Friday, October 5, 2018

Is Kavanaugh Helping GOP?

21 comments:

Sean said...

I think the Kavanaugh situation has accelerated the typical coming-back-home process that usually occurs in elections. I think it remains to be seen, after he's confirmed tomorrow, if GOP enthusiasm will remain as high through November. I don't see any real possibility of it waning on the Democratic side between now and then.

John said...

Agreed...

However I think that every time the DEMs publicly attack Kavanaugh and the GOP, it will rachet up those GOP passions. I am curious how the DEMs will try to balance that?

Anonymous said...

Yes...how to balance good government against sexual assault and perjury.

Moose

John said...

You forgot one word...

Alleged sexual assault and perjury

And we have ~51 Senators who are apparently finding him "Not Guilty"...

John said...

And almost 49 Senators who were going to say no either way...

Anonymous said...

LOL. It's not alleged perjury. The lies are there for everyone who wishes to see.

Moose

Laurie said...

Kavenaugh is too partisan to be on the supreme court. Women will help dems win in Nov.

Laurie said...

The Senate Should Not Confirm Kavanaugh
Signed, 2,400+ Law Professors

John said...

Moose,
It is kind of funny that:

Tribe Liberal folks see the perjury

& Tribe Conservative folks do not...

Maybe they are both finding exactly what they are looking for.

Laurie said...

do you even read the news? there has been tons of coverage of all of Kavenaugh's lies. Whether he lied is very easy to determine. It is a fact that he lied a lot.

John said...

Laurie,
I think I agree with this opinion piece.

I am just thinking about what kind of lawyers become professors rather than actually doing something useful with that degree. :-)

John said...

These folks seem to disagree

John said...

By the way, as I said before ... I have not watched enough of this to have a judgment...

I did hear some of Susan Collin's speech though and found what I heard very pragmatic, thoughtful and balanced.

Which makes sense since she is pretty much a Republican In Name Only. Too bad we don't have more RINO's and DINO's. :-)

Anonymous said...

Susan Collins is the only person in America who thinks Brett Kavanaugh is pro choice.

--Hiram

John said...

Kavanaugh does not have to be Pro Choice to honor precedent, but only time will tell.

Personally I love this We Got Kavaugh Cartoon

Sean said...

The Collins speech is ridiculous. Pro-Kavanaugh dark money dwarfs Anti-Kavanaugh dark money. And Collins has repeatedly voted against regulating dark money, anyway,so why is she complaining about it?

The notion that Dr. Ford's story is not corroborated, too, is not true. Yes, it's true that there aren't eyewitnesses of the alleged event. But lots of things about her story have been corroborated. Even though she was -- by both of their accounts -- vague acquaintances during high school, she correctly identified the people that Kavanuagh partied with. Kavanaugh's own calendar showed he attended parties like the one described by Dr. Ford. Dr. Ford correctly identified that Mark Judge worked at a supermarket in the area during that summer. Four people, plus her therapist, indicated that Dr. Ford had told them about the incident before Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court. Dr. Ford took a polygraph test and passed it.

Combine that with Kavanuagh's dissembling on lots of issues -- not just related to the sexual assault allegations -- like his involvement in the Pryor confirmation, his assertion that his neighborhood in Bethesda, Maryland was filled with drugs and gang violence, like his questionable assertion that he didn't know he was receiving stolen Senate Democratic documents while working in the Bush White House, his possible involvement in Bush-era torture policy, on and on and on....

John said...

Providing the names of people who you told a story to in the recent past is not corroboration of a crime. It is just proof that you have carried a belief for some time.

As Sen Collins said.
"I listened carefully to Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony before the Judiciary Committee. I found her testimony to be sincere, painful, and compelling. I believe that she is a survivor of a sexual assault and that this trauma has upended her life.

Nevertheless, the four witnesses she named could not corroborate any of the events of that evening gathering where she says the assault occurred. None of the individuals Prof. Ford says were at the party has any recollection at all of that night. Judge Kavanaugh forcefully denied the allegations under penalty of perjury. Mark Judge denied under penalty of felony that he had witnessed an assault. P.J. Smith, another person allegedly at the party, denied that he was there under penalty of felony. Professor Ford’s lifelong friend, Leland Kaiser, indicated that under penalty of felony she does not remember that party. And Ms. Kaiser went further. She indicated that not only does she not remember a night like that, but also that she does not even know Brett Kavanaugh.


