The hearing provides the ideal forum to test one of the Republicans' most persistent claims, namely that waterboarding is a good means of getting reluctant suspects to truthfully confess to their actions.
1
I do not have particular like or dislike, love or hate for either party. However looking back I see that during hearings Kavanaugh's wife and his two young children accompanied him. At least for the part of the hearing. If I were in his position I would have shielded my loved ones from having to witness cruelties of world of work, especially political world of work and wars of adult world. I would have kept them home while I was taking all kinds of beatings.
Apparently just a few minutes ago another woman has come forth to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when he shoved his penis in her face at a law school party. Her description is very explicit and quite believable. There were also witnesses present who mentioned Kavanaugh by name. This jerk is supposed to be on the Supreme Court?
5
If Kavanaugh wants to save the last shred of his dignity he would withdraw as a Supreme Court hopeful. Win or lose he is toast. Even Supreme Court Justices can be canned and he will be!
2
Several commenters have asked:
"Why does Kavanaugh need to "prepare" if he's just planning to tell the truth?"
Fair question, but those who pose it should keep in mind that the very same question was being asked about Dr. Blasey just two days ago. It was reported then that HER lawyers were "preparing" her to testify.
Many of us, including those of us who are lawyers themselves, wonder why "preparation" is necessary for either of them.
2
A commenter asks -- rhetorically, I think:
" ... whether [Kavanaugh] was too drunk to remember or not, do we hold him responsible for the behavior?"
Of course. The question is not whether his behavior is excusable because he was drunk. The question is whether or not he engaged in the behavior. If he did, drunkenness is no excuse. If he didn't, he doesn't need any excuse.
2
If Kavanaugh did indeed keep a 1400 pages long calendar of everything he did on each day during high school years, then he is too dumb to be Supreme Court justice, and his nomination should be withdrawn by Trump immediately.
FBI had nowhere and nothing to investigate. Now FBI will need several decades to investigate each and everything recorded in the calendar, places, people, witnesses, accuracy you name it, if such calendar actually exists.
2
Kavenaugh now claims he has a calendar showing what he was doing every day during that summer more than thirty years ago while he was in high school. His lawyers say that they will offer it into evidence at the hearing. Why would he keep a high school calendar for 30 years? Does he have calendars for his whole life since high school? It seems a little out of the ordinary.
2
@jas2200
Well, for most of us I suppose keeping a daily calendar over 30 years is quite out of the ordinary. But for a few extraordinary people it is not.
2
I went to an "elite" Catholic boys prep school and I have seen classmates, stumbling drunk, do things they definitely didn't tell Mom about the next day. I have--later than high school--drunk to the point of blackout and had others relate back to me how I behaved, such as dancing a credible Twist when I swore, sober, I didn't know how to dance one. I evidently broke up a party once threatening mayhem upon a man I believed had seduced and abandoned a friend of mine.
I relate this (mea culpa) to allow that Kavanaugh might not remember attacking Dr. Blasey. But whether he was too drunk to remember or not, do we hold him responsible for the behavior?
As Senator Grassley has orchestrated the showdown, we'll never know exactly what happened--we'll have a tie. With such a momentous decision in the balance, I don't see how a tie can go to the judge. And I believe it's possible for the truth to be known but not by the means proposed by Grassley.
I hate to see the governing of our country disintegrate in such a manner.
6
It appears that Dr. Ford has already hired lawyers. If a person was robbed then he/she won't need a lawyer (let alone several lawyers) to file or air a complaint or share that information with pubic, lawmakers, media whoever. And same will apply to victim of any crime or misconduct. It is not clear why Dr would need lawyers to represent her at this time, accused may.
4
Let's see. She has received death threats and has a story to tell to the nation in a hearing run by Republicans who have made up their minds and who are hiring a lawyer to question her because they are too cowardly to do it themselves. Why do they need a lawyer? Meanwhile, Kavanaugh has several lawyers who have been working with him for several days on his upcoming testimony. Why does he need a lawyer?
6
You know, all the procedural wonks who are contributing citations and rules-of-order type minutiae remind me of engineers for whom there is the right way to build a wall and then there’s the way that doesn’t conform to code. And they’re right. And, significantly, there are laws that (sometimes) prescribe right conduct. But these laws are generally more flexible than building codes and take variables into account. Then there is the hugely fuzzy modern-day social media or newspaper “tried in the media” avenue of non-binding assessments of people stupid enough to stand in the public eye. And among those who stand there, there are clear winners and losers, just like the one right way to build a wall and the innocent or guilty party. Weigh the comments here. Try to be neutral. Who do the compassionate comments support? Who do the level-headed comments support? Who do the rabid or inarticulate or mean-spirited comments support? It ain’t rocket science. Trial by media is incredibly useful this way, separating not one tribe from another but one group of intelligent and embracing people from a group of snarling xenophobic citizens who laugh about “boys will be boys.”
And the “boys will be boys” group are also right; boys will always be boys. But do we want that kind of boy (because that kind of boy will always be a boy) as a Supreme Court justice? You don’t need the Magic 8 Ball for this.
3
Investigate what? Where did it happen? When did it happen? Who was there (since those who she claims were there don't remember anything like that happening)? Where should this "investigation" by the FBI begin?
This is a sordid delaying tactic by the Democrats that has and will continue to harm the reputations of all women who have actually been sexually assaulted, and can remember what happened, where and when.
11
If FBI is tasked with investigating this. it will be a daunting task indeed. Five teenagers were partying in a house 36 years ago. It will be safe to assume that they were partying in somebody's house, not in an abandoned vacant house. It will be also safe to assume that the house was not owned by anyone of 5 party goers. So who owned the house where this alleged assault occurred. Also everyone who was supposed to be present in this party has denied any such party took place except Mark Judge. What role Mark Judge played when this alleged incident occurred. He has not been accused (yet) with any wrong doing.
3
If the Republican's on the Senate Judiciary Committee hire professional counsel to question Christine Blasey Ford, then the Democrats should hire her lawyers to question Brett Kavanaugh.
2
Democrats know very well that the FBI only gathers data on SCOTUS nominees and provides all its findings to the Senate. The Senate decides -- not the FBI -- whether further investigation is warranted. Democrats are misleading Americans into thinking an FBI investigation will somehow indict Kavanaugh.
It's the Senate that investigates questionable FBI findings through hearings. Thus, Dr. Ford's resistance to commit to a hearing, despite having been offered multiple highly accommodating options (ex., private), belies the democrats claim that they want an "investigation."
9
@AACNY. Incorrect. In light of Dr. Ford's report of assault, the FBI can reopen Kavanaugh's background investigation(But Trump has to okay that) including questioning Mr. Judge under penalty of being charged with a felony if he lies. Exactly what the Senate did after Anita Hill's complaint. You are correct that Kavanaugh will not be indicted, but the Senate would have information from others at the party.
2
@AACNY FBI findings are provided to the White House, not the Senate.
3
I like how Ms. Ford's attorney is handling the negotiations with Grassley and company. She always keeps one step ahead and never says no. Just asks for something reasonable like an extra day to prepare her client for the "inquisition", because that's what it is.
Smart cookies these ladies, has Grassley in the public eye and he's beginning to take on the appearance of Mr. Grinch, or worse Ebenezer Scrooge.
We need more women in public office!
728
@cherrylog754 With a combined total in the Senate of 78 years, Messrs. Grassley and Hatch are accustomed to bossing people around. Real representatives of the People - as opposed to party hacks - would want to know the truth about a nominee to the Supreme Court, not least when the man who nominated him is himself accused of being a serial sexual predator under investigation for collusion with an enemy Power! THEY should be trying to delay a vote!
41
@cherrylog754
Why do naive people fall for stuff like this? Her attorneys are out of their league, and not serving their client well.
4
@cherrylog754.....great idea--- a remake of 'A Christmas Carol' with Grassley as Ebenezer Scrooge! Maybe a satire.
Perfect casting. He's the right age, and politicians are well practiced in acting their parts.
American politics is becoming Dickensian, anyway. A Tale of Two Countries?
6
The whole process is idiotic... Republicans should immediately proceed to a vote on judge Kavanaugh... the dimocrats are trying to delay until the next presidential election. And Blasey is obviously a liar.
8
The President is under massive investigations into far-fulng mafia activity, with the likelihood that most if not all Senate and Congressional Republicans are unindicted co-conspirators.
To permit any of them to have any say on any issue--much less the Supreme Court nominee is worthy of the worst banana Republic. It's a total farce.
America is a failed state.
6
Rape becomes the default for these people. It's not as though any self-respecting female would willingly have sexual commerce with a Republican. The very idea is stomach-turning.
5
It's not about a sexual assaulter/mob boss in the White House nor about a drunken rapist about to be appointed to the Supreme Court. These are symptoms of the underlying disease of Republicanism, which will destroy our society and render our planet unliveable unless this evil is yanked out of the earth by its roots.
4
The chances that Kavanaugh will survive the vote is little and none. There are two complaints pending against him, one filed with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, The Board of Professional Responsibility
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
515 Fifth Street, N.W. Building A, Room 117
Washington, D.C. 20001; and the other filed with the Judicial Council of the District of Columbia Circuit
Complaint of Judicial Misconduct or Disability
E. Barret Prettyman U.S. Courthouse
333 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001-2866.
Both of the complaints concern his practicing fraud upon the U.S. Senate in his various answers to questions proffered to him during his confirmation hearings for the position he currently holds, and the false statements he uttered to the present committee.
If he is confirmed, he will be removed from office because he will lose his law license and be automatically removed from the bench.
The senate committee has best not continue wasting its time with this nominee. He is toast.
4
@Alabama
as my mother would have said, "from your mouth to God's ears," but I'm afraid you are waaaay overly optimistic about impartial justice. the lies, concealed documents, manipulated hearings, gaslighting, rush to confirmation all belie your faith in the process. we wish it were not otherwise, and are glad for the complaints, but they'll be dismissed after he's confirmed...
1
The Republican Party engages in a delicately choregraphed charade of feints, assaults, suspicions, and conjectures, carefully attuned, directly impugning and bluntly maligning Professor Ford's character. The inherent fallacy of this staged presentation is that 45, the GOP leadership, including the Senate Majority Leader, and the Speaker of the House conscientiously and deliberately choose not to address the ostensibly apparent issue, the 'elephant' in the room: race. The party of Lincoln is significantly mute on this critical issue. Why? In 1991, President George H W Bush directed the FBI to immediately investigate the sordid sexually deviant characterizations presented by Anita Hill of Clarence Thomas's sexual predilections. Leaving no stone unturned, the investigation resulted with daily testimony of many witnesses. No doubt race played the significant factor. Failing to have the FBI investigate would otherwise expose the Republicans to potential political embarrassment in the event damning evidence did exist. Fast forward to 2018. 45 and the GOP leadership resort to the 'that happened over 35 years ago when he was 17' and 'he said he didn't do it.' The Republicans are complicit in this façade, supporting 45's inept expressions. The living hypocrisy is clear. The FBI investigation of Thomas - Black American male (remember Thomas's 'high tech lynching' statement) was a must. Not so with the nominee - Caucasian male of privilege. Just 'boys will be boys.' No. Race matters.
4
Expecting someone who was sexually attacked by a drunken teenager to remember exactly When and Where & What color were the walls is like asking a person who was run over by a hit-and-run driver, "What time, exactly, did this happen?" A trauma victim remembers the emotional terror of the trauma, and rarely the emotionally-insignificant details. (It's alarming that Senators could be so ignorant as to pursue that line of questioning.) And -- it's a dubious exercise to ask other people who were teenagers at the time for "corroborating" details, when they may well have been intoxicated, often and in various houses and with various people (some unknown) from various schools. More productive to hear more from Kavanaugh's later, post-college cohorts about his porn-related movie habits while in law school. Ask him if he would be okay with his daughters, when they're older, seeing all the movies he watched in law school.
5
From WaPo article of 9/22/18 link below re. Dr. Ford; it's worth reading. Excerpts:
Dr. Ford's husband:
“She was like, ‘I can’t deal with this. If he becomes the nominee, then I’m moving to another country. I cannot live in this country if he’s in the Supreme Court,’ ” her husband said. “She wanted out.”
Close high school friend:
Ford’s inner circle was, “How do you say this? The pretty, popular girls,” explained Andrea Evers, a close friend. “It wasn’t like we were a bunch of vapid preppies, but God, we were preppy then.”
Weekends were spent shopping at the White Flint mall, flashing fake IDs at Georgetown’s Third Edition club — the drinking age was 18 then — or flocking to the house of whoever’s parents were out of town to drink six-packs of Hamm’s or Schaefer.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/christine-blasey-ford-wanted-to-fle...
3
The many comments gleefully invoking Merrick Garland show that a substantial number of people crave vengeance rather than justice.
So much for the democrat shibboleth: "When they go low, we go high."
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
9
@Rev. E. M. Camarena, PhD, Most of us fear what our nation will become under a conservative theocracy. The revenge, etc. are added benefits of defeating this perversion of our government.
3
@Glenn Thomas
These irrational fears are the bread and butter of political parties. They never hesitate to fan the flames of these fears to rake in donations.
I have been hearing this same old "theocracy" stuff for 50 years now and it hasn't happened yet. That should tell us something.
When we liberate ourselves from the fears that these people deliberately instill in us for their own aims, we will have a much better life.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
It seems that divine justice keeps popping up over and over since January 2017. By that, I mean Republicans seem totally unable to disguise their multiple evil intentions, often by making just really stupid statements or decisions. They think they are conmen, but they are more Keystone Cops ( buffoons).
1
Outside of major ego, and suspended in self defense mode why would Brett Kavanaugh continue to opt, come hell or high water, to attain this position? If he were a man of any kind of honesty and honor or actually loved this country, he would withdraw from the odious spectacle he is about to shove onto America and it's "justice" system.
5
Blasey Ford should be prosecuted and sued for liable.
What a disgrace that she would use these charges to destroy a man and his family to make herself a political hero to the left.
And shame on the Democrats for using this woman to gain a political advantage.
I hope that men, and sensible women who could see this being used against one of their male relatives, turn out and vote every democrat out of office. Also it is time to stop the metoo movement. It is being weaponized to attack enemies
6
Here is the rub
brett Kavanaugh is nominated by Donald Trump (who does not possess one altruistic bone in his body ..whats in it for me !.com)
the Republicans then deliberately press forward the selection process ,giving few days notice .They then deliberately withhold nearly 100,000 documents for what ever whim reason comes to mind .
Kavanaugh is portrayed as purer then the Blessed Virgin Mary and cleaner then Gandhi ....
He is interviewed by the Senate committee where Republican senators picked for the process spend more time lauding over Kavanaugh's noble career and dedication to all since he was a proverbial embryo ..Seriously ,if one was on an interview panel for a particularly important post that could affect the welfare of the United States would you be a bit peeved if some on the panel had deliberate intentions rather than intelligent objectivity ??
Then ,when the Democrats attempt to question Kavanaugh on pertinent issues ,he wilfully dodges specifically answering such questions , claiming he can do so as the issue may be perceived as being "Hypothetical "
Then the Dr Lacey issue comes up . 65 Roman Matrons are wheeled out within minutes ,and the Judge has spent 3 days behind White House doors being groomed to cope with the pending meeting .
if a Supreme Court Judge nominee needs 3 days of grooming when he declares his absolute innocence ..is he really fit for the job on intellectual capability reasons or in relation to character ..??
6
By Ms Ford's own account she and another young girl attended a party one night with 3 male acquaintances at some house where none of the occupants of the house were at home. During the party at which they were all drinking two of the more inebriated young men managed to maneuver her into an upstairs bedroom where they sexually assaulted her and put her in fear for her life all while Ms Keyser is downstairs and unaware of the assault. After escaping by the bareest of chances Ms Ford runs out of the house into the night without even saying a word to her friend who she abandons to her attackers and their friend.
Following this with her friend still in the house with the attackers, Ms Ford doesn't tell a soul and doesn't lift a finger to help her friend in danger. She doesn't run next door, she doesn't call the cops or her parents or anybody she just goes home abandoning her friend to her fate.
Next day and every day after that for 30 years neither she nor her lifelong friend Ms Keyser even mention this very strange night. Ms Ford is not the least bit curious what happened to her friend who she abandoned in such a dangerous situation. The 4 other identified witnesses deny any of this ever occurred. Does this story seem at all believable? Not to me.
8
@Steve W
Yet Ms. Keyser believes her, why do you suppose that is?
1
@Steve W People only 15 years old and in fear for their life facing certain derision don't always think straight.
2
Huh?
"She admits that after escaping this attack she ran out without a word or warning to her friend ... What kind of "friend" would do this?"
How about: One who's very frightened, and 15 years old.
This all boils down to which one -- Blasey or Kavanaugh -- is telling the truth. If Blasey is, Kavanaugh should be toast and probably will be; if Kavanaugh is, he should be confirmed and probably will be.
My hunch is that we'll never know for sure, and that Trump will shift to another nominee.
A sad reflection on the USA, it’s politicians, the Media, the general population. If anyone but Trump had nominated Kavanaugh and he had supported Roe vs Wade as the undisputed law of the land this unsubstantiated accusation would never have seen the light of day. We are in a sad place when an accusation has no witnesses, few if any details that can be checked and yet our politicians and a substantial portion of the populace accept the accusation as fact. Ridiculous
2
Funny how Republicans don't remember things that might make them look bad and lie the rest of the time.
2
The Republican Gurus have cleverly hijacked the SC nomination fight to their advantage staging the Fake drama of 35 years old sexual episode. And foolishly the Democratic leaders have been jammed in this useless and unwanted game. Now the nomination fight is limited to only who is telling the truth, and what is the truth? There will not be any truth and conclusion of this game, and the judge Kavanaugh, who was having many other issues related to his legal opinions, and intention of saving Trump's Presidency are now off limits.
2
I'd expected Blasey's preferences to be different:
"... Blasey has made two demands that will be difficult for the committee to accept."
The SJC offered to let her stay in CA and to be questioned by someone other than the Senators. I thought she'd accept both offers. Instead, she insists on coming to Washington and being questioned by the Senators. Though she's asked that still cameras and video cameras be limited to one each, one is still more than zero.
I'd expected her to say: "California, private -- no cameras; no Senators." She surprised me on all counts.
3
@MyThreeCents
Democrats' strategy would not be advanced by having her questioned in private. This is about maximizing outrage, and accommodating Dr. Ford doesn't achieve that.
Republicans can only be accused of immoral treatment and "bullying" if Dr. Ford is being denied something; hence, a new demand every time republicans agree.
2
I want to say that politicians with their own agendas of rushing this nomination forward are the last people who should be questioning Dr. Blasey-Ford).
Without an impartial investigation, where other people are required to testify under oath, what are they going to talk about?
How can the committee not question Mark Judge one of the people in the room? He offers a letter saying "I was not there", or "I don't remember" and the committee says OK.
This whole thing is yet another insult to women everywhere who have suffered rape, attempted rape, sexual abuse, and domestic violence at the hands of men who feel they can get away with it.
But the most unfortunate thing is the current GOP congress is actively enabling this sordid behavior.
29
The only support for Ford's claim comes from: 1) Those who believe all females should be believed regardless of the strength of their case when rape or sexual assault is involved; 2) Those who hate Republicans and Trump; 3) Those who believe because some women have been assaulted that all such accusations are likely true; 4) Those who dislike wealthy white boys who are in frats or are preppy; 5) Those who will do anything to delay the nomination process as long as possible.
Unfortunately, there is nothing other than Ford's somewhat dysfunctional memory of a 36 yr old event that came to her years later. Years after K had become well known and Judge had written a book. She and the dems have got to produce a more credible story.
And re her letter. How many parties have you been to where the loud music was being played in the bedroom. How many people keep their main stereo system in a bedroom rather than the living room or den. How many people have a bedroom with a monster stereo system capable of producing really loud music that would cover up screams.
Yet that is her story. They dragged her in the bedroom and turned up the music loud so her screams couldn't be heard. She's directly saying the music source was in the bedroom -- in her letter. That sounds like a made up detail that just doesn't make sense. Plus, she would have us believe that they were stumbling drunk but could find this monster system in a bedroom in a house where neither lived.
Really?
15
And you missed a point: she’s dying to be in the spotlight, loves having her life disrupted and plans in dancing with the stars as her next gig.
3
@Ralphie Probably the MOST outlandish defense of a rapist I've ever heard.
It also sounds like you've never owned a stereo in your life, which wouldn't be much of a surprise as Republicans are typically not what one would exactly call "music aficionados" unless you consider Kid Rock to be music.
1
I've read 625 perspectives on this thread, always open to new perspectives and questioning my own, preferring facts over tribal positions. Obviously, I can't see your sex, age or skin color, but in too many instances in the comments below, I can feel them. Rape, sexual abuse and sexual harassment happen to 1:4 women you know or love (your mother, sister, friend, girlfriend, crush, boss, co-worker, classmate etc...). Those women will never share these traumatic events with most men, including you, because they just can't; knowing all the social, familial, religious, professional, and social stigmas at play, there is too much at stake for us. We are not here on earth to become your property, we are not your sexual playthings or breeding receptacles, we are your equals as sentient human beings. If you can't or won't hear us, or can't and won't stand up to other men's inappropriate conduct, or recognize your own, then you are the biggest problem of all.
19
@unfun Well, that makes conversation a bit awkward.
The big lie here is that Judge Kavanaugh cares about women, when in fact he was nominated precisely because he doesn't. His role on the Court is to undermine whatever rights women have accrued to free access to birth control and freedom from forced pregnancies. The facts that Kavanaugh's confirmation will place a majority of Roman Catholic jurists on the Supreme Court and that the church's unwavering position for over 1000 tears is against birth control or abortion for any reason should alone be reason enough to remove him from contention. Kavanaugh will hew to Trump's expectations of him and do all he can to restore the patriarchal control of men over women that his church and Trump's conservative Christian base demands.
5
Those who say there's NO evidence are mistaken.
Testimony from an alleged witness (Blasey) is evidence. The testimony is not conclusive, and the decision maker is free to assign it whatever weight, if any, the decision maker feels it's worth. But it IS evidence.
So is another witness' testimony to the contrary (here, Kavanaugh's). Once again, the decision maker is free to assign the testimony whatever weight, if any, the decision maker feels it's worth.
If Blasey declines to testify, or comes across as entirely incredible, Kavanaugh will "win." Conversely, if Kavanaugh comes across as entirely incredible (and Blasey seems credible), he'll "lose."
More likely will be something in between. People who favor Blasey will put much greater weight on her testimony than they will put on Kavanaugh's, and vice-versa. That's pretty much how it always goes in "she said/he said" cases, which is what this one is likely to be. Possibly some other piece of evidence will discredit Blasey or Kavanaugh entirely or greatly, but that doesn't appear likely at the moment. It's likely to end up right where it is now: inconclusive.
If that happens, McConnell will be left with a big decision to make: Should he press ahead with a vote, knowing that, if Kavanaugh gets confirmed (and McConnell won't press for a vote in the first place unless he's pretty sure of that), there will be forever a "taint."
More likely, Trump will withdraw his nomination of Kavanaugh and pick somebody else.
1
@MyThreeCents
"Taint" is precisely the democratic strategy. The problem is that McConnell, et al, know that such "taint" would never prevent democrats from confirming a SCOTUS nominee. Taint is a mythical obstacle.
Recognizing the antipathy toward Trump and Kavanaugh, I wonder how far the liberal/left wishes to go in throwing out standards of evidence and due process, and whose interests such a great shift in democracy will ultimately serve. Since Trump's election, the titular liberal/left has engaged in a reckless and almost systematic abandonment of democratic principles, out of a fear of losing democratic principles. Nietzsche's caution that we beware chasing monsters, lest we become one, has never felt truer than now.
5
Christine Blasey Ford is a psychologist who hasn't been helpful to the public's confidence in her field.
Her first degree in psychology came from UNC in 1988. She has worked in the field for 30 years.
Someone who had an experience such as she relates could be expected to use psychology to get past that experience. Yet it seems she consulted a psychologist only in the last few years.
At a time when our country needs to have confidence in mental health treatment, her failure to use the many mental health systems available to her should be examined if not explained.
Psychology is a 'soft science'. I make this statement as a health care professional who works in medicine - a field that depends to a large degree on 'hard science' - X-rays, lab tests, MRI, CT, etc.
Confirmation that psychology is a 'soft science' can be evidenced by the Parkland High School shooting. The shooter was examined and interviewed by mental health professionals - psychologists - who determined the shooter was not a danger to himself or others. 17 people died as a result of the determination.
The US has several hundred thousand drug addicts who
cycle through the doors of treatment centers each year. How many of them benefit from the treatment and stay away from drugs?
This would be a good time for a good look at psychology: what works and doesn't work. And after a thorough examination, work on what doesn't work.
3
The assault described by Dr. Ford (which I wholly believe) is further evidence of what most American citizens know; an extreme polarization along lines of culture & morality fanned by mindless identity-politics.
This leaves us subject to decisions made by elderly, white, ultra-conservative male senators (e.g., Grassley, Hatch, Graham, McConnell) and their minions, representing states who deny
equal access to education, healthcare, and voting, and who mandate morality and impose their own secular beliefs at the expense of others, based on race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.
MAGA is code to institutionalize more of the same; back to the good ole days where white male Anglo-saxons ruled society. Soon, SCOTUS will be biased this way.
These are issues not resolvable to compromise. However, there is a straightforward fix. While we still can, VOTE like your life depends on, because it does.
5
If the republicans are so concerned about optics, and they want a woman to do the questioning, why not put a woman on the judiciary committee?
3
I hope someone emphasizes the part of her account that says he turned the music up before grabbing her. This shows intent and premeditation. Intoxicated but not so much so that he forgets to cover his tracks. It also shows he did not expect consent. Instead he anticipated loud resistance. Regardless of what did or did not happen in the room, he intended to harm her. He deliberately set out to harm her while trying to avoid being discovered.
Perhaps he still hopes he won't be discovered or will he face the music?
4
Since no one else seems to even remember this party, one can only assume that it was Blasey Ford herself who provided their names. I bet I can still come up with four names from high school too even after 45 years. I rest my case, for that proves everything.
3
If it’s “better to ask forgiveness than permission,” then what does it say about a person who categorically denies all wrongdoing, and brings character witnesses just in case?
I’m not entirely sure, but I wouldn’t want that individual making any decisions which have any impact over my life.
4
We are constantly urged to contact our senators with our opinions and recommendations on this issue. I have tried repeatedly to contact John Cornyn, our Texas senator on the Judiciary Committee regarding the Ford/Kavanaugh controversy, via his official e-mail (as I have done many times in the past). I consistently get the following message:
Request not accepted.
Security Risk Detected.
Has anyone else encountered this problem when trying to contact Judiciary Committee members?
2
In this column, I am writing comments against Kavanaugh confirmation. The first reason, when I read that he entertained the idea that a sitting president may not be sued in a civil case, because it could distract the president from doing his job. That gave me the bad feelings that this guy is trying to fit the law to his interpretation rather than interpreting the law. This followed by Dr. Ford accusation, I believed her because of precedence of recent cases that happened decades ago proven true. The first one is professional prostitution and the second one character flaw. They both consistent.
2
@Kodali
" I believed her because of precedence of recent cases that happened decades ago proven true."
Huh? What on earth does that mean? Other victims didn't report, therefore Kavanaugh must have attacked Ford?
Please don't have children.
3
The SCOTUS is supposed to be the bastion of the most exceptional jurist our Country can produce.
Set the charge of attempted rape aside for the moment; there is no justification for anything less than a complete investigation of possible perjury by the candidate.
The fact the candidate hasn't come out requesting a full investigation to clear his name is in a word, telling.
2
So, no attempt to have an FBI investigation, no subpoena for Mark Judge to testify, a rush to "plough through this" plus condescending remarks passed by committee members acknowledging that their minds are already made up in favor of the judge. On what universe is this a fair hearing?
4
@gf
I forgot to say that in addition to more senators, the president of the United States has also discredited Dr. Ford at a rally. Do we see any power imbalance here? She is being set up.
1
I can see Democrats recruiting Ford as their last attempt to derail Judge Kavanaugh. She is perfect for the role. After all, she and Judge Kavanaugh were geographically close while legally children. Ford has added the sympathy eliciting aspect of having the mysterious incident come out during therapy.
Her memory of the incident is vague and hazy. Such a traumatic experience, but she can't recall the date, place, or time. How many Americans can recall, with great detail, where they were when President Kennedy was shot; when President Reagan was shot; when the two jets crashed into the World Trade Center towers?
It is no surprise that Dianne Feinstein and Ford come from the Bay Area, the most liberal part of a very liberal state. Recent reports expose Ford as being anti-Trump. There is little price for Ford to pay, other than engendering disdain from Americans who see her claim as the dirtiest of filthy politically motivated tricks.
Her uncorroborated accusation may deprive an eminently well qualified candidate for a bench on the Supreme Court. She cannot dictate conditions under which she will testify. She must be rigorously cross examined. As the accuser she must be the first to testify. There can be no precedent set that goes against the Constitution of the United States.
Please hang tough, Brett Kavanaugh. You are needed on the bench of the United States Supreme Court.
Note: Henceforth, only saints will eligible for high public office.
7
I'm presuming Blasey will be credible when she testifies. If so, she'll win the "ties."
It's nevertheless possible that she won't be credible, or that she won't testify at all, in either of which cases Kavanaugh almost cerainly will "win." I don't anticipate either possibility, but we can't rule them out. If she doesn't seem credible (or doesn't testify at all), or some other piece of evidence gets introduced that casts serious doubt on her claim (though I have no idea what that might be), Kavanaugh will "win." McConnell will call for a prompt vote, and Kavanaugh will soon be on the Supreme Court.
Again, this strikes me as unlikely. Blasey almost certainly will "win" if this case remains where it is now: inconclusive. But she could come across as not credible (or not testify at all), or get tripped up by some piece of evidence that doesn't now come to mind. Any of those possibilities is, well, possible. Not likely, but possible.
1
@MyThreeCents
McConnell is not going to let democrats indulge their strategy too much longer. "She deserves to be heard." She will be heard, and Kavanaugh will then be nominated.
1
Some commenters here believe that something done in high school is really on your permanent record. This is dystopian and runs counter to common sense.
3
I realized something this morning, and it saddens me.
Ms. Ford's efforts to hold Mr. Kavanaugh accountable for his alleged past acts of sexual assault will not make a difference in his conformation. As Mitch McConnell said last week, Brett Kavanaugh will become the newest member of the Supreme Court.
Republicans having nothing to lose once Kavanaugh is on the court. Yes, it may lead to an overwhelming Democratic take over of the House and Senate in November, and it may even lead to a Democratic president for years to come. However, Brett Kavanaugh will become de facto THE Republican Party and its conservative agenda for decades to come.
From his confirmation onward, the Supreme Court will be a political extension of the Republican Party with final say on the laws of our land. Should moderate or liberal politicians at all levels of our government - from city to national - enact laws or policies that conservative Republicans find objectionable, those laws and policies will be challenged by the conservative right wing and eventually make their way up to the Supreme Court, where most likely the justices will always rule in favor of conservatives. Mr. Kavanaugh is needed to ensure that agenda is implemented.
A right to birth control? Gone. Right to choose? Gone. Gerrymandering? Here to stay. Voter suppression by invoking undue hardship on voters rights? Here to stay. Affirmative action? Gone. Gay rights? Gone on religious grounds.
I'm sorry Ms. Ford.
26
Can't say I buy the argument made by many:
"Blasey has nothing to gain by stepping forward, and so what she claims must be true."
Blaze deserves to be heard, and it sounds like she will be. She does NOT deserve to be believed automatically because she's come forward. She may well be believed, but we shouldn't assume she's telling the truth simply because stepping forward predictably results in harsh criticism. It also predictably results in a great deal of attention. For some people, the prospect of that attention is reason enough to step forward, even if that attention comes with the prospect of criticism.
I don't claim to know why Blasey is coming forward. I have no idea. My point is merely that we should not automatically believe her simply because she comes forward. Maybe she'll be believed and Kavanaugh won't. Maybe it will be the other way around. Each of us can draw our own conclusions when the dust settles.
6
I think she has a lot to gain. $$$$$. I think a rich lefty dug up her story and is paying her to relate it. Why else would she come out of the woodwork after thirty five, that's three and one half decades, with a story hoping to negatively effect a Trump nomination? And why did she "negotiate" a testimony time? Could it be to make sure she and her sponsor have the story straight?
3
totally agree with you.
2
@MyThreeCents
Anita Hill was the speaker at Wesleyan University's (CT) graduation this year. Does anyone believe she would have such celebrity status if she hadn't challenged Justice Thomas?
I don’t know why Dr. Ford is negotiating the conditions of her testimony. If the Senate Judiciary Committee won’t give her a full, fair and respectful hearing, I’m sure Katie Tur will—on live prime time TV.
6
Still waiting for anyone to detail how an investigation would be carried out 36 years after the alleged assault ... no crime scene; two witnesses who deny the assault; 3 other named party attendees who have no memory of the party with one stating she does not even know Brett Kavanaugh.
18
@Catherine
It is one thing to deny with hurried, reflexive white lies that intuitively focus on protection and vindication of self first, and an entirely different thing to remain firm in these lies, when interrogated under oath by and in the full frontal face of the FBI.
You can be absolutely sure that the FBI is better equipped, and more skilled and resourceful in carrying out an investigation than our layman minds can begin to think of.
2
Trans-Media are largely all International Incorporated News/Opinion organizations that have redirected all public commentary from the findings and Kavanaugh's responses away from the legitimate concerns ;"Nothing about us without us"and Senator McKaskill's evaluation of probable bias favoring unlimited dark money as unlimited speech. Judge Kavanaugh did receive a Stolen memo=a "product of a crime" as cited by Senator Leahy,(Biden would not attend a meeting as expected),but ignored the fact-possession and use of Stolen "confidential not for distribution"Intellectual Property and twice claimed the CONTENT was insignificant-while minimizing the criminal use. That is either a skilled tactic intended to discount or deceive, or an actual "cognitive defect"one of 12 cognitive distortions affecting critical judgement abilities.His responses to Senator Kamala Harris-"not sure what I was referring to when I used that term"and repeated requests to "refresh" his memory-in a man otherwise noted for high proficiency in citing case law and recall, suggests either deliberate dissembling and deceit or a social/cognitive defect in comprehension and reasoning that is very worrisome. He did receive "Spying-she has a mole for us"email which he forwarded.Failure to report a Felony, ongoing criminal theft,suborning those he forwarded it to and thus becoming party to Trafficking in Stolen IP-a form of "Insider Trading"of the products of a crime disqualifies him from Office. FBI tip sent; L
6
Kavanaugh ripped a page from Trump's playbook.
Deny Deny Deny and blame everyone else.
Russia Investigation? Collusion? Sexual Abuse and Assault? Infidelity? Lies EVERY day that can be refuted by audio and video record?
Just bray "fake news" enough until people get tired or bored of hearing it.
IF Kavanaugh has nothing to hide, why not face the accuser?
Or better yet, why don't ANY of these creeps EVER say " I made a mistake and I'm sorry and I wish I could take it back. I've tried and proven I can do better"
I would MUCH more admire someone who admits to a mistake in judgement that someone who denies, denies, denies EVERYTHING.
PS EVERY woman out there,whether last night or 30 years ago, can recall a terrifying sexual assault like it was yesterday, if they were subjected to one. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
10
I think the wrong question is asked of Mr. Mark Judge. It should first be asked of him: How many women had he had sex with, since he had written about what guys were getting away with. If he doesn't remember then we would know what not remembering means. Quotes:
"we found ourselves genuinely shocked at the stuff we got away with" What did you get away with?"
What :“uncontrollable male passion”.
Just asking.
14
@JK Mark Judge was not and is not interested in women.
@JK Regardless of what you may think Mark Judge should be asked about his sex life, I very seriously doubt he'll be asked about anything other than this incident (assuming he's questioned at all, of course). It does sound like he lived a dissolute life for quite some time, but the focus here is and should be on an entirely different question: "Did Brett Kavanaugh try to rape Chrissie Blasey, as she alleges, or didn't he?"
1
@JK
That ship has sailed.
No GOPer, 0.1 percenter or other fraud or puppet pretending to be a genuine 'Conservative' instead of a grand scale pain inflicter and (democracy and planet) destroyer finds himself shocked anymore at the stuff he gets away with.
Kavanaugh will also have to answer many probing questions Thursday about any personal involvement, and that of his White House handlers, in the false and outrageous claim made by his friend and associate, Washington lawyer Edward Whelan, that Dr, Blasey "mistakenly" identified the actual attempted rapist, not the nominee but a different Georgetown Prep student. Besides raising serious legal and professional liability for Whelan in creating and nationally promoting this libelous narrative, this will provide Democrats at the Judiciary hearing with still further opportunities to undermine further the credibility of Kavanaugh. This tawdry "Whelan episode" could be the "straw that broke" any chances for his confirmation. It is indeed an ironic twist fostered by a side in this confrontation which has boldly asserted that Dr, Blasey's story is a total contrivance.
4
It is no wonder that any woman who was at that party will own up to it and admit that they saw anything! With DEATH threats abounding why would they dare say anything to imply that they saw Judge KAvanaugh and Mark Judge there? They must be terrified.
11
Kavanaugh bragged about his drunken college days and talked about hitting women like a 'gong.'
His college buddy wrote a memoir called "Wasted" about their binge-drinking (complete with his buddy "Bart O'kavanaugh.")
Kavanaugh will not take a polygraph. Ford has and passed.
Kavanaugh is not calling for an FBI invesigation to clear his name. Ford wants an investigation.
Mark Judge, author of Wasted, does not want to testify.
Dr. Ford has little to gain and a lot to lose. She is getting death threats. Meanwhile, Kavanaugh is being coached for his testimony.
Old white mal senators are going to use a female attorney to go after Dr. Ford so they can appear more innocent.
Any logical person can see who is trying to hide something.
19
Cory Booker bragged about groping a friend of his. He gave details on how he forced her to submit to him. he even admitted that he knew she was drunk and too advantage of the situation. Why hasn't Ford's supporter found this behavior reprehensible?
2
Attacks based and sex and race are all you have.
