Kavana(ugh)

[hodad]

This too will pass, unless the FBI comes up with a smoking gun (extremely unlikely).

Indeed.  It's a lot harder to find something when you don't really look very hard.  Rs have been determined from the start to hide as much info on Kavanaugh as possible (90% of his record with the govt. for starters.)  Not talking to Kavanaugh, or Ford, or any of the possible witnesses named by Ramirez--that makes it a real challenge to do an actual investigation. 

And, as noted, that falls on the Rs, not on the FBI. 

That you can pass this off as "just politics" is sad--not surprising, just sad.  I've never seen such a concerted effort to shield a nominee from scrutiny.  The GOP obsession with the Supreme Court--and their stunning amorality--are on full display here. 

In other times, one of 2 things would have happened with Kavanaugh:  He would either never have been nominated, or the Rs would have withdrawn him and found a candidate with a far less troubling record. 

 

[Matador]

Indeed.  One can shout 'political witch hunt' from the rooftops, but it doesn't change the fact that nobody held a gun to Kavanagh's head and forced him to lie about his past: that was his choice.  Setting aside Ford's accusations, he mischaracterized the testimony of other witnesses, repeatedly told falsehoods that were easily disprovable, and refused to directly answer questions on many occasions.  The only person to bring up Kavanagh's teenage years was Kavanagh himself, so it seem disingenuous to downplay facts that Kavanagh himself characterized under oath.

How this doesn't immediately disqualify A FEDERAL JUDGE is mystifying me...the same judge, that when as a lawyer, thought that similar mischaracterizations were enough to warrant the impeachment of a sitting president.

 

[fazer]

Ya next time let’s investigate toilet training as a toddler.  Despicable politics .

 

[living sounds]

Ya next time let’s investigate toilet training as a toddler. 

This shouldn't be the issue here. It's the pattern (or rather, at this point, the tapestry) of dishonesty and hypocracy. Add to that the obvious lack of decorum, and he should be out regardless of any accusations of sexual misconduct.

Contrast this with the treatment of Al Franken (not only by the Right, but even by Democrats) and his handling of the situation. What he actually did was benign, and he handled it with honesty and integrity. He vacated his Senate seat anyway. No temper tantrums. No self-rightous monologues.

History will not look kindly on today's GOP.

 

[hodad]

History will not look kindly on today's GOP.

They are a *minority* party pulling all the levers of power through procedural manipulation, gerrymandering, voter disenfranchisement, and outright chicanery.  They've made a mockery of the flag they drape themselves in and all that it stands for. This has been building over decades, but Trump has pulled back the curtain and shown just how disgusting and corrupt the party has become, and just how far they're willing to go to get what they want.

 

[fazer]

History will not look kindly on demo McCarthyism.  No due process.  Guilty till proven innocent, unsubstantiated claims. Complete trashing of 35 years of service.  All his female coworkers speak highly of working with him.  Somewhere is a line.  You take sides. 
You have yours and I have mine.  We can post news articles all day long that agrees with our own points of view. 
  Like JR said.  The parties are taking in record amounts of donations.  Keep America blaming each other and take the money. 

 

[DaveP]

I read somewhere that Ford had a boyfriend for six years but never mentioned the assault in all that time.

I think  this was probably fake news though as he did not want to be named.

I believe they have the FBI report now and vote on it tomorrow?  It will not be officially revealed either I understand.

DaveP

 

[living sounds]

Here's a list of his lies:

https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/10/03/brett-kavanaugh-lied-repeatedly-news-reports-and-personal-accounts-prove-it/221544

 

[hodad]

History will not look kindly on demo McCarthyism.  No due process.  Guilty till proven innocent, unsubstantiated claims. Complete trashing of 35 years of service.  All his female coworkers speak highly of working with him.  Somewhere is a line.  You take sides. 
You have yours and I have mine.  We can post news articles all day long that agrees with our own points of view. 
  Like JR said.  The parties are taking in record amounts of donations.  Keep America blaming each other and take the money.

Everything up to the 4th period (there's only one sentence in there) is unsubstantiated in any way by reality.  That he has female coworkers who like him is only slightly relevant--I mean, BTK was very active in his church and a well respected family man.  That did nothing for the women he killed.

Facts are meaningless in the modern Republican Party though.  Trump has made sure of that.  That's your world.  A joyously hateful fantasyland.  Have fun. 

 

[fazer]

Looks like your having fun.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I read somewhere that Ford had a boyfriend for six years but never mentioned the assault in all that time.

That letter was reportedly sent to the judiciary committee and Sen Grassley has commented about it. It has been published (at least I saw a copy of it yesterday). In today's political environment who knows...?

It is never good manners to attack a sexual abuse victim, and I have little expectation that anything short of Dr Ford recanting her accusations will change much. Even that won't change many hard no team votes made for ideological reasons.

