Everyone knows these are orchestrated smear jobs against Kavanaugh, intended basically to stall the process if they don't totally derail the nomination. Going forward, any allegations need to be sworn under oath in front of law enforcement, judicial, or Senate committee personnel during the time period when hearing are held. There should be an explicit "speak up now or forever hold your peace" date. Charges of perjury and suborning perjury should be pursued if allegations are found to be false and politically motivated. Accusations should meet a minimal level of specificity as to date, time, and location. Accusations without any corroborating sworn witnesses or physical evidence should be tossed. Accusations made years later also should require a sworn statement explaining why the, delay, why no one was told in the intervening years, and why the complainant is only now coming forward. There are no doubt lots of actual victims who wait years before telling their story for legitimate reasons. However there is no way to distinguish them from those who mistakenly think something happened that didn't, those who mistakenly identify the wrong person as perpetrator, and even those who are flat-out fabricating the whole thing. We should not eliminate any nominee on charges that are inherently so flimsy we can never be even remotely sure of the truth.
1
I can think of no other crime where the victim, upon speaking of the crime, is immediately discredited. Can you? Vote them all out!
9
This is the first sensible comment I have heard from a Republican senator over the last several days.
Perhaps other senators will find resonance in their hearts with this perspective.
2
The substance and tactics of what appears now to be almost the entire Republican Party matches that of the president it has fully embraced. This is what the Republican party has become. Its character predates President Trump by many years, even decades.
The evidence shows in the ease and speed with which the GOP has fallen completely under the sway of (let's use Trump's penchant for hollow superlatives) the most despicable president in the history of the Republic, or any Republic, including Plato's.
The Republican Party is not the moral spawn of President Trump; the president is the spawn of the Republican Party which has lost all connection with substantively strategic national policy in the service of battle victory at any cost.
19
The Dems on the Judiciary Comm. should defer all their time to Kamal Harris & Amy Klobuchar, both experienced prosecutors. This will give them more effective time to get at the truth & not waste time posturing or having “Spartacus moments”.
16
Trump is going to make a speech later today.
attacking whoever and lauding/supporting Kavanaugh .
I I was a Republican , I would find such support very reassuring ....
.....NOT....!
"The Bells of Hell go Ting a ling a ling for you but not for me !"
( Noel Coward lyrics ..)
1
If the press and can dig up all this stuff just think what the FBI could do.
8
This article quotes Lisa Murkowski as saying “We are now in a place where it’s not about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified... It is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed.”
But this, of course, is false. It is NOT about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed. It is about whether or not a woman who CLAIMS THAT SHE has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed...without any evidence except her own say so.
Convenient I grant you. But it's not about truth, justice, or the American way.
Perhaps it's time to go back to that other place where it’s all about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified.
You too, Lisa.
3
When all of this comes to a very bad end (tinking years from now) there will be alot of people sitting around wondering: why did the ciizens of the United States need to count on Michael Avenatti to bring Trump and his crony group to their knees. Many a good book will be written.
2
It is tantalizingly ironic that Pres. Trump attacks Michael Avennati, lawyer for Stormy Daniels and now Julie Swetnick, as a con man seeking phony publicity for his clients by falsely attacking good people. The President often laments that he no longer has his mentor, Roy Cohn, to help him through hard times. Cohn was exactly the lawyer Donald Trump now wrongly pretends is Mr. Avennati.
6
What the FBI needs to do following this embarrassing and disgraceful kangaroo court in Washington is watch and investigate all the bank deposits made by the so called accusers and their representatives in the months following this nonsense. My money says there will be inexplicable funds making their way into their accounts.
Congratulations to Ms Feinstein on her especially acumen of Timing, anyone believing this is as dumb as she is. Or Crooked.
funny how they are all standing behind the fine congressman from Minnesota with more serious charges...but Kavanaugh is guilty until proven innocent. Nice mash up of what had been a core foundation of our legal system.
1
What has absolutely shocked me is that the right wing media has put out statements that boys will be boys and sometimes they get drunk and it is then OK to attack women sexually. It is one thing to call this a he said / she said incident, but to justify it as typical teenage behavior is a scary decline in our nation's morals.
As for Bret Kavanaugh, his yearbook post smearing of a girl are well documented and not written while drunk and is not a he said / she said incident, so he is not fit to sit on the Supreme Court!
Republicans/Conservatives, Find someone better! Someone who actually has morals.
14
Does she still want to take the allegations seriously?? Sex trains now!! Witnesses waiting in line to rape!! What next, bestiality??
1
If they don't slow down and have an FBI investigation before voting to seat Kavanaugh, this will be a forever stain on the Republican Party, Kavanaugh, the supreme court, and democracy itself.
