On Tuesday night, the press added yet another indignity to the family of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. CBS News reporter Kathryn Watson revealed that reporters had besieged the family home of Kavanaugh. The judge’s wife, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh, had a very classy response to this situation.
“Per our CBS News cameraman at Kavanaugh’s house, his wife handed out cupcakes from Sprinkles to any of the photogs and producers who wanted them,” Watson tweeted.
https://twitter.com/kathrynw5/status/1042165279931949056
Sprinkles is an iconic cupcakes shop first founded in Beverly Hills, Calf. It is considered one of the first cupcake bakeries.
PJ Media’s Sean Medlock, who goes by the pseudonym Jim Treacher, had the perfect response to this news.
“Why are you at his house?” Treacher tweeted.
Why are you at his house?
— It's still 2016 apparently (@jtLOL) September 18, 2018
An unsuspecting Decision Desk reporter, Drew Savicki, took the bait. “That’s what reporters do,” Savicki responded.
“What do they think is going to happen at his house?” Treacher pointedly responded.
What do they think is going to happen at his house?
— It's still 2016 apparently (@jtLOL) September 18, 2018
Savicki, thinking himself all sophisticated and in the know, thought Treacher just didn’t get the concept. “It’s called a media stakeout. You wait outside their house to track your subject’s movements,” he responded.
Treacher — rightly — did not dignify this response. He merely retweeted his own tweet asking “What do they think is going to happen at his house?”
That is the key question. Why would the media stake out Kavanaugh’s house?
Currently, the big story about Kavanaugh involves Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her while at a party when they were in high school. Kavanaugh has categorically denied the allegation, and about 200 women have testified to his high moral character. Two women who used to date him also called him “a perfect gentleman.”
Ford did not voice her allegations until 2012, and while other alumnae of her high school have testified that parties like the one Ford recalled did indeed take place, that does not lend weight to her claim that it was Kavanaugh who assaulted her.
200 Women Testify to Kavanaugh’s History of ‘Treating Women With Respect,’ Going Back to High School
Whether or not Kavanaugh did indeed assault Ford all those years ago, the judge has treated women with respect since. He actually made history by hiring the most female clerks in one year at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C., circuit. He is dedicated to his daughters and his daughter’s basketball team, which he coaches.
Even if the allegations are true, a media stakeout in front of Kavanaugh’s house would not help reporters get to the bottom of the story. It seems pointless for reporters to besiege the house — unless they are making a statement about Kavanaugh’s character.
Indeed, a media stakeout seems unlikely to generate real news. It is likely, however, to traumatize Kavanaugh’s children: 10-year-old Elizabeth and 13-year-old Margaret. That’s why Ashley Kavanaugh’s bravery is such an important part of this story.
A constant media stakeout in front of the house may put the girls on edge, as it seems their every step is being watched by a hostile press ready to jump on any horrible story about their father it can find.
In this context, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh went out with cupcakes. This showed the girls — and the world — that the Kavanaughs are not afraid of the besieging hostile press. Instead, the mother of the house extended hospitality to them, bringing them cupcakes — and iconic cupcakes at that.
CBS News reporters think they’re the heroes of the story, ready to pounce on the latest news and willing to sustain a lengthy media stakeout to get the truth. In reality, they’re the villains, adding yet more disruption to a family that had to watch more than 200 protesters so angry at their father that they were willing to get arrested, one after another. The press is not afraid to traumatize two young girls whose father has been accused of everything from racism to misogyny to Trump-Russia collusion.
Ashley Kavanaugh’s response — treating the press with a dignity they arguably do not deserve in this context — was spot on. She extended grace and hospitality and showed the girls that their family will not be bullied by this hostile mob. She also lived out a key lesson from Romans 12:17-21: “Do not repay evil for evil. … If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Follow the author of this article on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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