An ‘accusation’ does not constitute evidence...and behaving as though it does sets a very dangerous precedent.
What else ya got?
19
Senate question for Mr. Kavanaugh:
Why don't you want the FBI to investigate this issue?
Senate question for Dr. Ford:
What's in it (telling about your experience) for you?
3
@SLBvt
Answer from Judge Kavanaugh: The FBI investigated me this summer......and five times prior to 2018 through the years.
Answer from Dr. Ford: Book contracts, speaking engagements: big bucks.
7
Since it’s not a weekend, there won’t be more viewers that the Superbowl.
1
Judging by so many of these comments, misogyny is alive and well in America 2018.
8
@MomaMisogeny Or a demand for evidence.
You know, that ugly legal stuff.
2
@Moma. The rule of law is alive and well in America. We shouldn’t be bringing people down with a mere accusation.
1
Really! it is time for these retrograds on the senate judiciary committee to fade from these duties. They showed their stuff
at the Anita Hill/Thomas fiasco and enough is enough. Their idiotic idea to call in a "woman" to question Dr. Ford is a testimony to
their cowardice and inability to deal with today's realities. As to Mr. Kavanaugh - he should step aside now before he embarrasses both himself and the Republican miscreants any further . This whole episode is a travesty - the rush to endorse Kavanaugh and not thoroughly vet him; the disgrace of McConnell who would and did
anything to counter President Obama and discount his pick for the
Supreme Court, refusing for him to be heard by the Senate. He will go down in infamy along with his misbegotten party that has
no respect or regard for women. Frankly, anyone selected by this
wrecking ball of a President has an aura of suspicion clouding him/her.
13
@pkay, History will not be kind to McConnell and his great grandchildren will learn in Jr. and Sr. HS about his outrageous actions as Senate Majority Leader. I take some comfort in that since it will be all we have in the aftermath of this mess.
3
The male narrative in many if these comments are unusually harsh. I ask you all, what would your Mothers think? Would she be proud?
6
@Henry
My mother thinks (a) someone who is attacked, and doesn't report it, is putting other innocent woman at risk; and (b) lying about a sexual attack is the lowest form of being.
3
yes
1
@Henry. My mother thinks that if my brother was accused of rape, he would be entitled to due process in a court of law and not automatically lose his job and be hated by half of America.
2
I suppose it is possible that the accuser does really believe someone tried to rape her at a party and that’s her right to, as much as anyone else’s to yell fire in a crowded movie theater just because they believe they smell smoke. When there turns out to be none yet someone is killed in the needless frantic scramble out, then what?
11
@John Doe
you are correct about your first assumption....she knows and believes someone tried to rape her....in fact, a teenager named Brett Kavanaugh....however...no one has a right to yell 'fire' in any movie theatre.
At the risk of being Johnny One Note (or a stopped clock or skipping record or whatever stale metaphor for monotony you prefer) the only known in this case is that the truth is unknowable. As an aside, it is fascinating to see so many apparently intelligent people rooting so desperately for this woman to have been assaulted.
22
@Frunobulax: No one is rooting for her to have been assaulted. We are rooting for her to have some modicum of justice for having been assaulted.
6
One hundred to one says she doesn't testify. The Democrats have a singular objective - delay.
5
In 2016, even with voter suppression, Democrats won more votes for the Presidency, the House, and the Senate, yet the Republicans hold all three... Including the US Supreme Court, due to a stolen majority.
Democrats had better elect fighters from here on out. Only fighters can counteract this party of cheaters...
American Democracy depends on it.
10
My simple question to Judge Kavanaugh right now is: In order to clear your name and reputation, why aren't *you* asking for an investigation of these claims? Not to do so does not speak well of your integrity and further supports the criticism that you are a deeply embedded political operative who cares more about Party than the Supreme Court.
9
@cyclist Because as a judge, Kavanaugh is aware that it is the duty of the system to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and citizens are presumed innocent pending a legal decision based on such proof.
3
@cyclist
Have you considered the fact that any attorney and anyone in law enforcement would question how an investigation would be carried out 36 years after the alleged assault ... no crime scene; two witnesses who deny the assault; 3 other named party attendees who have no memory of the party with one stating she does not even know Brett Kavanaugh.
5
@cyclist. Do you believe that if you, as a man, were accused of sexual assault, it would be your job to vindicate yourself with the accuser being able to sit on his or her laurels and say nothing? You live in the wrong country with the wrong legal system if you do.
2
Why are the right-to-lifers so crazed about this? They are blindly following a cult leader who can't admit defeat, even meaningless defeat.
Trump could simply offer AG to Kav and move on to the next person on the federalist society's list.
2
It's Citizens United. He is expected to protect that ruling.
why are the right to kill so against Judge K.
2
I googled the claim that accuser, Dr. Ford, was defended by a cheezy attorney who also defended Bill Clinton.
Guess what comes up first on the list? Hannity, and about fifty far-right wacko-bird groups. On the ither hand:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/18/politics/wall-street-journal-donald-trump...
Way this works is, Katz is an attorney who runs a firm specializing in harassment cases. A very good firm, looks like. And law firms, hate to break it, often represent different sides of an argument...and it is their job to defend their client or prosecute the civil case, not represent one side.
By the way...looks like Katz tends to win.
5
@Robert
I have not being keeping up with all the"stuff" but appreciate your comments and citation to the CNN response to WSJ. Thank you. It is very painful to read what these men and uninformed women have to say. It is without humanity or compassion these attacks.
Full disclosure - I lived thru Dr.Hill's pain, as well as my own, aunts, sisters, and little girls around the world. I will live thru Dr Ford's pain on Thursday as well. Someday this will stop but I fear not in my lifetime
@Robert
If "winning" means defending your client (Bill Clinton) against charges of harassment by Paula Jones, telling everyone he is innocent, and then settling by paying her a million dollars, then yes, sure, Katz is a "winner.'
4
@Robert
Let's not pretend. Dr. Ford's attorney, Katz, is a partisan. Her views are dependent on the politics of the accused. Here she is on Paula Jones' accusations against Bill Clinton:
"If it's one time, it has to be severe, almost a sexual assault, not just a touching of somebody's breast or buttocks or even forceful kissing.”
Imagine her saying anything like this in Kavanaugh's case? Neither can I.
Ms Ford admits she abandoned her good friend, Ms Keyser after being attacked one night at an unknown house with 3 young men she didn't know to well but 2 of which she knew to be rapists and potential murderers! She admits that after escaping this attack she ran out without a word or warning to her friend and didn't tell the cops or anyone else that night or anytime after. She never spoke to her friend about it at all.
What kind of "friend" would do this? What 15 year old would never even inquire about what happened after she abandoned her friend in such dangerous circumstances?
12
@Steve W: Include a credible link to your "source."
2
We will NEVER know what happened or didn't happen between Blasey-Ford and Kavanaugh. The end.
13
This whole mess is like the confluence of the McCarthy investigations with the Salem witch trials.
9
Why does the Times drop “Dr.” but use “judge” in the same sentence? At the very least use PhD if that is in fact her degree. I continue to be disturbed by this - why is this occurring?
And, to say that Judge Kavanaugh has a “stellar” background is vague at best, considering the thousands of documents that have been withheld from the public. Trump’s “stellar” personal behavior is acceptable to so many, I suppose we should just have faith when he says “believe me”.
11
@L Good point. Are we to believe that the Republican criminals withheld thousands of pages of documents on Kavanaugh because they depict "too stellar" of a man?
The guy is so guilty it's almost comical. OJ made a better case for innocence than Kavanaugh.
3
Supporters of Prof. Ford should invite the phalanx of women who have accused Trump of sexual molestation to line up behind Kavanaugh during his testimony on Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee — sort of like what Trump did to Hillary Clinton during the debates. It’s only fitting, and will make for great imagery to enhance the judge’s denial of his attack on Prof. Ford.
6
More than 30 years ago some oaf at a party was manhandling me in a dark kitchenat the house I rented with five other girls; as I squirmed away he grabbed me by one shoulder and tore my blouse with the other hand.
My roommate's boyfriend punched the assaulter, breaking his nose. Assaulter was a wealthy frat boy and pressed charges against puncher, a guy on a ROTC scholarship. He was terrified this would botch his scholarship to this costly U, so it was a big deal in our household; we all felt bad for him.
I went to court with the puncher for the preliminary exam at the big old courthouse in our famous college town. Frat boy was there with his lawyer. I was under five feet tall and about 100 pounds lighter than frat boy. Literally, in less than 20 minutes, we were out of there with all charges dropped. I still remember the literal jaw drop by frat boy when he saw me, and his lawyer and the cop leaning over to talk to him while all three looked at me. (I had the torn blouse in hand, too.)
That moment and the moment of the original assault are very vivid. It took place in my home. I didn't drink or get high in those years, so I was sober. And yet I cannot recall the frat boy's name nor the last name of the ROTC guy who intervened. Three of my five roommates (all five were at the party) don't recall the incident or the ensuing court drama. But it all really happened.
Which is why I believe Christine Ford. Been there, done that, sketchy memory but story true.
19
@Kosher Dill
Wow! you are describing a case of justice served. You weren't pressing charges; perhaps the punch in the nose to your assailant by the ROTC guy gave you some sense of justice.
But to show up in court and defend your defender against an ironic charge sure reads like poetry.
there is a police report that documents that an incident happened. Very different in this case
I am sure you see the difference.
1
If we were talking about any other legal position than Supreme Court Justice, an appointment for life, I'd say let crude drunken boyhoods remain in the past.But we are talking about a candidate who has written one thing and said another on various subjects to the judicial committee. We are talking about a judge who will almost certainly axe Roe vs Wade which some of us believe gives women control over their bodies, and if we believe Dr. Blasey Ford, she didn't have control over her body the night of Kavanaugh's alleged attack. Why would she lie? She is a scientist. She has received death threats. She has zero to gain in politics. I believe her. The question is do we want a guy who assaulted a woman in his distant youth, and perhaps doesn't remember because he was drunk as a skunk, to be making decisions that shape millions of lives.
11
@Vicki lindner. Kavanaugh is already a judge appointed for life.
1
Mark Judge must testify under oath or this will still be a sham.
10
To one and all:
None of us knows the facts of the case, only the myriad of stories, reports and the social media claims of truth....
Many have decided or judged this without fact
Evidently, we are not better than this, but we, as a society should be...
Everyone of us should be demanding an FBI investigation and as best as possible, a thorough vetting of the allegations.
If we don’t demand such, we are advocating that the accused/accuser and facts are never investigated. As a reminder, this Congress, Senate and House alike, work for us. We can and should demand better...
What will you say or demand when YOU are the victim or the accused and you are denied an investigation?
5
She is spoken of as a ‘survivor’. That is ludicrous. Even if a teenaged boy had jumped on her & tried to undo her blouse, or something similar, that is not an incident that makes you a ‘survivor’. This entire political attack (in my view) has nothing to do with sexual assault or women’s rights - it’s a smear to block the nomination & nothing more. Dems hope that an entirely unprovable allegation will achieve their political end - and there is zero integrity in that hope. As for the common liberal cry that women making allegations ‘must be believed’, that is unjustifiable. Society must not convict any individual purely on the word of another, with zero evidence. That’s the mentality of the lynch mob.
11
@Cath Boylan
They also called Stormy Daniels a "hero". Could it be that the real act of heroism is standing up to their nemesis and has nothing to do with principle?
2
I remember The Hearings run by Senator McCarthy. Innocent Americans. had their lives ruined and some were imprisoned.
I remember the hearings on behalf of Anita Hill. It was years ago and I was passionately on her side, but now, looking back, she did not actually accuse anybody of sexual assault. Now I recall that Clarence Thomas did not ask her to do anything sexual. He did a good deal of "dirty talk" though.
Now Brett Kavanaugh is accused of sexual assault. His accuser says that she does not remember where this happened. She does not know when this happened and her "witness" denies being there at all.
6
"Dodge and Deflect".
Kavanaugh has spent the last week holed up for as long as nine hours at the WH rehearsing his scripted answers to the same questions his biased Senate Committee supporters will have for him at the hearing.
5
@JM And do you think Ford is doing anything different?
4
Are we all assuming that once Ford testifies, Kavanaugh’s confirmation will automatically follow? Will/can the judiciary committee call for an investigation based on the hearings this Thursday?
3
In her negotiations, Dr. Blasey has made two demands that will be difficult for the committee to accept. They require the senators to personally question her and her demand that she testify after judge Kavanaugh.
Her demands are contrary to long-established methods of getting to the truth. These two demands were probably made in the first place to be “poison pills.” Dr. Blasey’s lawyers know the Committee could never agree with them, but the demands have dragged out the negotiations. If things were looking good for Dr. Blasey, she could drop the demands and testify.
Now we know that all four people Dr. Blasey named as being present at the party have said they have no memory of it. With no corroboration, things are not looking good for Dr. Blasey. Watch for her to pull out of testifying in the next couple days, blaming the Committee for not being willing to accommodate her terms.
5
@Son of Liberty: Seantors questioned Anita Hill. And looked bad. Now they want to hide behind a female attorney to do the dirty work.
2
Finding witnesses at a party where the guests adhered to the motto: "What happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep" are highly unlikely. Stonewalling is in fashion and soon two justices on the Supreme Court will indeed have something in common. They'll be members of the "beat the rap" club. Doesn't say much for our future Supreme Court.
10
"And he's oh so good, and he's oh so fine, and he's oh so healthy in his body and his mind" ~ Ray Davies
I have just spent 45 irretrievable minutes of my life reading these comments. My reply to those that have criticized Dr. Ford for fleeing that high school party without seeing to the safety of her female friend who was also there is this: Yes, everyone knows how rational a terrified 15 year old girl can be. Teenagers are the picture of rationality and reason.
8
If she was irrational and unreasonable, why would we add 36 years of hazy memories to that and then say "I believe"?
The Blasey v. Kavanaugh soap opera has played out and the tickets are being refunded. This is not a victim unwilling to testify, this is an operative fearing perjury charges and a California Senator soon to be censured drama which may or not take to the stage.
A convenient fraud has been hatched to coincide with midterm elections capitalizing on and simultaneously discrediting the MeToo pitchfork brigade. A simple truth is that lies, and denial, are equally distributed upon the populous by men and women and sociopathic behavior crosses gender indiscriminately. To believe Professor Blasey without merit, merely based on gender, is to succumb to emotional chaos. The sleep of reason produces monsters as demonstrated is an obvious truism.
2
Any witnesses are irrelevant. People who want to believe her because it serves their end will never doubt regardless. Likewise the other side. If anything all this maddening drivel dominating the news each day for the last week only gives rise to good reason to stop reading it completely. That thought alone brings instant serenity to me.
7
What if Dr. Ford's high school peers were as heavily into drinking as Judge Kavanaugh's? Could her own drinking have clouded her memory? Did she have black out episodes as well?
Her high school yearbook needs to be examined. An alleged on-line copy shows some very provocative statements, even mentioning a "Pass Out" drinking game.
This may explain why she has avoided questioning. Of course, we'll never know until she agrees to answer questions.
5
At this point (12:16 p.m. ), there are 626 comments.
A large number of the comments include comments which show ageism, sexism, and/or racism. Reading the comments and noting this tendency to ageism, sexism, and racism, it appears to me that the vast majority of such comments are by people who are liberal/progressive. (I've made replies to several of these people, to point out their discrimination.)
I wonder if anyone could copy all the comments, flag those who make comments such as ageism: "doddering defamers, old codgers"; and ageism, racism, sexism: "old white men", and run a statistical count of the number of comments.
Then read the comments using ageism, racism, and sexism and place the number of comments by commenters who show by their written words that they are liberals/progressives. Run a statistical count for this as well.
I don't have the skills to do this nor do I have the time. But it should be quick for a neutral computer program.
And I'm betting the majority of ageism, racism, and sexism comments are made by liberals/progressives who decry any discrimination.
Please, computer whiz: step up and do this for all of us - including those who haven't made age/race/sex and issue but especially for those who have done so.
4
Please provide a list of words that you think denote "liberal/progressives".
1
@Frozz Since we have devolved into tribes, it should not be difficult to identify liberals/progressives v. conservatives. The L/P group seem to believe any woman should always be believed. Conservatives seem to recognize that people lie: women lie, men lie. (For the record, I’m a woman.)
Good example at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/22/us/politics/kavanaugh-senate-blasey-f...”
“GH
Los AngelesSept. 22
I agree with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg - the right number of women serving on the US Supreme Court is nine. Certainly we would not experience so many #MeToo snags if women were nominated.
Just sayin’.
Another good example: http://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/22/us/politics/kavanaugh-senate-blasey-fo...
PropagandandTreason
uk8h ago
Lets hope that the rule of law will be the justice for professor Ford - a brave woman to face the malice of old Republican men.
Let justice be done though the heavens fall.
Reply19 Recommend
My response: Azalea Lover | Northwest Georgia
@PropagandandTreason
Comment after comment mentions "old Republican men" or "old white men".
Have all liberals/progressives taken up racism, sexism and ageism?
From the article: "Officials said Judge Kavanaugh, who spent much of this past week at the White House preparing for a hearing, was well rehearsed and ready to appear on Capitol Hill if senators opted to go forward with a session. At mock hearings last week, according to a White House official, he practiced fielding specific questions about the accusations and deflecting broad inquiries about his social life, such as his general drinking habits."
Getting tips on how best to lie and dissemble. What a sickening spectacle this confirmation hearing has been.
8
Brett Kavanaugh would be much more credible if he were to say that he indulged in some drunken parties as a teenager but has no recollection of such an event. If Dr. Ford's account is true, however, he sincerely regrets it and offers an apology.
3
We have three children who managed to get through high school without a single incident of blacking out from heavy drinking. For me, this poor judgement is enough to disqualify anyone from qualifying for the Supreme Court This is not about forgiveness, it is about clear thinking. As for sexual assault charges, in Maryland, we do not have a statue of limitation on felony sexual assault charges. This accuser should spend the morning addressing the committee and the afternoon filing a report at the Montgomery county police department.
3
"Tentative Deal Reached" ... wonder if this "deal" will fall through or if there will be yet another delay? Great for a continuing story and news headlines though! Only adds to the growing discontent and division of the People.
2
According to reports from various sources on this event, Judge Kavanaugh’s background has been investigated several times by the FBI throughout his employment by the Federal government. These investigations are very thorough and had there been a police report of the alleged attack, the FBI would have found it and expanded its inquiry into it. The FBI would have interviewed Professor Ford, Leland Keyser, Mark Judge, and Patrick Smyth. Keyser, Judge, and Smyth are all on record now saying that they have no recollection of that party, with Keyser stating that she does not know Judge Kavanaugh. Have they been threatened by the Right to make such claims? Or has the Deep State not paid them off? If the alleged attack happened, it would have been an isolated event in Kavanaugh’s past and unless he continued to exhibit such behavior it would not have disqualified him from government service. For this allegation to have credibility, the FBI needs to interview close associates of Kavanaugh from his undergraduate and law school days to find out if he continued his drunken attacks upon women. But the FBI does not have time for such nonsense, it has done its job. Judge Kavanaugh is not a serial sexual predator. I support Judge Kavanaugh and I hope that he joins the Supreme Court soon. Thank you.
6
When Brett Kavanaugh was willing to walk out in front of the television cameras with Donald Trump and tell the entire nation that no other president presidents had conducted such an extensive search to find a Supreme Court Justice, we knew what we had. We had an individual who was willing to tell the entire nation a complete falsehood, which he knew to be untrue. It's been downhill ever since. These new allegations only confirm that Brett Kavanaugh is unfit to have a seat on the United States Supreme Court.
7
Grassley has gone too far in accommodating this woman. s H should have stuck to his original schedule and put her testimony on a take or leave it basis.
Nothing I have read about this woman has led me to believe she deserve any special consideration.
I do hope we hear from those people who know her and claim that her story is not truthful.
4
Let's iron this out in November. EVERY woman should be at the polls to voice her opinion. No exceptions.
3
The four people named by Ford have all made statements refuting her claim. All four have made their statements in such a way as to expose them to criminal prosecution should they be proven false. On the other hand, Ford has submitted no sworn statement and is trying to negotiate that her testimony to the Senate not be under oath. Got it.
End the farce now. Vote Thursday. At the latest.
10
As I recall, Trump also believed Roy Moore and not his victims. Also, Mr. Judge must be made to testify under oath.
5
People forget that her claims are not being adjudicated in this forum. She could very well be “believed,” but there are other factors such as the vagueness of her recollection, the lack of corroborating evidence other than the notes which are only indirect evidence that might have been reproduced for the hearing, the state of inebriation of the parties, the fact that they were all minors, etc. You could “believe” all this and still have reason to vote for confirmation. So one must ask what is this all about other than to distract and delay?
5
In their effort to "plow through" the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Republicans seem to demand that Dr. Blasey's accusations be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. But it is important to understand that these Senate hearings are not a court case, and we are not trying to determine the guilt or innocence of Judge Kavanaugh. No one owes Kavanaugh a justiceship on the Supreme Court. If the Senate rejects him, nothing will have been taken away from him. He will simply return to being a judge on a U.S. Circuit Court, which itself is an honor. His guilt or innocence is not a reasonable standard for his confirmation. Rather, it is only important that the accusation against him be credible. If so, it is best for this nation that a different qualified judge be put forward to sit on the highest court in the nation. In any job interview in any business, a credible accusation of sexual misconduct would disqualify an applicant for the position. Absolute proof would not be necessary. Therefore, my advice to Mr. Trump is to move on to a new candidate and withdraw the current nomination. It's the right thing to do.
3
@Joseph NO, it's not a court case. But the issue is the allegation of a criminal offense committed by Kavanaugh. Therefore regarding this charge he is innocent until proven guilty and the standards of evidence apply.
3
I don't know why anyone needs to testify.
Dr. Ford has told her story. She would like the FBI to investigate.
Kavanaugh has told his story. He does not want the FBI to investigate. And his roommate at the time does not want to be questioned, either. Why not?
This is all we need to know.
8
Let's not forget that even without the Blasey accusation and tentative testimony the Kavanaugh confirmation is a put-up job. McConnell himself was against nominating Kavanaugh due to his long paper trail, which he subsequently supporessed when Trump nominated him anyway, solely because Kavanaugh is against indicting a sitting president for crimes committed. Trump would have nominated Kavanaugh even if the latter was in favor of Roe v. Wade, because Trump only cares about himself. Otherwise Trump could have nominated the better qualified, archconservative and spotlessly reputable Amy Coney Barrett, which would have made him look good with Republican women voters, the two R. women on the Senate and even to some extent the Democratic senators from red states. The Blasey accusation and testimony may just be a bump in the road for McConnell, Kavanaugh and his Republican accomplices in the Senate on the short term, but will have dire consequences for Republicans in the November elections that they could have prevented by confirming Amy Coney Barrett instead.
3
Guests were expected at 8 15 this morning. Confident I saw them drive up my 50' driveway and back out, I called to ask what happened only to be told "We're still on the way ..... no, haven't come yet." The mind can play tricks.
4
I love the spectacle of this, but there will be no clear winner or loser. It will still be decided by partisan politics.
3
Look I believed Dr. Ford at first, but the fact her female friend has no recollection of this has made me really doubt Dr. Ford. She was at a small gathering (not a party) of five. Dr. Ford told WaPo she immediately locked herself in the bathroom and then fled the house. Dr. Ford’s very close friend would’ve remembered a gathering where her friend disappeared, where her friend left her alone with three older boys. That is memorable. It is possible she’s recalling the wrong female friend but she can’t admit that because then she could be recalling the wrong boys.
8
Dr. Bleasy didn't report the incident/crime at the time for the reasons corroborated by scores of victims of sexual assault/rape including the legion of men sexually assaulted/raped by Catholic priests. Only 1 out of 9 assaults/rape are reported.
The history of sexual assault/rape laws in the US have struggled to gain legal legitimacy as a violent crime, primarily against women. It wasn't until 1973 that the requirement of corroboration was repealed unanimously by Congress that state laws started to shift. Nevertheless police departments have notoriously dismissed the seriousness of sexual assault/rape through incompetent procedures, if any, often reflective of their prejudiced view of the victims.
Once in court, victims of sexual assault/rape are often mistreated by the courts and prosecutors who have little regard for the time consuming legal basis of rape and its victims. Add to this the theological and societal beliefs of the Christian Right and their views of women and it is completely understandable why a woman would be loathe to legally pursue sexual assault/rape charges.
The Kavanaugh hearings display all the misogynist elements that have haunted this society's failed effort to protect women from abuse and violent crime.
Rather, the hearing is synonymous with the Republicans' unquenchable thirst for POWER, at any cost, even the rule of law. Women's rights are on the block, along with Supreme Court nominations, sold to the largest donor pool.
4
The fly in this media circus is the timing and the duplicitous method of handling this matter by Senator Feinstein. That goes directly to motive and concurrently credibility. Not to dismiss the damage and losses incurred by Carolinians, but this Dr. Blasey revelation was timed to the moment of lessening winds from a christened “storm of the century” by shrink-wrapped weather forecasters dispensing high-heeled hyperbole.
When this southeastern storm was downgraded to a tropical depression, hence less carnage and political capital; a stronger storm was hatched in secrecy and leaked to the press by Senator Feinstein. Mere coincidence, perhaps? Again, the credibility question comes to the fore as pundits duck and cover scurrying about with media in tow redefining fairness for the forlorn alleged victim. What’s wrong with this picture?
As the media and academia have now supplanted truth with emotions for a few decades, the softening of the American psyche and its inherent moral confusion is on full display.
5
Kavanaugh does not have an impeccable personal record. He amassed debts allegedly in regard to gambling and they got paid off. The media needs to get more information on this.
The last thing we need is a Supreme Court Judge who needs to go to Gamblers Anonymous.
4
@EC17
Are you referring to the baseball season and playoff tickets, for which he was reimbursed by friends?
5
I strongly oppose Kavanaugh's confirmation because of his right-wing political views and I hope his nomination fails.
But the Dr. Ford issue is fuzzy. Everyone else at the party who has been contacted has a different recollection than she does.
Unfortunately, the self-appointed religious police of the new politically correct left demand that she, and all female accusers, be fully believed without exception.
Those who disagree will be condemned and flagellated in social media, much like the right-wing religious police in the middle east who cane people they determine are in violation of their self-righteous beliefs.
10
Yet, the FBI reports that there are 4400 false accusations of sexual assualts annually
2
@Discerning Funny how the victim of violent terror remembers the incident better than others. I guess that's your real point.
Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, has claimed she faced sexual harassment during her service in the U.S. Navy. Senator Ernst has been a strong advocate for helping women who've suffered sexual harassment and sexual assault.
We have not heard from Senator Ernst about how she feels about the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.
Email Joni Ernst at her senate office and ask her to oppose the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.
4
If this situation is taken in the context of the entire Trump administration, the Great Trump Reality Show, our nation has reached a new low. As with reality tv, we are made to wonder what will happen in next week's episode?
1
At the end of the day, the Republicans fully expect to have Democrats take over the Congress. They don’t care. While missing their agenda to revoke Obamacare, they rushed through a tax cut for the wealthy, stacked the federal courts with Republicans. Inserting Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court bench will deter anything that Democrats try to reverse or introduce, that would benefit everyone other than the wealthy. Everyone knows how the ending goes. Four to eight years with nothing accomplished but petty in fighting. The Republicans always seem to run the country, regardless of the president.
3
I do not like how this whole confirmation hearing has proceeded. If I put aside Dr Ford: I am stuck on why his entire paper trail has not been made available.
The entire picture has not been provided like it was for other nominees. Kavanaugh’s writings on: should a President be investigated raise concern for me.
Kavanaugh’s ruling against the young woman seeking abortion causes me concern as well as employers not providing birth control insurance coverage.
I am angry over Kavanaugh’s apparent evasive answers during the hearing. He appeared to deliberately use up the Senators time.
There have been various rulings by this judge that do not favor many issues that should benefit Americans and not corporate issues.
2
A third witness saying she has no memory of the incident is more than a “possible setback”. While maybe temporary or partial, it is clearly a setback. It is becoming more difficult for me to see myself believing this accuser. The personal testimony of both people involved will clash so it is the word of the witnesses that will have the greatest influence. So far the witnesses weigh in favor of the accused.
7
This is a job interview, not a trial. It does not require the same burden of proof, and the applicant must prove his case. If I had a choice of several candidates for a life long position, and they do, then I would look for the absolute best whose possible bouts with alcohol and this assault weren't always in the background questioning his decisions. They should get the FBI to do an investigation, America deserves to know all that it can before it gives out a lifetime appointment to such an important position.
5
@Joe Barnett
Employers could be sued for discrimination if they treated a job applicant the way you are demanding Kavanaugh be treated. Sorry, no one gets to make accusations without being held responsible for them.
3
It's disappointing that there are so many women reporting their own experiences are apparently treating Kavanaugh as a proxy for their attackers; declaring him guilty with no evidence.
We should not hold one man as a scapegoat for others who may not have behaved properly.
This isn't a courtroom trial and under law he would be presumed innocent.
8
If anyone wants to know who really really wants Brett Kavanaugh on the SC seat, just look at his financial supporters. Who knew that a SCOTUS would have interests groups supporting them?
Unprecedented TV commercials and ads have are blitzing around the US for BK. Funded by 45committee, a 501(c)(4) “social welfare organization”. Interesting that the same group funded $ millions ads for Trump, and the NRA, and now is funding Greg Pence and Rick Saccone.
This group is funded by.....”non disclosures” of people. The organization has no volunteers, no employees, and has a P.O. Box address.
Why would the same group ( of non disclosed donors) fund $ millions for both Trump and a SCOTUS that refuses to answer two questions:
1. Do you believe Mr. Trump, as a sitting president, could be subpoenaed
by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, to testify?
2. Can a sitting President pardon himself?
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/03/big-revenues-for-group-providin...
3
Republican evangelical's dogma was run over by Brett Kavanaugh's karma.
2
Ford's claim sounds all too familiar. It sounds just like the Rolling Stone UVA "rape" case and the Duke lacross team "rape" case.
7
Thursday is a great start.
An FBI standard background check on the alcohol culture of Georgetown Prep, an FBI background check on the male/fraternity/Georgetown-rich boys-aggressive-octopus grabbing-culture, an FBI background on Brett's accomplice Mark Judge drunk jumping on top of Brett and Christine.
This would be a standard nomination process for the Supreme court.
Today Clarance Thomas could be impeached.
Next year Brett and Clarance could hold hands during a joint impeachment of flawed Supreme Court Justices.
The aged Republican men who likely followed Senator Strom Thurman's behavior with women (Strom grabbed Senator Patti Murray's breast), need to do a complete review of all candidates, or America will see lots of judicial impeachments.
@Steven of the Rockies. I recall reading in the NYT that Dr. Ford stated that Mr. Judge jumped on top of Kavanaugh on told him to stop, an action which allowed the victim to escape to the bathroom. Now he’s a bad guy?
1
The whole country has come down with a case of national hysteria not seen since the days of the Salem witchcraft trials. The fact that Ford’s own “corroborating witnesses” now cannot corroborate her own story proves that the whole thing is a sham. If delay is the object then it’s working, but the jig is up. Can we please put this baby back on the shelf next to “Russian collusion” and the “Piltdown man?” Never have the Democrats looked so stupid except maybe for the Republicans who don’t have the you/know-what to expose this hoax for what it is. It is a total embarrassment that has penetrated into the very halls of Congress and made us all look like fools.
12
@Ed
You truly believe that?
Huh!
Even if you want to argue that the "wasted" Brett and Mark cannot be expected to remember the party, leave alone admit to the incident alleged, it is not a good outcome to have Keyser and PJ deny being at the party. In fact, this Keyser lady denies ever being anywhere with Kavanaugh, with or without Christine.
It is probably best that Christine's lawyer think of a good excuse and bail out lest Christine come across as a clueless conniver bent on saying and doing anything to stop Kav.
Looks like the gig is up.
9
Some media are reporting that in mock questioning sessions Kavanaugh refused to answer questions he deemed too personal. Hmmmmm...
3
This is a single-combat, proxy war over Roe v Wade.
4
This incident has as much credibility as the Benghazi one.
In fact, it's the same smear, different day. You get the government you deserve the say....
1
@A. Reader -
You are wrong: this story has as much credibility as did Hillary coming under sniper fire and having to duck while leaving the plane at the Balkans. You know how that story turned out.
2
A high school party 36 years ago in which none of the accuser's recollections can be verified by any of the attendees, and which the accuser herself cannot recall the date or place of the party, now threatens to ruin the career and Supreme court nomination of a model citizen. This could only happen because of the hate and vindictive nature of Democrats, liberals and progressives like Feinstein and Schumer who will do anything to prevent Kavanaugh from becoming a Supreme court justice. Fabricated stories, lies and last minute revelations of attempted rape are what these people will stoop to in order to win. This is the way they roll. They have no shame.
8
@paul
And yet we have a POTUS who (after fact checking) been proven to have made statements of misinformation, is being frustrated by a Deep State, and is being victimized by the media, Democrats, the Justice Department, Law Enforcement The Intelligence Agencies on and on. If you disagree with him your a traitor and only he knows how to fix the world's problems.
I have a hard time with that and then there is the other stuff like Climate Change Denial the roll back of banking guidelines weakening of the EPA Consumer Protections ranging from products to educational guidelines on and on.
To be clear I view myself as a World Citizen, A Citizen of the U.S. believing in the Constitution and Bill of Rights then as a Christian in the manner of Christ's teachings not dogma, I also believe in Critical Thinking.
Please - NYT and NYT's reporters - a little more self-awareness here. To constantly refer to Christine Blasey Ford as "Kavanaugh's Accuser" or - even worse - as "the woman" - confirms just how far we have to go for change and how entrenched this patriarchy really is. When Anita Hill testified before an all male Senate committee - Christine Blasey Ford was 24-years-old. Old enough to recognize that any woman who had been sexually assaulted or pressured was going to suffer the consequences while the man involved would be given a free pass. Old enough to see what she was truly up against.
We are still blaming women and you - NYTs - are complicit. Time to knock it off.
1
I truly empathize with Dr. Ford but did she not know she was going to open up a can of worms going after the GOP's poster child. I hope she is loaded for bear when she is grilled by the 11 angry white men on Thursday. Asking the GOP men on the committee if they can treat her with dignity has them so rattled that they want a woman to lead their inquistion. Some of these same senators served with Throm Thurmond and believed the children he had with his black maid were a product of love instead of rape. I pray Dr. Ford is prepared for battle when she testifies before the Good old boys who still believe a woman's job is to stay barefoot and pregnant. I hope Dr Ford demanded that her testimoney is televised for I fear her treatment if it is not.
3
I'm surprised the NYT hasn't done a book review of "Wasted" by Kavanaugh's buddy. Here's a quote from Peter Maas of The Intercept:
But the wedding scene in Judge’s 1997 book, titled “Wasted: Tales of a GenX Drunk,” amounts to a clear acknowledgement from Judge that he engaged in drunken acts he could not remember afterward, and that those acts involved aggression toward women, if not outright violence. The wedding scene is not the only one of its sort in his book, which is out of print and extremely hard to find.
Well, jeez louise, how many days does Judge Kavanaugh need to rehearse at the White House to say he didn't do it?
Corrupt Republicans and Kavanaugh are trotting out all their cohorts who ostensibly can't remember this party, although at least one of them, Mark Judge, has written that he was such a drunkard he had blackouts and can't remember whole swaths of his high school years. How does this prove the attempted rape never happened? They say women have made gains; it hasn't in the U.S. Senate.
This episode will forever be a cloud over the MeToo movement. Alterior motives, in this case politics, will be suspected. I think even many women queasy about dredging up high school from 35 years ago. This will backfire very badly.
4
"In a possible setback for the woman" - no one Dr. Ford says was there can corroborate the story, including now, her lifelong friend Leland Keyser, who Dr. Ford says was there.
IF this is all made up by Dr. Ford, do you realize it is the final nail in the credibility of the media ?
No apologies by everyone on this and every other NYT comment board will be enough.
6
@PPP-NYC
Democrats obviously picked the wrong person upon which they chose to base their feminist rallying cry. And did they really think a lawyer who defended Bill Clinton against his accusers would ever pass the smell test? Hard to understand.
3
The honorific “Dr.” is customarily reserved for medical doctors and dentists. Ford is neither. The proper form of address for Ford is either “Prof.” or “Ms.”
2
No one seems to be reporting what is potentially a significant element of the status of this--she 'accepts their offer to provide firsthand knowledge' ........nothing in there about publicly testifying ........she could provide written information, not agree to be cross-examined, or do a Skype -- it seems we're making a lot of sloppy assumptions about just what Dr. Ford has agreed to.......
2
The liar will get her day. She will lose and, because of Democrat's foolish support, she will do more damage to the ME TOO movement than any one person could ever do. From now on, people will refer to this moment as proof that women fabricate their abuse claims. That's too bad, but Democrats dont care about maintaining integrity or defending women.
7
Before there's even any testimony you've decided she's a liar. Nice.
Mr. Mark Judge, who has been named by Dr. Ford as being in the room and collaborating with Kavanaugh in their attempt to gang rape Dr, Ford, has written a book about his high school experiences with Kavanaugh.
The book is mostly about the the huge amount of liquor and irresponsible behavior of Kavanaugh
in high school
is actually verified by Judge's own book.
Judge's comments that he never knew Kavanaugh to act that way
is false testimony.
1
Mid article, and never referenced again, is this sentence:
"For her part, Ms. Keyser told The Washington Post in a brief interview on Saturday night that her own memory notwithstanding, she believed Dr. Blasey’s story."
Why does she believe the story? Follow up on this!
Is it because she knew Kavanaugh to be a lout when it came to women? That he drank too much.
I have serious reservations about the Kavanaugh nomination, particularly his apparent devotion to a religious/conservative fundamentalism.
However, I have problems with Ford's unsubstantiated allegations heightened by Senator Feinstein's timing:
According to USA Today, Feinstein never mentioned the damning allegation to Kavanaugh at their private meeting
before the hearing, didn't raise it during the hearings or during a private session later to discuss his background, nor was it raised in the nearly 1,300 follow-up questions after the hearings.