Accuser number three has just come out. While I have reservations regarding Mr Avenatti and his ambitions, if there's a 3rd, when will there be a 4th? A 5th?
14
Will the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee wear veils to protect them from the cameras in the room?
11
Senator, tear DOWN this sham of a proceeding. Vote your conscience: you know better than those old white men what women endure. This candidate is unfit and unworthy.
6
What people don’t get is that if you are a 40-year-old or older woman, you can probably dredge up at least half a dozen episodes where a man grabbed or touched you inappropriately, demeaned you publicly or privately, made sexually suggestive remarks publicly or privately, and/or did something else to remind you of your lack of status or power. (Some women used sex to their advantage but paid a price in honesty and self esteem.) Why didn’t we say anything? We were raised to know our only hope for a comfortable existence was to tie ourselves to a man, and getting married was the prize as well as the price. So, you didn’t make waves. You greeted your man at the door in hair bows and Saran Wrap, you cooked perfect dinners, you raised “excellent” kids, and if the man didn’t dump you for a younger, less restricted woman, you had a successful life.
A lot of us started shedding that charade over the years; if our husbands had any depth, they stayed around. But, they seemed surprised when they asked if we had ever experienced sexual assault and we said, yes, of course. That’s the way it was.
You probably can’t swing a dead cat without hitting someone who can claim sexual abuse. Right now, we can stop that kind of experience. We can stop elevating morally deficient people; more important, we need to raise excellent children who display and practice moral character and mutual respect.
16
The upheaval over Kavanaugh's appointment is only sound and fury. It's a done deal. Trump and his conservative Supreme Court will continue to govern not by logic or reason, but by the religious doctrine that so appeals to his bigoted base. He will continue to lead us down a path of backward evolution into the second Dark Ages. However, in the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer, and this program will be based on a "survival" algorithm. Then we will see how we have confused our survival program with our ridiculous beliefs about just what is supposed to survive, causing all manner of mischief. When we see this, we can begin the long trek back to reason and sanity. See RevolutionOfReason.com
1
Ms. Murkowski has knowledge of Judge Kavanaugh's recent misadventure with abortion rights when he acted, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY, to support E. Scott Lloyd's attempt to deny Jane Doe's right to a privately-funded abortion.
Kavanaugh's action was reversed by a full court ruling, but the additional waiting further endangered the detainee (referred to as Jane Doe). E. Scott Lloyd was a pro-life lawyer (not an administrator) before he was installed by Trump as Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Ms Murkowski may give Dr Blasey's accusation appropriate air time, but Ms Murkowski has already stated: "..I certainly have greater confidence with the way that (Kavanaugh) portrayed to me how he views Roe".
So, Ms Murkowski stated a belief in Kavanaugh's abortion rights lie. A whopper by virtue of Kavanaugh's action against Jane Doe.
Maybe Ms Mukowski caught that choir boy act on Fox with Kavanaugh's robotic denials. Maybe it will dawn on her that this nominee is a chip off the old block.
6
Kavanaugh comes across as a liar. Senate should err on the side of the Court and and the country and look elsewhere for a new Justice. This is a lifetime appointment. Too important to get it wrong.
9
We now have three women coming forward. How many more would make the Republicans question their judgement? One, it's he said, she said, but three??? Kavanaugh is becoming less credible by the minute.
3
@Chris
Yawn, the third is from Avenatti and she is only saying she saw Kavanaugh at parties where people were gang raped. She is not saying he participated and again, it is entirely unprovable. So one, two or an infinite of accusers if they all lack substance they sum to zero.
2
Sen. Murkowski says, “We are now in a place where it’s not about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified.”
That depends upon what the meaning of "we" is. I read her as concluding that Kavanaugh IS qualified ... but that that might be insufficient to seat him. Republicans agree with the first page but not the second.
To anyone who has be paying attention, it is clear that Kavanaugh is NOT qualified. He has lied in testimony before the Senate with respect to his involvement with seating Judge Pickering as well as about the emails hacked from the computers of Democratic senators. His testimony about how he views Roe as settled is at odds with his statement, in an email, “I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land.”
Chief Justice Roberts promised to just call balls and strikes and respect precedent, but lost little time overruling a century and a half of settled law in Citizens United and a half century in Shelby County.
"We" do not believe these men are either honorable or qualified.
6
I graduated from an unnamed Ivy League school in 1974. My class was filled with self important, privileged, and entitled prep school graduates/athletes who drank heavily, felt that no matter how outrageously they behaved it wouldn't matter, and who socially bullied those who were lower on their perceived social ladder. Sounds a lot like Brett Kavanaugh, who would have fit in well in my class. But guess what? Their actions did exist, did leave impressions on those around them and should come back to haunt them.
