The Constitution provides that Supreme Court justices shall be appointed by the president with the “advice and consent” of the Senate.

For much of our history, the Senate’s role centered on straightforward analysis of whether the nominee was professionally competent for the position. That changed markedly in the 1980s with President Ronald Reagan’s unsuccessful nomination of Robert Bork. The integrity of the process has gone downhill ever since.

Nothing, however, has approached the display orchestrated by Senate Democrats last week as confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh began on Tuesday. And they were orchestrated during a weekend conference call led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Politico reports there was a split between hard-left Democrats who insisted on blocking the nomination by any means necessary and more-senior Democrats who believe the party should fight within the bounds of Senate rules. Politico says this produced a compromise in which Democrats agreed to simply disrupt the proceeding.

The result was obnoxious, especially if you are among the millions of Americans who are fed up with the extinction of civility in Washington.

Republican Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley had barely begun to speak when Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris launched the first of a series of choreographed interruptions demanding adjournment of the hearing. Others chimed in, denying Grassley the opportunity to make the traditional opening statement.

It was an extraordinary spectacle even by today’s low standards. As Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said afterward, “If this were a court of law, every member on that side of the dais would be held in contempt of court.” He added, “This whole process is supposed to be a civil one,” but the hearing ended up being conducted “according to mob rule.”

The unseemliness was just getting started, however. After tiring of their tantrum, Democratic panelists moved on to the task of smearing the nominee himself.

One problem the Democrats face is that Kavanaugh has served as a judge on the D.C. Court of Appeals, right under the noses of Congress, for 12 years. He was confirmed to that post by a vote of many of the same senators now raising objections.

Democratic senators Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Dick Durbin of Illinois got around that problem by accusing Kavanaugh of misleading the Senate during his original confirmation hearing. They claimed he was not truthful when he said he was not involved while serving in the George W. Bush administration in crafting a legal opinion determining “enhanced interrogation” techniques employed by the U.S. in the War on Terror do not constitute torture.

That accusation was long ago refuted by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility. For Democrats to reassert it now is pure slander. As Kavanaugh testified, “I was not read into that program, not involved in crafting that program nor crafting the legal justifications for that program.”

In truth, the only objection the Democrats have to Kavanaugh is that he is a conservative Republican who served as a lawyer in the Bush White House. Unfortunately for Democrats, that is not disqualifying.

The Dem’s nationally televised tantrum is an exercise in futility. Republicans control the Senate and Kavanaugh will be confirmed, as he should be. Meanwhile if Washington politicians ever wonder why the public holds them in ever-worsening regard, they need look no further than this shameful episode to find their explanation.