Ms. Ford can’t remember the year the incident allegedly happened, the party's location, how she got there or how she got home, which suggests a fair flow of alcohol. She told no one about it at the time, the issue first raised during a couple's therapy session six years ago. Her therapist’s notes don't mention Kavanaugh by name and in fact indicate that she said that four boys were involved, although she now recalls only two.
Media reports including USA Today and CNN indicate that every witness she has identified; Patrick Smythe, Mark Judge and most important, a long time friend, Leland Ingham Keyser, have denied any knowledge of the event.
Since Senator Feinstein was informed of Ms. Ford's claim in July, it's unlikely that further investigations will turn up actual witnesses. As unpalatable as the nomination may be, the result will hopefully be viewed as a cautionary tale for future elections.
3
I would like to suggest that, while the jury is out, we change Mr. Kavanaugh's name card to "Hon? Brett M. Kavanaugh"
The question mark is key.
Grassley should be censured by the Senate for using government funds to finance a hit job on Ford by CRC, Ventry, and Whalen.
These hearings are scheduled to start with no one's knowing exactly what information Ventry and the other "investigators" gathered.
In any ethical process, that information should all be in Ford's lawyer's possession as soon as possible.
1
Will anyone be surprised if Kavanaugh is confirmed despite this brouhaha? The derailment of Robert Bork's confirmation in 1987 was a fluke, and the GOP has been working at a feverish pitch to ensure nothing like that ever happens again. They are now in firm, fascistic control of the government, and it is abundantly clear that they are comfortable with sexual predators in the highest echelons of power. Watch them pull a rabbit out of their hat.
1
Bravo Mr. Bromwich !
"I was too drunk to remember an attempted rape."
Seriously. This is the best we can get for the Supreme Court of the United States?
5
@Will.
He didn't say he couldn't remember. He unequivocally said it never happened.
3
Maybe everybody at this party was so drunk that they forgot everything.
Or, another possibility seems realistic given a significant detail that she recalls that defies the law of gravity: "As Mr. Judge watched, she said, he pushed her onto a bed, jumped on top of her, groped her, covered her mouth and tried to remove her clothing. Dr. Blasey was able to leave the room when the friend jumped atop both of them, she said."
In real life, adding Judge to the pile would have made it more, not less, difficult for her to get out from under. Law of gravity.
But in a nightmare -- a real nightmare, as in a dream -- details like gravity are often missing. It is possible that Blasey's "recovered memory" is in fact a remembered dream. With the passing of time, one sometimes remembers conflates dreams with reality.
Wow! You've really thought your theory through!
Can we wait for the testimony?
Can we just have the exemplary Mark Judge testify to what outstanding gentlemen he and nominee are?
Judge Kavanaugh sure has been working hard this past week practicing to tell the truth.
2
25% of women believe her charges are credible.
28% of men.
After watching the Democrats with their cockamamie Russian Collusion nonsense investigation scam, there is no way they get the benefit of the doubt this time.
It is disgusting to see a major political party stoop to such desperate, corrupt, dirty and despicable tactics as the Democrats have shown since their Queen of Corruption was unceremoniously rejected, sparking the Democrats’ mental breakdown.
2
Isn't this wonderful?
The Junta will allow the victim to speak, but she will not be permitted to prove the truth of it.
3
So - no witnesses, no proof, no evidence but we are exhorted to “believe the victim”! The same way we believed the victims in satanic abuse cases or maybe in witchcraft trials? This is a travesty. Dr. Blasey is asking us to jettison all normal judicial process, including presumption of innocence, because she is a woman. Well, I am a woman and a feminist and I find it outrageous. We should demand justice, not special consideration because of our tender sensibilities. I don’t believe her anymore. Polygraph is junk science that only proves that she believes her own allegations, not that they are true. As for FBI investigation - I was surprised to find out that Anita Hill was actually investigated by the FBI and her accusations found to be baseless. I don’t think they were - contrast her measured and dignified behavior with Dr. Blasey’s antics - but it just shows that such investigations are worthless. End this circus, let her testify, and vote on Kavanaugh. He will be a terrible judge but our judicial system will survive. It won’t survive substituting sob stories for due process.
15
@Mor Best comment.
2
It now seems increasingly clear that Blasey-Ford is a snowflake who will melt in the sun - if she even really shows up for the hearing.
5
In a country of 325 million people, is it really that hard to elect a President who has NOT been accused of 20 sexual sexual assault cases, and nominate a justice to the Supreme Court who has NOT been accused of behaviour bordering on attempted rape?
2
If it comes out next the Kavanaugh was a jock in HS as well, he’s done for. Who of us didn’t hate the jocks back then because they always got the girls. If we’re all going back to high school on this matter, we might as well go all the way back. The thought of some of my nerd friends from the chess club who were afraid of girls sitting on the Supreme Court doesn’ t necessarily reassure me either.
This whole episode is so absurd and fraught with old school sexism and the art of priviledge. It is in fact a gift to the resistance.
This is what these old white men don't get: most women and many young men have been sexually abused or assaulted. In fact, I have yet to discuss this with any woman who has not been treated like a piece of flesh to be pawed.
Get ready GOP for a crushing blowback and being relegated to the dustheap of political irrelevance. This is the moment of pivot. The pendulum swings and smites.
1
So let me get this straight:
1) Dr. Blasley remembers being sexually assaulted: "How could one possibly remember anything after all those years?"
2) A potential witness remembers nothing: "This proves it never happened."
Hmmm...
2
Would you PLEASE use Professor Blasey's name in headlines and leads? Her name is not used in this story until the third paragraph! She is more than an accuser. It is always Judge Kavanaugh and "the woman who accused him." How about Professor Blasey and "the man who may have assaulted her"? Really. Just use her name.
5
Just as Brett M. Kavanaugh put his hand over Christine Blasey Ford’s mouth 36 years ago to silence her while he tried to rape her, so now is Senator Charles Grassley doing everything in his power to silence Dr. Ford's testimony to the American public as to Kavanaugh's character and fitness to serve on the highest court in the land. Some things never change. The rape continues.
1
I truly want to believe this woman. With all my heart I do. I feel ill just thinking she may be lying because there are those like me, who were actually raped and assaulted as 12-16 year olds, who did tell. Who did report. As a woman, I so badly want to believe her. But there is just too much that seems off about this. everything about this is so politically motivated, the visceral devisive hate that has saturated this country, the unsubstantiated claims, the timing of it all. Its a nasty game being played out, and the American people are being subjected to this. I truly wish Donald Trump would shut up about this matter! He should not be the president no more than Bill Clinton was. Men of their ilk should never represent this country. And any woman who abuses the authentic survivors of rape and trauma, should be shamed.
3
These first hand accounts written by Sen Patrick Leahy, Sen Russ Feingold, and Lisa Graves, attorney, supply SPECIFIC information proving that Kavanaugh repeatedly lied under oath during two confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
"Brett Kavanaugh misled the Senate under oath. I cannot support his nomination."
https://wapo.st/2pu8NgH
"We Know Brett Kavanaugh Has Lied Already"
https://bit.ly/2OyrbjD
"I Wrote Some of the Stolen Memos That Brett Kavanaugh Lied to the Senate About. He should be impeached, not elevated."
https://bit.ly/2CtUgv6
3
Trump's rally statement , followed by his recent tweets, affirming that Kavanaugh is the best possible candidate, but that nevertheless, Dr. Ford should be allowed to come and testify--"Give her a chance to say her piece, and then confirm the man" sounds like that old joke of a black suspect in the Old South brought before the local white judge. The suspect tells the judge he's afraid he won't get a fair trial. The judge smiles and assures the suspect,"Don't worry, don't worry. First we'll give you a fair trial. And then we'll hang you."
3
It is notable that peripheral players named in the Kavanaugh situation express having "no recall" with regard to the event. That seems to be a way to evade a question in countless confirmation hearings. Did Judge Kavanaugh invoke having no memory or recall in response to questions during his confirmation hearing? It is my hope that senators have the courage to ask Kavanaugh about his yearbook page, his high school drinking habits, and his preoccupation with the Devil's Triangle (in reference to female genitalia) if/when the hearing resumes.
2
"The Senate Judiciary Committee and lawyers for the woman who has accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her decades ago reached a tentative agreement on Saturday for her to publicly testify on Thursday, an apparent breakthrough that could alter the course of a bitter confirmation fight."
What appalling writing! "The woman" has a name it is Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. A fact finally noted in the third paragraph prefaced in this way: "But in a possible setback for the woman..."
Let's try a rewrite: The Senate Judiciary Committee and lawyers for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford who has accused the Supreme Court nominee put forward by President Trump of sexually assaulting her.
No doubt that write up would never have passed editorial muster - and with good reason. However, the fact that Dr. Blasey Ford is reduced to "the woman" in the Times lede apparently raised no editorial alarms at all.
Clearly there is work to be done in the Times newsroom as well as on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
3
This is not a setback but a major blow to the credibility of this accusation. All four parties named have signed a written statement including a life long female Democrat friend of Dr. Ford that she has never met Bret Kavanaugh and has never been to a party with them together. Not a lot to stand on after this latest revelation.
4
The drumbeat continues as the battle for and against 'A Woman's Right to Choose' continues.
And with the history of the Religious Right as a successful opponent on this issue, continually killing off with a 'death by a thousand cuts' the right for a woman to choose to have an abortion, lijke never before women need to flood the streets and show their oppositiion to this crazed opposition and their support for their right to choose what's right for them.
Ted Cruz used to be the most hated person in the senate due to the annoying stunts he would try and pull. I guess that honor now goes to the distinguished senator from California.
I find it telling that depending on your political stripe, you believe Dr. Ford or not. #meetoo is as much political weapon as it is a badge of the sexual assault victim. When the left is subjected to scrutiny, they behave very much like the right.
When Avital Ronell, a celebrity academic, was found to have sexually harassed her grad student, feminist luminaries rushed to her defense and stated in writing her male victim was lying with malice.
When Justin Trudeau, Canada’s self-described feminist Prime Minister was accused of sexual assault, he first denied recalling the event, and then said people can have different opinions on the same experience. He refused to permit an investigation despite having zero tolerance for other accused of much less serious activities.
Asia Argento, a #meetoo leader, has aggressively threatened her accuser and others who believe him with legal action. She’s been accused of statutory rape with photographic and textual evidence. That hasn’t stopped her and he lawyers from blaming the victim.
So let’s be clear. The facts are what people want them to be and the left is hardly innocent of being dismissive of victims when it suits it.
26
@Matt
I guess you believe that the earth is flat, the moon landing was staged in Hollywood, and that Clinton is president. After all, there are no facts.
1
@Matt
Not to mention Bill Clinton and Hillary, his enabler.
The whiplash hurts sometimes..
3
@Amy, well if I were in the Clinton camp, I’d say any and all of the women who claimed he sexually assaulted them were “bimbo eruptions”. Those were Mrs. Clinton’s words. See how the facts change when it’s your guy or gal in the crosshairs?
Hard to believe that the Times names and titles all involved while Professor Ford is "the women" through out the first half of the piece. For all of its posturing on gender issues at the most basic level this is what we get.
7
This is a terrible mess, which is exactly what I think the dirty democrats wanted to create. I also think they don't actually care about Dr. Ford, it was all just to create a mess.
13
Perplexed at the selective condemnation considering those whom accused Bill Clinton of far worse still struggle to be heard even to this day and even with more accurate detailed information than Ford regarding their sexual assaults! Had Hillary won the election i highly doubt any Democrat are their voting base would have had an issue with the privilege of being the very First Man given to someone more than once accused of creating his own set of victims. Strange how the double standard crowd are absolutely blind in regards to their own hypocrisy!
13
I am not surprised this woman Keyser does not remember a party she attended 35 years ago. Not sure that in any way discredits Blasey.
5
@APB 3 people say they aren't at the party but Dr Ford says they were. Whose memory is better or is this just political?
1
@APB The pertinent point is she is quoted as stating she does not know Brett Kavanaugh.
2
@APB: Yep, had she been assaulted herself she would indeed remember this party. I don't remember every party I attended in high school even though it wasn't that many and I wasn't a drinker.
2
Obviously parents need to be as concerned about Respect Education as much as Sex Education.
1
Are you appalled at how the Republicans on the Committee on the Judiciary have responded to these allegations?
1) Learn who the Committee members are here: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov
2) Indivisible keeps a spreadsheet that tracks where senators stand on Kavanaugh's nomination. Write and call your senators often: https://tinyurl.com/SCOTUS-Senators
3) Make sure your voter registration is up to date, and VOTE NOVEMBER 6!: https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote
4) Help other people register to vote and if they need it, help them with the process of voting. Consider organizing a voter registration event. This coming Tuesday, Sept. 25 is National Voter Registration Day: https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org. Toolkit: https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/partner-tools/
Let’s roll, people.
7
Let's try this again, since my original post appears to have been deleted by the "approvers." I said something like:
Poor Chrissy. Poor judgment. If you didn't want things like this to happen (although not implying that Brett K. was involved), then maybe you shouldn't have engaged in under-age drinking (or drugs?) and tried to hang out with the big kids in an attempt to be popular.
I would add: Grow up. Your professional success does not betray the scars of an event that you claim has ruined your life.
12
@Ray: Victim-blaming at it's finest. Kavanaugh bragged about his drunken college days. Hanging out with kids two years older does not mean one should be assaulted or that the perpetrator is off the hook.
1
That sounds like a great old time classic by the men in white. It goes like - good old boys can do no wrong. What’s a little drunken abuse among young men who will be young men.
A setback?
Go to Hollywood.
1
Judge Kavanaugh is the victim in this tragic farce. So is his family. So are the American people if we allow accusations of this type to derail his nomination. If Democrats don't want to vote for him because of politics, fine. The Republicans do the same. But must they also accuse him of being a sexual predator? Do they have no shame?
10
@cleo. Rich white guys who grew up in gated communities, going to elite private schools and were accepted as legacies to elite Ivy League colleges can, by definition, never be victims. Power comes with responsibility and with a corresponding loss of certain claims, victimhood among them.
1
Than, while Kavanagh is assaulting Dr. Ford, Mark Judge is the only one in the room jumped on her, now there are eleven white Republican senators ready to jump on her. The only difference is rooms are different.
5
@Kodali well Dr. Ford is the one who started the ball rolling here; it is irrelevant if the senators are white men or not, a question is a question. Since she is the other party (excuse the pun) involved in this spectacle she needs to answer just like Kavanaugh needs to answer.
4
This is beyond baffling to me. I understand people (most people on this site) do not want this man on the SC. Okay fine. But do any of those people see how utterly insane this is? One person, who can't remember where, has no witnesses to something that isn't even a crime IF true, from 35 years ago? Yeah, I'm sure we all remember things perfectly from 35 years ago. Riiight. How is it possible that 1 single person with ZERO evidence. Zero people collaborating what she is saying and this is going to derail a person who not one single other person has come out against? Have we not seen with everyone from Cosby to Harvey that where there is one there are many??? This does a HUGE disservice to those who have actually been assaulted.
Anyone who is letting their feeling about the nominee or the person who put him up, color their attitude towards this insane witch hunt (this time it really is) ought to take a good long look in the mirror and ask what have I become because I hate someone so much?
27
@doug p: You do not understand how trauma works. Her story is very credible to people who understand the dynamics of sexual assault and trauma. Traumatic events etch certain details into your brain, they're burned there, whether you want them to be or not. it's details like the person's face, scent, tone of voice. Not the address of the house.
1
@doug p No one should be surprised. Evidence wasn't required from Anthony Weiner to derail Hillary, no evidence from Benghazi....but democrats must have evidence.
The President requires no evidence, as witnessed by the absurd conspiracy theories he repeats as truth.
Evidence? Nah, that's for democrats to worry about.
@doug p . Let me give you a hint so you can understand a completely straightforward case: The victim (who passed a lie detector test and has supplied notes attesting to the assault six years ago) will testify under oath and wants a full FBI investigation.
The rapist and his friends will not permit a witness to be examined under oath and will not permit an FBI investigation.
Pretty cut and dried for any honest person.
1
Hopefully Judge Kavanaugh will want to "get into the weeds" about Dr. Ford's allegations against him, same as he vociferously wanted to follow up on Pres. Clinton's misdeeds ... evidently Mr. Kavanaugh doesn't care to talk about his excessive drinking, let alone his partying habits both at G'town Prep and Yale. Bet his WH team is "helping" him in how to avoid these topics ... "too personal" is not a response & he can't use the "hypothetical" reasoning either this time!
5
The good judge should show more respect for women, perhaps Justice Thomas or our President could offer up suggestions.
3
@Walter McCarthy
Since there is no evidence o r witnesses the judge did anything to Dr Ford how can he act better? I guess you've judged him without any proof.
2
@John s We can assume they're were both spoiled brats. He got a little fresh, who knows what her story is. I'd give him a Mulligan, we need more Northern Europeans on the court.
Now Dr. Ford will be re-victimized by the Senators on the House Judiciary Committee when she testifies. Shame on all of them for their display of ignorance and hate.
3
"But in a possible setback for the woman, Christine Blasey Ford, Republicans on the committee received a statement on Saturday that seemed to eliminate any chance of corroboration of Dr. Blasey’s account"...What about the other guy in the room? Why can't we hear from that guy??
4
It's simply astonishing how republicans in a word became an american jihad, can't think of any other way to describe it.
They're basically shove Kavanaugh nomination down our throats.
Encourage by crazy rhetoric coming from their dear leader, who screams from his rally don't pay attention to the other side, then McConnell repeats like a parrot, no matter how the hearing will go Kavanaugh will be nominated to the Supreme Court, same with Pence and the rest of this maniacal gang.
They're aggressively demanding her to submit to their date and time, inventing the deadlines out of the blue, just to wrap it before the midterms.
There's no bottom deep enough for this radical squad.
My unequivocal praise goes to Dr. Ford for her courage and determination.
History creates heroes and cowards.
You will forever remain a true HERO!
9
@faivel1 Perhaps a hero to those of you who dont believe in innocent until proven guilty and due process. If your only belief in life is “Resist”than I guess Dr Ford is a profile in courage. For thinking people, not so much. And as an aside, I have been around true hero’s. Men and women who have sacrificed for the nation. IMHO Dr Ford can’t hold a candle to them.
1
@faivel1. 6 FBI investigation s in The Judge. And now 3 people who Dr Ford said were at the party deny it. But you discount that Dr Ford lie. No one shoved this nomination down our throa ts.
1
Republican Senators, by denying a proper F.B.I investigation of the alleged assault of Dr. Blasey by Judge Kavanaugh, when she was 15 and he was 17, are showing less diligence, less fair-mindedness, and less good faith than during their Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas debacle.
The facts are, an accusation of sexual assault is far more serious than sexual harassment. Is it possible that in the intervening 27 years U.S. Senators have become worse? It is.
Here these men are treating it lightly and stupidly ("it couldn't have been that bad or she would have gone to the police!"), or prejudging her("she's mixed up"), or saying she's just preventing their quick confirmation vote for partisan reasons. They show no empathy towards the millions of women in America who have been sexually assaulted, or worse, by men. They do not care the doctor and her family are facing death threats; they care about their optics (remember Anita Hill and that Year of the Woman?, we gotta hire a gal to do the questioning!, can't be us guys) and getting their way (this is the deadline or else, woman!). Simply, they do not show proper respect to women. It is so mind bogglingly disgusting I feel my head is exploding.
I'm a 64 year old woman. I formerly did not view my country as a place with a rape culture. I formerly was likely to view a Republican senator, or a conservative jurist, with respect. NO LONGER! Go Christine and, BTW women, vote all these people OUT! I will vote no more Republican forever.
7
Why does Kavanaugh require a week of trial prep? This looks suspect. Was he hung over during his criminal law or moot court classes? If he's innocent, as he claims, he should know how to answer any question. Big red flag, Judge.
6
@Pia. Presumably for the Same reason Dr Ford does. Although she has had, if not 35 years, at least several months to prepare.
3
@Pia
Do you not think Katz's California associates have or will thoroughly coach Ford? As professionals both accuser and accused are accustomed to addressing groups, but that does no eliminate the need for rigorous preparation.
3
Suggestion: if Dr. Blasey Ford has to undergo cross-examination by a team of women chosen by Sen. Grassley, then Judge Kavanaugh must submit to a team of women chosen by Sen. Feinstein.
8
I do not know the facts of the case. Why not ask the pros, FBI, who have written books on this specific scenario, to investigate, or have I reached the GOP Senate judiciary's foregone conclusion...
Is the new symbol for justice no longer a blindfolded woman's eye but a hand over a woman's mouth? And the Senate judiciary carrying its water, w / its "upper hand"? Disgraceful...
8
Meanwhile, back in the real world of decency and integrity, all four of the people named by Dr Blasey Ford as having knowledge of what happened deny that Kavanaugh did anything improper.
Democrats, true to form, continue with their character assassination charade. ‘By any means necessary...’
11
Leland Keyser stated she had no RECOLLECTION of such an event, but that she believes Dr. Ford.
As others have pointed out, few of us remember every teenage social gathering (especially when drinking was involved) where nothing of consequence happened to them.
Trauma, on the other hand, has a way of searing itself into memory... the smells, the textures, the faces, the fear, even if the extraneous details —the address, the date— slip away.
Twisting the facts of what the others have stated about their recollection of the event does not advance an argument against the credibility of Dr Fords accusation.
1
Why does the NYT insist on referring to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford as "Brett Kavanaugh's Accuser" or "The woman..." in headlines and leading sentences instead of referring to her by her name? While the judge's name appears over and over, Dr. Ford's name hardly ever does. This seems to reflect a lack of respect and unequal treatment of Dr. Ford and the judge. I wonder if this is just one reason why it's hard for the brave women who come forward with such charges to do so.
6
The GOP wonders, "Why should the possibility of a failed rape attempt stop the immediate confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States?"
I guess, in the words of Mitch McConnell, for the GOP, "The people have spoken".
1
A “failed rape attempt” is a sexual assault. A “successful” one...
2
There is now substantial written evidence of Kavanaugh's abuse of alcohol
in high school and Mark Judge's abuse of alcohol at the time of the alleged attempted violent gang rape of Dr. Ford.
Totally supporting Ford's accusations against Kavanaugh and Judge when she knew them.
1
@David not sure how using alcohol in high school supports an attempted rape accusation. A great many of us used alcohol in high school. I suppose we should make the leap that somewhere along the line sexual assault was an automatic and presumed result?
1
Instead of pushing for a quick vote and casting stones at Ms. Blasey, Senator Grassley should make sure his own house is order after revelations about his own staffer being accused of inappropriate sexual behavior. Pious Republicans and evangelicals are not above the temptations of the flesh after all. Will Grassley squash an FBI investigation into the conduct of his former staffer like he's done concerning the accusations against Kavanaugh?
@silver vibes. or like the Democrats have done with Keith Ellison?
1
The FBI should investigate before either testify.
3
Let's lay the big picture out clearly to examine all the assumptions.
Blasey opened this up. Classic question that needs to be asked foremost: cui bono (for whose good)? Answer could be that maybe politically she can't stand him, and is making it up to prevent Kavanaugh from the SC. Another less cynical approach is that it happened, and she doesn't want a morally compromised person ascending to the Bench.
Next to that, what do you have to lose? Kavanaugh has his life's dream and ambition, while Blasey has possibly her life period; and never mind the witness protection program level of security detail for the foreseeable future, especially if he drops out or doesn't get confirmed.
Finally, if you have nothing to hide, act like it. The stakes couldn't be higher, but she has clearly acted as if she has everything to demonstrate and nothing to hide, Kavanaugh exactly the opposite.
5
@A Prof
She has already gained, becoming a heroine for the Left. He has already lost, a permanent question mark on his reputation.
No matter what evidence he or the Reps present to clear him the Dems have won, keeping this in the public eye and delaying the vote for someone whose policies the don't like.
If this is anything like the past, where Sen. Harry Reed got rid of the filibuster for most Judicial appointments, this too will lead to worse.
1
Denying a recollection?
That is priceless hollywood. It can spawn an industry.
I deny knowing if I knew then or now. One wonders what the meaning of is is.
Why “deny”?
What happened is the smarty pants picked the verb that will mislead without being a direct lie. The same smarty pants know that the truth is the witness cannot admit or deny because they don’t know.
And the gossips run to gossip the with new Times style of Lede, the MisLede. Deny a recollection.
2
Republicans and their faux Christian enablers want to stop the clock on history in order to preserve their power, their wealth, their privilege. Good luck with that. Such strategies work only temporarily -- until the oppressed rise up and throw off their oppressors. May that day come soon. Maybe come November?
5
A fifteen year old girl goes to a "party" at the home of unknown parents known to be absent, yet where drinking boy peers are known to be present.
Where is this headed?
5
I mean this is a joke. With these facts, such a case brought criminally would be dismissed out of hand, as it should. That’s disregarding the fact that he was a minor at the time and no charges could even have been pressed and all records would (and should) have been expunged. Let’s review the known facts.
No time. No place. Judge denies. Smyth denies. Her good friend Keyser denies. Kauvanaugh denies. No mention to mom. No mention to dad. No contemporaneous mention to any friend. No stained dress. No rape kit. No hospital report. No texts. No photo. No surveillance video. No phone records. No cell phone records. No GPS locations. No nothing.
Nothing but 36 year old allegations from a liberal California professor who is a Democratic Party donor and who has attended anti-Trump protestors.
12
@Jay Lincoln
All things being fair, I will assume that you feel the same animosity toward the men who recently came out to talk of being abused as boys by their priests. So tell me.
Considering how hostile you are toward this woman for having spoken up, I am truly interested in knowing if you have any children
2
@Jay Lincoln
Thousands of women who have been raped or assaulted have come forth with reasons why they didn't report the event to their mothers, or to the police, or even to their friends. Back then there were no cell phones or texting, and no surveillance videos at a private home party.
She only donated less than $100 to the Democratic party. I that a big donor? Thousants of women attended the women's march in protest the day after Trump was inaugurated. Are you not going to believe any of those women who protested? Get real and up to date!
2
Democrats are lousy chess player. How can you win when you are left with the king and few pawn pieces? That is not a winning strategy in end game. Election has consequences.
3
Two words nobody utters: “unsubstantiated allegation.” The crux of our system is what you can prove, not what you believe. Faith-Based justice went out with the Salem witch trials. Liking a person and agreeing with their politics, or not, has absolutely nothing to do with it.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
13
I want to hear them under oath.
8/17/98 Democrat President Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting president to testify before a grand jury investigating his conduct. After the questioning at the White House is finished, Clinton goes on national TV to admit he had an inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
1
Republican Senators: be patient, be honest, be American.
2
Another one of Dr. Blasey Ford's "witnesses" goes down.
As far as the alledged assault there is still no time and no date. Doesn't know where it happened. Doesn't know how she got to the party, nor how she got home. Please.
Dr. Blasey is being used by the Democrats as a pawn. The Democrats don't care about her and are willing to destroy her to get their way. This is the real war on women.
So let's do the hearing and approve Kavanaugh. Then Trump can start thinking about who he will nominate to replace Ginsberg.
10
It’s become very obvious Ford is not being truthful. Ford changed her story from the notes her own therapist took of what Ford stated of 4 people being present in the room when this alleged incident took place. Now she claims only 2 people were in the room attempting to blame her own therapist for making a "mistake" which is very doubtful.
Now a 4th witness (Leland Keyser) that Ford named has come forward and stated she was a close friend of Ford, and has no recollection of being at any party where Kavanaugh was present, with, or without Ford. So we now have 4 witnesses (Kavanaugh, Judge, Smyth, and Keyser) that contradict Ford’s accusations. How can Ford possibly overcome 4 witnesses that confirm she is lying ? No jury would ever believe her, and neither would any prosecutor, or judge.
Ford claimed she wanted to remain anonymous yet went to the Washington Post and gave an interview. People that want to remain anonymous don’t do interviews with the mainstream media.
Ford claimed she did not want to come forward and testify. Yet in August she hired a lawyer, and allegedly took a polygraph test which confirms she was preparing to come forward to attack Judge Kavanaugh.
Ford says she can't remember what year, what location, her accusations took place. In addition, Ford can't remember why she went to the location, how she arrived, and left the location which makes Ford's claim impossible to investigate, which in my opinion was the intent. Ford's claims are false.
13
35 years ago someone did something bad to me. i just cant remember where it was. get real.
7
Is there really no one else who is qualified in our entire country?
5
Dear NYT:
These stories keep shading the equities toward the accuser in an attempt to gin up liberal outrage. You state in the headline that the accuser is "willing to testify," yet in fact, she is not willing to testify unless she gets her way with the "details."
This is absurd. She came forward to tell her story to the Washington Post only after the confirmation hearings were concluded and a vote scheduled. This is inherently unfair; the timing makes all this look like a political dirty trick.
As Cokie Roberts so ably put it, the accuser made the charges and bedrock principle of American civil liberties and equal justice.
Is Kavanaugh supposed to testify first and defend himself against secret charges? This is not the Star Chamber.
Her claims may indeed be true, but they are very stale (35 years ago), involve one drunken teenager allegedly groping another, and lack any corroborating detail. This is a classic he said/she said.
It is unlikely the Senate -- as an adjudicatory body -- will be able to to either prove or disprove them, even if the FBI took a year to investigate.
But truth is not the agenda here, is it?
The Democrats want to tarnish this man's reputation, be able to claim the accuser was mistreated and victimized again by the old white guys of the GOP, and develop a powerful get out the vote issue for the midterms, aimed at liberals and women.
Good politics perhaps, but not justice.
16
@Jorge. I fear you have totally misread the situation, unless you're saying the 2012 confession of the trauma to her husband while in couple's therapy was also just a cynical ploy to get Kavanaugh later if need be.
2
I can’t help being troubled by the headlines describing Christine Blasey Ford as “Kavanaugh’s Accuser.”
It’s tragic that Ms. Ford has been re-victimized by threats and zealous media attention. Headlines should not simply repeatedly give name to the male alleged abuser and while referring to the alleged victim as the accuser. It’s apparent that media outlets are wrestling with this. NPR has moved from referring to Ms. Ford as “Accuser” to “the woman accusing Bret Kavanaugh.” A little bit better, but still her identity is only given name as a woman associated with the man who victimized her.
A headline referring to Mr. Kavanaugh as “Supreme Court Nominee accused of sexually abusing Ford” May sound wildly biased but I don’t see how the Times is doing anything different by naming Ms. as nothing more than “Accuser.” Not victim. Not alleged victim. Not by her profession, psychologist. Not as a mother. Not as a strong and intelligent woman.
Alleged or not. Do not identify Ms. Ford in relation to the man who may very well have sexually abused her.
I expect more from NYT.
2
I truly wish that the press would start using Dr. Ford's name instead of "the accuser."
5
If Kavanaugh is not confirmed, a new candidate will emerge. Since Trump doesn't have the brains to nominate one himself my question is: Since he has to pick one of the apostles from the Federalist Society, are they all as pristine as this one? Although they're probably not convicted felons, are they all devoid of a sense of decency and just as creepy as this one?
1
@Shack Well in the future all Supreme Court nominees should be only women. Who have never been drunk in their life and are morally pristine. That should fix the whole system forever and spare us the circus we are enjoying today.
1
@Nancy
Women are either being infantilized (ex., Dr. Ford cannot face Kavanaugh) or idealized (ex., if women ran the world). It's always startling how many women actually hold these stereotypes of women.
Hillary should have destroyed any pretense that women and men are different.
Is Dr. Ford gonna get a sign like Kavanaugh's that calls her honorable?
I doubt it.
So let's wait a while before we call him honorable.
1
It is normal to refer to a judge as "Honorable". Pull out your Emily Post.
2
@Margo
I believe Emily would have sided with me in this case.
While Dr. Blasey is technically "Kavanaugh's Accuser" as your headline reports, she is perhaps better identified as yet another courageous woman whose life has been forever made more difficult by a thoughtless, banal, so commonplace as to even be unremembered, sexual assault by an entitled white man shielded by the privilege of class and circumstance. This is less of a confrontation than it is a cleansing or purging of the evil she has been forced to carry for 35 years.
Ford should directly to Montgomery County Maryland and file charges again Kavanaugh. that ought to wake everybody up. There WILL be an investigation, and ALL the witnesses will testify. Women are powering this election and this looks really bad for Republicans. Although no candidates are talking about impeachment of this liar, who has actually done a bunch of bad things that should disqualify him for this job, rank and file Democrats will nag our Senators and Congresspeople to impeach this complete unqualified candidate, and while we're at it, new negative info came up, after the disgustingly brutal Republican treatment of Anita Hill, and after Thomas was confirmed. He should be impeached, as well. The conservative branch of the Supreme Court are a bunch of real winners, eh?
2
The Washington Post reports that in mock questioning sessions Kavanaugh refused to answer some questions he deemed too personal. Hmmmmmm.....
1
ALL:
Go to the movies this weekend...
Take in “Fahrenheit 11/9”
Think
Ken Starr was removed as president of Baylor College and removed from teaching law courses. Kavanaugh was his go to boy and both have serious issues with being adult males. We are at a crossroad when character matters and the GOP have no character, conservatives are hateful white old people who have yet to understand that it is 2018 not 1890.
Kavanaugh needs to step down and Mr. Mueller is the only one who will stop the corruption of the Supreme Court and the destruction of America.
True Americans who care about this country show up in Washington this week and tell wyour representatives that they will be voted out of office if they go with Trumph and put a corrupt individual on the court.
Just shows how corrupt our old politicians are and what lengths they will go to for the destruction of American democracy.
It's amusing that so many commenters think there's something wrong, or suspicious that Judge Kavanaugh has been prepping for a possible hearing at the White House. This is S.O.P. folks, for all the recent nominees, so go find another line of attack. Remember when commenters on the 'Times' boards actually were informed?
4
Great; now we can have a televised circus before the G.O.P. rams Kavanaugh down the throats of of America anyway. What a joke. Anyone laughing besides the G.O.P.?
@Greg Hodges. Pretty much all of us who voted for Trump to insure the S.C. remained conservative.
1
This Kavanaugh vs Blasey-Ford confrontation is priceless. All I care about primarily is derailing the SCOTUS nominee. Second, I hope for a new foundation for women to defend themselves successfully against male sex predators. Two wins for the price of one. Ford is a stout candidate to do this. The last thing that I want is the GOP Senate Judicial Committee to debase Ford’s efforts. That is the cowardice I expect from them.
1
It IS “unremarkable" that someone has no memory of attending a party 3 decades ago at which "nothing of consequence happened to HER.” (emphasis mine)
What IS remarkable is the sham hearing process which Senate Republicans are laboring at. Their objective is to confirm Kavanaugh at all costs while trying to hide their hostility to the truth. They don't want the truth coming out so no FBI investigation, no subpoenaing of Mark Judge, no calling of expert witnesses to testify on how victims, especially young girls, typically do not contemporaneously report rapes, attempted rapes or sexual molestation.
The major concern of Senate Republicans is how not to reveal their hostility, how best to give the appearance of fairness...without being fair.
The process which Senate Republicans are orchestrating undermines all confidence in fairness, the pursuit of justice, and law and order. It is a mockery of justice and it reinforces the suspicion that Kavanaugh has much more to hide than his papers while working on the George W. Bush torture program. He does not belong on the US Supreme Court, but he is going to be confirmed at all costs. And it will cost them.
Kavanaugh's confirmation will be a forever reminder that the Machiavellian Republican Party is hostile to women's rights and women's equality. Every vote Kavanaugh makes will be seen through this lens and every vote will recall the dishonesty and ugliness in Republican hearts.
3
@jabarry
I totallly agree! The effort to APPEAR fair is the Republicans only motive in these negotiations, although Mitch McConnell had the audacity to admit that they will "plow" through these hearing and Judge Kavanaugh "WILL sit on the Supreme court"!
No, Donald. We women do not want to “fight” for Brett Kavanaugh.
4
@MIMA
Many women either support Kavanaugh or are undecided. There is no monolithic "We" on any side.
6
Dr. Ford is an extremely brave woman. A profile in courage. Puts the rest of these condemning old goons to shame.
6
@Fromjersey. Do me a favor and read the Medal of Honor Citations for Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon. Or any citations for any recipients then let’s talk about profiles in courage.
1
Brett Kavanaugh has always been a law-abiding citizen, from Kindergarden on, he always had a designated Big Wheel driver.
2
@Mark Judge, kind of a young age to be drinking, even by present standards.
1
The best ad for Senate Term Limits, ever!
5
With Keyser's statement, it's all over but the shouting.
No reasonable person will now credit Blasey's accusation. Only the most shameless partisans will continue to support her cause.
The real question now is how far those partisans will go in embarrassing themselves and Blasey by pushing a reckless and vicious accusation.
The midterms are coming up soon. Do the Democrats really want to be part of such a scandalous smear job?
11
@frankly0 Not a single person denying memory of the event is willing to appear under oath. Judge, in particular, sent an email in which he specifically rejected the possibility of testifying under oath. Why is that? Without his testimony UNDER OATH, you cannot know it is a smear job.
2
I am completely disgusted with the cowardice and compliant behavior of the ..... average american. We all drive around with that witty bumper sticker that reads "If you arent outraged, you're not paying attention." Then, the powers that be, manipulate your outrage towards a diversion! effectively controlling YOUR behavior anyway. Like good students, we post comments that simply repeat back exactly what the NYT editors teach us to say....as if to say to the class...."Look at how smart I am." Those of us who are honestly outraged, just shake our heads in disbelief at how easy it is to control the herd. Look, Kavanaugh is part of the problem. Open your eyes, Kavanaugh is as "insider" as it gets!! Born and raised in DC.....groomed for higher office by the Elite Caste....he's a Bush Yes-Man....his opinion is formed by the orders of the day. The correct response by any forward looking Senator is to REJECT this sub-standard nominee. He lacks the professional credentials needed for the job. NOW....there's also this frightening problem of the other insider....the DNC political machine.....which has just demonstrated how low they will go to sabotage any attempt to change the system. REJECT every DNC politician up for re-election
6
Absolutely not. The DNC is our only bulwark against Trump and Kavanaugh. Your tired “all politicians are the same”mantra is what got us the worst president in U.S. history - an uneducated, throughly dishonest, vindictive, traitorous fool without morals of any kind. Best you should condemn the churchy folks who would support any “transgressions” on the part of Agent Orange for being able to control the bodies of women. Better to condemn the sloppy thinking of voters who, despite not voting for Trump, could not vote for Clinton whose “terrible” misuse of a server was equal in their weak minds to Trump’s legion of truly dangerous faults.
