The abusive behavior against Republican Sen. Susan Collins and her staff on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court is way out of line (“Sen. Collins blasts vulgar messages, threats, insults over Kavanaugh nomination,” Sept. 12). Mainers, regardless of political affiliation, should stand squarely against it. As state director of Concerned Women for America of Maine, I have had disagreements about policy with Sen. Collins. But this has nothing to do with policy or politics. It is about decency.

ABC News reports of “profanity-laced voicemails” and threats, which are reprehensible and should have no place in civilized debate. According to The New York Times, “One caller told a 25-year-old female staff member at one of Ms. Collins’s Maine offices that he hoped she would be raped and impregnated.” Have we lost all sense of self-respect and civility? Neither Sen. Collins nor her staff should put up with such dishonorable, undignified behavior.

The worst part about it is that the unhinged vitriol has no basis in reality. Just this week The Washington Post, Politifact, and Above the Law were among several publications that had to come out to debunk the left’s efforts to galvanize support against this nomination through a brazen manipulation of the truth. Why does the left feel the need to be so over the top? Why can’t they stick to the facts and make their case against Judge Kavanaugh in a rational manner? Frankly, I think that would be more effective.

But I must confess that I fear many are acting based on those overhyped, incendiary statements they are getting from their leaders. They are being manipulated by the likes of Democratic Sen. Corey “I am Spartacus” Booker of New Jersey, who said, even before examining Judge Kavanaugh’s record, that those who did not oppose his nomination were “complicit in the evil.” What is he talking about? Sen. Booker is, frankly, preying on those who feel vulnerable as a result of President Donald Trump’s election win and other issues. His statement has nothing to do with Judge Kavanaugh’s record.

Judge Kavanaugh is a stellar candidate by any measurement. In over a decade on the bench at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Kavanaugh has written over 300 opinions. We know what type of judge he is — impartial, just and thoughtful.

Even while Sen. Booker and company were complaining at the hearings about needing more documents to properly vet Kavanaugh, the American Bar Association, which is no friend to conservatives, felt it certainly had enough to give him their highest rating, “Unanimously well qualified.” Liberal Yale Law Professor Akhil Amar has also spoken out in support of Judge Kavanaugh, saying, “The president promised to select ‘someone with impeccable credentials, great intellect, unbiased judgment, and deep reverence for the laws and Constitution of the United States.’ In picking Judge Kavanaugh, he has done just that.”

But the unprincipled opposition marches on, despite the evidence before them, using every dishonorable tactic imaginable to bring this honorable man down. And they have taken aim at Sen. Collins in a similar manner.

The latest came in the form of that shady crowdfunding campaign, trying to bribe her to vote against Judge Kavanaugh. I commend Sen. Collins for standing strong against it. She told The Wall Street Journal, “I am going to cast my vote — as I have done on all of the other Supreme Court nominees that I’ve been called upon to consider — based on his qualifications, his character and integrity, judicial temperament, his record, and his respect for the rule of law and fidelity to the Constitution.”

Good for her. The women of CWA of Maine want her to vote for Judge Kavanaugh. We will urge her strongly to do so. We are confident she will, given his stellar record. But regardless, we stand with her against the disgraceful attacks she is receiving from the out-of-control left.

Penny Morrell is state director of Concerned Women for America of Maine.

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