In addition to the lack of corroborating evidence we also learn facts that have raised more questions. For instance, since these allegations have become public, Prof. Ford testified that not a single person has contacted her to say I was at the party that night.

Furthermore the professor testified that although she does not remember how she got home that evening, she knew that because of the distance she would have needed a ride. Yet, not a single person has come forward to say that they were the ones who drove her home or were in the car with her that night.

And Prof. Ford also indicated that even though she left that small gathering of six or so people abruptly, and without saying goodbye, and distraught, none of them called her the next day or ever to ask why she left. “Is she okay?” Not even her closest friend, Ms. Kaiser.

Mr. President, the Constitution does not provide guidance on how we are supposed to evaluate these competing claims. It leaves that decision up to each senator. This is not a criminal trial, and I do not believe that claims such as these need to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, nevertheless fairness of this terrible problem."

John said...

Maybe the DEMs screwed up by putting so many eggs in the "drunken sexual predator" basket.

If they would have stuck to his beliefs and recent behaviors, maybe they would have had a chance. But by trying to paint a respected federal judge in a terrible light over vague 30+ actions, my guess is they lost a lot of credibility. Even with Susan Collins and Jeff Flake.

John said...

I am more curious to see if any other DEMs vote for the nomination or if the tribal controls will hold...

Sean said...

"Providing the names of people who you told a story to in the recent past is not corroboration of a crime. It is just proof that you have carried a belief for some time."

True, but it also pretty definitively counters the narrative that Dr. Ford made this up now to try and spike the Kavanaugh nomination. She has precisely nothing to gain by coming forward to do this, yet that's what she did.

"I found her testimony to be sincere, painful, and compelling. I believe that she is a survivor of a sexual assault and that this trauma has upended her life."

You can't say you believe her, and then completely discount what she has to say. Either you believe her or you don't. You can't have it both ways.

"Judge Kavanaugh forcefully denied the allegations under penalty of perjury. Mark Judge denied under penalty of felony that he had witnessed an assault. P.J. Smith, another person allegedly at the party, denied that he was there under penalty of felony. Professor Ford’s lifelong friend, Leland Kaiser, indicated that under penalty of felony she does not remember that party. And Ms. Kaiser went further. She indicated that not only does she not remember a night like that, but also that she does not even know Brett Kavanaugh."

Ms. Kaiser also says she believes Dr. Ford. But this paragraph really shows the problem with how the Republicans handled this situation. They're applying a pseudo-judicial standard to Dr. Ford's story, then handling it in a completely ad-hoc, non-judicial manner. In no trial would you only call two witnesses. In no trial would mere statements of parties be accepted without being examined or cross-examined. In no trial would artificial conditions be placed on the length of an investigation or who could be interviewed as a part of it.

The goalposts have been moved dramatically by Republicans. When the existence of Dr. Ford's letter was first discovered, we were told to discount it because she wasn't willing to come forward publicly. When Dr. Ford agreed to come forward publicly, we were told to ignore it because there was only one allegation. When Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick came forward, we were told to ignore it because it came too late in the process, so it must be a partisan hit job. And then when Republicans finally agree to an "investigation", they didn't even investigate anything.

And of course, Appelen World, who just a few days ago was questioning Kavanaugh's truthfulness has slinked back home to his comfortable place on the right-wing fringe.

John said...

So let”s consider the options...

1. Keep the “they said” / “they said” zoo going. Continue the media feeding frenzy.

2. Reject Kavanaugh nomination. There by rewarding this last minute circus.

3. Approve Kavanaugh nomination.

Personally I think all the choices are poor.


I would have preferred they look for another candidate with no possible Skeletons in the closet. Unfortunately both sides made this so political that I don’t think either side can back down.

When the DEMs started the process saying that they would do anything to block Trump’s second nomination... We knew it would be rough sailing. :-(