Saturday evening (West Coast):
WSJ: "They also agreed to permit only one camera and to make sure that Dr. Ford is provided adequate breaks."
Oh -- "I need a break...", followed by five hours of (delay), then 30 minutes, followed by "I need a break...".
Geez Republican Senators -- get a clue. You continue to be played.
Vote. Monday at the latest.
Just vote.
6
Why aren't there any. women on the committee questioning this woman. if there is going to be a "lynching" why not have a woman on the committee?
Are we still a Republic or we becoming a Third World entity?
What is being held back and why?
4
Even if Kananaugh is confirmed, he will be tainted. As they say, anyone who has anything to do with this awful administration is tainted.
Things will not end well for the entire Republican Party. (Hallelujah!)
2
If all she is wants is to tell her story then do it. Why the complexity of negotiations? About what? This is not a trial, Dr. Ford is simply testifying at a confirmation hearing. I have a daughter and empathize with her pain, but we need to move on with the vote.
8
Judge Kavanaugh "practiced fielding specific questions about the accusations and deflecting broad inquiries about his social life, such as his general drinking habits." I wonder if he's going to call this a 'hi tech lynching' a la Clarence Thomas or if the White House -- which should not be involved in his confirmation hearing preparation which calls into question more quid pro quo-- has come up with another coinable phrase to deflect the issue.
I hope Dr. Blasey Ford begins by clearly spelling out how she came to know Bret Kavanaugh and his buddy Judge so any question of her confusing them with others is quickly put to rest. I also hope Orrin Hatch does not say something so blatantly cruel and misogynistic that it makes everyone in the room blanch. Let's see how these white male Republicans do questioning a woman about her life when she was 15.
As a victim myself, so far every part of the description Dr. Blasey Ford has released rings true. Thank goodness she was not raped that night and impregnated; I have no doubt the Kavanaughs would have privately arranged an abortion that Judge Kavanaugh now so strongly opposes. I know of one pro-life Catholic family who took that route when their son knocked up a high school classmate. At least it was a safe, legal abortion.
6
This hearing has been engineered by the Republicans to be a “he said she said” moment.
But it really isn’t and the press needs to stop reinforcing that misconception.
There has been no investigation and Dr. Ford has said there was an eyewitness Mark Judge.
The fact that the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are refusing to call that eyewitness is absolutely outrageous.
The fact that McConnell told an evangelical group that Kavanaugh would be confirmed, even before the scheduled hearing, is outrageous.
The fact that Lindsay Graham said this was a drive-by shooting is outrageous.
This incident started being about Kavanuagh- and it should still be about Kavanuagh.
But it’s also about the men with disgraceful views who hold leadership positions in our government - McConnell, Graham, the Orange Apparition, and all the men who support the position that Mark Judge should not testify.
As an added insult, the old white guy Republican on the Judiciary can’t even be man enough to ask Dr. Ford the questions themselves? Such cowards that they have to hide behind the skirts of one of one of the few supportive women lawyers they can muster up.
It’s obvious they don’t want to get to the truth or take responsibility for themselves and their actions - more bad behavior from privileged white men.
8
Is it not possible to give the reporters a quick course on criminal evidence?
6
I believe women, therefore I believe Leland Keyser.
11
This is a political plot hatched months ago, just as Ricki Seidman talked about in that leaked tape, all based on an allegation based on no evidence and a kind of lynch-mob hysteria. It's the Salem witch hunt with genders reversed.
10
How many parties do I recall from high school? Zero...except for the one I gave at my house. I know I attended other parties, but they no longer require storage in my memory bank after all these years. How many parties do you really recall after 20-40 years? I don't think that should be the basis for evaluating Ford's honesty.
9
The attacks begin: “One week ago, Dr. Christine Ford claimed she was assaulted at a house party attended by four others,” said Kerri Kupec, a White House spokeswoman. “Since then, all four of these individuals have provided statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee denying any knowledge of the incident or even having attended such a party.”
These people attended "elite" schools for boys and girls. Unfortunately, many of these schools are "anything goes but do not tell" institutions and protect the "elite" from the public knowing what really goes on. They protect each other - their "social class".
I attended a non-elite college many years ago when many women only went to college to find a husband. I was there for a higher education. However, six of the twelve girls in our off-campus house had abortions - one had four in a year - or left school pregnant and got married.
This is the "good old boys" system the eleven old white republican men on the judicial committee want to protect.
Sorry, boys and girls, Time's UP.
If the Koch brothers/catholic church/evangelical paid operatives in OUR U.S. Senate put serial liar and ethically bankrupt Kavanaugh on OUR U.S. Supreme Court WE THE PEOPLE must take every necessary step to prevent he an his brethren from destroying OUR human and civil rights. 70% of Americans do not want him there.
18
@njglea What rubbish! Dr. Ford went to an "elite" private girls school. Must she must now be considered a liar? Having come from money doesn't make you a liar. Moreover, private schools have honor codes that students are expected to respect on penalty of dismissal. It is noteworthy that public schools, where rampant plagiarism and unruly behavior go unpunished, do not.
5
@njglea
Reporting that her life-long friend - a woman - disputes her account is not an attack - it is the truth - inconvenient though that may be.
4
It is the Soros/Steyer money that is paying for the lawyers for Dr. Ford. They do not want Judge Kavanaugh to be our next Supreme Court justice at any price.
2
I would love to see Anita Hill sit behind Dr. Ford at this hearing for support. She is the only person who knows first hand about this experience. Time for a reckoning.
19
Anita Hill was harassed, but not sexually assaulted.
@LKL
Shall they also invite Juanita Broaddrick and Paula Jones?
Here are Dr. Ford's attorney's on-the-record statements* about Bill Clinton's accuser, Paula Jones:
“She's alleged one incident that took place in a hotel room that, by her own testimony, lasted 10 to 12 minutes. She suffered no repercussions in the workplace.”
And this:
"Clearly a one-time incident that took place in 10 to 12 minutes, she was not forced to have sex, she left on her own volition, the courts increasingly are finding that that is not enough to create a sexually hostile work environment claim,”
(1998 CBS Evening News)
5
Emphasis on tentative. I will believe it when I see it. We will see if another stall tactic is introduced.
3 people now dispute her claim - her lifelong friend, Leland Keyser, and Mark Judge and Patrick Smyth. Add Kavanaugh, which makes 4. Versus her claim alone. It is now a she said / THEY said.
Her story is unraveling.
BTW - I say this as someone who believed Anita Hill and thought that she handled her accusation much more credibility She did not vacillate about testifying, which raised the credibility factor. Her testimony was poised and articulate and believable. Thomas denied all accusations without even listening to her testimony. That was incredible to me at the time - how can someone deny a claim that he chose not to listen to? And this is essentially what Dr Ford's lawyers want Kavanaugh to do, to testify first before her! He correctly has declined that.
17
@Philly That's fine. Let's have THEM testify under oath at the hearing and then we'll really hear how many of them dispute Dr. Ford's claims.
1
@Philly: They don't dispute her claim. They say they don't remember.
It would be better if her lawyers checked with her friends about their recollections of the party before passing all the info on to the Judiciary Committee. It just looks bad for Ford if another friend doesn't remember, as understandable as it is why a small gathering wouldn't stick out for the friend. But the Republicans are just looking for sticks to bash her with and this will be one of them. 'What, your good friend doesn't remember? Mark Judge doesn't remember? You must be delusional.'
5
"Truth is generally the best vindication against slander."
-Abraham Lincoln
13
In my humble, naïve, narrow-minded and uninformed opinion [although I remain open to reason], this may be nothing more than a last-minute stunt by the Democrats to either (1) delay the vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the SCOTUS until AFTER the midterm elections, and/or (2) make President Trump and the Republicans look mean, heartless and unsympathetic towards a so-called "traumatized victim" of adolescent sexual abuse...by a closet sexual predator unfit to be on the SCOTUS. This is SAD...very sad, indeed!
Frankly, it really doesn't matter what the probative evidence shows (or fails to show); it's all about public perception, political advocacy...and yes, gullibility and willful ignorance on the part of the American people. Hopefully, that won't be the case!
Barring any earthshattering revelations by Dr. Ford in her sworn testimony, it appears that the Democrats may have played their last, desperate poker hand. QUESTION: Is their bluff working?
Note, however...if the exact same situation were politically in reverse...with the Republicans trying pull this sort of 11th hours stunt, NO ONE...not to mention the press & the mainstream media...would tolerate it in any way whatsoever.
That's my humble, naïve, narrow-minded and uninformed opinion [but I remain open to reason, of course].
20
@Vcliburn
I don't think so. Didn't the Republicans basically delay a Supreme Court Justice Appointment by a year when Mr Obama was POTUS?
@Vcliburn. Democrats don’t have to do anything to make the Republicans look cruel & heartless. They’ve been doing it to themselves for years. There’s no need to rush this nomination. Whatever you think about this accusation, Kavanaugh already showed much that indicates he shouldn’t be considered. This is a lifetime appointment. We deserve the best most vetted candidate.
My cynical side wonders how many Democrat candidates this cycle will claim similar situations to take advantage if this.
3
What's happening is not a "setback," but I set up. WH solicits these denials, and then puts them out there. In the meantime, there is no actual, i.e. FBI investigation, where what is said is at the penalty of perjury. Unfortunately, NYT, unlike WaPo and others, seems to have fallen for this scam.
7
@Joshua Kates
The Judiciary Committee is doing the investigation. The Judiciary Committee has many Democrats.
1
Time for commenters to retire the tired cliche “Kabuki theater.” What we are about to see is a show trial, plain and simple. The kind that happens in the regimes Mango Himself admires so much.
Every single person, female or male, who has ever been sexually assaulted, had better wake up and vote, or this country is doomed.
15
How about every person who has a complaint take it and their evidence to court? Deal with it directly.
We have laws and if the courts won't handle these properly we have ways to demand better.
3
Please let her have her say. Ask polite questions and that's it.Let Kavanaugh defend Kavanaugh. It is probably true but politically it smells to high heavens. I do not want to see Kavanaugh confirmed but fir is fair.
4
Congressional republican hypocrisy knows no limit - after shelving Garland, now the SC nominee has to be done right away? Unreal...
10
I can see it now Ford attacked at party and fears she will be killed (so she says). She also claims she ran out of the house. The other 4 people at the house say wow think that was Ford running out of the house. Hmmmm oh well so what are you wearing to school on Monday? The 4 people have already stated they dont have a recollection at all of Ford's accounts. Perhaps because it was a made up story in her head initiated by $$ or who knows just per hate for the current adminstration (does seem to be a big mover and shaker these days)
17
@Suzie Truth
Re: "made up story in her head initiated by $$ or who knows just per hate for the current adminstration"
Your theory has a hole. The newspapers say there are therapist notes since 2012 or so about her experience. How would she have known six years ago that Judge Kavanaugh will be nominated?
You tell ‘em, Suzie! Ain’t you all fired up! Look out, World!
@Suzie Truth Did they appear under oath? Did Judge agree to testiy under oath? No? Well, that's weird. Yet, I am supposed to believe these people? Ridiculous.
Democrats. This is not a normal nomination!
This is a corrupt nomination by a corrupt president. Trump appointed him to help shut down the Mueller investigation.
TRUMP PICKED a JUSTICE to OBSTRUCT JUSTICE!
All patriots need to go to DC or their Senator's office and shut this corruption down before Trump does more damage to the Constitution.
Republicans wrap themselves in the flag (authorized under the Constitution), and sing the Anthem (authorized under the Constitution) while they make blatant attacks on the Constitution.
Democrats need to realize that the Republicans are engaged in a civil war,. THEY repeatedly CALL our GOVERNMENT "the ENEMY".
Right wing terrorists have killed more Americans than foreign terrorists, They have millions of weapons.and train in organized combat, and SAY they may need to fight our government.
If We the People let them shred the Constitution, Trump's heavily armed base will be out playing "purge" with real assault rifles every day. And they hate liberals.
Countries without viable Constitutions regularly see the secret arrest, torture, and purge of tens of thousands of citizens in s single year. Those countries are the size of one of our states.
Republicans are trying to overthrow We the People and put Trump in our place.
STOP BRINGING CUPCAKES TO A CIVIL WAR.
Trump's "unsung success" in lying about the deaths of thousands of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico is that he got to remind his white supremacist base who's side he's on.
FIGHT
7
@McGloin
So you somehow think that following the Constitution - as has been done with this nomination -- hurts the Constitution? How's that?
2
By the way, have you looked up Judge Kavanaughs record or are you simply making partisan remarks?
1
Why aren’t supporters of the #metoo movement worried about the damage from the unraveling of this accusation? There seems to be no one pumping the brakes on this runaway train.
The Women’s movement was making significant progress until the support of Bill Clinton derailed those efforts
13
@Norm
Someone somewhere said support for Bill Clinton set back the women's movement 20 years. It wasn't Bill who did the damage. It's the situational ethics of females. Turns out they are just as likely to behave unethically as men. Just look at Hillary Clinton.
5
@Norm: The Clinton accusers lost their any credibility they still had when they appeared with Groper in Chief in a presidential debate, and they were built up by Ken Starr and Kavanaugh and their Judicial Watch buddies. One of them, Broderick, even denied three times under oath that she was raped by Bill Clinton. Dr. Blasey's accusation is not unraveling at all. Why would she have called for an impartial FBI investigation in which any possible witnesses have to testify under oath if her accusation doesn't have merit? Why would it be in the Republican's and Kavanaugh's interest to deny such an investigation?
Ms Ford's story seems to be that she went to a party at some house she didn't know with 3 guys she didn't know too well and her girlfriend Ms Keyser. During the party 2 of the boys managed to attack and sexually assault her without her friend knowing. Ms Ford feared for her life and thought her attacker might kill her but she managed, by chance, to escape. She says not a word to her friend but runs out of the house and disappears into the night leaving her good friend alone with her attackers at the house at night. She doesn't try to warn her friend or get help she just leaves.
Why would anyone find such a person trustworthy?
I am not surprised she seems not to want to tell her story. She should be ashamed.
23
@Steve W
I have a feeling it's been a long, long time since you were a teenager.
@Steve W
Have you ever been panicked by a situation where you had no control then suddenly you could escape?
I have and it's terrifying I was a lot older than 15 years old. I also never allowed that situation to happen again. So I understand her reaction.
I have forgiven the folk who were there but many years later I have no interest in knowing them on any level.
If one of them was up for an appointment to the top court of the U.S. I would try to let folk know of their vile tendencies. That appointment could affect too many folk for years to come. So I tend to believe Dr Ford's statement as well as what is happening to her now (I am sure that was why she requested to be kept confidential) she has risked everything she worked for to do this.
Try to put in her place just as I try to put myself in the Judges place but I keep coming back to betrayal.
The prime objective of the Republican Party and their evangelical supporters is to preserve their base of wealth and power, to subvert and control women, people of colour and those with alternative lifestyles, and they need control on the Supreme Court to do it - period. That is the only reason why they would not just tolerate, but vehemently support a narcissist like Donald Trump – to fulfil this singular agenda. These wealthy white men consider themselves to be better than the rest of you. They believe that because of their elevated positions in society, they are entitled to abuse, assault, berate, repress, imprison and even enslave average Americans. They believe that they are the righteous and as such, also do not believe they are doing anything wrong, or illegal. They will do anything to prove they are right and to push their agenda through, whatever the cost may be and they will never surrender to the will of the people. That is precisely what we have seen since President Trump and family were dumped into the White House.
Judge Kavanaugh and his supporters behaviour is so suspect it’s insulting, the truth is already out there America. You need to believe, embrace and empower your fellow citizens like Bob Woodward, Anita Hill, Dr. Ford and all of those in the media (excluding Fox of course) who are willing to tell the truth and fall upon their swords, if necessary, to preserve your rights and values and most importantly, your Constitution.
9
@Monica And no one in the media finds it odd that if Kavanaugh is confirmed, then TWO of our supreme court justices would come from the SAME highschool?!We have thousands of high schools in this country. Do we want our justices to come from the same culture, the same attitudes, the same prejudices?
I sure don't. Seems to contradict everything America is supposed to stand for.
@Monica Why didn't Kavahaugh do the decent thing? Admit that as a young man, he belonged to a drinking and carousing culture at a private school, and that they had parties where girls were often preyed upon. Why don't we hear: "I'm deeply sorry, if I hurt you in any way, and realize that I cannot make amends for my behavior at that time, nor for your subsequent suffering. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize. You have had a profound influence on how I will be judging cases that affect women. However, I have lead an upright life, as an adult" and hope that I will be judged on that basis. Or, better yet: "Because of your accusation, I have studied the long-term consequences of sexual trauma, and I hereby withdraw my nomination to the Supreme Court." Or (second best). Despite my despicable behavior as a boy, I hope to be judged on my character as an adult, and upon my judicial accomplishments.
5 young people, supposedly, at a party. One says she was assaulted at that party 36 years ago but can no longer remember where the party was held, when it was held, how she got to or from the party or what she did before or after. She does remember being assaulted by one of the , now prominent, attendees and she does remember the other 4 people she says were at the party.
Unfortunately for her all four of the other, claimed, attendees ,including another woman who has been a life long friend, say none of this ever happened and the other woman, a long time Democrat says she has never met or known the accused.
What are we to make of this fact pattern other than that Ms Ford is either lying or is confused or deluded? If you thought you remembered such a fact pattern and all four of the people you thought were there insisted this never happened wouldn't you, after 36 years, start thinking perhaps you were wrong? Any reasonable person would. We all know memory is tricky and can get hazy and confused over 36 years. Apparently Ms Ford has no such doubts and will go forward to make her accusations in front of the Senate and the nation. This would be farcical if it were not so sad and some Democrats need to step up and stop this before the poor woman does herself and her family even more harm
Sad really.
18
No chance she knows about being attacked. Others don’t because the assault was not on them, they don’t want any people calling them liars, they approve of his actions. Any of these scenarios works. Or like trump you will call him born for a spot on court. In common with trump could it be both liars?
@Steve W
If there was heavy drinking and they just do not want to remember if they even witnessed anything when drunk.
I understand in Maryland there is no statue of limitations so they can all be culpable if they admit anything.
We should have known something was behind the curtain when his testimony at the first hearing was all about his coaching his daughters basketball team, then rushing home to shower and go to a homeless shelter to feed the less fortunate.
8
What can that comment mean?
That coaching a youth team and volunteering at a homeless shelter are inconsistent behaviors? Sorry to inform you this can happen, I know someone in Atlanta who does this.
Are you suggesting that it
(1) doesn't occur or
(2)someone is lying or
(3) maybe he skipped taking a shower?
What is your point?
1
Oh for God's sake. If this really happened, she'd be chomping at the bit to testify. All this shilly-shallying and, "oh I'm so scared, etc." just makes her account more suspect. I believe her less and less with each passing day,
16
@Kathleen880
Ever been in her shoes?
Did you even read what Dr Ford and her family are being subjected to?
A woman named Leland Keyser — who is believed to have been identified by Dr. Blasey as one of the five people at the party — told the committee through a lawyer that she “does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.” Two men said to have been at the party have also told the committee that they have no recollection of the events.
7
@Reader In Wash, DC: They weren't in the room where it happened and nothing happened to them so why would they have a recollection. I also went to many parties in my student days and I also have no recollection of the majority of them and who was there, except the two where I was kissed or groped against my will and the one a friend of mine was physically threatened in my presence. I still know exactly who the guys were who kissed and groped me, and who my friend and his assaulter were. But I bet others who did not experience anything out of the ordinary and who did not witness the events personally, would not have any specific recollection about those three parties either.
The old men on the judiciary committee plan to finish what young Brett started 36 years ago.
8
I would like to add that I escaped rape twice, when I was 5 (group rape by teenage boys) another time when I was 18 (one person tried to abduct me and I was miraculously saved that night by a passer by who luckily knew me) and I recall all the details vividly, including how I was dressed the day when I was 5 and the first attack happened.
12
"Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum"
Let justice be done though the heavens fall.
Professor Ford and the power of telling the truth
will change the way that women and justice will take
power and change their own lives.
Fiat Justitia - Let justice be done.
4
Hillary remembered being pinned down by gunfire in Bosnia, Sen. Blumenthal remembered serving in Vietnam and now Mrs. Ford, an unapologetic "Never Trumper," being supported by Soros and other Democratic politicos, remembers an assault. Hmm...does anyone believe anything that comes from the left these days?
22
@bfree
Yeah yeah and all the others that have been accused of this behavior have all denied it.
1
@Alecfinn All the others didn't have a transparent life of integrity like Judge Kavanaugh including six vettings.
How about a compromise? Judge Kavanaugh gets an up/down vote, as soon as Clarence Thomas steps down.
16
@Jim In Tucson
What kind of compromise is that? The Reps can force an up/down vote any time they want; they don't need anything from the Dems just to have a vote.
1
@GMooG
Uh, it's sarcasm.
Mitch McConnell said, in effect, that the Senate would plow through all obstacles to put Judge Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. Do you suppose the senator is aware of the sexual connotation of the word "plow"? If he is not, someone on his staff should tip him off ASAP. If he is aware of the sexual meaning, then it's apparent he isn't even bothering to hide his arrogance and disdain for women.
Dr. Ford, thank you for agreeing to come forward. But be careful. They will be ready for you--and not with tea and crumpets.
8
Quite a "setback." Republicans may love this, but why would Blasey list people at the party? Why does she have such a vivid recollection when others don't? It's possible Blasey's lying, but it makes no sense to list people at party unless you know that they were there.
I made the mistake of going to a party approx. 30 years ago and walked in to find that the only people there were a bunch of racist thugs. It was terrifying. I remember everything about it, the room, the lighting, what everyone was wearing, even their hair cuts (and who had shaved heads). I immediately left, three guys followed me, I took off running, and they chased me. I knew I'd have no chance against three huge skinheads, and if they caught me I'd be lucky to wind up in the hospital. I was faster. Two fell behind. Only one caught up to me, which turned out to be a mistake on his part. Fast forward over 20 years and I run into several of the people who'd been at that party, though not the three who chased me. Not one remembered anything about it. Two years later I ran into the guy who had caught up to me and tried to attack me. He remembered it.
You don't need to be a woman to understand what it means to fear for your life, to face brutal men who want to damage you. Most men have been victimized at some point growing up, and all will remember every single detail of it. Those men need to stop lying to themselves. They know perfectly well why Dr. Blasey recalls everything that happened when others don't.
27
@Robert B
Agree!
1
There isn’t any merit to your argument. Because (you say) you faced a dangerous situation decades ago, you infer that Kavanagh’s accuser is telling the truth. You are simply feeding into the very dangerous liberal proposition that an allegation is proof of guilt.
2
Whenever I read a post that says Blasey Ford's witnesses all contradict her, or have denied being at the party, I know the author will continue on to trash this accuser. Because this is a completely incorrect characterization of the statements!
Saying you have no recollection of, or knowledge of, such a party, is a lot different from saying the party absolutely did not happen, or that you could not possibly have been there.
I expect few people have detailed recollections of individual parties they attended 35 years later, unless something extraordinary happened to them that night.
For the American people to have any hope of getting the straight story on this hearing, it will need to be public. Or at least the exact transcript will need to be made public. Politically biased interpretations of the facts are basically worthless.
4
Whatever the accuser might say, her allegation cannot be proven true or false. So what is the point of making it? Liberals seem to be trying to create a society where any man’s career & reputation can be destroyed if a woman simply makes an allegation. It can be entirely vague, as Ford’s is: some party, at some house, on some date. And entirely uncorroborated. And unprovable. I’m female - I thoroughly object to my sex/gender being used in an attempt to abolish due process & justice. This is a very dangerous game liberals are playing, equating allegations with guilt.
3
@Cath Boylan You bring up an excellent point. Clearly our society has a major problem with handling allegations of abuse that occur with little independent corroboration. Day care workers and even parents have been hung out to dry and separated from children due to baseless allegations of child abuse.
But Dr. Ford is a professional with a solid background in the scientific thought process. She has been meticulously trained to avoid bias when drawing conclusions based on facts. She will be an excellent witness. She had an obligation to bring up this information she has about Kavanaugh.
@D. R.
One doesn't expect a professionally trained expert to respond to a decades' old trauma by fleeing the country today.
Oh what a political farce by Dr. Ford! One of her attorneys represents former FBI agent Andrew McCabe, he of the "resistance" within the FBI. In fact she now has a team of democratic lawyers to make her accusation and we understand she is undergoing intense preparation sessions to describer her alleged 36 year old, 20 second encounter. And the only woman Dr. Ford said knew of the incident says, um, no, she knows nothing about a party, an assault or denies ever knowing Kavanaugh.
19
Hold on there, proud apron wearer! You’ll damage your perm!
@Chris
But, unlike Kavanaugh, she is not going to the White House for 9 hours a day to be 'prepared`by political pros to defend her innocence.
And who’s paying for all these high profile attorneys?
2
It's going to be just victim blaming from the 11 white Republican misogynists on the panel. Sad that this misogyny has so much support from women in the GOP but then you remember that Evangelical women aren't allowed to think for themselves.
10
What Democrats are doing is 100% right. That's a repeat of Merrick Garland. Democrats don't have legit means to fight, thus they have to fight dirty. I totally agree, you do what you have to do, and if you're going to fight - fight dirty indeed. Dirty and dirtiest, as they properly do. But it's cringe-worthy to hear them, instead of admitting their righteous and absolutely necessary dirty fighting, to present themselves as defenders of this poor woman's life.
And I don't know why, but I'm against dismantling a civilized society with the "accusations are evidence of crime" approach.
6
@areader I genuinely admire your frankness and honesty...REALLY! You seem to know exactly what's going on here. Dirty street fighting disguised as a "righteous fight for the truth and what's right", or in defense of a "traumatized victim of adolescent sexual abuse". Give me a break...PLEASE!
But I must disagree with you one point. IMHO, what we're witnessing now...an absolute carnival sideshow...is not at all comparable to the Merrick Garland situation. Everything the Republicans did (or didn't do) was permissible under the Constitution and it didn't involve anything like what we're witnessing now.
1
@Vcliburn,
Of course. I said "Democrats don't have legit means to fight, thus they have to fight dirty." So they have to make "an absolute carnival sideshow". But it's impossible to watch people throwing pigs' excrement calling themselves the high morals warriors. It's beneath all imaginable levels of fall of human self-respect.
We know that Professor Ford is associated with a no-name school in northern California. Do we know anything more about her?
We know about her parents’ home and its foreclosure proceedings that Martha Kavanaugh, the mother of Judge Kavanaugh, presided. Is that a motivating factor for revenge?
Ordinarily, when a sexual assault crime is tried, past sexual history of the woman does not enter into the discussion and rightfully so. The prevailing thought is that such history is not relevant to the crime on hand. In the “Me Too” era, the practice has been to parade a series of other women to corroborate the allegation by showing a pattern. Public media lynching galore with famous examples like Weinstein, and Cosby. If that is permissible, the accuser’s behavior too should be probed to determine if there is a pattern of deception exists.
Whom did Dr. Ford date during high school? Who are the men with whom she has had sexual relations? What do they say about her? How much did she drink on that night? Did she take drugs? Has she ever sought help for alcoholism or drug abuse?
7
@Appu Nair Dr. Ford is a professor at Palo Alto University and teaches in a consortium with Stanford University - hardly no-name schools. The foreclosure story is fake news, sorry. It's clear that you haven't been keeping up with current events.
2
@Appu Nair: This so-called no-name school (Palo Alto University) had programs in a consortium with the no-name Stanford University, you know, that diploma mill that has 17 Nobel laureates teaching there and 15 more earlier one who have passed away by now. The Martha Kavanaugh claim is debunked, and bringing up past sexual history of a woman (in Dr. Blasey's case a 15 year old girl) in sexual assault cases is historically meant to smear her reputation to be able to say she asked for it.
The question for Senator Grassley and his band of GOP males is this: "How do you turn a no-win situation into a win-win?" Before answering that question, Senator Grassley, would of course have to admit he and his fellow Republicans are in a no-win situation---even if they win the nomination they have lost the war. Once that fact is acknowledged, then, turning this situation into a win-win is easy: Dr. Ford whatever conditions you put out, DONE. You want an investigation, fine, you want, to go after Judge Kavanaugh, fine, you want to be questioned by an objective third party, fine. Even if the hearing turns dark for Kavanaugh---it does not matter now, what matters are the optics of the hearing--the committee should care less now about Kavanaugh---remember Trump has his list of Roe v. Wade overriders--it is now all about the midterms---if I was consulting Grassley I would say, win the war, not the battle.
How could Ford never have whispered a word of this for 30 years, even to her closest friends? Unless she provides some objective evidence she has nothing. Those calling for Kavanaugh's destruction over an uncorroborated childhood memory are embracing mob justice. To see high ranking Democrat politicians joining the mob and egging it on is a disgrace.
14
@rpe123
Most victims of sexual assault male or female do not report. A lot of the reasons are they will not be believed and the revelation will upend their lives.
The Democrats are throwing everything but the kitchen sink.
Real News: Is the Risk Of Perjury that is Keeping Kavanaugh Accuser From Testifying?
Accuser could be held accountable if she lied under oath.
Democrats throw one last Hail Mary Pass!
What is really going on ? Culture expert Bill Burr has noted a phenomenon going around: " An epidemic of gold digging political prostitutes going around".You can rest assured that Dr. Ford has been promised book deals , etc.
Mostly likely the Dem's has set up an offshore bank account to reward her for playing along.
They are fooling no one. No one believes that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford accusations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh .This happen in High School between 30 and 38 years ago? Who is kidding whom?
9
A suggestion: considering their boy’s penchant for lying and his lawyers’ trying desperately to stop his testifying to Mueller on the grounds that he’s incapable of not lying under oath, Trumpists might want to consider giving the word, “perjury,” a wide, wide berth.
@John Guy NO ONE believes Dr. Ford? I believe this woman was attacked, and I believe she is being attacked by you and others like you just as women have been attacked when they dared to come forward. But I am here to tell you that your time, and others like you, has come to an end when you can dismiss women with such superiourity and priviledge.
No matter what the outcome is with Kavanaugh my question is: Will all those families of 15 year old girls playing soccer and coached by Kavanaugh ever trust him with their daughters again?
No matter what the outcome, he is ruined. Kavanaugh needs to withdraw.
4
In the headline for this article The Times has chosen to use the term "accuser" in referring to Dr Christine Blasey Ford.
Considering her sacrifices and bravery, and the importance this moment holds for our country, using her name would have shown the respect she deserves. In a similar context, would Judge Kavanaugh be referred to as the "accused"?
2
Now there are four men and women, who Blasey herself identified as being at the party, who have denied the accusations made by Blasey. One woman is a life long friend. Ms Blasey is obviously either lying or unhinged and it is cruelty itself to parade a sick person before the Senate and a nationwide audience to continue this charade. The Democrats need to carefully consider whether they want to force this poor woman to continue in this farce they have manufactured.
Ms Blasey has embarrassed herself and her family more than enough and someone on the Dems side needs to show a little compassion and step up and keep her from doing herself more harm. It is so obviously over.
16
‘Scuse me, there are two men, and one woman, and even if you include Kavanagh, that gets you to four, not five. Not to mention that somebody sure seems to know where that party was and when, and recalls everything from 35 years ago—interesting, given that Trumpists have spent a lot of the last week claiming that nobody does.
See how confused one gets over such events? You goofed up because you wanted to support Kavanagh, and misread the “one of five people at the party,” for, “one of the five people who denied the accusation.”
Then we get to the mind-reading part. You don’t know what she’s thinking or how she feels, and “obviously,” don’t actually care.
Then we get to the hallucinatory part about how this is all Their fault...
1
@Steve W I believe you are mistaken in your accessment of the statements the people have made who Dr. Ford ID as having been at the party. They didn't state that the accusation was untrue. The stated they didn't recall being at a party with the others, and one of the women stated that she believed Dr. Ford regarding the assault. Each of them has their own reasons for "not remembering." Your statement is a typical tweaking to fit one's own belief of "the what happened."
If the two (Ford and Kavenaugh) were to appear and testify in the same room, it is possible that seeing "the other" could bring back memories, open interesting dynamics that would speak volumes.
Didn't really expect a very drunken Kavanaugh & Judge to remember this. The incident occurred in a locked room with 3 people in it - the victim and two blind drunk 17 year olds, one of whom (Kavanaugh) assaulted her. No further witnesses to the encounter doesn't mean it's untrue.
5
I have been involved in a situation (35 years ago) involving a powerful institution and sexual abuse allegations. The institution closed ranks and set up 3 bogus investigations and tried hard to find information to cast dispersions or find illegalities out about witnesses. Fortunately we were able to bring the EEOC into it and finally had a real investigation and a tenured professor was forced to “resign”. Changed my entire view of institutional power and their venality. But have to say my coming forward and telling the truth is gratifying to this day especially during #MeToo and #IBelieveChristineFord allegations. Stand strong.
2
Dr. Blasey passed a polygraph test. Would Judge Kavanaugh submit to one also?
5
This has politics written all over it. People who were supposed to be at the party either don't even remember the party or say they weren't there. So now not one single witness can corrobarate that a party even happened forty years ago, no less a sexual assault. The #MeToo movement has caused many people to accuse folks of being guilty without due process. It sweeps up the innocent as well as the guilty. It has given power to folks who just want to get back at an old ex or lover simply by making an accusation - true or not. Something tells me that Ms Ford is a card carrying Democrat as she is a female California professor. I can't speak for her motive but I think its fairly obvious if you put the pieces together. And I'm not even a fan of Judge Kavanaugh, I'm just less of a fan of any movement that disregards due process and is too easily abused.
16
Just ANOTHER piece of evidence against Kavanaugh, to suggest that he has a sexual problem with women: Yale Law Professor Chua has played an outsized role in finding law female law clerks for Kavanaugh. She tells her students to be "model like," and has hosted parties so Kavanaugh could "shop" for female clerks that appealed to him. See today's Guardian. Unlike the NYT, I have a real-time, respectable source.
4
ChesBay--He has more than 100 model like friends, and employees, who will support him mo matter what anyone says about him. These women are heavy chains around the necks of the rest of us, who seek justice. Hope they are real proud of themselves. They have found their places in their mens' world.
1
So how is that relevant?
3
Hoping this hearing is not going to be a GOP sham to undermine and undercut Dr. Blasey Ford.
But the effort to assassinate Dr. Blasey Ford's character has only just begun.
Stand strong, Dr. Blasey Ford. Millions of women are behind you.
Thank you for your courage.
5
Well this woman is not behind her. A vague allegation, at this point, and she is highly partisan. Why did she never go to the police? Why did she wait 36 years?
7
Blasey Ford says she was at a party attended by four others. When she says she was forced on a bed by Kavanaugh that Mark Judge was in the room too. And the radio was turned up so the party wouldn’t hear. She said she was able to escape the bedroom, and then she gathered herself and left the party hoping others wouldn’t notice her disheveled appearance.
It’s a party of five. That is a small party. So when the attack happened more then half the party was involved in the attack. If I am at a party of five and three of them aren’t in the same room anymore I am no longer at the party. And if there is music blasting in another room I would assume that the party moved
. And then Blasey Ford snuck out of the party hoping not to be noticed? It’s a party of five.
Keyser says she can’t remember the party and that Blasey Ford is a friend of hers. How can you not remember a party when this happened. Your friend was in a bedroom with two guys. There is music blasting in the bedroom. You are with one other person at the time. You are not at a party. The guys come out of the bedroom and your friend is gone. How can one not remember that?
9
My friends and I were huge partiers in high school. We drank (still do) and we, gasp.... smoked pot. We also did some not so gentlemanly things with females but that door swung both ways. I was on the receiving end of a female friends unwanted advances at a party one night after we got inebriated. She was attractive but not my type and I just didn't see her in that light. I have a very slight memory of the incident, but I remember telling her to stop multiple times as she straddled me on the bed. I finally tossed her to the side and got up and walked out.
She's now a top notch medicinal physicist that saves hundreds of cancer patient's lives. She's also a really great mother and wife, a leader in her community and most important, not the same person she was when we were in high school. Neither am I. I don't hold the incident against her, nor do I think she needs to loose her job or standing in the community. If she were to run for office I would never bring these allegations up 3 decades after it happened.
Once again we are mired down with spectacle, government theatre and political correctness when we need to move forward. Soon we'll start bringing up people's past and qualifying them based on their behaviors in their pre-school and elementary school days.
Dr. Ford's "witnesses" have fallen apart with no recollection of the incident. Let's move on so the media can pick up on the next non-event and make it into something it's not.
19
@Joe Taxpayer
The difference is males tend to be a bit stronger than females, in most cases.
"A woman named Leland Keyser — who is believed to have been identified by Dr. Blasey as one of the five people at the party — told the committee through a lawyer that she “does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.” Two men said to have been at the party, Mark Judge and Patrick Smyth, have also told the committee that they have no recollection of the events."
This underscores that these alleged witnesses who collectively say they have "no recollection" need to have their "memories" examined, either under oath before the Judiciary Committee, or at least by FBI investigators, to whom lying is a crime.
13
Dr.Blasey is not out for justice she is out for revenge. Justice would have seen her standing up immediately as a privileged and bright 15 year old and telling her story to everyone she could to prevent her supposed assault being perpetrated on other young girls. If she thought her assault could have led to her death as she states, she had a fundamental responsibly to her fellow students to raise the alarm. She did nothing because nothing happened. Her despicable accusation isn't about sexual assault it's about politics.
12
Victims, victims everywhere. Me too, me too. Aren't women tired of being victims?
11
@William Kiper Yes, which is why they are now moving outside of their comfort zones and finally speaking up. This will teach our daughters and future generations of women to overcome fear/shame and speak up for themselves. At some point the new normal MAY be that men will start to respect women.
Watch the polls, if Kavanaugh who is already the least popular Supreme Court nominee ever, keeps bleeding in the polls, the gutless party of plutocrats will pull his nomination or make him fall on his sword. However if they are too clueless to see reality, Dr. Ford's testimony will make the upcoming blue wave into a tsunami!