14
It occurs to me that the Republicans might be sacrificing the long game here, or at least the more proximate midterm game. They'll probably get their SCOTUS majority with Kavanaugh, but the ongoing confirmation spectacle, with its horrible smug-fratboy(s)-getting-away-with-it-again angle, may just cost them a sufficient number of votes come November to flip both the House and the Senate. If the Dems control both houses, then the Trump dethroning will commence forthwith, and Mueller will get all the support he needs. I suspect this is what a great many voters are pining for, and the Republicans may have just sealed their fate.
Various deities willing, if this vile administration can't end in a binding legal sense, at least it can be disempowered until the clock runs out.
9
I have to say that I found Mr. Trump's overuse of the phrase "con artist" and "con game" particularly amusing, coming from the "world's greatest con artist, believe me." As with most of what he says, Mr. Trump has no factual grounds for contradicting the assertions of either Dr. Blasey Ford or Ms. Ramirez, and is, as usual, playing to his base. As is made clear by the Republican's refusal to allow Ms. Ramirez to testify and their rush to bring the nomination to a vote, they are, as usual, about winning and not about doing what's right for this country. We failed to reject one misogynist in 2016 -- let's not make the same mistake this time around.
8
Since Senate Republican leadership believes members of the Judiciary Committee are incapable of conducting an impartial, sensitive and balanced inquiry into Ms. Ford's accusations of sexual assault by Judge Kavanagh why should the American people have any confidence in their ability to render judgment on the testimony elicited?
It is patently hypocritical and sexist for Mr. Trump and Senate Republicans to refuse Ms. Ford's demand for additional background checks by the FBI on her accusations but hire a female prosecutor from Arizona to question her and Mr. Kavanaugh.
And it is beyond any semblance of credulity for Mr. Trump to characterize Democrats as con artists or protest the accusations against Mr. Kavanagh when he is the subject of similar highly credible accusations and his own scandalous recorded comments.
Interviews with primary subjects exclusively of an alleged incident without additional investigation of other potential witnesses or corroborating evidence of their sworn testimony is NOT the "fair process" Mr. Kavanagh robotically requested in his inexplicable televised interview.
No fair and impartial adjudicator would permit jury members to deliberate on the testimony of witnesses when the jury members had made public statements showing a prejudicial basis for or against their yet to be given sworn testimony.
5
Inhofe also publicly questioned the authenticity of the accusations, saying Dr. Ford and Deborah Ramirez "had a little help, I have a feeling." Asked when he meant by the statement, Inhofe replied, "Somebody, I don't have any idea, that's what we're supposed to find out." Fox New 25.
Days without embarrassment from our Senators...0
2
"The second accuser has nothing". That sure sounds like he thinks the first accuser does.
9
Hmmmm, they brought in a lawyer from Maricopa County, AZ? Joe Arpaio's clan? What, they couldn't ask Dr. Ford questions themselves, couldn't wait for an FBI investigation (as they allowed with Clarence Thomas), and now, can't even find a woman east of the Mississippi who could question Dr. Ford? Arizona? Boy, those republican men just can't play it straight up, can they? I'll look up this lawyer, but I'ma go out on a limb and guess she's a bigly fan of trump...
9
Yeah, he was a virgin until well after he was married or sometime. Yeah, he never drank himself into oblivion because, well, you know, he was just so much better and smarter than every other adolescent, high school boy, and frat boy who did.
It's almost worse if he really was a virgin and if he never drank himself blotto. Because that really does make him the sterile, dull, oblivious, robotic, privileged nonentity that he appears to be, without experiencing normal, healthy development. And who knows nothing of the lives of the rest of us full-blooded, ordinary people, who know that when you drink heavily as a young person, you can make some really stupid, awful and sometimes criminal mistakes.
I had an open mind until he closed it by going on Fox and discussing his sex life. He doesn't deserve to sit on the court just because he's really, really tacky and hasn't a clue.
That may be okay for some, even for a life-like replica of a temporary president, but not somebody on the court for life.
12
There is nothing here to "take seriously." It's all a Democrat contrived circus, similar to everything they have been staging since November 2016. This is going to blow up big time in their faces. When you're agenda is trash and the only ideas you've had since the 60's is "tax and spend," you can count on your political party becoming extinct.
