a matter of fact.

.@lisamurkowski: I was truly leaning toward supporting Judge Kavanaugh in his nomination…but we know that in our role of advise and consent, it is not just the record itself. There is more that is attached to it. https://t.co/wUNn5lD372 pic.twitter.com/3dJiFUsaoq

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 5, 2018

She isn’t quite bold enough, though, to vote no on the Senate floor. She’ll vote present to enable Senator Daines to attend his daughter’s wedding in Montana without the worry of flying back to D.C. for the vote. See, y’all, she’s just a team player. (sarcasm)

She won’t vote a straight “no,” though.  She said that due to the necessary absence of Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., they will have a “Pair Between Senators.” This collegial procedure will take place during the Saturday vote and will ensure the vote margin is the same, even with Daines walking his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. Murkowski will ask to be recorded as ‘present’ (though on record as a ‘no’ vote) while Daines is on record as supporting the nomination, but necessarily absent.

Murkowski said it’s her hope “that this reminds us we can take very small steps to be gracious with one another.”

It seems to me that a small gracious step would be to cut Judge Kavanaugh a break, given there is absolutely no corroboration of the heinous accusations against him and acknowledge that the man was reacting exactly as he should have in front of the Senate Judicial Committee. If she is concerned about the part of the judicial code that requires a judge to inspire confidence, whether on or off the bench, then I can unequivocally state that his performance before the committee inspired me to believe his innocence. Had Kavanaugh sat there and tried to react in a calm and controlled manner, I’d have pondered his ability to weather the direst of cases.

Let’s call it as it is – Senator Murkowski caved to the hysterical mobs. Rather than let the process work with reason and careful consideration of the facts, she allowed the emotions of protesters overtake common sense. She’ll vote present for Senator Daines but her official vote on the record will be a no. This is a slap to the Constitutional right of due process. Judge Kavanaugh is entitled to the same right of innocent until proven guilty as any other American.

Then there is Senator Susan Collins. Also a moderate Republican woman, she looked at the whole process and came away with a different conclusion. Instead of being emboldened by the angry mobs, Collins was appalled. She went to the floor of the Senate Friday and laid out a perfectly constructed timeline. She went through the accusations and the accusers, too. She took to task Senator Feinstein’s office, though she gave cover to Feinstein herself, and shamed whoever leaked the identity of Dr. Ford. She even smacked the creepy porn lawyer without uttering his name. Everyone knew to whom she referred.

Senator Collins acted as I expect strong Republican women to act. She looked at the facts and used her own common sense to come to a decision. She showed it is possible to have compassion for those used as political pawns – in this case, Dr. Ford – while scolding the Democrats on the committee for using her in their blatant attempt of a power grab. She did her part in bolstering unity among all factions of Republican voters.

The Murkowskis of the world empower bad behavior. Mob rule has to be stopped in its tracks. The left has a record of violence and I fear we are at a point of such rampant Trump Derangement that something tragic will happen. Deranged leftists have already attempted murdering Republicans on a baseball field and physically attacking a senator in his own yard. Remember the 1968 street riots during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago?

Time Magazine is devoting a cover to Dr. Ford’s testimony. Her photograph is not used, but her quotes make up her face. She is the latest folk hero for the angry left. I have no doubt that besides the large gofundme account pay-off, she will be rewarded with a book deal and probably a made-for-tv movie as well.

In case you were wondering about Michael Avenatti’s reaction to Senator Collins’ speech, the creepy porn lawyer wasn’t pleased. Democrats are beginning to point a finger of blame at him for some of this. A tweet from HA’s own Ed even landed in the Washington Post. 

It sounds like she has about 500 reasons for voting for Kavanaugh. Still, Avenatti was extraordinarily unhelpful to Democrats. https://t.co/gRXnB63Sk2

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) October 5, 2018

Lol! Avenatti’s all yours, Democrats. And, yes, he’s still acting as though he’s running for President in 2020. He going around the country helping to fundraise and pressing the flesh of Democrat voters. He’s scheduled to keynote an event with the Harris County Democratic Party in less than two weeks. As is often said on this site, hoo boy.

The Republican Party is united. At least for today. Republican voters are now feeling additional motivation to get out and vote in the mid-term elections. That’s good news. Thank you, Senator Collins. Well done.