1
Unfortunately there seems to only be "she said". It is sad what happened to Dr. Blasey, but we still don't know if Kavanaugh was in the room. I have a problem with Dr. Blasey contacting The Washington Post’s tip line with her allegation. Why would a person contact a newspaper? To stir up trouble? If she seriously wanted to provide information that would inform a decision on a vote why go to a newspaper? Any intelligent person would think she was trying to sway a vote without a fair review of the facts. Yes, it's news. It does not look good for the women's movement if they rely on news distributors to make their stand. Dr. Blasey could be right, but we don't know and hashing over her allegations in the news does not make it true. Testimony before the senate committee doesn't make it true either. The best we can do now is look at the facts. Where did it happen? Don't remember. Who was there? What happened? The second guy jumped on top (doesn't sound like rape, sounds like drunken stupidity) Was it an attempt to get to second base? Or rape? The most concerning action, was the hand over mouth. But if Dr. Blasey remembers after all these years, and talked with her therapist about the event. She must be able to share more about where, when, and who were at the party. We still don't know that it was Kavanaugh.
10
Mr. Kavanaugh is an attorney, a judge on the DC appeals court, a nominee for the Supreme Court, and he has to be coached for an entire week by White House attorneys on how to answer basic question about his behavior?
Putting aside the disturbing image of anyone being coached how to lie before a testimony, If it takes a week to teach him to say “I don’ t recall”, I question his IQ and qualifications to sit on the Supreme Court.
18
The easiest and less painful thing for Dr Ford to do would be to testify under oath privately. The testimony would leak to the media and that would be the end of it. The fact that she has been rehearsing and demanding certain conditions for over a week speaks volumes, No lawyers questioning her? Despite the fact that she has been huddled with lawyers for over two weeks or more and will have them present? Kavanaugh go first-and respond to what? I am an independent and was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt that something scarring but as this spectacle proceeds and there is no verification from anyone that Kavanaugh was at some house somewhere on some date, it looks increasingly like she is being manipulated by the Democrats and in the process ruining Kavanaugh's reputation.
17
The fact that she’s had death threats, had to leave her home and hire security speaks volumes.
@Nlbonin you believe the attorney Kavanaugh isn't getting prepped by a legal team? I have a great piece of land in NC for sale.
1
Let me get this straight: of the five people said to have been present at this “event”, four either don't remember it or remember it differently than Judge Kavanaugh’s accuser. That’s a fact, one of very few presented in this farce.
14
Well, Larry, I guess you don't think it possible that the convenient amnesia of the other 4 attendees could be fueled by their political preferences? That they are lying or un-remembering events as cover for Kavanaugh? Somewhat suspicious that Kavanaugh's sidekick (Judge) is so reluctant to testify under oath and further that the Republican led committee is so unwilling to turn over that slimy rock.
If they remember it differently they should be prepared to testify under oath. Private denials are worthless. What is Mark Judge afraid of?
Doesn’t matter about the others present. She has already explained she told no one and avoided looking like she had been attacked. Mark Judge was a blackout drunk and won’t testify.
5
@Susan - of course it matters since the accuser could obviously have ulterior motives (political or otherwise) to ruin this man's nomination.
1
@Mike L
After watching the way progressives have behaved lately, it's not hard to imagine an ideological progressive taking extreme measures to thwart this nomination. After all, its progressives who are always claiming our entire democracy is at risk. Everyting is at stake, etc., etc.
So Kavanaugh, in preparation for his testimony, is getting coached at the White House, the official residence of the president who nominated him for a position on the Supreme Court. Words fail.
13
@2Worlds
Yes, like every other SCOTUS nominee ever. Your point?
1
Is there any presumption of innocence left in our society, or should be just lynch everyone who's every accused of sexual assault? We won't know everything until we hear testimony under oath and see evidence that can stand up to scrutiny. But right now we have one person who says something terrible happened, and four people who were allegedly there and can't confirm it. We have no exact time, and no exact place. And we have the accused who says it did not happen and is willing to testify under oath that it did not. Emotions and outrage make for wonderful politics and wonderful "New York Times Picks" but they do not make for any rational understanding of what actually happened, or the sad reality that we will probably never really know.
23
@Jason McDonald Right now we do not know what happened in a Maryland home in 1982, and I suspect (baring a bombshell) that after all the hearings and investigations we still won't know. Hard to swallow, but some things are unknowable. That is why we statutes of limitations and why Diane Feinstein was initially correct to sit on the letter.
8
Dear Jason, this is not a criminal trial (need proof beyond a reasonable doubt) nor is it a civil trial (need only to show it's more likely than not...i.e. 51% sure). No, this is neither. It is an evaluation based on what we have as to whether this person is a good choice. If we are only 20% sure he's a mess, isn't that enough? The telling evidence to me is that she gave it all to her therapist many years ago---long before there was any reason to motivate her other than her own well being. All the witnesses against her say only that they can't remember. One of the primary ones has written books about his being a deep down drunkard for those years.
Interesting to know who “ exactly “ is funding this lady with a battery of legal eagles making all of those reported demands for FBI investigations of the judge. Now demanding how and when she may decide to testify, and who may be present if she decides to do so. Demanding only w/m’s ,on the Republican side,be present with a set of pre-authorized questions with time limits, and judge Kavanaugh banned from the hearing! If , of course, that is correct according to the latest news flashes regards this “Peyton Place” 2018 edition.
14
@Moe Def
Who is funding Brett's rehearsals with Bill Shine, White House communications director? Is Bill giving Brett the same answers he gave Roger Ailes?
Duh.
In all fairness, Judge Kavanaugh should submit to polygraph or lie detector test; that would help resolve the issue as to who is not telling the truth. The Judge has noting to loose if he is telling the truth.
8
Candidate for POTUS recorded bragging about grabbing.
POTUS might end up tried in SCOTUS if Mueller delivers.
Candidate for SCOTUS selected by elected POTUS.
Might end up judging that case.
Accused of assault.
POTUS publicly intervenes, taking side against accuser on Twitter.
And somehow this all just goes on and is "normal".
Is this what all the rage and anger that elected POTUS was supposed to produce?
Because that is where we are, America.
8
@emmie bee
Nicely broken down.
Thank You
This is getting ridiculous. My mother and my wife (who rarely ever vote Republican) both no longer believe this is about Ms. Ford trying to tell the truth but a political stunt designed to drag this out as long as possible.
My mother pointed out that after the accuser offered to testify, she then changed the goal-posts, and although she apparently has concerns with flying in a plane (even if statistically safer than driving), the accuser has refused to accept the Senate's offer to take her testimony under oath right there in California, by flying out Senate staffers and lawyers.
It turns out Debra Katz, the lawyer hired by Dr. Ford back in August, is a Democratic Party attorney who defended Bill Clinton against Paula Jones. Here's what Katz had to say about Paula Jones in 1998:
"Paula Jones' suit is very, very, very weak. She's alleged one incident that took place in a hotel room that, by her own testimony, lasted 10 to 12 minutes."
"[This was] clearly a one-time incident that took place in 10 to 12 minutes, she was not forced to have sex, she left on her own volition"
"If a woman came to me with a similar fact pattern, I would probably tell her that I'm sorry, it's unfair, but you don't have a case."
We are 150% pro-choice but disgusted with the tactics here. What does Debra Katz think is going to happen if Kavanaugh withdraws? My bet is Trump then nominates Amy Coney Barrett, who is even more conservative than Kavanaugh; younger; & less pro-choice.
28
@GRH
Many are have gone back to Anita Hill's experience and are appalled at the treatment she received. Why, then, are they not equally appalled at the treatment received by the women who accused Bill Clinton?
Fast forward to today. The person who created a "War Room" to attack Bill's female victims almost won the presidency. Hillary was supported by a lot of people who are now "outraged" by treatment that is a lot more respectful than her treatment ever was.
The past has shown that partisanship factors heavily into how one views these cases. Nothing has changed.
4
I believe Dr. Blasey Ford. Yet, even before this accusation was made public, I held Brett Kavanaugh in the lowest esteem. I saw alll I needed to know about him when he refused to shake the hand of Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter, Jamie, in the school shooting in Parkland, FL. Kavanaugh turned his back on Mr. Guttenberg as he attempted to introduce himself in a non-confrontational manner, totally blew him off. How much “character” does it require to simply say, “I’m so sorry for your loss” before moving on in a respectful way? Mr. Guttenberg showed so much more self-control than I would have. Had it been my child, I would have screamed like a banshee and jumped on Kavanaugh’s turned back. He is a worm.
10
@Debbie S.
That scene of Kavanaugh dismissing Mr. Guttenberg was thoroughly disgusting. That picture was worth a 1000 words. The GOP tried to brush it off saying the secret service were whisking Kavanaugh. I didn't see any secret service surrounding Kavanaugh (the accused), did you?
3
@Debbie S. Give me a break. That audience was full of kookie protestors barking out loud at unpredictable times. Kavanaugh had no idea who the man was. Guttenberg makes an aggressive move towards the judge after an intense day of questioning in front of semi-hostile crowd? I wouldn't shake the guys hand either. It's deplorable how Guttenberg politicized his action.
5
@Debbie S.
An interesting question: How many of Dr. Ford's "I believe" supporters were fully opposed to Kavanaugh before this accusation became known?
I suspect many of the same people who started out hating Kavanaugh are those who now proclaim, "I believe."
Next question: How many voted for Hillary Clinton and supported Bill Clinton when he was charged with assaulting women (not talking about Ms. Lewinski)?
There's a pattern here, and it's not support for women. It's pure partisanship.
2
So now Dr. Ford accuses her friend, Leland Keyser, of lying?
Ford said Keyser was at that party, but Keyser said she never was at any party where Kavanaugh was present.
16
I wouldn't mind betting that Prof Hill is not going to testify. They have already delayed as much as the republicans will let them and caused damage to the reputation of Kavanaugh. I'm sure they will calculate that they can get more political mileage from saying she didn't testify cos she was bullied, the terms were unfair etc and keep the narrative of her being a victim going until the mid-terms. This was only ever about politics and never about a victim of alleged sexual assault. Plus also the cynic in me thinks she will not want to put herself on oath.....it seems there is something in her letter to Feinstein that is damaging to her credibility and can probably be disproved. I'm thinking it's the bit about meeting REDACTED at REDACTED and him being uncomfortable. Hopefully the letter will be subpoenaed and we will find out.
Lets see if I'm right.
Reply •
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6
Republicans play hard ball - they won’t let this derail their appoint.
The Dems play slow-pitch softball - they let the Repubs derail their nominee for the court.
@Ed Watters
Republicans play hard ball and they use the bat to win no matter the cost. They are absolutely savage in their ideology insisting on imposing it on the rest of us. They will stop at nothing regardless of the inhumanity or destruction they create.
It is good to be tolerant of other peoples beliefs...except for the intollerant!
For absolutely no legitimate reason Mitch McConnell, a single Republican, with no objections from his party, illegally prevented the appointment of Eric Garland to the supreme court, denying President Obama his right of appointment under the constitution. There is a certain beautiful irony in the fact that Kavanaugh's appointment is being challenged by single courageous woman, for a legitimate and compelling reason and it may well derail his nomination. The hypocrisy and bluster on the part of the Republicans is outrageous.
5
@PaulM Wrong. A seat on the Supreme Court requires a presidential nomination and a senate confirmation. Obama made his nomination. Mitch McConnell, as majority leader, can speak for the majority and did not schedule hearings or a vote. Hardball, yes, but perfectly legal. If you think it is illegal, then why has no lawsuit been filed by any Democrat senator?
3
Kavanaugh if confirmed will be in a position to change the lives of every American.
He has already demonstrated racist tendencies, disdain for women and preventing them for making their own choices , pouring more money into politics thus cementing the political control of the country by the very rich .
As an elitist with limited experience of the lives of most Americans how can he ever exercise good judgement.
The future composition of the Supreme Court should terrify most Americans. This Court has absolute power.
The very least we can do to reign in this real erosion of our democratic and individual rights is to introduce term limits and insist on a 60 votes at least in the Senate to confirm a Justice.
Maybe we have to take to the Streets to make our point , Justice for all
1
So now it's him and him and him and her vs. her, a real they say she says situation. Democrats are using MeToo as a political weapon. Despite the absolute absence of contemporaneous confirmation of her claims, she will probably testify and muster all the tears she can, because there are no facts supporting her. She claims to want an investigation, but certainly Democrats, her counsel and the press have been turning over every stone to get corroboration - with no success. Shame on Republicans for letting this charade go on.
11
So the Republicans are accusing the Democrats of stalling a Supreme Court nomination! Now that is rich.
6
Senator Collins has said that if Kavanaugh is lying, it is disqualifying.
Not only is he lying, he's trying to shift the blame onto someone else.
Who does that? What kind of person does that?
Is this the kind of person you want to work with in your own office? Is this the kind of person you would want to operate on you or someone in your family in an operating room? Is this the kind of person you would want to police your own neighborhood?
Most importantly, is this the kind of person you would want on the Supreme Court?
From the Washington Post, Sept. 22: "In one key call, Kavanaugh told Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) that Ford had the wrong guy in mind, saying he had not attended a party like the one she described to The Washington Post. He and his allies also privately discussed a defense that would raise doubts that the attacker was Kavanaugh, rather than try to dispute that an incident involving Ford had happened."
1
Can we please remember that even before Christine Blasey Ford's accusation, Judge Kavanaugh had already given us ample reason to question his credibility when he lied about receiving and reading stolen documents regarding Democratic opposition research on George W. Bush's judicial nominations.
Why is this glaring instance of perjury just brushed under the rug, why is it forgotten now? Why are the so-called moderates in the GOP not as troubled by this evidence of Mr. Kavanaugh's character flaws?
10
I am responding to people who say Dr. Blasey should have told someone.
I probably would have told my parents. But I long remember when about 12 of us girls were at someone's house (I can't remember whose house or the address) on a Friday or Saturday night. We were seniors in high school.
One girl (I don't remember who exactly) told how she was being stalked by some creepy guy (long story) but she wasn't going to tell her parents--although we urged her to.
2 more girls told how they had been attacked by high school guys (separate incidents), with the guys forcing themselves on them and refusing to get off until physically assaulted by the victims. I remember the discussion that ensued about techniques for defending yourself from sexual assaulters.
One of these stories was especially disturbing. We knew who the guy was--a (seemingly) "nice" football player. Neither girl said she told her parents about the incident. Why?
They didn't want to upset or worry the parents The incident was over. And they didn't want to be further victimized by these guys' "friends," who would seek revenge and wreck girls' reputations.
I have a worse account from my freshman year in college when a big football player did rape a friend of mine. She told her friends, & we urged her to go to the Student Affairs (ironic title in this case) office. She did. They talked her out of going to the police. His friends sought revenge by harassing her and trashing her name. She dropped out of college
6
You could argue both sides of this for a very long time! This hole situation should be showing our country just how far we have removed our selves from what is just. The only way to cut through the nonsense is to go back to GODs law 1. Second witness to this event .
2. If found to be innocent of these accusations. Because false witness, then accuser suffers same sentence.
Opinion; press should not have the ability to toy with these things before being resolved. when all is said and give us the real story, not some speculative fantasies, of swayed opinion during the process.
3
It is high time that this fiasco come to an end. I am just appalled by statements of some leading Democrats who opine with certainty that Dr. Ford's uncorroborated allegations from 3 decades ago are credible, and that Judge Kavanaugh is denied the presumption of innocence that is the hallmark of our Justice System. Is this the new norm for the Democrat Party? I hope the accuser's defamation against Judge Kavanaugh does not go unanswered.
17
Everything is up to date in Kansas City, ya know. Revered institutions like the U. S. Senate and its duly appointed Committees with their time-honored rules and procedures count for nothing these days. Anybody can now come out of the blue and “negotiate” with our elected representatives as if they are a right unto themselves though they have no provenance or legitimacy whatsoever except for their “right to be believed.” In this brave new world self-appointed witnesses are equal adversaries with the entire institution of the Senate and can make demands as if they are sovereign entities that can make up their own laws as they go along—and they must be listened to while the whole system and the way of doing things are held in suspension. Defendants must now present their case first so that the self-styled “prosecution” can make the necessary changes and adjustments in its case for maximum effect. Its star witness is also above cross-examination by attorneys because we are only interested in a show trial and not in a real one. The rule of law itself no longer has any relevance because there is no desire to follow the law but only to be vindicated in one’s beliefs as if the law itself has no purpose, but the end itself justifies the means. We are at a turning point. It is time to call a halt to this madness if we are to survive as a civilization as we have known it. The Democrats think they have something better to offer with their embrace of chaos and resistance? God help us.
8
Question: If this was put before a jury of our peers, what would be the chance of a conviction? Answer: ZERO.
11
If Ms Blasey knowingly falsely accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct decades ago she certainly would not have given names of other attendees at this party she knew they would deny the event. The one other person who should remember such an event would be Mr Judge who she reported witnessed the alleged sexual attack. He must be made to testify under oath. Otherwise the hearing will be 'He said; She said', with no witnesses. Following the Clarence Thomas--Anita Hill hearings where no proof was established we have had a tainted Justice Thomas sitting on the SCOTUS responsible for decisions affecting the lives of millions for decades.
1
@RLW The problem now is that all four people she claimed to have been at the party have denied being there. However, one of the other women says she still believes Ford's accusation. This refutes any conspiracy against Ford.
I think an "assault" did happen to Ford. However, I think the bar for prosecuting assault was higher in 1983. I think Ford realized this too and chose to do nothing. This was a case of drunken high school high jinks that, thankfully, didn't turn into something worse. I think Ford,in light of the #metoo movement, has come forward, as she should, but has embellished her story because of her own bias.
4
The fact that Republicans have found four people who attended the party tells us that THEY are investigating Ford's claims. Their investigation, however, is not impartial, as an investigation by the FBI would be. Their investigation is designed to rebut Ford's allegations. It is now clear that those in power will not allow an impartial investigation of any of this. Why? Because Republicans have made clear that they will vote to confirm this alleged attempted rapist of a 15-year-old girl, no matter what.
6
I wonder if Kavanaugh is helping draft questions for Dr. Blasey. If so, it surely explains why the Republican men don't want to do the questioning. The questions will be offensive, dismissive, allege (without proof) other issues, and probe in grossly spectacular ways into Blasey's own sex life. Kavanaugh apparently delighted in drafting very explicit questions intruding into Clinton's sex life, surely he will do so again. I only hope Blasey's opening statement will be a real confrontation and condemnation of Republicans', and Kavanaugh's, treatment of women.
1
How about she simply limits herself to what she is meant to testify about?
Grandstanding in this appearance will not add any credence to her story.
1
After all is said and done…and after reading through so many of the comments here from both sides of the aisle, I can’t help but ask myself the following question: “Is this all it takes to ruin someone’s life and reputation, and possibly even alter the course of U.S. history?”
With that said, I notice that most of the comments supporting the accuser, Dr. Ford, are based on “principle” alone…without regard to the actual evidence...or lack thereof – not to mention the highly speculative and vague nature of the scathing accusation. And scathing it is!
Again, “Is this all it takes?” If so, then perhaps we all should step back and take a good, hard and HONEST look in the mirror.
15
@Vcliburn
It takes an investigation to get to the truth.
Take a hard honest look in the mirror,..Ask yourself....
Who is preventing the investigation? and WHY ?
@Vcliburn Yes, this is all it takes in a culture that is absolutely saturated with white male privilege and patriarchy. Any other answer yields to the claim that the status quo of men's rule over women is the way things should stay. That too is what is at stake with Kavenaugh's confirmation and the withering of women's access to birth control and termination of unwanted pregnancy.
@Vcliburn
"Again, “Is this all it takes?” If so, then perhaps we all should step back and take a good, hard and HONEST look in the mirror."
There would be a lot of broken mirrors all over this nation, which, in my opinion, seems to be mired in a never-ending, and increasing addiction to a reality-TV-like existence.
The world looks at us, aghast, struck speechless at our daily untethering from anything resembling normal.
It had to happen; when a people throw decency and even basic moral principles out, what's left becomes fearful, and feared.
I believe we are lost in the wilderness of our own fraught minds.
2
So the most interesting part is another woman who does not remember the party. Looking more and more like a figment of Ford's imagination.
10
Do you remember every party you went to in high school? I certainly don’t.
1
Is it not bias when the only photo of Dr. Ford is casual with sunglasses, and Kavanaugh is shown in a professional suit? There are so many ways bias is layered in the conversation.
2
She looks good in the photo. Do you want her to look like her attorney?
1
Apparently, according to other news sources, it is so her face can't be used in image searches in case it compromises her integrity - the sunglasses serve as a mask.
She has gotten rid of her social media, but image searches can't be controlled when they link to others' social media.
1
According to Dr. Ford's husband, she said she would move to another country if he got on the Supreme Court. Clearly, she is keen on keeping him from being appointed. Sounds more like a vendetta than her emotional well-being.
15
@AACNY
Vendettas are fine, if there is a reason. If she was against him for political reasons, and that is the basis for the charge, that is of course a bad thing. But if the reason for the "vendetta" is that he tried to rape her, then that's a perfectly fine reason to have a vendetta.
3
@AACNY I'm not familiar with that aspect of a "vendetta" where one party tries to get as far away as a possible from the person who has wronged them.
Senator Collins has said that if Kavanaugh is lying, it is disqualifying.
Not only is he lying, he's trying to shift the blame onto someone else.
Who does that? What kind of person does that?
Is this the kind of person you want to work with in your own office? Is this the kind of person you would want to operate on you or someone in your family in a hospital? Is this the kind of person you would want to police your own neighborhoods?
Most importantly, is this the kind of person you would want on the Supreme Court?
This is more than politics or whether you are pro-choice or pro-life. We are talking about someone who shifts the blame for his own actions onto someone else.
From the Washington Post, Sept. 22: "In one key call, Kavanaugh told Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) that Ford had the wrong guy in mind, saying he had not attended a party like the one she described to The Washington Post. He and his allies also privately discussed a defense that would raise doubts that the attacker was Kavanaugh, rather than try to dispute that an incident involving Ford had happened."
Very confusing situation. So many years afterwards? In a party of five and nobody remembers a thing? Not even the one who was there with both of them? Come on...
9
Women make up 51 percent of the U.S. population at every demographic level that split is consistent up to the age 60, when women jump up to 65 percent. Men die younger than women so that should be obvious.
the point being, are they collectively paying attention and will they collectively show up at the midterms to vote to prevent this type of kangaroo court happening again.
I hope so.
3
If it is true that all witnesses claimed by Dr. Ford including Judge Kavanaugh have denied ever being at the place and time where the assault allegedly took place, it is very hard to believe her testimony before the senate judiciary committee.
I have reached a conclusion that this entire confirmation process is ridiculously flawed sham and rigged by senators who were never going to confirm Judge Kavanaugh simply because he was nominated by a Republican president.
That leaves no option for the senate judiciary committee to take a vote as planned on Monday ie tomorrow and confirm judge Kavanaugh. If Dr. Ford wants to in good faith testify then she should do so without any delay and testify first thing tomorrow morning and the senate judiciary committee should ensure her freedom of expression and assurance of safety.
It is grossly unfair to judge Kavanaugh that just because the attorneys for Dr. Ford were busy making unreasonable and absurd demands like judge Kavanaigh goes first and the accuser follows there has already been a delay of over a week. The democrats are playing serious mischief, especially Senator Feinstein who sat on the letter from Ms Ford received in July and this is September. Delay, delay delay for what? For partisan democratic senators who were going to vote NO to confirm judge K no matter what.
What to me is the clearest lesson from this entire saga is prompt action needed to reduce the alcohol and opioid consumption on campuses around the country.
11
I am one who suspects that Kavanaugh did indeed commit the offense of which he is accused. I also suspect that his victim has patiently awaited strikng back in vengeance until it would least be expected and might prove most painful. One cannot help but admire that type of patience.
When Brett Kavanaugh joked that what happens at Georgetown Prep should stay in Georgetown I wonder what he meant by that. Did he mean life there was like his friend Mark Judge described it. Or does he think that Judge was exaggerating. Does he think sexual assault took place there and should stay there. Does he think pregnant girls in nearby colleges got abortions as a result of consensual sex with friends of his and now in the full bloom of adulthood he wants to make abortion even harder to get. Or do they understand that affluent people will always be able get it but poor immigrants for example will have to risk their lives in order to get one. Or was it just a joke about drinking, horseplay and not much else. Since it is all out there now I am very curious what he has to say. He did say it should be kept secret. So the committee has an obligation to ask him why. I saw the video but I couldn't tell how the audience received it. I heard some laughter. But at least on the video it wasn't uproarious laughter. I wonder what some kid whose experience there was nightmarish thought. And how what he thought might be remembered 30 years from now.
4
My mother worked at the Baltimore courthouse back in the early 1960s in the juvenile department. She would come home each evening with an interesting tale. One stands out that has meaning now.
There was a beautiful 16-year old blonde who had been in many foster homes in her short life. The female employees felt sorry for her so they would have her come him for a weekend. Many did so until she started accused the husbands of taking advantage of her. It never happened as the wives were in the home the entire time and there was a full investigation discounting her story. Still reputations were at risk. My mother had talked about asking her home but was so glad she had not. My mother said it could have affected my father's job and he could have been wrongly accused himself. This would have been a complete lie as my father was the most upstanding and moral man alive.
We need to hear Dr. Ford's side of the story but also Judge Kavanaugh's. We must hear the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth from both. There have been come inconsistencies coming from Dr. Ford which must be explained. Judge Kavanaugh has been an outstanding individual with never a blemish to his name. He has had excellent recommendations from many people and 75 women have vouched for his excellent caliber. He has been serving admirably as a judge since 2006.
Remember the Duke lacrosse players? They were wrongly accused of sexual assault and their lives were ruined as a result.
15
Correction:
The female employees felt sorry for her so they would have her come home for the weekend.
Correction:
Many did so until she started accusing the husbands of taking advantage of her.
The aggrieved has had every reason to stay silent. Meanwhile, the club has history on their side by assuring a collective denial. And, the Judiciary Committee is just another man's club.
Conclusion has already been rendered and we are a weaker Nation for it.
Anyone who doubts this is political theater is not even glancing at the known facts. Let’s just accept the controversial repressed memory with details filled in and other details completely missing. The memory was recovered six years ago. Did the therapist back then suggest to Dr. Ford, confront this person so she can move on? No, Dr. Ford is ok that Judge Kavanaugh is on the DC Appeals Court. But Dr. Ford loses it when the judge is nominated to the Supreme Court. Does Dr. Ford write a letter to President Trump and Judge Kavanaugh that he should withdraw as she wants to save everyone unnecessary embarrassment. No. Dr. Ford had been transformed into a woman scorned. Dr. Ford now wants to burn her world and all the world around her down. Only that will bring her peace and justice. And what keeps this all afloat. The public’s fascination with train wrecks.
11
Perhaps the real persons to blame in this "he said - she said" are the parents of the teen who hosted the party at which minors were permitted to drink alcohol.
Where were the adults when this rowdiness in the bedroom hall and bedroom was going on?
And how did these drunk children get home that night? Did they drive under the influence of alcohol?
There may be more to this story than at first meets the eye.
3
@JB Are you not aware of kids having parties at home while their parents are away on a trip? And, the kids don't recall how they got home.
1
The coming week will be a true litmus test regarding our progress, or lack of, in changing our cultural acceptance of the sexual degradation of women by entitled men.
I remember Anita Hill's testimony vividly. She was truly graceful under fire and I believed her completely. I also remember that the man she described, in almost barbaric terms, ascended to the high bench and sits to this day on the Supreme Court. Her testimony changed nothing and only damaged her life, not his.
I fear the same scenario will play out again. But one can hope that maybe, just maybe, our consciousness has been raised just a bit from #metoo. The jury is out.
3
@Marty Actually, her life has not been damaged. She is famous and get appointed to positions that she might otherwise not get. He is always referred to as Justice Thomas, accused of sexual harassment. He did get the position but continues to suffer.
1
When all the testimony is over, both sides will likely believe the person -- Ford or Kavanaugh -- who aligns with their politics.
At that point, he Republican argument is going to be, "How can we destroy this man's career based on these unproven allegations?"
The Democratic response needs to be that this is bigger than one man's career -- "The interests of the American people are paramount, and it is impossible to appoint this nominee to the country's highest court for life under the circumstances."
2
The Republicans are not at all interested in getting to the truth. If they were interested in learning the truth, they would have provided some semblence of an investigation and would have allowed witnesess on both sides. But they didn't and they plan to bulldoze their way in, with this minor dink in their process being a way for them to demonstrate an accomodation. This is what they do and have done for a long time now - they lie, cheat, and then lie some more - and as long as they get their way, it is justified. Leo Strauss would have been proud.
5
We have reached a point when the question should not be just whether Brett Kavanaugh has earned the title of "Justice" but whether he should retain the position of "Judge". With a history -- at every turn, then and now-- that demonstrates he does not believe girls and women should have agency over their own bodies and lives, I vote NO.
3
During the Anita Hill hearings, Senators maintained the facade that they were serving the public. That meme is no longer in effect. As long as unlimited campaign money continues to pour into their coffers, elected officials will continue to serve their donors, period.
15
@Tinker Twine BINGO. We need to remove targeted public money from our nations political infrastructure. It should all go into a single highly public and monitored pot to be distributed equally across the board to all candidates and causes. As it stands, money is THE determining factor for everything from candidates, to policy. Those with money can openly and brazenly influence our representatives. Any private money (even from the candidates themselves) should be disallowed for any targeted political use be it themselves or otherwise. This should be corrected IMMEDIATELY.
1
If Dr. Blasey Ford is constantly referred to as "the accuser," then why not refer to Judge Kavanaugh as "the accused?" The tone was set by the GOP and it tarnishes Dr. Ford's credentials in the eyes of the public. After all, the upcoming meeting is all about optics and Dr. Ford's credentials appear to be impeccable. She most certainly is not doing this out of revenge. Her only motive going forward is to warn the congress of a more than unsuitable candidate for a lifetime appointment to one of the most powerful positions in the USA. If you're going to tarnish her image, then tarnish his as well, "the accused."
12
@Diane Kropelnitski
Everyone knows the "accused" is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. This is an American core value. Democrats are hoping Americans will suddenly scrap this value because of the delicacies of rape accusations.
Not one republican has besmirched Dr. Ford's reputation. They have questioned her memory and the timing of her accusations, both of which are perfectly legitimate. It's primarily been democrats who have tried to craft a "bullying" scenario. Using the word doesn't make it so.
5
@AACNY
"accused" is presumed innocent"
You are absolutely right, but consider the following. If I were accused of a crime of violence for which I knew I was completely innocent, I would be the first one to demand an investigation by the FBI. Let the truth be known.
@Diane Kropelnitski
The FBI investigation is a ruse. A delaying tactic. There is nothing to investigate. The democrats won't suddenly drop their allegations if the FBI cannot come up with anything conclusive.
Democrats have demonstrated that they are more than willing to make serious allegations without evidence and based entirely on a single person's allegations.
Since Judge Kavanaugh has denied Dr. Ford’s allegations, It may be too late for Brett Kavanaugh to shed this legalistic defense and reveal himself as a human being. If that is true, then I don’t think he could be a Supreme Court Justice capable of resolving some of the darkest problems America is facing today. This is the standard Judge Kavanaugh should be held too, and Dr. Ford is the ultimate test. The Senate must not hold this hearing hostage to hostile politics.
7
@Ed English
Kavanaugh should shed what? The truth that he wasn't there? There isn't any evidence that he was. The witnesses that Ford has put out have all denied being there.
5
@Ed English - Kavanaugh revealed his true character when he walked away from the father whose daughter was killed in the MSD High School mass shooting, pausing only to give the bereaved parent a dirty look over his shoulder, before moving on.
1
@Ed English
Huh? Saying that you didn't do it is now a "legalistic" defense?
2
I would feel a whole lot better about this situation if Kavanaugh acknowledged that he frequently attended underage drinking parties where there was drunkenness and horsing around, and that he is devastated to learn that his actions traumatized someone. For Kavanaugh and his friend Judge this event isn’t something they can even recall. For Ford, it is something that affected her profoundly from that day forward. I don’t doubt any of them. Hasn’t the #MeToo Movement brought us to a teaching moment about sexual assault? Not in this instance. Kavanaugh categorically denied that anything happened and retreated to the White House to be coached, and the male-dominated GOP - and our president - voiced their support of him while doubting her. An apology from Kavanaugh and a more open attitude from our elected officials might have gone a long way in healing the trauma suffered by Dr. Ford and provided much support to others grappling with this issue. As long as we live in a culture where men force themselves on women, women deserve the right to safe abortions. I think Kavanaugh has disqualified himself as a candidate for the Supreme Court because of his response to Ford’s allegation. And it’s time the Equal Rights Amendment becomes part of our Constitution.
11
Even as a small c conservative myself, Judge Kavanaugh, rather than interpreting the law, would go beyond that and change the law Roe vs Wade as it presently stands. I am of the understanding that Congress makes and changes law. All that being said, the crime he's being accused of is, in most jurisdictions, a juvenile crime, as he was 17 when it allegedly took place. Convictions are generally 'sealed' as soon he would have turned 18. In fact he never was convicted of a rape or groping or holding the young lady against her will. He was never accused of these deeds. He's no Judge Moore of Alabama.
If this really happened as Dr Ford claims, she might have discussed this with a sister or close friend. If she is able to bring that person to back her up in her Senate appearance. In fact, if the facts are not true, that would make her and her witness guilty of perjury. I don't think even an old friend would perjure herself to back up what she knew to be untrue.It's hard to believe that she wouldn't have told anyone, after all, it wasn't rape. If the therapists notes didn't mention a name of the attacker, they wouldn't hold up. Diane Feinstein believes her, but she has no proof either. Plus Ms. Feinstein has a definite ulterior motive to use this letter, true or not, to block Judge Kavanaugh from being approved.
Guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt? NO
What other documents that were not revealed might show he's already admitted guilt but were not released however ?
3
If, over the past two weeks, Judge Kavanaugh has not taken his time to take a polygraph test - and passed it - as Dr. Blasey has, then something is up. If I were him, I would have done this the first day I heard of the accusation, and I would let it be known immediately that I passed it, as she has done. Why has he not done this?
13
@David
Polygraph tests are notorious as being unreliable. That's why courts won't accept their use. Aldrich Ames, who sold out names of Soviets working for the CIA, 'passed' the tests for years.
Even if he had taken the test and passed, it wouldn't be enough for people.
7
@Rocket J Squrriel it would prove he is taking every possible step to assure all of us he is telling the truth - as she has done. It is hard to escape the basic question - why would he not do this? And, at the hearing, he should be asked if he has in fact already taken a polygraph (I would bet money he has, and failed).
@David
As I said, he could take 20 tests and pass all of them and it still wouldn't make a difference. Nothing is going to sway his opponents. Not even if Ford recants.
The left is being a tad over optimistic as to how this will play out. With Leland Keyser's denial of knowing Kavanaugh, all the other claimed participants of the party dispute her account (even if Keyser believes her in general). So assuming something did happen to Ford, we are asked to ignore all the 'over-remembering' aside from her identification of the culprit.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beastly-behavior/201605/trauma-p...
14
@Jack That is untrue. They do not 'dispute her account.' They do not remember a specific party from 35+ years ago, or another attendee whom they had not met. Which is quite normal, and in fact typical of all those high school parties 35+ year ago, at which you were not sexually assaulted. Just as it is equally normal for someone who was sexually assaulted to 'over-remember,' as you so snarkily put it. if you don't know any women well enough for them to talk to you frankly about their own experiences with sexual assault/abuse, try reading any of the survivors' accounts out there - they are not difficult to find.
2
Our country is 21 Trillion in debt and congress has spent more than a week arguing about something that happened 36 years ago. Democrats on one side and Republicans on the other with nothing getting accomplished. In my opinion they have more important matters on their plate.
7
@JCB I believe, as do many Americans, that it is important to give Dr. Ford's allegations a forum before affording Judge Kavanaugh with a lifetime appointment. But having said that, do you see our current government doing anything whatsoever to relieve the debt that you reference? President Trump and the Congress have just approved a massive tax-cut that is being funded by adding to the debt. How do you see them gearing up to solve that problem when they have knowingly added to it to give the wealthiest Americans a tax cut?
5
@JCB
I'm guessing you are a male.
For women, this is THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL appointment
Trump willl have made.
@JCB Yeah, let's repeal the latest Republican tax cut!
A simple question: How many women and men have been molested or worse and know with certainty that they would never publicize their experience? How many would be willing to testify before a court of law and relive the humiliation and pain from such an experience?
16
Here’s a suggestion for a way out of the Kavanaugh nomination mess that may satisfy both Republicans and Democrats: Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination will becwithdrawn in exchange for the agreement of Senate Democrats to vote in favor of a new Republican nominee. The new nominee will be someone with significant experience concerning the important legal issues that the Supreme Court will likely face in the near future, who will not be beholden to the President and who is likely to be looking for suitable employment - Rod Rosenstein.
11
@Jay Orchard
This is also about a man's reputation which forever will be tarnished by withdrawing.
An agreement to vote for or against a future nominee is absurd. Any nominee should be judged on their merits alone not by some prior agreement which Senate Democrats who likely will not abide by nor should they.
2
Ford's attorneys seem to have made a bad bet that they could continue to push her testimony back without the risk of her purged social history being recovered by internet sleuths.
https://cultofthe1st.blogspot.com/2018/09/why-christine-blasey-fords-hig...
Still waiting see what gets recovered from the Wayback Machine.
5
@Jack
Great link, Jack. That yearbook resource is a devastating must-read.
2
@Jack
Yes, there is a lot in her yearbook that is damaging, especially about the tradition of playing a drinking game called, "Pass-Out". Her schoolmates obviously engaged in heavy drinking.
"Heavy drinker". Somehow Dr. Ford has managed to avoid this label, thought it has been liberally applied to Kavanaugh.
2
So, in the last three paragraphs here, we learn a former Justice Dept inspector general in some way joins the Blasey legal team on Friday.
