We now have a new associate justice on the Supreme Court. We also have tax conformity here in Maine. That is good news. How we got these results is another matter.

Nobody who knows the facts can honestly assess the behavior of our elected representatives in Augusta and Washington as anything but a disgrace and an enduring humiliation to us all. I do not know the words to describe adequately my own fury and we well know that the “other side” is furious, but the undifferentiated fury over the past two years makes it impossible to discern what anger is real and what is feigned.

Tax conformity finally passed the Maine Legislature with no opposition, and that alone demonstrates it was never controversial. That sorry performance, at least, was simple extortion by those who seem to believe the purpose of every legislative session is to redistribute further the incomes of people who earn their money to those who vote for it.

The Kavanaugh matter is more sinister. Unable to make any legitimate case against President Trump’s nominee, Democrats made good on the earlier promises (by Schumer, Blumenthal, Feinstein, and Durban) to oppose any nominee by any means necessary.

Reciting the details will only waste space. All informed and rational observers will agree with Sen. Graham that those 10 Democrat members of the Judiciary Committee victimized both Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Not only did they use Christine Ford as a pawn in their treacherous scheme to delay the proceedings, but they appear to have deliberately orchestrated a public circus believing this fragile woman would publicly collapse under questioning by Republicans.

Republicans frustrated that objective as well as their supporters by not challenging her testimony.

The point is not what anyone believes (or professes to believe) about Christine Ford’s accusation. The point is whether we can reconcile our own integrity with enabling what we saw done during this confirmation process.

All of us know information was withheld from the committee and Dr. Ford’s identity was leaked.

Rush Limbaugh reported that the FBI has found evidence Democrat operatives tampered with witnesses and likely suborned perjury. It’s a sad commentary that such people live among us and it’s shameful that they manage to be elected to represent us. Being elected, however, does not mean that such folks represent our values and ethics.

They surely do not represent mine or those of anyone I do or would associate with. I cannot but believe they do not represent a great many readers as well. If you, too, have finally had enough, it’s time to recognize that only a massive electoral rejection will encourage the Democrat party to reassess its radical policies, strategies, ethics, tactics of intimidation and personal destruction. Absent that, we’ll see another two years of $13-per-hour “grassroots” mobs defiling our streets, our media and the halls of our public buildings.

We all face, now, a profound question of conscience: Will we encourage two more years of replacing legitimate expression with mob violence by sending anyone to Augusta or to Washington who participated in (or failed to denounce) these shameful tactics?

For me, that’s not a difficult question, none of them was going to get my vote anyway. But, surely there are others still struggling to reconcile their own integrity with their horror and revulsion at the lack of integrity displayed in Augusta and in Washington this year by people who were supposed to represent them.

To them I say it isn’t necessary to #walkaway or vote for the opposing party if that’s a bridge too far. If you are facing the crisis of conscience I suspect many are, there is an option of simply not voting for any candidate that betrayed your trust and values, or supported and enabled those who did.

Another View is a weekly column written collaboratively by Dale Landrith of Camden, Ken Frederic of Bristol, Paul Ackerman of Martinsville, Jan Dolcater of Rockport and Ralph “Doc” Wallace of Rockport.