The confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson began on Capitol Hill on Monday. The prior reactions in the mainstream media were what you’d expect. Namely, endless, slobbering profiles and claims that any questioning of the judge’s record would be racist and out of bounds.

When the time came, Sen. Dick Durbin opened the hearing by pleading with Republicans for “civility.”

“These baseless charges are unfair,” Durbin says of GOP charges that Judge Jackson is “soft on crime.” He adds Hawley accusations on her approach to sex offenders “fly in the face” of GOP vows to keep the proceedings civil. pic.twitter.com/qOrpUlcboC

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 21, 2022

Of course, Republicans owe Durbin and his party nothing of the sort. After all, it’s been less than four years since one of the most disturbing, disgusting congressional and media spectacles in US history: The Brett Kavanaugh hearings.

We all remember the eleventh-hour letter brought forth by Sen. Dianne Feinstein that blew up Kavanaugh’s nomination process. We remember the fact that Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh’s chief accuser, couldn’t provide any corroborating details, including not being able to even say where the supposed rape occurred all those decades ago. We remember the Julie Swetnick travesty where mainstream news outlets ran with wild tails of gang rape brought by a client of now-felon Michael Avenatti. We remember the tortured performance of Sheldon Whitehouse talking about “boofing” and quizzing Kavanaugh on his high-school yearbook. We even remember when Democrat protesters broke into and occupied the Senate office building, something that would have been labeled an insurrection had it been accomplished by Republicans.

Then there was Amy Coney Barrett, who had to suffer attacks on her adopted children and claims she was part of a religious cult. Never mind the false allegations about her record.

After claiming that Kavanaugh was the ringleader of a roving gang of serial rapists, and accusing Barrett of belonging to a secret Handmaid's Tale cult, the Democrats are now concerned that Republicans are treating their SCOTUS nominee unfairly

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 21, 2022

For Durbin and his cohorts to demand civility from the GOP after their past behavior is not only laughable, but it’s insulting. Their protestations then become even more ludicrous when you consider Republicans have actually stuck to Jackson’s legal record instead of making up sexual assault accusations against her. In reality, the GOP has been “civil,” but civility to a Democrat is doing whatever they want.

Luckily, Republicans weren’t down to play that game, and during Jackson’s hearing, the Democrats learned what consequences are.

Sen. Lindsey Graham: “Shouldn’t be hard” for Ketanji Brown Jackson to answer if she supports court-packing.

“Either you do or you don’t.” pic.twitter.com/n4uhOh0puc

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 21, 2022

Senator @VoteMarsha highlights Ketanji Brown Jackson’s leniency on “hardened criminals,” terrorists, and pedophiles.

“The American people deserve a Supreme Court justice with a documented commitment to the text of the Constitution and the rule of law.” pic.twitter.com/WqPdlvG6JW

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 21, 2022

Again, Republicans didn’t invent wild tails of drunken high-school rape parties to hit Jackson with, but they did come with tough questions. I can respect that because what good would it do to lower themselves to the level of the Democrats? Believe me, almost every fiber of my being wanted to see the GOP go scorched earth, but in the end, that would only be giving up the high ground. There is a reason the American public prefers Republicans when it comes to choosing Supreme Court nominees. That is a highly valuable political advantage worth holding onto, and it would not be smart to burn it down in a misguided attempt to “Kavanaugh” Jackson.

Still, the questions that are being asked, specifically regarding Jackson’s penchant for giving sexual predators of children lenient sentences, are effective. Democrats hoped they could just shout “racist” enough times to make the GOP fully disengage, and to their credit, they didn’t. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz did especially good work during their questioning.

Republicans didn’t ask for this level of contention. It wasn’t them who blew the process up. That award goes to Joe Biden, who distorted and lied in his attempts to take down Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, succeeding in regards to the former. That culminated in the Kavanaugh hearings. There will never be another Supreme Court nominee who gets a pat on the head and a rubber stamp. Those are the consequences of the Democrats’ actions over the last several decades. As to their current complaints about the process, pounding sand comes to mind.