On Saturday -- due to "objections" to his actions within the partnership ranks of his prominent DC law firm -- he tenders his IMMEDIATE resignation -- not noted if he is a partner or associate.
Wow.
While I wouldn't say that's "burying the lede" -- all the material that comes before is equally important, and directly germane to the main forces of contention in this ever-evolving situation --
it's sure a major development that lends specific context re the stakes for seemingly even minor players caught up in the action -- with no disrespect to anyone deemed "minor".
The sparks are clearly flying, the stakes are getting higher -- and the "truth", whatever it may be, is still WAAAAY "out there".
Anybody who thinks they know how things are going to end up here -- eg, Mitch McConnell -- is clearly engaging in massive and willful self-delusion.
All bets are off now, and NO ONE has any idea what's going to happen -- with the nomination OR the election -- not to mention the country.
"Interesting times" indeed ...
7
Why would anyone but Dr. Ford remember this incident?
The whole point is that this was a non-issue for everyone there but her.
That is precisely the problem.
18
All we know for certain is that someone is going to lie under oath.
15
A lie means a deliberate falsehood. I think
Dr. Ford almost certainly believes what she is saying. It is however the case that one of the two people will not be telling the truth. But then as Pontius Pilate said "what is truth?"
1
@Jennifer And on one side we have a man with a clear and transparent record of character and integrity and on the other a Never Trumper, SJW activist whose story has already been debunked by the very witnesses she mentioned in her statement.
10
@Jennifer - And it's more likely to be someone who has a record of 'fudging' the truth under oath, in a Senate hearing.
The claim that there is no evidence of the attack is preposterous! From the point of view of a psychologist, we keep very clear and precise notes on each patient. The psychotherapy notes clearly reflect the lasting impact of trauma on Dr. Ford and on her marriage and they were recorded in 2012. No patient comes to therapy to open up about sexual trauma with the intent to down the road implicate the attacker, and that was not the scope of the therapy. Dr. Ford was an unwilling witness and her testimony is cut clear in treatment. Notes are often subject to court subpoena, such as in divorce proceedings, and rightly so!
15
Not psychotherapy - marriage counseling. Big difference.
I dread the coming week. It's going to be worse than 1991, I think. America has been living by the lie for such long time, and the lie will triumph once again. One applauds Professor Ford for having the guts to come forward, but she's a pawn in a political game being played by both sides. She would've served herself and her family better by staying quiet.
19
@Jon Harrison Applaud her for coming forward with what?
Jon, I could make accusations about you, vile horrid stuff and what would you do about it. And If I were a woman there are those that would accept what I said at face value. Where are the protections for those accused? Or have we transcended such things?
This is dangerous and this woman does not deserve any gratitude. It seems more and more like a pathetic attempt at grandstanding with no benefit to anyone.
6
@Jon Harrison
Disagree.
@Jon Harrison And I believe that is one reason others will deny knowledge of even the party.
1
Kavanaugh belongs to the Jeff Sessions I Don’t Remember What I Should Definitely Remember Club. Being so totally evasive should give pause to the Judiciary Committee. It should but with greasy Grassley in charge...it doesn’t.
12
@David J Kavanaugh is being evasive?! No, he's quite adamant in his innocence. The accuser can't seem to remember anything pertinent and her named witnesses can't either. That's evasive.
8
“Officials said Judge Kavanaugh, who spent much of this past week at the White House preparing for a hearing, was well rehearsed and ready to appear on Capitol Hill if senators opted to go forward with a session”. This seems upsetting, knowing in advance the questions his republican cohorts are going to ask him. Let’s hope they are fair, and not used to crucify Dr Blasey.
13
If the Congress had passed a law legalizing abortion at some point in the last 40 years would this 'showdown' be playing out now. This seems to me to be proof that Congress is interested in getting re-elected and not in dealing with issues that might damage their return to DC. Healthcare, immigration, social security, etc.. The last 3 administrations have made governing by executive order seem normal, Congress has done next to nothing.
4
It should disturb the American people greatly that this potential nominee has had so much contact with the very people he will would likely be making rulings about in the near future.
5
I went to lots of weekend parties in my student days where nothing remarkable happened to me. I don’t remember who was there, where the parties were, except the usual places where I used to go, or when I went to what place. I do remember however, the place and some people who were there, of three parties where I was groped or kissed against my will, or where someone I knew threatened violence against a friend of mine in my presence. The problem with Dr. Blasey’s witnesses except one, is that they were at the party, but not in the separate room where she was assaulted. And the other person who was in the room denies it happened, but he was either too drunk to remember or he does not want to incriminate himself as an accomplice. I also remember very well that someone wearing a ski mask tried to assault me at knife point when I was on my way home on my bicycle, but fled when a car approached, and that police was skeptical when I reported the assault. I don’t remember the day or even month anymore, however.
48
@Anna
No, the witnesses, and Kavanaugh, are saying that they weren't even at the party and have no idea what Ford is talking about.
2
@Rocket J Squrriel: If they remember they weren't at that party, they can tell us when and where that party was... Ford was forced into a separate room, with only one witness, who says he doesn't remember - maybe because he was too drunk or because he doesn't want to incriminate himself?
@Anna
They are saying that they didn't even know there WAS a party.
It’s hard to understand why the Committee would not allow for witnesses to testify under oath.
Otherwise we’ll be left with a “he said, she said” testimony that will still only have a conclusion based on belief of one or the other. I wonder, would the one not believed need to be brought up on perjury charges?
6
@Ken Testify under oath to an event where there are no witnesses and that occurred 30 years ago? And what exactly does the "oath" add to this?
3
That the White House or Grassley's office is doing everything possible, including releasing Dr. Blasey's identity before it became public, which seems quite clear, to discredit her and "plow through" on the appointment is un-American. It is like we are living in a totalitarian state. Grassley already looks like a fool with his arbitrary deadlines that he has continued to modify. Let us hope that Dr. Blasey's attorney can secure some civilized process for her testimony, for we know what the old men on the committee want to do, since they have demonstrated it resoundingly with M. Hill's testimony.
Ms. Keyser said that she believes Dr. Blasey, according to this column, but headlines say she "has no recollection" of being at that party. Why don't the headlines say that she believes Dr. Blasey? Other contemporaries of Dr. Blasey from her high school have noted her changed behavior at one point in high school. Hearsay, planted statements? We may well never know, but we do know that Kavanaugh has lived a privileged life and has taken documented liberties with the truth, if not committing outright perjury in testimony well before the SC testimony.
It is clear that the Senate committee has already decided how it will vote on the nomination in view of a number of statements, but particularly McConnell's plow through statement. While the Senate will vote on the nomination, it is the American people who will judge the process.
25
@AndrewClearly all the Democrats decided the moment he was nominated to vote against him. I find it interesting that no one has heard her specific charges but everyone believes her. We can't bring up her past in HS as documented in yearbooks (honestly no one should care) but we can besmirch him for being white, rich and privileged (just like her). Sounds like the Soviet court system which is already in place in many universities - guilty till proven innocent.
11
@Andrew The WaPo identified her when she went public.
5
“We believe that for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows.” Who needs the legal system? Fact finding is so passé, and “June is busting out all over!”
1
This should be a lesson to all young women and men, boys and girls (and one I wish someone had told me): In every case of sexual assault or harassment, file charges. You never know who is going to be the next bishop, Supreme Court justice nominee, or presidential candidate.
18
Even though I tend to lean left, politically, I still think it's important and healthy for our democracy to have a "loyal opposition" party. It's terribly unfortunate that today's GOP has veered so far off course, to the point where their ideology blinds them to what I see as the obvious solution to all their current problems regarding the Kavanaugh nomination: Replace him with Merrick Garland, a man with no apparent skeletons in the closet.
But we can already see how this one ends: Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. Whatever drubbing the GOP gets in November will be entirely of their own making.
9
@Terry Malouf: you seriously expect the GOP to replace a conservative candidate with a hard left candidate -- to appease liberals?
Uh, no. That is not happening.
If Dems get back in power, I fully expect to see Ruth Ginsberg resign, and Merrick Garland handed her seat. The downside would be one less female Justice.
Thousands of women have already testified the lifelong trauma of sexual abuse. Of course none of those woman would have memory of a party they attended years ago unless they suffered assault...that stays; it never goes away.
37
@Tom Gerosolina - Yes, 'action should be taken at the time,' but we all know why that doesn't happen, don't we? If you don't know, you need to look at what has been/is being/will be done to those who come forward.
“Judge Kavanaugh, who has vigorously denied the allegations, has repeatedly expressed his desire to testify.”
But he as a sitting & experienced federal judge has been absolutely silent in Publicly demanding a full investigation of evidence that could settle this matter. Instead this nominee for SCOTUS appears to reject a most fundamental tenet of judicial conduct and law—a right to due process.
Why? Does he not trust an impartial open hearing based on each party’s evidence in public disputes or just his? No president or senator can deny a federal judge’s demand for fairness. That’s a judge’s job expertise by expectations, education and purpose!
What he did or did not do over thirty years ago seems moot but his current judicial conduct in public hearings has thus far made him appear unfit. He’s a judge not just a lawyer and certainly not an ordinary citizen. And that’s not a hypothetical that he can set aside as inconvenient timing.
13
Due process is not a witch hunt in a Congressional hearing. Due process is in the court of law.
No one will want to step forward and offer their service to the country if their lives will be ruined by character assassination that is allowed to go back to when they were a minor and can be brought forward without witnesses to support it.
And that goes for Democrats and Republicans. Think for a moment about the obviously nasty - and documented - Clinton and Kennedy pasts. This is Democrats shooting themselves in the foot and it will come back to haunt them.
35
It's a good idea to expect that our country's leaders have squeaky clean backgrounds. It's a slippery slope to think otherwise. Also, just because an event happened when someone was a minor doesn't make it excusable. What if the offense was murder? When my kids were 17 it was clear to me whether they respected others, whether they were honest, what they would be like as adults, etc.
Moving forward, if both parties investigate charges such as these aggressively, and consistently, with the goal of getting to the truth vs. what is best for their party, we'll all be better for it. This is going to be the new normal for awhile until we figure out a way to navigate.
5
@me I am a lifelong Democrat and I can assure you we are not concerned with "shooting ourselves in the foot" by insisting these allegations be investigated. As much as you and others may be convinced this issue is partisan, it's not.
4
Or, live your life in such a way that the past won't be negativity reflected when it comes up. Like, how about, don't assault others? seems pretty simple. I don't want those people "serving" anyhow.
9
Regarding memory: A fight/flight/freeze autonomic nervous system response to a threat to your life (what Dr. Blasey Ford is reporting) sears the details of the event into your neural network. It's the way the brain protects us from future similar threats. Being a binge drinker with an alcohol addiction (the kind of behavior Mark Judge has written about and Kavanaugh jokes about) causes the brain to black out and lose memory of events. Educating the public on the difference between a traumatic memory and a drug induced lack of memory needs to be part of the #MeToo discussion if assault victims are to be treated fairly by those who are evaluating conflicting witness testimony.
22
@Amy Luna If true, why can't Ms. Ford remember any details?
I agree with your hypothesis, but it doesn't fit your argument. 13 years ago on a NYC bus I witnessed a violent attack on a woman sitting in front of me. As I called 911, the attacker turned to me and brandished his weapon over me. I recall hearing "911, what's your emergency," I was unable to utter a single word. My vocal cords seemed to be paralyzed.
However, I remember every detail of the event. Today I could identify the woman and men in a heartbeat, even what they were wearing, how he smelled, weather was like, how long it took the police to arrive, where the event happened and where I exited the bus, and even the appearance some of the people close to me who were also calling 911.
By your own reasoning, Ms. Ford should recall at least some of details of her alleged assault.
2
How about a “fake memory?” Are bald faced lies and outright hoaxes no longer part of the human experience but are now to be replaced by a bunch of scientific mumbo jumbo? I guess proof of facts has now gone out the window as just a relic of our crude Anglo-Saxon past. We are more enlightened now.
6
@Factumpactum
That's why this sounds like, at best, a false memory. Its known that 'recovered memories' are unreliable simply due to the time and the overlay of other events.
I've found that some vivid childhood memories I've had are not complete. Some events actually were from something else and just got merge together.
Nothing short of being given under oath to either the FBI or the full senate judiciary committee should be taken seriously. We can't accept words not uttered under oath.
All federal employees, senators, congressmen, judges, and the president and his staff have taken an oath. Any and all of their statement, unless otherwise qualified must be considered true and made under penalty of perjury. Any statement they want to make on the job, which is from the moment they took the oath until the end of their appointment or resignation must be qualified as "off-the-record", otherwise must be taken as "under oath".
"This woman is mixed-up" is an official statement by a senator has to be investigate to see if it is true. The FBI can hire a panel of experts with members approved by majority and minority members to demonstrate if that statement is right, psychiatrists, neuroscientists, psychologists, etc.
So, senators, shut the clock off until its time to face the lights. You are under oath round the clock until you leave your position.
8
It may be true that we will never know for sure, beyond a reasonable doubt, what exactly happened in the past. But I do know one thing for an absolute certainty: Come November I will be voting a straight Democratic ticket! No more Republicans - ever!
17
@Pat Boice
Republicans, especially females, will be doing the exact same thing.
1
@AACNY
And any woman with a son, brother or husband that she wouldn't want to see falsely accused will NOT be voting Democrat. Lots of women with men in their lives they care about.
That is a poor way to decide your vote. Please consider what you want your elected representatives to do for you, it isn't always on the party line.
If she was testifying in court about the identity of a person that she saw robbing a bank, everyone would believe her. No one would be calling it a he "said--she said." Any reasonable person would believe her. The reason is that unless something comes out to the contrary she is a rock solid citizen, reluctant witness, with no reason to lie.
18
Are you serious? It is well known that eye witness testimony is the single least reliable testimony that there is. Thousands of mistaken visual identifications have been made. In this case the possibility of eyewitness error while still very much existent is considerably less than in a bank robbing in case
5
@George Ummmmm ... no, not even a little. Her testimony would be examined minutely, she would be mercilessly cross examined and forced to explain every small contradiction.
Have you no idea how our legal system works? The days of accepting uncorroborated assertions went out with the Salem Witch Trials.
The comments here are pretty scary.
8
@Michael James Cobb I was a prosecutor and trial lawyer. I know what jurries do. To win he is going to have to show a motive to lie.
Since alcohol was most likely involved, she might have fabricated the entire story.
Given her false accusations, I would never want to be one of her student, or, God forbid, a patient.
21
given that alcohol was involved - he may be have acted out of character and assaulted this woman when she was a girl. do you really think she's giving up everything, even possibly opening herself and family up to harm, to lie about this?
3
@Rosa Maria, alcohol might be the reason Bret Kavanaugh does not remember his misbehaviors.
1
@Rosa Maria: I have no doubt the feeling is mutual, given your false conclusions.
So an accusation , no matter how vigorously denied and refutted by other names witnesses, is automatically true? Is that the path we are going down? It's a very slippery slope where any party will now be subject to accusations by the opposing political party , and over time the population will become numb to the claims.
Right now we have Kavanugh and THREE of the individuals that Dr Ford HERSELF named as witnesses ALL denying ANY RECOLLECTION AT ALL OF THE PARTY OR ACCUSATION. And all we hear from the left are "excuses" as to why those witnesses must be mistaken or have faulty memories.
I will state though that Trump and his advisers are fools for not having the FBI investigate this - it could be done by Thursday next week and would almost 100% show no collaborating evidence of the alleged assault by Kavanaugh.
If Kavanaugh really was the sexual attacker that the left claims he is , don't you think they would have dug up at least ONE more accuser , instead of the scores of women who have nothing but positive things to say about him??
14
DT believes there is a number of Women who will "fight for Kavanugh". My estimate is only one: DTs inner female self.
7
The Super bowl of accusations is cometh,next week.
Not since the Ali-Frazier fight or the landmark man to moon Apollo flight is a nation so engaged into an accusation of the yore,did he,did he not.
This are halcyon periods for the Press to bask in the volleys of verbal offence & defence.
In this Golden period of delayed accusations,opinions can play a pivotal role in the minds of the people in casting guilty or not guilty verdict.
The press has a major role in delivering the verdict.It is the Jury & Judge.
It better be fair.
Hopefully
2
Sorry CBF but we are going to need something more than I don't know when, where, who was there and a lack of any collaborating accounts to establish any sort of credibility. Ancient Diane Feinstein didn't do you any favors on the optics front with egregious timing and general ineptitude in handling the release.
15
How about waiting to hear her testimony. And maybe lay off the ageist comments about Sen. Feinstein. By the way, it’s Dianne, not Diane.
1
If Kavanaugh really is innocent, he would welcome and even ask for an FBI investigation to clear his name. Think about it - if you were accused of attempted rape and knew there was no way you did that, wouldn’t you want an investigation to prove your innocence? Guilty people don’t want investigations.
19
I expect Kavanaugh will testify about as well as Grassley negotiates.
You go Dr. Ford!
11
Lest anyone believe this is not a calculated political event designed to get to the truth of nothing: “Officials said Judge Kavanaugh, who spent much of this past week at the White House preparing for a hearing, was well rehearsed and ready to appear on Capitol Hill if senators opted to go forward with a session. At mock hearings last week, according to a White House official, he practiced fielding specific questions about the accusations and deflecting broad inquiries about his social life, such as his general drinking habits.”
“Deflecting?” So much for open and honest testimony. Kavanaugh is the new Slick Willie, and the question is whether senators such as Flake and Corker any others with a conscience will represent the American people, or prove to be full of sound and fury signifying nothing but a rotting GOP.
33
@Cartcomm Ms. Ford has spent weeks with high powered attorneys preparing. Why is that different?
14
@Cartcomm Do you think that Dr. Blasley is not being coached in a similar manner?
6
@Bill .... the paragraph @Cartcomm posted made me pause as well. To your point, Brett Kavanaugh is hoping to be confirmed, not Dr. Ford. Surely we should be holding him to a much higher standard. Practicing how to deflect .... that in of itself is a red flag.
The Washington Post reports that Dr. Ford told the WaPO before her identity was known that Ms Keyser probably would not remember the party or any untoward events because Dr Ford did not tell her about them that night.
8
@Mary Askew Convenient. there is a witness but she probably won't remember. Let's see Kavanaugh says he was with ten friends sometime somewhere at the time of the attack but none remember. Wold you buy that?
5
In a real court, Kavanaugh would be convicted if his only defences were that he wasn't there.
3
@James BIn a real court this case would never be tried. No date, no place, no corroboration of any time, 36 years ago.
9
@James B In a real court Dr. Ford would be laughed out of the building.
Are you seriously of the opinion that unsupported allegations are sufficient for conviction? Or are sufficient to even bring an action?
2
Although I am a woman, I think it is either a lie or a gross exaggeration fabricated to hurt his Supreme court nomination. If something like this would have happened to me I would have told my parents, asking them to do something. As a matter of fact I escaped attempted group rape when i was only 5 and I did tell my parents although I was ashamed and asked them to go to the police.
15
@European in NY
I hate all the speculation, but judging from her high school yearbook, there was very heavy drinking among her peers. Perhaps she didn't want to expose her own behavior at the time.
1
@European in NY you were lucky you could trust your parents. When I was sexually assaulted at 11 years old I told no one. My parents were not deserving of trust. Harsh to say. I love them and they love me. I am 50 now, both parents still alive. And still they behave in ways that make me cringe. It is not healthy to trust some people. My parents are toxic and I understand why I stayed silent.
Deniers could be people who just don't want to be involved, or the party amounts to just one more bacchanalia. For the person assaulted, the party probably stands out in higher relief... probably for the perpetrator as well, unless there was blackout drinking.
14
The really disgusting thing to me is how these schools are a pipeline to Yale and Harvard and then the law schools and the courts. This is a country of many fine law schools and brilliant people. Why don’t we have some justices who represent the rest of us not just this little knot of privileged, entitled people.
39
@Randy:
Probably mostly because they're "privileged, entitled people."
This is absolutely outrageous. Ford has identified 3 attendees, out of an alleged 6, of the party (in addition to Kavanaugh).
1. Mark Judge
2. Patrick Smyth
3. Leland Keyser (female, and Ford’s friend)
These 3 individuals have all provided testimony that no such party occurred. And many commentators still say “I believe her” or do mental pretzels to try to explain how this not only unsubstantiated but refuted claim could nevertheless still have some truth.
The left is in for a nasty November surprise if it thinks that this is going to help them in the midterms.
16
Dr. Blasey Ford is a brave woman and I hope she knows down deep to her bones that millions of us around the world stand with her and are very proud of what she is doing, of the strength and character she is showing in the face of ignorance, hatred and small smug minds.
22
I find this type of reporting troubling: "But in a possible setback for the woman, Christine Blasey Ford, Republicans on the committee received a statement on Saturday that seemed to eliminate any chance of corroboration of Dr. Blasey’s account by anyone who attended the high school party where she says she was assaulted." I had to deal with a similar off-campus situation as a high school principal. A lot of people at the party had 'fuzzy memories', that is until it came time to testify to law enforcement agents. Which is why I guess the Republicans want to get these statements on the unofficial public (news media) record; and not have these folks interviewed by the FBI, or have them make their 'saw nothing-know nothing' statements under congressional oath. My goodness, why would any woman want to be revictimize in this way?
37
@Michael JohnsonI agree it wasn't a set back for Ms. Ford but rather another fact for people to consider. No recollection of place, year, month and three of the people she says were there say they weren't and don't know what she is talking about. So it is really she remembers something from 36 years ago vaguely and he denies it.
3
@Michael Johnson You assume that she is a victim. That assumes facts not in evidence.
6
@Tom Gerosolina
No one had ever heard of Anita Hill before 1991. The hearings 'made' her.
2
I would have liked Kavanaugh's confirmation to be denied on the basis of his out of the mainstream rightwing decisions and his perjury about his role in promoting other such judges. However sometimes it takes plain evidence of hypocrisy to motivate public opinion. His smiling face hides a lot of lies.
12
I love it. Finally the Democrats are bringing a gun to the gun fight. Too bad it may just be a BB gun.
3
@sissifus, back in 2012, Dr Ford recalled her attack to a therapist. Brett Kavanaugh was no where near the Supreme court, so this is not a democrat thing. It is woman thing. We need to be heard and we want to be treated with dignity.
1
Because of the new religion called #MeToo we have to put up with this rankly transparent political charade. A new low for Dems, and that's saying something. Feinstein has behaved as she has simply to win her own embattled re-election, hitched to the latest movement's star.
I voted for Trump for one reason and one reason only -- the court and the overturn of Roe and the end of governmental sanction of the abomination of abortion. I am unmoved by Dr. Blasey Ford's fifteen minutes of fame, though no doubt a conceptual statue of her is already in the works. Perhaps in two hundred years it #too will be taken down.
12
If my memory was as fuzzy as Dr. Ford's is about this incident, I would have postponed appearing before the senate judiciary committee too. So the meeting Thursday is tentative (code word a no show) unless she has a sudden burst of memory recollection. Hopefully she can put together a good story that is very convincing by the so-called date.
25
@WPLMMT
Memories can indeed be fuzzy, but they are not in the case of a traumatic event.
Severe trauma at any age can be replayed by a person like a movie real, despite the fact that most people would like to erase it from their memories.
11
@WPLMMT
I wonder how well YOU would do after numerous death threats and uprooting your family to go into hiding.
Could you go to a hearing without any investigation and without calling on any witnesses? Could you even put together a "good story" on YOUR strength of character?
She has one because she lived one. You don't.
1
@WPLMMT So "put together a good story" means telling a convincing lie or will her memory suddenly improve within the next few days (with absolutely nothing that could refresh it after 36 years)???
And nevertheless she persisted. Dr. Blasley persisted in wanting the American public to know the truth about Kavanaugh. She persisted in the face of Trump’s slander. She persisted in the face of Grassley’s huffing and puffing about deadlines and conditions to get her to back off. And despite the horrors of her experience with Kavanaugh when she was 15, she persisted in living her life. And now, she persisted despite the hackers, the haters, and the misogynistic Republican bullies to speak the truth next week. That makes her light years more credible than Kavanaugh who had to be coached in how to dodge the truth.
35
@Ichabod Aikem. She is being coached, hence the stalling
1
"Officials said Judge Kavanaugh, who spent much of this past week at the White House preparing for a hearing, was well rehearsed and ready to appear on Capitol Hill if senators opted to go forward with a session. At mock hearings last week, according to a White House official, he practiced fielding specific questions about the accusations and deflecting broad inquiries about his social life, such as his general drinking habits."
Judge Kavanaugh has been working in the field of law since he graduated from Yale Law School in 1990, 28 years ago. One would think that by now he would understand the importance of presenting an argument. The fact that he is being prepped for a solid week or more in the art of presentation says to me that he is being coached on how to be EVASIVE.
This is a man with an extensive record, including a number of documents that he cannot evade, because he wrote them.
I suspect that if he is confronted with the specific language of his own writings, he will have a difficult time being evasive.
Try talking your way out of the statement in YOUR high school yearbook page that you wrote, which says "Keg City Club (Treasurer) - 100 kegs or bust."
Try talking your way out of the statement "Beach Week Ralph Club - Biggest Contributor."
And that is just high school. There is a LOT more.
51
@Joe From Boston
You forgot to add his clear but convoluted way of saying that he sees roe v wade not correctly adjudicated. In part of his testimony he said that any properly adjudicated ruling passes the Blackburg test. In his writing he says that roe v wade doesn't meet that test. Connecting the dots seems to be really hard for our brilliant senators.
Let's hope we don't have another serious crisis where the dots have not been expertly connected.
4
@Kamyab
This hearing will be about his character, including how he behaved in high school, in Yale college, and in Yale Law School, and more recently.
There are issues about how he chooses his law clerks, most of whom by his admission are women, but who "look like models", according to Yale law School Professor Amy Chua.
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2018/09/21/yls-professors-said-kavanaugh-...
Kavanaugh clerked for Judge Alex Kozinski, who was a porn collector who displayed porn on his government computer. Kavanaugh said under oath that he never saw anything out of the ordinary.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Kozinski
Quote:
Alex Kozinski (born July 23, 1950)[1] is a former United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where he served from 1985 until announcing his retirement on December 18, 2017, after a growing number of allegations of improper sexual conduct and abusive practices toward law clerks.[2] Kozinski was chief judge of that court from November 2007 to December 1, 2014.
End Quote
That says that either 1. he knew and thinks porn on government computers is ok, or 2. He knew (because it was common knowledge among the court personnel) and he lied about his knowledge.
Take your pick of 1 or 2. He loses either way. That is also part of the record.
The issue is his character, and whether that is appropriate for a person who might be a Justice of the Supreme Court
@Joe From Boston: I assure you, Ford is being prepped too and by the very best the Democrats can afford.
It is important that Republican senators do the questioning themselves. No proxy to carry out the interrogation and deflect the interaction. This is more important than the number of cameras. Probably Kavanaugh should not be in the rood during the interrogation to avoid distractions with his facial expressions and grimaces. Let him say what he wants to say--under oath--then leave the room and proceed with her interrogation by the skeptical senators, not by a hired hand.
9
There is no more fundamental right in a free country than the right to face an accuser. To do otherwise is what we call a Star Chamber proceeding. But given that this is turning into an inquisition perhaps that is appropriate.
11
@tdb The accuser goes first and then the accused. That's how it works. Always has. The senators can have whoever they want question her. Ot's their hearing not hers.
6
@tdb By this time, ALL senators are skeptical.......whether they admit it or not.
2
Lets hope that the rule of law will be the justice for
professor Ford - a brave woman to face the malice
of old Republican men.
Let justice be done though the heavens fall.
19
@PropagandandTreason
Comment after comment mentions "old Republican men" or "old white men".
Have all liberals/progressives all taken up racism, sexism and ageism?
2
@PropagandandTreason
"Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum."
Let justice be done though the heavens fall.
Women of America are watching.
Women of the world are watching.
"We the People" are watching.
1
Weknowthisprobablytrue: Of course there is a third party (watch for a fourth - or more - coming soon) who will deny that the incident happened. That's what "friends" do. Quid Pro Quo is in play here.
The republican senators (lower case is deliberate) have closets full of such "friends" and are all for paying them handsomely for their services ...
The debt will be paid when Kavanaugh gets the lifetime position on the SCOTUS and will have all the time and opportunity to do so after he does.
12
Entirely possible for a person to have zero recall of attending (or not attending) a party 30 years ago which was, for them, uneventful. Entirely possible if something eventful occurred that a person could easily determine to not recall it especially as any claim of recall would be put under the hot, destructive lights of suspicion. We go to the hearing with the information we have, to spin a phrase.
7
Why is Dr. Ford doing everything in her power not to testify? This is the elephant in the room. What exactly is she hiding? Kavanaugh has been willing to testify from day 1 and Ford has done everything possible to avoid doing so. And today a third person she claimed was at the party was not.
Something is very, very fishy here.
27
@XLER
She wants an actual investigation that asks the people in the room what they know, under oath and seeks other evidence that would corroborate her story.
Without an investigation, it is just he said/she said
The refusal of Republicans to conduct a real investigation shows that it is they that are hiding something. If they are so convinced of Kavanaugh's innocence, they should want a real investigation to clear this up.
They are also hiding other aspects of Kavanaugh's past. That is evidence that Kavanaugh has lied about his role in approving war crimes in the Bush Administration' (Yes, torture is a war crime, and has been since we convicted Japanese officers for ordering torture in WWII).
Trump is a corrupt president, who is unable and unwilling to even pretend that he does not put his interests above We the People in his official decisions. Trump is he definition of corruption.
He even picked a Supreme Court Justice specifically because Kavanaugh has said that a president can only be investigated by Congress. Trump picked Kavanaugh to help shut down the Mueller investigation. That is corrupt intent.
TRUMP is a CORRUPT PRESIDENT APPOINTING a JUSTICE to OBSTRUCT JUSTICE.
Public servants owe their loyalty to We the People and the Constitution they have sworn to uphold and protect. Trump refuses to understand or act on that underlying principle of our Republic, and this appointment mocks the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and We the People.
12
@McGloinYou clearly have an open mind about this case!
@XLER
They said they don't remember the incident. There was a lot of booze there and under age folk.
"At mock hearings last week, according to a White House official, he practiced fielding specific questions about the accusations . . ."
If this hearing is to bring out the truth about Dr. Blasey's accusations, why does he need to practice answering questions?
16
@dutchiris. Why is she rehearsing with lawyers for bill Clinton?
What do her recent actions tell us about Christine Blasey Ford and the accusations she has made against Kavanaugh?
1. Be skeptical of her story. A truthful person would not have made such accusations without first reviewing them carefully in her mind. So the fact that she needs time to prep for her testimony suggests we are going to get a carefully varnished story. Her demand for an FBI investigation before her testimony reinforces this suspicion. The public expected to hear her story, not her lawyer's, and every day that she doesn't testify her credibility shrinks.
2. Blasey is no shrinking violet -- but she intends to play one in the media. Blasey's insistence that Senators, rather than female outside counsel, examine her, show that she is trying to stage-manage an Anita Hill-style confrontation in which she plays the role of injured womanhood. She is even trying to dictate how many news media cameras will be present.
3. Blasey is a political animal. She has taken a page out of the Democrats' playbook and is trying to drag out the proceedings. Her hiring of Katz, a long-time Democrat, and Bromwich, the lawyer of fired deputy F.B.I. director, also reeks of politics. Her overt partisanship is likely to hurt her credibility, and it should do so.
Blasey's behavior has likely stirred distrust among observers. So everything will turn on whether she can corroborate her story.
35
@Ian Maitland
I think you are also reaching in your theory.
Dr Ford has already risked much and will risk more.
Just what has she to gain from this? Confronting someone she obviously believes abused her?
Already she has been subjected to some nastiness and in all likelihood that will not stop.
I think Dr Ford is very brave this is no easy task.
10
@Ian Maitland No, it is Republicans who are trying to stage-manage by refusing to show their faces, and hiding behind the skirt of a female prosecutor!
Corporations control all three branches of our government, and they want him confirmed.
Who could possibly stop it?
13
No matter what the outcome, the confirmation process for Supreme Court justices is seriously broken. For the highest court in the land, occupied by lifetime appointees, not to require a super majority in order to be confirmed is extremely bad policy.
And will anyone among the GOP senators or the White House please stun the world and tell people not to make death threats? The social media stuff on this circus is disgusting and some leadership would be good for the country.
26
@Frank dont be silly. congress cant vote for anything with a supermajority.
Can someone help me please:
Is it Ms. Ford's claim that five people
were at the gathering ?
Ms. Keyser says she does not know Kavanaugh.
She does not remember ever being at such
a gathering.
Kavanaugh said it never happened.
Judge says he never saw anything like
what Ms. Ford described.
Mr. Smyth says he knows nothing
of this particular gathering.
Now maybe they are all in collusion and lying
but if four out of five said this gathering did
not take place, then,
on what grounds is
Ms. Ford standing ?
I rather it were I ,
than Mr. Kavanaugh ,
being considered for the Court.
I would be far less ideological
concerned about the Poor
but unless I am missing something -
- why is Ms. Ford being
taken seriously anymore ?
She cannot remember the date.
She cannot remember where the house was.
She has not stated if she remained at the
house or fled the house.
She has not stated how she got home.
If this were a story about assault charges
made 36 years later and you were on the Jury
and you heard from:
Ms. Keyser
Mr. Judge
Mr. Smyth
Mr. Kavanaugh
that this gathering never took place
how could you vote to convict when
Ms. Ford cannot even tell you the date/month/year
or where the house was or how she got home ?
Can someone please detail:
How old each participant
was at the time of the gathering.
Why Ms. Ford was attending -
Who invited a 15 year old,
from a different school,
to this gathering ?
How did Ms. Ford get to the gathering ?
How did she get home ?
23
@John Brown I am sure you don't remember any of the specifics of the parties you attended 35 years ago because there was no reason to do so. But I am sure you would remember what happened if someone tried to rape you even if you don't remember the exact date, time, location and other details. You would certainly remember the person that did it. Those people you list as witnesses never said it did not take place. They said they don't recall. If someone attempted to rape them, I am certain they would recall who it was.
4
@John Brown We're not going to hear from them. All the Republican Senate staff has is written statements by Judge and from lawyers representing Keyser and Smyth. And the Grassley won't allow any of them to be put under oath before the Committee.
1
You're applying scrutiny like there's a defendant being tried in a court of law. It's not. Kavanaugh is trying to get a job promotion and someone has information that suggests he is not the stand up guy everyone is making him out to be. If she appears honest, sincere and steadfast in her responses and he gives us a bunch of "I do not recall" should he get the promotion? I say no.
Contact your elected representatives. Right now.
Then just like me, you can read automatic replies stating that "someone" reads every email. Maybe if there's enough of them clogging up those in-boxes the outrage will start to sink in.
11
Kavanaugh with a chuckle made a joke that what goes on at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep. Everyone should know that behind a joke is the reality of the joke. If he had not participated in drunken, illegal behavior he would not be joking about it. He should be glad Ford did not report the assault or he would not have the grand reputation and life he has now. Today he is not acting like an innocent person or a gentleman who is likely to be the next "SUPREME" Court judge. He should be kind and understanding to Ford and demand she be heard.
32
@PatShe is being heard. Ms. Ford's yearbook comments also aren't exactly great but they don't matter....
4
@Bill
He made that joke, speaking to students there in 2015.
2015, Bill.
It is clear to me what is needed is a STOP to the proceedings.
The Senate Committee has deemed this hearing not "executive" in nature. Does this committee deem itself the ability then to judge in this case of possible attempted murder? The committee has withheld documents which might shed light on the case. An independent council must intervene. The committee has proven itself by its political nature bias and thus unworthy to judge an alleged attack.
11
@rubbernecking Did you just say "murder"? And you wonder why people are skeptical of democrats motives in this charade. They go over the top thinking it helps their case.
1
@Denny What do you call it, alleged rape? If someone knocked you to the ground a covered your mouth in restraint to the point you couldn't breathe I believe your lawyer would seek a charge of attempted murder. Race or sex excluded, the implications of the attack should be considered the most extreme by an independent counsel, not your lawyer and not by my assessment.
Even though I (and most people) have known for awhile now that the fix is in; it will be very interesting watching these G.O.P. Senators try to on the one hand do a complete hatchet job on Christine Blasey Ford; and at the same time proclaim how they have been "so sensitive" to her. Excuse the sarcasm folks; but this farce is getting worse every day. Make no mistake; Brett Kavanaugh will be on the Supreme Court in the very near future; no matter what Dr.Ford has to say. Whether she is telling the truth or not; it MATTERS NOT. This is about Power; has been from the very beginning. It is the life blood of the Republican Party. Or as Donald Trump has said many times in the past; he prides himself on being a KILLER!
14
No corroboration from individuals identified by Dr Blasey as likely to provide corroboration? Is all this merely a waste of time? A delaying tactic to delay confirmation of the nominee until the election; i.e. the election of 2020?
22
The Republican Senators who are members of the judiciary committee would not be in such a pickle if the party had named female senators to the committee. Now they are afraid of optics. Too little too late.
16
It is reported elsewhere that Prof Ford will not testify under oath. The actions of a honest person?
27
@Ian: Source(s)? Please cite.
1
@Ian
FYI "Else where" is wrong. Check it out if you care to be informed.
1
Early in the article the statement "planned to talk again Sunday morning to continue the halting negotiations over the conditions of the testimony" but when the article is finished we never learn what those "conditions" are.
Instead there is more opinions expressed leaning on supporting Dr Ford and downgrading Judge Kavavaugh's position and the president in general.
I expect that later in the week I will learn that the "handlers" are still insisting on maximum news coverage and that they want the accused to testify first before accusations are made. Duh!
I use to read the Times cover to cover but since most of their "news" has became an opinion of the reporter I skip over 80% and concentrate on thr technology and science news. PS I also installed a good ad blocker.
30
@don
It's always worse when a republican is either running for president or a sitting president. The entire first page just promotes one viewpoint and is never positive.
12
@don
You and a lot more of us. As a life long reader of the NTY... I pine for the days the Old Gray Lady was considered authoritative , rather than an interesting spin platform.