I think  this was probably fake news though as he did not want to be named.

His name will probably remain secret about as long as that secret FBI report remains secret.  :

I believe they have the FBI report now and vote on it tomorrow?  It will not be officially revealed either I understand.

DaveP

It is supposed to be secret, kept in a safe for the senators to read only. I don't trust the senators (from both sides) to not leak snippets they like. They will surely spin away. It may eventually get released to the public just to end the heresay about it, but I am getting a little ahead of events.

My ability to predict the future is not that reliable. The two sides are hunkered down in their respective trenches and don't appear open to rapprochement.

JR

 

[Banzai]

2400 Law professors (so far) have signed a letter stating he is unfit for the Supreme Court.

Including around 40 professors from his own school, Yale.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/03/opinion/kavanaugh-law-professors-letter.html

 

[Matador]

History will not look kindly on demo McCarthyism.  No due process.  Guilty till proven innocent, unsubstantiated claims. Complete trashing of 35 years of service.  All his female coworkers speak highly of working with him.  Somewhere is a line.  You take sides. 
You have yours and I have mine.  We can post news articles all day long that agrees with our own points of view. 
  Like JR said.  The parties are taking in record amounts of donations.  Keep America blaming each other and take the money.

There is no due process in a job interview.  There is no guilty until proven innocent in a job interview.  Nobody is calling for him to lose his job or be sent to jail.  Every man who only raped one woman also didn't rape 4 billion others, so what does his coworkers have to do with Dr. Ford and what he says about his behavior in high school?  This is a lot of sound and fury that seems to signify nothing.

To go along with the post above about many law professors signing on that he shouldn't be confirmed:  here's why.  Kavanagh stated on over 10 occasions during testimony that 'prior statements by witness refute Dr. Ford's claims'.

'Refute' carries a specific legal meaning, which means 'to prove wrong by argument or evidence : show to be false or erroneous'.  Except none of those statements did anything of the sort:  of the 4 statements he cites, all 4 merely claim that they don't remember the night in question.  One of those statements goes further, and says that even thought she didn't remember the night in question, she believes Ford is telling the truth.

Not remembering something is not the same as it not being true:  I don't personally remember the Civil War, but that doesn't mean that it didn't take place.  That Kavanagh twisted something that every law student gets drilled in to them after school and years of practice is quite alarming.   

That a prospective judge interviewing for the highest court of the land got this wrong when it suited him should be setting off alarm bells for anyone paying attention, even if you think the potential past behavior is completely excusable.

It would be like JR arguing that Ohm's Law doesn't apply to op-amp circuits, as they can drive any amount of current into any load.  Or that it's completely safe to handle line voltages with bare hands when standing in a bucket of salt water.  It would tend to render the rest of his advice that followed as suspect, would it not? 

 

[JohnRoberts]

It would be like JR arguing that Ohm's Law doesn't apply to op-amp circuits, as they can drive any amount of current into any load.  Or that it's completely safe to handle line voltages with bare hands when standing in a bucket of salt water.  It would tend to render the rest of his advice that followed as suspect, would it not? 

No and I shouldn't have to explain why... (the laws of physics are inviolate).

Kavanaugh was participating in a show trial appealing to the lowest common denominator, court of public opinion, not legal scholars. As I recall it was only show-off senators dropping latin legal jargon, seeking to impress the public.

This event is worth remembering and even studying so we can figure out how to never ever get sucked into something like this again. This was damaging to all involved, including the US public losing faith in their government institutions that lost credibility from this abuse of process. 

JR

PS: Today's vocabulary word is Kafkaesque... "that hearing was Kafkaesque"...  :

 

[dmp]

This event is worth remembering and even studying so we can figure out how to never ever get sucked into something like this again.

How about we elect competent Presidents with character and integrity that nominate well-qualified, unbiased judges without skeletons in the closet?  ;D

 

[JohnRoberts]

How about we elect competent Presidents with character and integrity that nominate well-qualified, unbiased judges without skeletons in the closet?  ;D

How about we did...    8)

JR

 

[Matador]

Kavanaugh was participating in a show trial appealing to the lowest common denominator, court of public opinion, not legal scholars. As I recall it was only show-off senators dropping latin legal jargon, seeking to impress the public.

John, he was giving SWORN TESTIMONY in front of the Senate Judicial Committee, not giving a speech at the annual meeting of the Figurative Prose Association.

Look, here's him taking an oath and everything:

 

[Scodiddly]

How about we did...    8)

JR

Yeah, but that was like 10 years ago.

 

[desol]

How about we did...    8)

JR

How about you do again?

 

[living sounds]

As usual, the whole affair is indicative of a bigger problem:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/05/americas-new-aristocracy-live-accountability-free-zone-david-sirota

While I don't agree with the entirety of this article, it makes many good points regarding the problem of lack of accountability for elites in today's United States.