Why many people seem to say they "believe" Blasey is because she has no other motivation to tell her story if it was not true. Of course she can have another motivation. Her objective no matter what is to slow or derail the process of his confirmation. As soon as his name was considered Democrats were lamenting the fact that he could change the courts for years to come, abolish Roe v Wade, that it would be a tragedy for America, etc. Honestly, as a woman I find that saving the United States and my fellow women from a possible Supreme Court Justice who will alter the law of the land is a lot more of a motivation, especially if it tarnishes his reputation and stalls enough to allow results from a midterm election to block other Trump Supreme Court nominees--I think that's a heck of a lot more of a motivation than getting retribution on a drunk guy who tried to get with me at a party in high school.
30
Most women who value reproductive rights don’t want to see him confirmed. Why aren’t 20 other women doing it then?
6
@Favs
So you would have a witness make up a story and present her story whether or not her story is true IF her story will derail the process of his confirmation?
And you are okay with that?
4
@Favs
Stop clouding Dr Blasey's motivation with what you want to pin on citizens' as motivation. You can tell everyone that you like a conspiracy to thwart Republican nominee, but don't think for one minute that we're standing by and allowing you to paint us as political operatives.
Your post further insults, when you cast Dr Blasey's alternate motivation as "retribution". Dr Blasey is reporting an alleged assault that she vividly remembers; and it is important to report. Who remembers exact dates from that far back? It's the bad memory you can't shake. She will get pointed questions, don't worry about that, so you can just label your next post as "Conspiracy Theories".
1
All four of the persons Dr. Ford claims were at this party - Mark Judge, Patrick J. Smyth, Leland Keyser and Brett Kavanaugh - have now come forward and stated it never happened.
Exactly how do Ford believers square this one away? Keyser, by the way, is a lifelong friend.
22
@Dr. MEasily - They want to defeat Kavanaugh at any cost.
3
@Dr. M, actually, that's not the case. Ms Keyser is not able to recollect this particular party, or knowing some people (hardly unusual after 30+ years) - but she has also stated that she believes Dr Ford's account.
In fact, this makes Dr Ford's account more credible to me, and many others.
Can someone , ANYONE, on the left please point me in the direction where i can see the same lever of hatred and assumed guilt spewed on Keith Ellison as we are seeing on Kavanaugh?
25
@DEVO You are clearly in the equal treatment for all camp. Mr.Ellison is a Democrat running for office so he can't be investigated. Plus the evidence is weak - police reports, doctor, reports and maybe a video. Plus the times and places are know. Now if he were a Republican all you would need is a Ms. Ford type to come forward. BTW Ellison says it is being investigated - by the Democratic party!!!
4
@DEVO
I would direct your attention to the NYT comments accompanying the article on Ellison. Let's just say his accuser didn't enjoy the same support. "I believe her because it happened to me" didn't run through the thread.
1
What's the explosive testimony? Ford says... and then 4 of the 5 people she says were there, say they weren't. What's explosive about that? These people are setting Ford up to take a giant fall.
27
@Arthur Taylor
Surely Blasey-Ford can think for herself. The first person she confided her story to was not a counselor but a local politician.
1
Is this American justice?
The “accused” has reportedly been spending time with the “judges”, rehearsing questions and answers. The “ accused” has reportedly been contacting members of the Judiciary Committee, seeking their support.
And the “accuser”? Clearly she does not have the same access and will be facing interrogation by hostile “judges” with no knowledge of what questions to expect.
However, it is blatantly obvious that the “court” is already biased beyond redemption.
How can any American expect justice, if this is how a putative Supreme Court judge behaves?
12
@Scottie
Do you seriously believe the "accuser" is not being coached by politicians and attorneys? Any good attorney can quickly write out a list of questions for either party - the accused or the accuser.
Ms. Ford and her handlers are using this time to do just that: write the list of questions, add do the list of questions, question Ms. Ford, re-question Ms. Ford.
That's why Ms. Ford needs the extra time.
4
@Scottie. She has the entire bill Clinton lawyers behind her and the liberal media and hordes of screaming faux feminists in their pink pussy hats
WHEN will this carnival of a sideshow come to an end? In my humble opinion, ANYONE with a modicum of common sense decency, intellectual honesty and arm's-length critical thinking ability should be able to see what's going on here.
When you’re on the verge of eviscerating someone’s life and reputation…not to mention altering the course of U.S. history…you’d better be able come forward with something more than an unsubstantiated...nonetheless vague and highly nebulous...scathing accusation such as this.
Whether it’s in a court of law or in the “court of public opinion”, the accused is presumed totally innocent until proven otherwise.
Moreover, it is a GIVEN that the burden of proof is NOT on the accused to prove his or her innocence. And anyone who for some cryptic reason (emotional/political/psychological) fails to grasp that basic societal concept should go back and get a high school equivalency diploma.
With that said, Judge Kavanaugh has already endured extensive vetting and FBI background screening both prior to and throughout his career on the bench...not to mention the recent grueling (and in many ways outrageous) interrogation by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Literally THOUSANDS of documents have been scrutinized!
Finally, considering how other SC Nominees have been questioned and screened in the past, how can anyone even suggest that the Republicans are now trying to “rush” him through the system?
Curious minds need to know!
25
A 17 yo male under the influence and high levels of testosterone when placed in close proximity to a young nubile female, it’s understandably possible for this type of behavior to occur. If in this instance it did or not , Brett should apologize, whether or not the encounter took place.
We all have done things in our younger days we regret and things we do not remember.
Move forward Kavanaugh, apologize for whatever and stop this foolishness on both sides. We desperately need everyone to act like adults.
2
@Dave Martin
Why apologize for something you say you didn't do? That's tantamount to an admission.
Excessive drinking back in those days was common as it was in the 1960's & 1970's it was almost a right of passage.
I clearly remember those days and I am 68 years old.
If the Judge even considers this incident occurred he does need to accept responsibility for it. That does not change the other things he has done with legal issues and doesn't tell us anything about his time in the White House.
That's what concerns me.
5
@Dave Martin Why would you ever apologize for something you did not do? If Kavanaugh is telling the truth. If it did not happen. Why would you demand he apologize? Moreover, if she is making this up, or is suffering from mistaken identity, as it is beginning to appear on a number of fronts, why would you show dishonest kindness to someone who is trying to destroy your entire life simply because they disagree with you?
2
@Dave Martin
You are male. Should you apologize for something you did not do simply because you are male?
Didn't think so.
So why do you hold that "If in this instance it did or not, Brett should apologize, whether or not the encounter took place".
1
I’d like to known what, if the same things mgs happened to his daughter, as she sits before him, what would he call, legally speaking. What happened to her? And as a dad, lawyer hat off, what happened to her? What would he say to her to
Comfort and reassure her?
And would he hire a clerk or recommend to the bench a colleague who did the same things he’s being accused of but he knew it was true. What would BK want to k ow
5
@ROI I suspect if the Kavanaughs' daughter came home and told her mother and/or her father about such an assault, the parents would report the assault to the police so the juvenile could be placed in counseling.
If their daughter was drinking alcohol at the party, they should arrange for counseling for her.
Certainly the parents/homeowners where teen drinking was allowed should be reported to the authorities. Any parents who allow a teen gathering at their home should be present during that gathering. That's common sense.
3
Four people at a party? What? That would be more a gathering of friends who knew each other pretty well. Her story stinks and I think she created it once she heard Mr. Kavanaugh was going to be nominated. She is wiling to perjury herself on behalf of the abortion issue.
31
Really? She gives up her private life and career for this? Are you kidding?
Why does anyone need to practice telling the truth? Of course, lawyers learn how to play games with truth and some are more skilled than others. Those who are especially good at it seem to go into politucs.
35
@GetReal18: Kavanaugh believes that "sincerely held beliefs" outweigh establishments of science, and "free exercise" of religion allows forcing it onto others.
The US teeters on the brink of theocracy. That is the ugly truth of this nomination.
9
@GetReal18. Is that what the stalling by dr ford and her hillary/bill attorney is all about?
The republicans will elevate kavanaugh by hook or by crook. This is only a speed bump in the road to pack the courts in their favor. Next will be using this so called Supreme Court to begin to dismantle everything from Medicare to abortion services to labor unions to head start. What does trump do other than golf, tweet, hold rallies. He schemes how to undo anything any democrat ever touched, passed or had their names attached to. Wake up America! The Supreme Court is death by a thousand cuts to liberty in this country and meaningful discourse within the legislature. What’s next? Probably a loyalty test. pledge your fealty to a gold plated demigod.
15
@William Wintheiser
Exactly
This is a corrupt nomination by a corrupt president. Trump appointed him to help shut down the Mueller investigation.
Trump picked a Justice to Obstruct Justice.
All patriots need to go to DC or their Senator's office and shut this corruption down before Trump does more damage to the Constitution.
Republicans wrap themselves in the flag (authorized under the Constitution), and sing the Anthem (authorized under the Constitution) while they make blatant attacks on the Constitution.
Democrats need to realize that the Republicans are engaged in a civil war,. They repeatedly call our government "the enemy". Right wing terrorists have killed more Americans than foreign terrorists, They have hundreds of millions of weapons, and train in organized combat, while saying they may need to fight our government.
If We the People let them shred the Constitution, Trump's heavily armed base will be out playing "purge" with real assault rifles every day. And they hate liberals.
Countries without viable Constitutions regularly see the secret arrest, torture, and purge of tens of thousands of citizens in s single year. Those countries are the size of one of our states.
Republicans are trying to overthrow We the People and put Trump in our place.
STOP BRINGING CUPCAKES TO A CIVIL WAR.
Trump's "unsung success" in lying about the deaths of thousands of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico is that he got to remind his white supremacist base who's side he's on.
9
A happy ending is still possible.
Judge Kavanaugh has repeatedly referenced his Catholic faith, upbringing and commitment to helping people in need. These principles are now more relevant than ever.
Last I checked, Roman Catholicism is a Christian denomination. Indeed, for most of Christianity's history, that church was almost identical with Christianity. This points to a clear, fair and lasting Christian conclusion to a troubling episode in US national politics.
If her story is clearly honest and accurate, then there is really no need for Prof. Blasey Ford to testify publicly. Kavanaugh simply needs to do the right and Christian thing:
Apologize to her, his family, the Senate and America.
Continue helping Catholic charities, with renewed dedication.
Continue his current judgeship, with humility, public spirit and atonement.
And withdraw his bid to join the Supreme Court.
This assumes Ford's allegation is well-founded, accurate, and credible, as it so far appears to be. If that is not the case, then Kavanaugh needs to be very forthcoming and give a complete, detailed and transparent account of his high school partying, experience with other teens, particularly Mark Judge, with alcohol, and about his interactions with Ford.
In the national limelight, Kavanaugh has so far not seemed very straightforward and open. There is still time for him to change that, live up to "standing in the shoes of others," and put selfless, candid honesty and Christian fairness foremost.
13
@Sage
"Allegation is well-founded, accurate and credible, as it so far appears to be." You clearly are privy to a quite different, and much fuller, version of her story than the rest of us are!
Unless your version of credible is: "He's a white male whom I hate, and I'm a female."
4
@red sox 9
I have no inside info, but I do pay attention to news reports.
"What happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep" -Kavanaugh, 2015 (Google for the full video) does not make his "I did not do this back in high school or at any time," sound credible.
But, the key part of what I said (you quoted it but did not seem to read it) was "as it so far appears."
Despite the efforts of Republicans senators and Kavanaugh to press on with minimal new revelation coming out, new information is likely to emerge soon. We may then find out more about how credible Ford looks on camera, and from whatever further detail she adds, and may also find out more about what it might be that Kavanaugh and the Republicans seem to be so eager to hide.
Is it possible that it was actually Mark Judge who attacked her, and she mistakenly thought it was Kavanaugh, because he was also there? Is it possible that it was Kavanaugh who said "stop" and jumped on him to stop the attack, when he realized it wasn't consensual? Could that be why they were "scrapping" (her description), and she was able to escape?
I'm not trying to convince anyone of this scenario, but these questions and others do present themselves. It's important to rule out the possibility that Blasey Ford is telling her honest but mistaken recollection, and Kavanaugh actually doesn't remember because he was drunk and he thought he headed off the problem before it happened. She herself seemed not to realize at first that she was traumatized ("This is nothing" - her words).
I haven't seen these details discussed. They should be.
6
Steve, that's a whopper! She knew Kavanaugh; she knows who attacked her; and you're lapsing into a blame the victim attack. Your entire comment reeks of desperation.
In any case, what's needed here are neither "discussions" nor politicized TV hearings.
What's needed is an FBI investigation about this and other matters that Kavanaugh has apparently lied under oath about, e.g., handling a federal judicial nominee, his mentor Judge Kozinski's chambers of sexual harassment and crude misogynistic mailing list -- and receiving and using stolen confidential memos.
See https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/kavanaugh-kozinski-gag-list-...
and
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/judge-brett-kavanaugh-should...
He seems willing to do anything to get on the high court.
I write this comment from Tamil Nadu, a great State in Asia. We are highly conservative people and view sexual assaults on women very seriously.
But one question that has been lingering in my mind is, even if the accusation against Judge Kavanaugh be true, should it act as an impediment to his assuming office as Judge of U.S Supreme court? I think, both the incidents should be viewed separately. Had Mr.Kavanaugh did any act unbecoming of a judge during his career in judiciary, that could be taken as a ground to reject his nomination. The alleged incident happened when both were teenagers, an age when life is taken for granted. (Of course, I do not justify the act of Kavanaugh even for a moment.) I feel call for FBI investigation is unwarranted. Mr.Kavanaugh would better apologize to the accuser and give a quietus to the issue.
As I said earlier, this incident should not come in his way of assuming Supreme Court Judgeship. While considering elevation, only his tenure in office all along should be considered.
3
The GOP comittee should not be investigating this case. That is what the. FBI is supposed to do. This isn’t just about Kavanaugh. It’s also about the damaged relationship between the Trump administration and our professional law enforcement community.
9
@Llewis The FBI already said they're not investigating, the FBI has no jurisdiction, the statue of limitation has passed, there isn't any proof, everyone she has named as being their has denied being there, and she does not now where or when the ALLEGED assault happened... It's not a criminal case; it's a case of whether Kav should be nominated which IS the business of the GOP committee.
1
@Llewis
this is a senate hearing. They set the rules not Ms. Ford or her lawyers.
1
I was assaulted when I was in junior high, at my junior high, 56 years ago. I was held down and groped by another student. I did report it and the principal of my school was very supportive and protective. He actually escorted me to classes for a time until the perpetrator was removed from school and sent to juvenile detention. A few years later, in high school, some of his buddies came to me to let me know that he "was getting out" but that they would watch out for me.
I cannot tell you the date that the attack occurred. I know what grade I was in and on which floor of the school it happened, and it is as vivid today as it was then.
I bring this up in regard to this article because, when I mentioned it at my 50th high school reunion to the classmate of mine who was a witness, she had absolutely no recollection of the incident. I know she was there but, as it turns out, she was dealing with other issues in her life that took priority in her memory.
I have no doubt as to the veracity of Dr. Blasey's experience but it doesn't surprise me that others who may have been at that party have no recollection of it. They were not the ones who were assaulted.
4
I do not doubt women not coming forward after feeling assaulted. This was their choice. I, however, do doubt whether the same women didn’t have in mind that justice would not be served if they didn’t speak out in a timely manner. Fear, shame, intimidation, guilt, etc. do not give them a free passes to come out decades later and seek justice when justice would be nearly impossible to adjudicate by the best legal minds we have. Finding the burden of proof suddenly is placed on us. Not them.
This is why we have statutes of limitations. Women and men who are doing this, today, are placing a vastly unfair burden on us - our society -to find their truths, read their minds from back then and then judge others, on their behalf, based on what will be our incomplete understanding of what had happened. We’re the ones who have had to do their dirty-work and take the heat. And I, frankly, do not wish to judge another human being outside of the laws we’ve spent thousands of years developing to accommodate proper justice. Thus, I am pleading with those who read this to do the same.
We are a good and and just society when we follow such rules of law. We’ve got to stop helping those who deliberately and consciously choose not to help themselves and then who expect us - at our financial, professional and emotional expense- to piece their lives back together.
11
Long-winded justification for sweeping this under the rug.
Kavanaugh himself has admitted to heavy drinking and partying, not only at Georgetown Prep, but all the way through Yale and Yale Law School. He was treasurer of the "100 Kegs or Bust" club. His best buddy wrote memoirs about the drinking, partying, and scoring off of girls.
A recent article in the Post described the drinking, partying, and sexist milieu in which Georgetown Prep boys grew up. It includes stories of similar assaults by GP students. See ‘These are the stories of our lives’: Prep school alumni hear echoes in assault claim"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/these-are-the-stories-of-our-lives-...
McConnell says, “We’re going to plow right through it”, (a statement fully reflecting his ill intent). They don't care about evidence and whatever is presented will be readily rejected by feckless republicans. I don't expect a fair hearing.
Maybe she should provide her evidence directly to the people in another forum - one where she has flexibility to present properly. This could be a separate presentation or a supplement to her hearing either before or after being plowed through.
Best wishes to Dr. Ford.
4
Judge Brett Kavanaugh will have an advantage over Dr. Ford when appearing before the senate judiciary committee. He is a brilliant lawyer who has spoken in public frequently during trial cases. She has been hedging in appearing before the committee and yet he was very willing from day one to appear. His level of confidence is higher than hers or she would not have cancelled so many times. She cannot remember important facts which does not serve her well. There is still some question as to whether she will even appear this time. If she bows out again, it should be all over for her. How many postponements can she expect to receive before she starts to become doubtful and less convincing.
If she is a no show, the voting should begin for his confirmation. It is very likely he will be confirmed and finally this nightmarish event will be behind him and his family. He has suffered more than enough.
9
So many of the comments below (as well as statements by Democratic detractors and the mainstream media) reflect the sentiment that once an accusation is hurled, the accused becomes "damaged goods." On what basis? This goes against the grain of democracy and a civilized justice system over the past few millennia. Besides, did anybody see that all three of the potential corroborating witnesses have no recollection of the events or actually even being at this so-called party. Instead of she said/he said it sounds like she said/they all said.
15
Who speaks for all the Americans who feel unrepresented by all three branches of government and who disagree with the prevailing American values regarding gun control, abortion, and health care?
I realized as a teenager that I was living in a country that I disagreed with. I tried through voting and running for local office ( the board of supervisors) to change things but it became clear that progressive change was hopeless.
What percentage of Americans feel they’re living in the wrong country? If you fall in that category, what are you going to do about it?
1
@michael kittle - I'd suggest that you move somewhere else. Trying to figure out where to go might give you some insight into some of the good things we actually have here.
2
Dr. Blasey only corroboration, if she testifies in public, will be her believability. Will she come across as credible? That's a foregone conclusion. She is an accomplished, very bright person, and will likely deliver as powerful and direct an account as Atty. Hill. Will it make a difference? Maybe not to Congress, but if it makes a different to her and frees her from the burden of her own trauma, that's all that matters. Because that's what this is about. For the rest of us, the very fact that Dr. Blasey will have this moment, says that some things about our country -- even in these troubled times -- remain true.
8
Kavanaugh had major problems even before Dr. Blasey's accusation. Even without her, there is a definite possibility that he could be confirmed and then become the only Supreme Court Justice besides Samuel Chase in 1805 to be impeached. Even without her, if some of his other problems bear out, he could be the only Supreme Court Justice to be removed. For the GOP, the least that would be is embarrassing; Trump has pretty well inoculated himself from being too hurt by it.
The GOP should be careful; investigation into Kavanaugh's problems, and now let's include Blasey, will continue, FBI or not. It would be another story of the century for the media. Everything leaking out about the kind of disturbing stuff that happened at Georgetown Prep at the time in question, and "stays at" Georgetown Prep, tells me a LOT of other people's peccadilloes could be incidentally outed as well, probably some powerful and well known men who also seem like "great guys".
Republicans, Trump evangelicals, your best play now is to drop Kavanaugh like a white hot potato and go to Plan B. You'll still get a judge you'll be fine with, though Trump may not get one anymore that thinks the President should be all but a King, and you'll avoid what is at least a 60/40 chance of making a fatal error.
12
McConnell could care less about Kavanaugh ; he cares about his rich patrons to whom he promised a conservative Supreme Court appointment.
McConnell knows the House is lost in November and holding the Senate is increasingly unlikely. Kavanaugh is the one bill that must be paid “before the Fall” so to speak.
McConnell could care less about the shrinking Trump base which simply can not provide enough votes in enough places on a sustained basis to sustain the Republican Party. McConnell has always been more comfortable talking money than policy.
It’s also time for the Dems to understand that McConnell is far more toxic than Nancy Pelosi to independent and undecided voters .
18
To him, no meant yes.
Has his definition changed?
That is the question.
5
The denial express will make no stops at the stations of Advice and Consent as the railroading of this appointment barrels toward a dream court packed with one track minds. Of course there was no time to consider the Garland nomination, and the smearing of Al Franken had no dissent on the right, as the GOP has created an alternate universe where 30% of Americans get their "noble" causes of exclusion and unification of church and state while the good ol boys have a friends and family sale at the treasury. Now that all our ideals and principles are removed by tweet and affirmed by the state news channel, we the people must rise to the occasion and vote as if our lives depended on it.
16
You realize all of your theorizing is irrelevant, don’t you? In this phase of the hearing the Committee is engaged in fact finding. The fact that her named witnesses are unable to corroborate her story is damaging to her. You/she can’t blame anyone or anything else but the facts which unfortunately are not on her side.
5
@EdNot so fast Ed. A few people who don't recall being at party is not nearly enough to jump to conclusions of either innocence or guilt. Let's all listen, read and take a closer look. Let's hear from experts regarding sexual assault, effects of binge drinking, dynamics of memory. Let's call witnesses. Anyone with distant trauma knows full well how seared into the soul such memories are. While Kavanaugh practices answers like a debate club at prep school, Dr. Blaisey has had to move to escape threats of death. She deserves to be heard and Senators cannot hide behind chauvinistic maneuvers like hiring a female attorney to soften the misogyny. It's man up time for the Dr., Kavanaugh and most importantly, Senators on committee.
It is truly frightening to think you can be leading an exemplary life for 35 years and then someone can come after you for a crime any crime out of the blue. If it can happen to Brett Kavanaugh who has an impeccable record and many witnesses vouching for his excellent character, it can happen to anyone.
Men be afraid. Very afraid. Women also be afraid for your husbands, boyfriends, brothers and sons. They may be next.
34
This is not new. Anyone can allege anything of anyone just as you suggest at any time. If I am reading this correctly, the concern for the nominee is in part based on an assumption that he has lived “an exemplary life.” I would suggest that that line of logic has been proved faulty many times over in the last few decades. I could also suggest that Dr Ford has lived an exemplary life as well, having accomplished more than most of us might in multiple lifetimes. But it’s not why i say her story *could* be true. If you read the stories on #WhyIdidntreportit on twitter, you would get a sense of how many unreported sexual assaults and violence exist in our society. To say the least, its quite possible her story is true if for nothing else because assault is so common. To dismiss the allegation out of hand is irresponsible at best. It deserves high scrutiny so that the facts can be laid out for all to consider as we prepare to award the nominee with a lifetime appointment of judging all of us. The lesson for my teenage son here is a reminder to understand a women’s right to her own body and underscore his responsibility to respect everyone equally. Not, hey watch out someone might falsely accuse you someday.
Having said that, the wisest thing would be for the nominee to withdraw and spare the country this dilemma. The administration can find a perfectly acceptable conservative justice (like gorsuch, alito, roberts, etc) to take his place.
1
@WPLMMT
Hmmm No if you have not done nasty things you have nothing to fear.
I was subjected to harassment at work by someone who wanted my position and salary. Unfortunately I was injured at work and as time went on I had to take a demotion loosening about $ 25,000.00 a year.
After a while I was requested to take a further demotion I refused and I was there as the folk who engineered the harassment were terminated.
Just a point this took place when I was in my mind 40's and I had been there over 10 years. My battening down the hatches and seeing it out was I suddenly became aware of my age and pension.
Not everyone has that option.
2
@Alecfinn I think you miss the point. Should someone be able to accuse me of something serious with no proof and be believed? How about my rights? Remember Duke Lacrosse? This paper shamefully promoted the narrative even after it was clear the accuser was lying.
1
The developments of the past several days seem to suggest that the Republican Judiciary Committee has been almost bending over backwards to accommodate Dr. Ford.
If she had agreed to come for this coming Monday, her testimony would have appeared more favorable to her. The Judiciary Committee agreed to all this is because in the public eyes they would look dismissive to a legitimate issue about a sexual assault, albeit at 17, committed by a prospective Supreme Court Justice.
If Dr. Ford doesn't come across as quite credible on Thursday, that would be reason enough for Wavering Republican Senators to vote judge Kavanaugh's confirmation. If on the other hand, had she agreed to appear on Monday and because of nervousness if she appeared not quite convincing, two of the same Senators might choose to vote against his confirmation thus sinking his chance of becoming a Justice.
10
We cannot expect every Judge to be a perfect human being. Even if Judge Kavanaugh were proven to have committed the crime he is accused of by Dr. Blasey, that in itself might not disqualify him. It is still possible in later life to redeem oneself and live up to moral standards and the law. However, if Judge Kavanaugh, or any other Judge, in later life denies the crime that they have committed, that would disqualify them. There can be no exception. If someone has not the conscience nor integrity to accept the truth and to do what is right, then we cannot possibly entrust them with the duty to judge our laws. This is not a political matter. If we fail to turn over every stone to find out whether the accuser’s story is true, then we undermine the very meaning of Justice in America.
6
@Philip Richman: The crime is attempted statutory rape. That disqualifies him for a seat on the SC, period.
I would like to believe Dr. Blasey is being honorable and straightforward, and trying to help the country make the best choice for Justice of the Supreme Court.
But it's getting hard to do this.
She is "negotiating" the terms of her testimony with the Senate Judiciary Committee. She doesn't speak for herself; all her statements are made through her spokeperson, a high powered Washington lawyer and very much a Democratic activist and insider. Then there's the fact that her letter was kept secret until after the Judiciary committee had finished its job, and was about to vote, and, oh yes, the mid term elections approached. And why does she need a lawyer, anyway? She is not accused of a crime, and is not threatened with accusation of a crime.
There's something very wrong with this picture. Witnesses don't "negotiate" the terms of their testimony before Congress. Dr. Blasey has a difficult story to tell, but she is going to be given every possible courtesy by members of both parties; the world is watching.
The liberal media have gone well beyond objectively reporting the news. The media is very much using every trick in their book to influence the election. I've seen more editorials and op-ed columns about this subject in a short period of time than any other topic in recent memory. The media enjoy freedom of the press, and is allowed to do this, don't misunderstand me. But this is overdone.
34
@Alex Go back and refresh yourself with Clarence Thomas. Anita Hill hearings. It's very obvious why this woman should be protected against similar treatment. She doesn't need or deserve to be assaulted again in public by a band of "good old boys" who more than likely have already decided her fate. While making lifetime appointment affecting women for many decades to come.
2
@Alex
In this situation I believe she needs all the help she can get.
The testimony will be in a room with many hostile people.
Have you ever watched one of these hearings?
5
@Alex So Dr Blasey should handle this on her own against all those male Republicans forming the majority on the Committee and the White House stacked up against her including lawyers and experienced politicians. The Republicans refuse to have an impartial investigation of the facts. They refuse to subpoena the other person who was in the room. So we should leave everything in the hands of these "courteous" Republicans some of whom have already made statements that they don't believe her before they have even heard any testimony. And of course it is the fault of the tricky "liberal" media for reporting all of these facts and using editorials and op-ed columns to trick us. Makes sense.
4
I don't understand why the Judiciary Committee's agreeing to interview Dr. Blasey on Thursday is a "significant concession." Isn't this haggling over the day just part of the Republican members of the Committee trying to put this woman in her place and make her feel how insignificant they consider her?
7
@AnnaS
She could have done it in private but wants it on national TV. Funny wants her privacy but wants her moment in the sun!
1
Comments reveal one thing very clearly. Some comment writers apparently believe that they could remember each party they attended, the date of the party, who was there, and much more. Given my particular upbringing I went to very few parties in high school or college - did not live on campus - but I could not tell you who was there, what went on, when each took place.
I just tried to do that for several that took place at the homes of my friends who were in one or two SES classes above me, all in Rumford RI. Since these were so rare for me who lived on a farm in Seekonk MA I can remember being at maybe 4 such.
I can remember none of the details that many comment writers assert anyone would remember. Somehow this fantasy view of alcohol influenced party goers has to be subjected to more careful examination, not likely when the questioners may be a set of men with histories quite different from my own.
However, had I been held down by someone pressing a hand against my mouth, I think I would remember that.
8
One of the major tenets of the whole #Me Too movement is that a woman should be “believed.” Ford has set back the entire movement by falsely naming witnesses who deny that they know anything. Are they not to believed or is it now irrelevant because a woman is always to be believed no matter what anyone else says? Fact-finding is now being replaced by “believing.” Is this what our legal system is degenerating into? We should go back to the days of the Salem witchcraft trials for precedent. In that time the townspeople of Salem finally realized the whole thing was all about neighbors accusing other neighbors of witchcraft so they could get their land. Now we’re going through a similar charade not for land or property but for political power. When will we wake up and see what is really going on?
16
@Ed Yes, exactly. Excellent analogy.
5
@Ed
Women are always believed except when their statements are inconvenient to the cause. Ms. Ford's friend is a woman and she denies it, Clinton's accusers were women and they couldn't possibly be believed. It's all politics played at a horrible level.
2
Growing up as a permanent resident I was apolitical. I had mild disdain for politics, in part because of overheard remarks on congress' gridlock, in part because I did not have a vote. But despite my disdain, I envisioned Congressmen as old white people bickering endlessly in a gentlemanly fashion. I thought of congressman as having impeccable manners and standing up for the rights of the people. Even the poorest non-citizens.
Yet now, they blame their woes on immigrants and deny a woman an investigation. All so they can rush a possible criminal into the supreme court, where he will decide the laws of the land. I'm a proud new citizen, but I become a bit less proud every day a new article comes out.
17
What is in the letter that was given to Dianne Feinstein by Dr. Ford? Will the Republicans have seen a copy of it before her testimony? They have asked for a copy numerous times and should know what it contained. It might reveal pertinent information and then it might not.
13
Glad to read that moral courage is not dead in Washington. Mr Bromwich is to be commended for the stand he has taken.
2
The gang of 51 Republican Senators, the Federalist Society and Donald Trump seem to forget (or do not care) that the U.S. Supreme Court does not belong to them; it is the highest court of The People; all 326 million of us.
One of those 326 million has accused a man who- if confirmed, will make rulings for decades; long after some of those men are dead- and they simply do not care.
We no longer live in a democracy.
We have a tribunal made up of societies, think-tanks and money-men and the rest of us are paying forced tribute with our very lives:
When did this happen?
4
I love this phrasing when discussing yet another repudiation of Dr. Ford's version of events:
"In a possible setback..."
Possible setback??? A lifelong friend denies Ford's account? This makes it 4 for 4 of people named by Ford as having been at the party who deny any recollection of being at a party as described by her, not to mention any knowledge of an attack as described by her.
Bottom line: a single accusation, 36 years after the alleged event, with absolutely no corroboration at all.
And the Democrats think this is sufficient to deny confirmation? Please.
14
The hearing is about the character of a man and the credibility of a woman who alleges he assaulted her. It is fraught with political interests, but it must achieve at least a minimum standard with respect to responding to allegations of sexual assault.
Both sides need to be fairly heard. This means sworn testimony by Judge, Kavanaugh and Ford and a follow up investigation.
Anything short of that would be a terrible disservice to both Kavanaugh and Ford and would leave the door open for Democrats to impeach Kavanaugh and redo the hearing should they take control of the House.
3
You have it backwards. There needs to be an investigation FIRST, followed by private meetings with those senators who have shown themselves open to hearing it, and then, and only then, if needed, a public, grandstanding, he said, she said, theatrical hearing.
@Steve Carlton
I agree. But we know that’s not going to happen. I expect voters will see in that (rightly) a failure to take the charges of attempted rape of a 15 year old girl—and the serious traumatic impacts that resulted—seriously.
The Democrats would be well within their rights to open an investigation, hold new hearings, and if necessary, impeach Kavanaugh.
It will be another huge stain on this Congress that has refused to accept its responsibility to uphold the constitution and the rule of law, allowing the country to become ever more bitterly divided.
Having been a "victim" of similar attempts at unwanted sexual advances made by young men in my teens and into my 30's in the workplace, I have to say I have some compassion for the woman. However, I don't understand all the other factors here i.e. the 36 year delay (for a woman who is a RESEARCHER in psychology and should understand more than anyone the importance of confronting and overcoming any mental health issue); the nebulousness of the attendees and their non-existent memories, etc. But I find it more troubling that you worded in this article: "Dr. Blasey has said that a drunken Judge Kavanaugh assaulted her during a small party in suburban Washington when they were both in high school. " To be fair, Kavanaugh was not a judge at 17 years old but you have chosen to portray the man as he is today as an attacker. You have already condemned the man without due process.
11
Christine Blasey Ford's insistence of an FBI investigation is unwarranted and it reveals her true motivations. The FBI investigates crimes. Even if her allegations are true, the statute of limitations for assault is 3 years. After 30 plus years there is no crime to investigate. Add to this the fact that the other alleged witnesses to the alleged assault say it never happened, and there is no basis whatsoever for a criminal investigation. No one knows what really happened. It is just as likely that Ford's memories are false dream related memories resulting after Kavanaugh rejected her advances, and the real trauma she suffered was rejection by a boy she liked.
The real motivation for getting the FBI involved is to look for dirt that might have been missed in the vetting process, something that might derail the nomination. It would be a misuse of the FBI, whose reputation would be further sullied by involvement in partisan political machinations.
10
Not enough attention has been paid by Judiciary Committee and the press on the role of the Federalist Society in this confirmation. The links connecting Ventry, CRC, and Ed Whelan's other dude script would seem to indicate there's a lot of puppeteering going on behind the scenes.
23
She has so little time to memorize the story prepared for her.
This will be fun.
18
Kavanaugh has had a lot of time to prepare the story he is going to say. He lied during the hearing. Lying comes naturally for him. Just look at his face.
4
Not as much fun as the Independents and liberals will have when they regain the House by voting blue in November. May Team Trump have thirty seconds of pure joy for the next two years. Let Donald be boxed in with that scenario like Dr, Ford will be in this sham “fair” hearing.
1
@Ken Yet it's Kavanaugh who's been doing so much rehearsing!
1
What has the Judiciary Committee have to lose by calling Keyser, Judge and the Smith to testify.
I am sure one of them will happen to remember something that took place that evening, even if they all they do is agree there was a party and where it was. Lots of probing questions could bring out
additional answers.
In this circus all the Republicans are doing is making themselves look even worse and I did not think they could possibly look worse.
17
A niece of mine accused her father of sexually abusing her for years as a young girl. No one who knows this good and decent man, including his other children and his wife, believe it happened.
Ironically, she was also seeing a California psychologist when the therapist suggested to her that she could have been abused because she was sexually repressed. Without any evidence, this "therapist" encouraged my niece to confront her father. (It was actually her uncle that she first accused but then in another moment of self revelation, she changed her abuser into her own father.)
What could be worse for a family than such a hideous accusation by his own daughter?
Any good psychologist who has studied this will admit that sudden "recaptured" memories of adults are mostly false, especially when it involves the encouragement of tunnel visioned therapists. They believe these "memories" come from a combination of past life experiences: conversations, dreams, books, movies etc.
Despite the fact that my niece has no clear memories of any specific incident, she refuses to consider that she could be mistaken. I truly believe that when you cross a line and make something so ugly so public there's no going back. You own it.
Dr. Blasey has no memory of the location or the host of the party. Her friends who she said attended the party with her deny it. Her account is, at best, fuzzy.
I know for a fact that false memory exists and I fear it will take down yet another good and decent man.
13
@Anne
False memory. Or dream misremembered as reality. Her whole story sounds more like a dream (nightmare?) than reality:
A scene that is devoid of scenes leading up to or following it -- She doesn't remember how she got to the "party", nor how she (presumably) returned home afterward; nor what year it took place, not where it took place.
She hasn't explained why she was wearing a bathing suit -- Dreams often involve wearing clothing (or none) that is inappropriate or unusual for the setting.
A physical process that suspends laws of physics (such as gravity) -- How is it that when Judge jumped on top of the boy on top of her, she fell off the bed, rather than being more rather than less pinned down?
If she's remembering anything at all, she may be remembering a dream from long ago, maybe even a recurring dream. This concept could be foreign to her, though she is a psychologist.
2
This Kavanaugh theater is mobilizing the myself and my "deplorables" to vote and make sure we retain the House and the Senate so as to keep supporting President Trump to carry out his campaign promises. Really it is a blessing in disguise because prior to this, we really were quite apathetic about the mid-terms. Along with Rosenstein debacle, it is clear the "deep state" and obstructionism by the Dems is really there and not imagined by Trump.
9
I keep coming back to the question who has more to gain and lose here. Why would a successful woman who seeks to enjoy a quiet and satisfying life make up this story up. She would have to be a narcissist or a nut, and there seems to be no evidence of either. The right would have us believe she’s a radical feminist doing it for political reasons, again there is no evidence that she’s particularly political. Lastly, is it more likely that a drunken 17 year old, unsupervised circa 1980, no matter what you think of him now, would have done what Dr. Ford claims, or that Dr. Ford would fabricate this story, thereby turned my her loft upside down.
5
@Tom Gavin To stop Trump from altering the make up the SCOTUS.. Duhh
He's done. If he's confirmed, he will forever be seen as a Supreme Court with a huge asterisk by his name, just like Thomas.
The Republicans will pay a huge price for this. They will lose women and votes over this. As well they should.
11
Why does the woman have to publicly testify? Can't she do so in a closed or private session. Does everything in America have to be turned into a reality TV extravaganza? What ever happened to allowing people to maintain some dignity?
4
@Chris Basten Ms. Ford’s attorneys have asked for the public hearing. The Judiciary Committee has offered a private hearing. Her attorneys turned down the offer.
3
She has made this a public circus and now it is to me to hold her accountable
@Chris Basten Thy offered her the opportunity to testify private, and she declined at the time. Odd no?
A lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should require a lifetime of ethical behavior.
17
@Chibusa - And Kavanaugh has that.
3
Kavanaugh (K) is already proven unfit as an independent Supreme Court judge:
- K accepts that his nomination is partly based on for US senators hidden documentation (e.g. his Bush years). Which respected judge would do and accept that?
- K often is vague, evasive and opaque in answering questions of US senators. Which respected judge would do that?
- K acts more and more as an employee of the White House: it seems almost daily K gets his instructions from the WH. From who within the WH exactly? Which respected judge would do and accept that?
- K doesn't want a FBI-investigation and/or a hearing of witnesses in the Ford case. Which respected judge would do and accept that?
- K accepts and has not spoken against the anti-Ford-bias from Trump and GOP senators even before they have heard Ford. Which respected judge would do and accept that?
So, if K doesn't talk like a judge, doesn't act like a judge and doesn't walk like a judge: he is no judge.
2
@Jan Marijs
YES
Kavanaugh appears as evasive and just a bit sleazy.
I would not trust him.
In all the confrontations between Dr Blasey and Grassley the other problems with Brett Kavanaugh have dropped out of sight. HE LIED about the stolen Democratic documents. He refuses to really answer any questions at all under the claim that they are "hypotheticals". We STILL have yet to see MOST of the documents that deal with his role in some very important and questionable practices like TORTURE. These are things that should not be forgotten. It is not fair to Dr Blasey to put his confirmation solely on her. This man is WRONG for the Supreme Court in so many ways. VOTE NO!
3
The woman has received death threats and her kids and husband have had to move away from their home. Brett Kavanaugh ought, regardless of whether the accusations against him are false or true, and if he truly cares about the law, lawful behavior, and about human life, speak out loud and clear and publicly again and again that no one’s life should be threatened on his account or on his behalf or to defend him or to ensure that he is seated on the Supreme Court or as retribution for what has and what may happen with regard to his nomination or confirmation process.
If he can’t do even that, what hope would anyone sitting on death row have of being fairly heard by a bench he sits on?
And all supporting Kavanaugh, from average Joe & Jane to Senators and the President, ought reiterate, immediately and often, that death threats against anyone in this nation are utterly unacceptable, illegal, and that they will personally see to it that those making seriously threats to Dr. Blasey’s life or limb or to those of people associated with her are thoroughly and timely investigated and prosecuted. Surely, one worthy of lifelong appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States of America wouldn’t condone death threats or actual violence against anyone, friend or foe, especially when the target of said threats/acts hasn’t committed deadly violent crime her/himself.
And in the particular situation Kavanaugh and his supporters find themselves, their silence = approval.
7
Don't look for any surprises from Collins or Murkowski. With the party-before-country stakes at play their votes have already been bought and paid for. McConnell, who said the Gorsuch appointment was his greatest accomplishment in the Senate, knows this.
10
It's simply hard to believe that from a constitutional mandate of "advice and consent" - this has gone to a "hostage & ransom" situation.
We are being held hostage by this one lone woman - I say, we as Americans - represented by our Congress and the ransom is the price of derailing this nominee.
It was clear to all from a weeklong session on shaping "advice and consent" - no mud thrown against him stuck. He was going to be declared "fit and proper" and our Congress was going to do it's job.
But no, the Democrats have allowed the whole process to be tarnished and damaged for ever.
There is from now on - no telling - who will find another reason to hold us hostage by working outside the "regular order.". It's a shame that some of these politicians did not think ahead of consequences of their actions.
And no future nominee - a Democrat or a Republican - is ever going to be "safe" from this last minute ambush.
20
“Represented by our Congress?” It’s quite clear in this debacle and other matters that “our Congress” represents its own self interests and that of those filling the coffers — and pockets — with money. Only term limits and revised election contribution rules will possibly bring us back to a Congress that actually represents its constituents.
4
@Neil
Everything you say is correct. But you do omit one egregious fact -- the Republicans' abuse of the "advise and consent" process to prevent Obama from exercising his right to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. I personally prefer Kavanaugh to Garland, and I preferred Barrett to Kavanaugh. However, Garland was (and is) highly qualified to be on the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court as an important institution in our government has been damaged (hopefully not beyond repair) by the actions of Blasey, the Democrats in general, and surely all the "I believe Blasey because she's a woman" supporters.
1
@Neil
ON HOLDING THE PROCESS HOSTAGE: Were you alive and paying attention in 2016, when Master Mitch refused to even grant Merrick Garland a single hearing, thus appointing himself president pro tem of the country.? For eleven months, with the excuse that the American people had to decide in November, AFTER the election? And now the faithfully conservative Brett, absent a hint of a judicial temperament, has to be hustled onto this court BEFORE the coming election. Y'wanna talk arrogant self-serving delays, you're barking at the wrong party.
1
The Judge was practicing in the WH mock questioning, fielding difficult questions, deflecting uncomfortable ones etc. ... He just needs to say the truth - if he is innocent.
4
@ves
The questions that he will be asked will be designed to tarnish his reputation, and will have nothing whatsoever to do with the accusation leveled against him by Blasey. But her insistence on being questioned by politicians rather than by a (female) lawyer will prevent questioning that is designed to find holes in her story. And identifying holes in a story is the way we typically evaluate accusations that are not supported by any kind of corroborating evidence (other than, I told my shrink about this attack -- although without attaching a name to the attacker).
2
If nothing remarkable happened to someone at a party over 30 years ago, that person is much less likely to recall the party than someone to whom something terrible happened.
23
On April 18, 1913, the quarters of the States ratified the 1th amendment providing direct elections for the US Senate.
We should start a process where all citizens can have a voice in the election of their President and all Federal Court Judges.
3
“‘One week ago, Dr. Christine Ford claimed she was assaulted at a house party attended by four others,’ said Kerri Kupec, a White House spokeswoman. ‘Since then, all four of these individuals have provided statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee denying any knowledge of the incident or even having attended such a party.’”
A party with only 5 people? More than likely, what Dr Blasey said was that she recalls the names of five people — that alone is extraordinary — not that only five were in attendance. Once again, the WH twists facts to move its political agenda. Judge is compromised by his own involvement, and is evasive in the remarks he has made not under oath. The other two wouldn’t be likely to recall something that held no consequence for them personally. How many people recall ordinary days from 36 years ago? But you can bet that Dr Blasey, and if they were honest, Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge, certainly do.
9
The rush to confirm Judge Kavanaugh smacks of desperation, and I don't understand the desperation. The Democrats aren't likely to regain the Senate. Even if they do, the Republicans have until January 20 to confirm another nominee.
They seem to think Judge Kavanaugh is the only person who's ideal to sit on the high court. Yet there are thousands of distinguished conservative, textualist lawyers and judges (being a conservative textualist is currently a practical reality for appointment to the court) who would make a good justice, and obviously not all of them would be under this kind of cloud. Half could be women!
So, I just don't get it. Senate Republicans are running all sorts of risks—of damaging the court, undermining their November electoral chances, and looking unprincipled even if they prevail—and for what? An October 1 deadline? That's nonsense. The court can adjust its calendar if it wants nine members for major cases.
Judging by certain opinions in the temporary-travel-ban cases, President Obama seems to have picked some result-oriented judges to serve on the federal bench. But he's no longer in office and subject to being embarrassed or politically impacted by dubious appointments. Sitting senators don't have the same luxuries.
1
@Cyclist Vice Versa
So much of Dr Blasey’s account and behavior rings true to me. I was sexually assaulted in my 20s at a party. I doubt any of my friends would remember anything eventful about that night, if they remember it at all. I told no one apart from my doctor, who encouraged me to report it, advice I dismissed. I didn’t speak about it again until I spoke to a therapist over a decade later. I know too well the feelings of humiliation and confusion that stops victims speaking out. At the time it somehow seemed easier to pretend it didn’t happen at all, but the memory eats away at you and if you know your attacker, you never forget them.
I don’t have enough of the details to know if Dr Blasey is telling the truth, none of us do yet, but I haven’t heard anything yet that makes her account or subsequent actions unbelievable. Sadly it sounds all too familiar.
23
It is very possible that everyone who has issued a statement on this is telling the truth. “Not having recollection” of an event doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Mark Judge’s quite vivid accounts of heavy drinking during their high school years, along with yearbook notations recalling partying where there was obviously lots of alcohol paint a clear picture of a culture of underage drinking and misbehavior. (And is there anyone who doubts that Judge’s mention of “Bart O’Kavanaugh” is a not so veiled reference to Brett Kavanaugh?) Drunken teenagers (or adults for that matter) may not clearly remember events from a night for them may have had little consequence. However, for a person who is victimized in some way, it can result in lifelong scarring. It’s not surprising that Dr. Ford didn’t mention this until years later, and this explains why even her close friends didn’t know. What would be interesting is to find out under oath what Mark Judge and Kavanaugh actually do remember. Perhaps excerpts from Judge’s books will refresh their recollection.
120
@Donna It would be more than interesting to find out under oath what people think of a phantasm of an event, that lacks any specific place or time, and which no one Earth, except Dr. Ford, has any memory of, not even her lifelong friend whom she claims was at the party.
9
@Donna
Excellent analysis, to which I add, an 'I do not-remember' response can indicate the possibility that the victim didn't want anyone to know. If something like what Dr. Blasey is saying were to get around, it would make her into a social-untouchable and make her fear she'd be ostracized. Teens commit suicide rather than endure the rejection of peers. The cruelty of the high school clique is unbridled and the feeling that one cannot survive without one's peers is at its peak during the high school years. If the allegations are true, Judge Kavanaugh, very likely, wouldn't remember it because it represents an act that would have cause him to become ostracized as well. He would simply let his "public-self" erase the memory, as an act of self-preservation and survival.
When teens go to an "unsupervised "party they are not unsupervised just because adult authority is absent. The peer pressure of the group is far more authoritarian and far more powerful than parents and adults are, in the teen's life. Conscience can make a person remember things they wish they could forget having done and it an also make a person forget the things they did while "only following orders" of the authority of peer pressure. Kavanaugh fits the Arendt portrait of the Banality of Evil. Peer pressure shouldn't be underestimated: if it didn't erase conscience, there wouldn't be a death penalty for just because it's democratic doesn't make it morally acceptable, or does it, Judge Kavanaugh?
1
@Donna: Mark Judge's book ("Wasted") was published over 20 years ago.
Do you seriously think an ambitious attorney like Kavanaugh did not read it? at the TIME?
He might have even read pre-release copies since he knew Judge.
I think it was very crude of Judge to use his friends real name. However….apparently nothing in the book identifies either boy as a sexual predator. Only Judge went on to be an admitted alcoholic.
About the worst thing it says about "Bart O'Kavanaugh" is that he got drunk and threw up in Judge's car and then fell asleep. Not exactly criminal stuff.
There is no mention of Ford or the party referenced in her story.
1
What no one seems to be pointing out is, if it is possible that Dr. Blasey's memory is imperfect due to the time lapse between now and the purported attack, the same might easily be true of Kavanaugh - who was quite possibly totally plastered at the time and these many years later genuinely doesn't remember much about the event, or thinks he doesn't.
25
@semari, there are very good reliable hypnotic regression therapies available to enable one to recall past memories, in a most deeply relaxed state.
2
Plus, by his own admission, he was a heavy drinker and partier not only at Georgetown Prep, but all through Yale and Yale Law School.
He is a master dissembler, evader, and liar.
If there were a real investigation rather than this Republican-led kangaroo show trial, which they are designing to be a "she said, he said" farce, other incidents would come out and other women would come forward.
He is not fit for the high court.
The Republicans have RIGGED the entire process; besides rushing it through , they still haven't hundreds of thousands of his emails, documents, and memos from his White House years -- and the few that have gotten out suggest his has lied under oath on several key matters!
The question will come down to who's version of the events do you believe. As adamant as Dr. Blasey may be that Judge Kavanaugh was the perpetrator, several individuals who attended the party have already stated that they do not recall the incident. There is no police report, or meeting with a school counselor, or confrontation between parents, friends, siblings, etc... over this. I personally witnessed one classmate sock another in the mouth over a comment the guy made to his younger sister, at a party the night before. (The aforementioned event happened over 30 yrs ago in a suburban high school cafeteria. Before lawyers got involved in our daily lives, that was how things were settled. There were no lawsuits just a one on one resolution that everyone later knew of regardless of the outcome. Yet, none of this occurred.) I'm not doubting that Dr. Blasey believes in her version of the events, but the truth as to what happened that night is totally out of reach. There is no stained dress or ill fitting glove to point to, only one individual's recollection which no one has confirmed.
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@George
Spot on George. I reamin skeptical of the timing of the entire process, time lag (and thus relevancy) of the alleged event's occurrence, and total lack of verification by any one allegedly attending the party.
I find Senator Blumenthal (that alleged Vietnam War Hero) claim that Dr. Blasey is a profile in courage.
My heavens, what a bunch of hypocrites in the Senate. Is it any wonder why the American public holds them in such low esteem.
W
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@George
We have a "party" attended by two girls and three (older) boys. The two girls are best friends. One of the two girls disappears after being there for perhaps half an hour at most (according to Blasey's account of going upstairs to the bathroom as soon as she arrived). Her friend is left alone with the three (drunk) boys. Her friend apparently doesn't wonder where her best friend disappeared to, nor ask her about it the next day.
Thirty some years later, her best friend doesn't recall having been at this scene.
Anything wrong with this picture?
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@George
"The question will come down to who's version of the events do you believe."
Two words nobody utters: “unsubstantiated allegation.” The crux of our system is what you can prove, not what you believe. Faith-Based justice went out with the Salem witch trials. Liking a person and agreeing with their politics, or not, has absolutely nothing to do with it.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com/
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If Mr. Judge is truly in recovery, which is wonderful, coming forth to testify would be part of recovery steps. I want to believe and have faith that Mr. Judge stands firm in his recovery and does the right thing!
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@Donna 1111 old sport, who is Mr. Judge, and what is he/she/it (or one of the other 100+ genders the left now insists we classify ourselves as) is recovering from exactly?
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@bob
Bob, he is the friend who was allegedly in the room when the (alleged) assault happened. I think his first name is Mark?
I don't know what he is recovering from--presumably an addiction?
In fact, if, in the spirit of a 12-step program, he were to step forward and give some real evidence regarding this, that would probably be the best for our country.
He should be asked to do this in a nice and respectful and serious way by both sides, and perhaps be given immunity.
Charles Grassley and his GOP peers took Mark Judge’s words at face value - he had “no memory” of the incident Christine Blasey Ford disclosed, saying he never saw his friend, Kavanaugh “act in the manner Dr Ford describes”.
They saw no reason to subpoena Judge, because they want to believe him, not Ford. They are using him as a ghost witness to influence public opinion. Judge must testify under oath. Avoiding perjury he might do his best to recall what happened.
In fact it was unclear why he “jumped atop both of them,” while they were in bed, with Kavanaugh on top of Ford, groping her, covering her mouth and trying to remove her clothing. Fortunately she fell out of bed and could escape. The question is what would have happened to her otherwise.
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@J. von Hettlingen Forget that word "grope". Nobody could possibly forget having had someone press a hand against a person's mouth while lying flat on a horizontal surface. The perpetrator would certainly not want to remember ever having done that.
As you note, only testifying under oath is sufficient, if that.
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@J. von Hettlingen
"He jumped atop both of them... Fortunately she fell out of bed." Could you possibly cite the law of physics that would govern her "falling out of bed" now that she has both of them atop her? Sounds more like something that might happen in a dream, in which laws of physics are sometimes suspended.
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That there are, apparently, almost no witnesses to Kavanaugh's attempted rape is not surprising and I wouldn't expect very many people to recall attending a particular party 30 years ago while in high school. But Dr. Blasey apparently did tell one or more of her classmates at the time about what happened to her. But word of it did get around as a classmate recently posted on Facebook having recalled hearing about it at the time.
Generally, a victim's testimony is more effective accompanying by the testimony of a consulting psychiatrist or psychologist who could, for example, explain the trauma that Dr. Blasey endured from the attempted rape and the enduring impact that it has had on her life. See, e.g., https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/18/former-sex-crimes-pro...
Also, it wouldn't hurt to have the testimony of the retired FBI agent who could testify that Dr. Blasey voluntarily took and passed a lie-detector test.
But if Grassley and Dr. Blasey's attorneys can't agree on a format for the hearing, Dr. Blasey does have options. . For example, nothing would prevent her from taking her case directly to the American people at a news conference attended by herself as well as her consulting psychologist or psychiatrist and any other witnesses which might include the retired FBI agent who administered the lie-detector to Dr. Blasey.
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@Bill Eisen
She should blanket the airwaves with tv appearances and press conferences if she is shabbily treated by the senators.
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You need to reread the article. Not having any witnesses is one thing, making up witnesses who then deny any knowledge or recollection of the incident is another.
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@Bill Eisen
That classmate later admitted she had no specific knowledge of an incident involving Dr. Blasey. She also retracted and took down that facebook post. She said a bunch of stuff that did not hold up under scrutiny
4
I attended quite a number of parties when I was in high school. None of them stand out in my memory, and if you were to ask me today if I attended such and such a party on such and such a date, even if you named those who were supposed to have also been there, I would have to say, "I don't remember." If you asked me if a friend of one of the other guests whom I did not meet at any other time was there, I would have to say, "I don't know him." If something happened at said party in another room which I was not present to see and was not told about, all I could say is, "I don't know anything about it." I sincerely doubt that those who doubt Dr. Blasey could be more positive if asked about a party they were supposed to have attended 36 years ago at which nothing important happened to them.
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@Maureen Hawkins
The CNN report about the statement from Keyser’s lawyer is kinda strange.
Keyser states she doesn’t know Kavanaugh, but also has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with or without Dr. Long. How can she say she knows he wasn’t there if she didn’t know who he was?
A party circa 1982? Gee, I went to a lot of parties back then too, but I certainly couldn’t tell you the dates, addresses, or which of my friends may or may not have been there.
But if I had been attacked, I couldn’t forget the attacker or his face either. That would be seared into my memory.
Keyser wasn’t the one who was attacked. Why would she remember any details of a party that was one of a zillion parties that year? Ford never told anyone at the time and ran out the door.
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I believe you cannot remember all parties but definitely you remember some of them, and there were quite a few apparently.
But if something serious happens, definitely you remember, unless you black out. If these guys partied a lot together it could be interesting to ask these questions. He does not remember the specifics of that party in particular because that behaviour was just common and you can t tell one woman from another one anymore... and then, in more general terms, does he remember any party during which he showed a similar behaviour with other women.
If you party with your friends, after a while you do know how they are and behave when you go out. And with sentences such as « what happens in high school stays in high schools », definitely there were bonding moments, stories and memories during these years... doesn’t t mean they are bad, but worth investigating if one of them involves a possible assault on a woman.
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@Maureen Hawkins And that’s the point, isn’t it? Mr. Kavanaugh would never be found guilty if a suit - civil or criminal - were brought against him. This is entirely political. Ms. Ford’s lawyers are doing her a disservice by their political posturing. To be honest, I think the likelihood that she testifies is getting lower each minute this spectacle drags on. Ms. Ford is now incidental to the movement created in her name. The Democrats will use her to the greatest degree possible for their political goals. I understand that politics is a dirty game and every weakness is to be exploited. I have no quarrel with the tactics the Democrats are using. But Ms. Ford as an individual is being cynically exploited. Not easy for her.
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A Supreme Court Justice should enjoy broad confidence of the nation across party lines. A super-majority should be required for this important constitutional position to certify consensus.
The position of Supreme Court Justice is too important to be regarded as party spoils or the prerogative of one president. Although elections have consequences, one should not be who is a justice of the Supreme Court.
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If only the filibuster rule hadn’t been changed.
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@JR So going forward, any male nominee can be torpedoed by a woman who has zero evidence and zero corroboration in an event that took place decades ago.
Let's be honest. None of the posters here asking for Kavanaugh's head would be posting in support of him had he been a liberal nominated by Hillary Clinton.
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@JR
And that's exactly the position one Master McConnell of Kentucky took in 2016.
But he's acquired so much more wisdom now that he has so much more power.
I am just perplexed at the Judiciary Committee's actions. They have made it clear that they do not intend to permit an unbiased FBI investigation and they have been clear that there will be no witnesses, nor even a balance of questions that might come from permitting all members of the Committee to question Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford. From all appearances, the hearing this coming week will be a charade, after which the party loyalists (i.e., all the Republicans in the US Senate) will vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
For them to reach one to one potentially important witness, under these hostile circumstances, is akin to witness tampering. When do they plan to compel Mark Judge to testify under oath?
Regardless of questions about Kavanaugh's history of partisan political shenanigans and now questions about possible poor conduct during a heavy drinking stage of his life, virtually every Republican will vote YES. Because this is what the party has become. A YES to every single action and idea that emanates from Trump. History will judge them harshly but they don't care because gosh darn it all, they are WINNING.
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@Joan Johnson
The important thing here is to get on record a statement by Kavanaugh under oath denying the event. It is there for posterity. Perhaps the truth may come out in the future, once he has been confirmed. But if it ever comes out that he perjured himself he would have lose in the public eye his alleged distinction as "honorable." This is for posterity. Of course the Republicans are going to confirm him.
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@Joan Johnson They do not plan to question Mark Judge under oath. He says he doesn't want to.
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@Joan Johnson
Just what do you expect the FBI to investigate?
Ford: I dont know when or where or how I got home. JFord: Judge was there so was Keyser. Both Judge and Keyer say no memory.
Ford has no physical evidence.
There is no police report.
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What evidence will Dr. Ford use in her accusations of sexual abuse by Brett Kavanaugh? She cannot seem to remember where the party occurred, the day, the year, and the people present. Surely she must know other people who were in attendance and why haven't any of her friends come forward to vouch for her. Someone must have seen her come or go. Will they be revealed at the senate judiciary committee? This will be a very interesting TV event and should be very revealing if it even takes place as planned.
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@WPLMMT: The Republicans won't let them testify. The hearings are rigged, to use a Trump term, to seat Kavanaugh, not to find the truth.
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@WPLMMT She has named the others who were at the party. At least one of them, a notorious alcoholic prone to blackouts, has claimed he doesn't remember it but does not want to be put under oath. The others say they don't remember the party, either, but, according to Dr. Blasey, they were all drinking. Friends of hers who were not at the party have come forward to vouch for her.
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I am roughly the same age as Dr. Ford, and I don't remember the specifics of any party I attended in high school or who I attended with. That doesn't mean that I never attended any parties with particular folks or that nothing bad happened to them there that they chose not to share with me. Furthermore, those who were staggering drunk -- as Dr. Ford describes Kavanaugh and Judge to have been -- probably didn't remember the things they did even the day after the party. If I had been assaulted at a party, however, I would remember that particular aspect of it even if I had never spoken to anyone about it. Dr. Ford's depiction of events is entirely believable, and she would have no reason to make it up, and many compelling reasons NOT to.
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Leland Keyser's statement is difficult to reconcile. She is reportedly a lifelong friend. Seems to be a tangled web, this one.
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The comments by Catherine Piwowarski were also unsettling. Still, what can anyone say to prove that something did or didn't happen when the details of what happened are so sparse?
@Sully
Seriously.... why should *anyone* who was at that party remember it, or any other party they attended in high school, unless something significant happened to them at that party.
I doubt that I can even recall each party I was at, much less who all of the other people there were - but then, I was never attacked at any of them ....
It does not surprise me in the slightest that Dr. Blasey's friend does not recall the night or the judge.
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@Sully I have friends I have known all my life who don't know everything about me. Do you go around telling everyone you know everything that has ever happened to you, even if you are upset and ashamed of it? There are "friends" and then there are those very, very few, if any, to whom we unburden ourselves. If you tell everybody everything, I'm sure there are a lot of people who try to avoid you to avoid hearing yet another recitation of your life's events.
Have I missed something here? The man nominated by Trump for a Supreme Court judgeship, the man accused of sexually assaulting a young woman, has spent the week cloistered in the White House rehearsing for his testimony, specifically, practicing "fielding specific questions" and avoiding more general ones??
What on earth happened to separation of powers? This seems so incredibly blatant that I can hardly believe it.
Lord help Dr. Blasey. Already the deniers are gathering.
I really do begin to wonder if we are going to survive this administration.
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@oldteacher Diane Feinstein has kept the original letter outlining the details of the event a secret from the judicial committee and a redacted letter to the FBI. Because of this there is no way to definitively refute the details of Dr. Ford’s accusations. Does this seem fair. This kind of accusation could happen to anyone who would be powerless to clear their name without having the details to prove to people like yourself of their innocence.
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@Barooby Is this ordinary circumstances? Trump is an unindicted co conspirator and under investigation. Tradition or not, wouldn't a thoughtful nominee and one concerned about the stature of the court be wary of such help nd suggest an alternative way of preparing?
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@Barooby
My, how you over generalize. Democrats didn’t “largely design” the confirmation process. RBG’s rationale for declining to respond to question that might come before the court was perfectly perfectly sound. Taking a position before hearing the context and arguments of a case is the essence of bringing a political ideology to The Court. That’s true whether the nominee is put forward by either party. The issue in question is whether rehearsing the nominee for testimony related to a question of past history and personal character is appropriate. No longer a matter of assessing academic preparation and experience, the objective now is to seek the truth about the nominee’s character and judgment. The idea of a group of political hacks practicing the nominee in the fine art of obfuscation is more than a little unseemly.
I'm confused. There were five people at the party. Her therapist's notes were reported as saying four boys and her. When did a woman become a boy at the party?
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@vineyridge Only the Washington Post has seen the therapist's notes, and they haven't described them that way.
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@vineyridge The therapist wasn’t at the party, can you not consider that they may have been an error in the writing or transcription of her notes? Furthermore, Republicans are running with that as a talking point as if that impeached Dr. Ford when it does not. Exactly how many times has it been shown that what trump and his people say about their contact with Russians and conspiracy and money laundering and tax evasion and self dealing have changed from one day to the next and have been outright lies, yet folk like you are willing to turn a blind eye because tax cuts and immigration?
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@vineyridge It has already been reported that her therapist made an error.
Forget the committee and all the old geezers dithering over what to do. Just go on tv and tell your story. The information will be out and the Senate can get back to whatever it is they do.
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Right. Forget about testifying under oath. Forget about having to answer difficult questions or having to reconcile seeming contradictions in your testimony. Trial by media. That's the way we do things now for sure.
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@RNS and Kavenaugh will be the next justice of the Supreme Court. And the majority of American voters will finally have free expression, except for some Russian meddling, when they vote in November.
@JerseyGirl Also forget about the FBI doing an investigation. Forget about calling witnesses. And most importantly forget about listening to the testimony before reaching a conclusion. That's the way you do things now for sure.
Ironically, the reaction of many Republicans to Ms. Blasey Ford’s delayed reporting of the sexual assault, including from Mr. Trump and others close to the center of power, confirms exactly why this decision was so difficult for her (as far too many women can attest). The threats to her family, insinuation of her true motives, jokes about her pain, micro-analysis of what she should have done, are disgusting and illuminative of the nasty character of those smearing her (looking at you, Donalds). No wonder coming forward to expose your most humiliating moment to public scrutiny is so difficult!
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@ChrisM Well stated and an appropriate rebuke to too many of the critical comments.
@ChrisM. Ironically Democrats are hoping beyond hope that she really was sexually assualted. 4 said partygoers have said they weren't at this party. She doesn't remember dates, location, etc. The story has changed multiple times. You do you though and convict a man with nothing to go on.
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@ChrisM
Well done, Chris.
Kerri Kupec, a White House spokeswoman, said that after days of negotiations, “we appear no closer to a fair hearing.”
No kidding.
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I think Senator Grassley has placed himself in a box. All it takes is one Republican on his committee or two on a confirmation vote. It is one thing for a Republican to say "I oppose Judge Kavanagh" it is something different and easier to say "I want to here Dr. Blasey before I vote."
Grassley also needs to be concerned about not appearing to bully a sexual abuse victim. He does not, or at least should not, want to energize female voters; who as a group have a lower GOP voting percentage.
14
@Robert M. Stanton. Turn CNN off and concentrate. On facts not opinions! Can you tell the difference? Try. BBC for a change! Read some books!
People don't get it. Mr. Kavanaugh's teenage drunkeness and attempted sexual assault are not the real issue. Rather, one must consider whether he has lied in order to make his way onto the Supreme Court.
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@joseph gmuca I totally agree. If he said, "I drank too much sometimes in high school, but I stopped doing that a long time ago. I don't remember doing anything like what Dr. Balsey says, but , if I did, I'm heartily ashamed and profoundly apolofgze to her," I might believe he has what it takes to be a Supreme Court Justice. But if he has to practice how to avoid even answering questions about his drinking at that time, I'm afraid he doesn't have the requisite moral fibre. I pity the women on the Court who have to work with men like Kavanaugh and Thomas.
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@Joseph
And. Not just about this. About his participation in a federal judicial nominee's vetting, the stolen memos, the sexual harassment chamber of horrors run by Judge Kozinski, his mentor, etc.
@joseph gmuca
Lying to the Committee or the FBI is a crime, and that alone should disqualify any nominee. Each Senator must decide if he has crossed that line.
Attempted rape or sexual assault, even if only a one-time event, should disqualify as well. As for the drunkenness? That seems to have slid a bit beyond his teenage years.
It’s all about character. That is the real issue.
This is nothing more than another delay. Week by week the Dems delay the end of the hearing. Watch it happen again. When will the Repubs get a back bone finish the hearing and move him on to the SCOTUS?
This woman is not credible in any way. She can't remember the year, where she was, how she got home, who was there (both references have denied it ever happened and they know nothing about it), etc. This nothing more than a desperate attempt to deny Judge Kavanaugh, who has been praised by many women who know him well, the seat he deserves. SHAME ON THE DEMS.
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@Paul-This hearing, if you've been following it, has been on a fast track toward confirmation. Surely, it's worthwhile to take time to thoroughly vet Judge Kavanaugh? Also to release more of his record; 90% of which has been withheld by the WH.
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@Paul I was just talking to my husband about this. Both of us would have a very hard time remembering much about the parties we attended in high school back in the 80s. I recall attending parties at the houses of people I barely knew, who attended other schools. I could not tell you the names of those people, the town the parties occurred in much less the address, who else was there, etc, etc. I can remember specific incidents, like her, but not the irrelevant details. My husband has similar memories of specific incidents where he can remember no other details of the party. If you claim to remember everything about the parties that you attended 35+ years ago, you are lying.
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@Paul--seat him just after Merrick Garland.
The best people, nothing but the best people. How many are already indicted? This country is a joke.
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That this man is still a candidate for this most critical of positions is the most shameful aspect of all of this. Some of us here in CA were recently able to vote, or campaign, for the ouster of former judge Aaron Persky. Ironically Persky likely would have been supported by Kavanaugh for letting an overprivileged white male with expensive attorneys off the hook with barely any jail time after being found guilty of raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster near a campus party at Stanford. Persky's now being unemployed is true democracy in action. We won't have any such remedies if Kavanaugh gets confirmed, which millions believe he absolutely should not be based on his weak, dissembling performances at the previously held hearings and his questionable moral character raised by countless individuals who know him personally. He has already lied multiple times under oath, so why should anyone believe anything he has to say about this shocking allegation? An overinflated sense of entitlement should grant no one a seat on the highest court in the U.S. It must be earned, and using that standard this candidate falls egregiously short. Every member of the congressional judicial panel knows this, yet the majority members are in a desperate panic to get the seat filled before they face the possibility of being swept out of power by an electorate fed up with their ineptness. Disgraceful.
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@Michael
Hatch is an expert at this; he practiced on Anita Hill. He has been around so long, he might end up stuffed on display in the Smithsonian as an example of another kind of dinosaur.
1
@Michael Very well put! This latest scandalous behavior for this nominee should be strike three of the third out.
1
First allow me to say...As an individual who works with Domestic Violence I am apposed to any type of violence whether physical, verbal or sexual.
That being said lets start from the beginning. Dianne Feinstein had and held a letter from Dr. Blasey Ford from July until September. I do not buy Senator Feinstein's explanation of why she said nothing either in the hearings or when she sat with Judge Kavanaugh in private. It was not that the opportunity did not exist.
It seems this was a political maneuver to drop everything at the eleventh hour and terminate the process. It is sad when the Democrats, for political reasons, will seek to destroy a person, his family and his future.
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@Mary Shelton
Well, if it was true what he did, why would the revelation constitute a destruction of his family and future? He may have done the same to Dr. Blasey and during his time as a judge he probably must have done so many times to people who committed offenses. The problem is his lying. He could have even said I do not remember, or apologized for a "youthful" transgression (of that order). But he wants to keep his reputation even if it means perjury. Tht is the problem.
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@Mary Shelton Does it matter if the process was delayed before or now? I do agree that Feinstein's lack of previous actions are questionable but it SEEMS as if it were done to protect the victim. and only cam e out when K. seemed inevitable & the victim agreed to being named.
She could have protected Fords identity by privately sharing her knowledge with some of her leading Democrat Senator colleagues and the Republican women senators.
She didn't and for that she is accountable.
3
The real issue here is how to slow down, or completely terminate, the appointment of Kavanangh to the Supreme Court - sexual harassment is just a handy stepping stone for the Democrats. Hypocrisy at its finest.
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@rudolf, the real issues are (at least) three and transcend the instant case: (1) the incredible power that the Supreme Court (once the "least dangerous branch") has assumed over our lives; (2) that that power is for life, when most constitutional judges in most countries are allowed single terms only of around 12 years; (3) the deterioration in methods of selecting justices so that a political power advantage of one prevails instead of a consensus choice of a super-majority.
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@rudolf
Rudolf, do I understand you correctly? That sexual assault is the same as sexual harassment? And that an allegation of attempted rape should not be investigated thoroughly -- even if it slows down the process by a few days?
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@rudolf
No, Master G, hypocrisy at its finest is owned , these latter days, by your Trumpettes.
Y'know, the paid Talkin'Points hucksters who've been wailing along with maestro Mitch about the damage the Dems do the Court by keeping the seat vacant lo these many days, while that same droll power-mad Senator, serving an even
smaller part of the Republic than his 35% solution Fearful Leader, kept Merrick Garland's
rightful chance at a hearing null until all his chances were done. Month after month after eleven of them. Should he be charged with dereliction of duty, for failure to faithfully execute
his oath to the Constitution? Take the glasses off: there are scoundrels in both parties, but just now, yours are much more dangerous.
Most Americans, I think, have never accepted Clarence Thomas as a legitimate Supreme Court Justice. That is an unfortunate byproduct of the Republicans' lust for power via their hold on the nation's judiciary, from the lower courts on up.
Brett Kavanaugh, if he is confirmed, will join his lodge brother, the "Justice" Thomas, as simply another man who was accused by a (credible) woman of sexual harassment (Thomas) or attempted rape. This is, perhaps, not very important to Mitch McConnell's Senate. It doesn't require much imagination to conjure up their outrage had President Obama's nominee to the Court come with such loaded baggage and tattered rags of a homeless man, skin shiny from rarely having been washed; smelling of the street and repugnant to the sight.
Christine Blasey Ford will kayak down this roiling river on her tiny raft of remembrance and recall, the smallest leaf on the swirling stream of corruption that is the very definition of the Republican Party. Not only should the judge be questioned about that long-ago night, he should also be queried as to why he is so close to the White House on this matter, as this flies in the face of any semblance of judicial impartiality and transparency. If the judge's past is clean, why should he seek counsel from Donald Trump, the last man to whom an accused sexual predator should ask advice.
If this judge is confirmed, the vote will got to great lengths to delegitimize it in the only court that matters: public opinion.
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@Soxared, '04, '07, '13 I totally agree. I was raised to believe the Supreme Court was impartial, but that stopped when Thomas was confirmed. Judgments like Citizens United simply make it glaringly obvious.
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Absolutely agree! We end up with two shady sitting judges and many of us will loose our faith in the Supreme Court, which ultimately will have wide implications for the country as a whole. At 17 yo, your moral compass is already formed and one knows right from wrong. There are an abundance of men (and women) who have an impeccable moral record, Republicans and Democrats alike, and surely we can find at least one candidate to serve the country. Furthermore, the Anita Hill fiasco should be re visited in the age of Abused Women and Men standing up for their rights. We also ought it to ourselves to honestly address the significant plague world wide of victims that have suffered serious harassment and sexual or other violence. This has nothing to do with Republicans or Democrats, rather it is a bipartisan issue and human issue. It is enough to look at your child, boy or girl, and ask yourself if you would stand up for the treatment victims go through by the perpetrator, the government and the president. Would the president take a similar stance if his daughters were the victims.
@Soxared, '04, '07, '13
What makes you assume you speak for "most Americans"?
1
Dr. Blasey Ford passed a lie detector test. She volunteered for a FBI investigation, knowing that lying to the FBI is a crime.
Kavanaugh, on the other hand, has refused a FBI investigation. Is it because he also knows that lying to the FBI is a crime?
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@Bottles The public has not been given the list of questions asked and Dr. Ford’s responses so this statement as to the lie detector’s importance is not quantifiable as it stands.
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@Bottles
What do you think the FBI will investigate ?
No police report.
No physcial evidence
Ford does not remember when where or how she got home. Her two witnesses say they don't remember.
2
Or maybe he knows lie detector tests are extremely unreliable, based on pseudoscience, and are not admissible in court.
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Desperate times call for desperate measures as one liberal said to another. We, as Democrats are making ourselves look incredibly small, petty and
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@Dixon Duval
I don't think Democrats have a monopoly on "petty and small".
But I'm sad that this country is increasingly dominated by petty and small voices (on all sides).
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@Dixon Duval -- Republicans ramming down our throats a possibly-unfit justice -- for a lifetime appointment on our country's highest court -- don'tchya think, perhaps there may be time, at least, for the basics?
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We are petty and small because we want a proper investigation? Don't fall for the line that this was sprung on the confirmation process at the last minute. Tell us how the Repubs were able to get 65 signatures from Kavanaugh's former classmates in 24 hours. This was no surprise to the judiciary committee.
1