3
Stick around and see the GOP become as extinct as the dinosaur
5
The Republican Party, confronted with the increasingly mounting number of accusations leveled by female victims against the nominee, are nonetheless hellbent to railroad this confirmation through to a conclusion. Summarily rejecting demands for FBI investigation, openness, transparency, and a continuation of the confirmation process, the GOP Senate leadership, actively endorsed by 45, escalates the interpersonal maligning, denigrating, and destroying of the credibility and character of the accusers. The GOP abdicates its constitutional duty to directly question the accuser(s) by delegating that chore to a female prosecutor in order to obviate the backlash from Caucasian educated women that will happen regardless and immunize themselves from negative imagery, citing the Hill-Thomas 1991 hearing. The GOP wrongly states the Democratically controlled Hill-Thomas hearing descended into a 'circus' atmosphere when contrasted with their own participation through Senator Arlen Specter's fierce cross examination of Hill, which millions of Americans watched. The GOP did not object to the FBI investigation of this matter, and were seriously concerned about the gravity of the sexual descriptiveness that in order to secure confirmation, no stone could not be left unturned. And, race mattered. both the accuser and the accused are Black Americans. In 2018 the GOP inexplicably throws all those precautions out the window. The difference: Caucasian male privilege of entitlement. Race matters.
11
Should we take the position that Kavanaugh is presumed innocent and deserves due process as outlined by our (under fire) Constitution? Yes, of course. We need rule of law now more than ever.
But, show of hands, given what we've learned circumstantially and based on other key WH appointments and the shady to overtly illegal (and immoral) activities we've seen from this administration - who really believes there's any chance Kavanaugh's character is anything more than dubious and unfit for the SCOUS? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? (Crickets).
Common logic, unemotional observation and 20 months of distriction, degradation and embarrassment makes this an easy call.
My hope is this drags out long enough for the midterms. The cabinet of deplorables needs a clear message from the electorate that stealing elections, colluding with Russian and enriching themselves only happens in a banana republic...and that's not us - yet
7
Rapists and abusers think it's all a game. They never consider what the victims of abuse have had to deal with. All the president shows is that he is unfit as president and that he thinks his abuse of women is normal. It is not normal. It is not acceptable. Trump is a monster and so are the people who still support him.
14
Whatever happened to "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion"?
6
Republicans stalled Merrick Garland's appointment through their chicanery, but want to rush through a judge who seems to have more skeletons in his closet than a haunted house. It is not a swamp in DC; it is a cesspool. A big icky, stinky cesspool. I cannot wait to vote in November.
14
Now a third woman has come forward alleging that Kavanaugh organized gang rapes at these parties...what a swell guy
6
If the cowardly Republican senators think picking Rachel Mitchell to conduct their questioning will work in their favor, they may want to think again.
She has a lot of experience and a good reputation here. She's not a female Joe Arpaio if that's what they and their delusional supporters think.
Thursday is going to be very interesting and may very well end with Trump tweeting the same things about her that he has about everyone else who has "disappointed him".
2
It doesn't matter what Trump says about the women who accuse Kavanaugh. To prevent our Supreme Court to be populated by sexual predators, the FBI needs to step in and investigate because the planned hearings will no doubt turn into a sham
5
You'd think that Senator Grassley would be embarrassed to claim that "Democrats politicized the Anita Hill thing".....after what the Repubs did to President Clinton, and to the Garland episode! Talk about politicizing!
I can't wait to vote a straight Democratic ticket in November.
10
It seems from so many comments here that having "wealth and money" means not being academically qualified for acceptance at the most prestigious colleges and law schools. Furthermore, that would also imply that every student whose family has "connections" (for any reason) would be accepted while lacking high academic standards. What a bunch of hogwash! Moreover, who can categorically say how wealthy and connected the Kavanaugh family was at that time? That said, even if his family were wealthy and connected, Brett Kavanaugh has proven over the course of his distinguished judicial career that it would have been irrelevant.
I was fortunate to attend one of the most elite prep schools. I was accepted on academic merit and, later on, accepted on academic merit at an elite college. Out of a class of approx. 165 students, many of whom received financial aid, 21 of my prep school classmates went off to Harvard, 9 to Princeton and 6 to Yale. Smaller numbers went on to Stanford, Amherst, Wesleyan, Williams and other distinguished colleges.
Being the son or daughter of wealthy parents does not preclude one from being academically or professionally accomplished. To think otherwise is to fall into the socialist polemic that is being foisted on us by a growing number of "progressive" Democrats who are threatening the traditional values of our nation.
The problem with American Politics is that people are always extreme. The Republicans believe the woman is lying while the Democrats believe she is telling the truth. The crux of the matter is that when there is an allegation of such nature, nobody can say for sure what happened. Both parties should be given the benefit of doubt and proper investigations should be carried out. I have read so many comments from people saying they believe the accuser or the accused. based on what? In this social media era, peoples lives can be destroyed in seconds becuase of stories that miht be untrue. I say this as a sexual assault survivor - both parties should be given the benefit of doubt till it can be proven otherwise. Alos, the Republican party has shown itsself to be a party that does not care about the plight of sexual assault survivors and a very chavanistic and misogynistic party. I say this as a non- American who has never been in America.
2
I think Senators Murkowski and Collins could easily be 'no' votes if one or more male Republican senators joined them. Sadly, that's unlikely to happen. Even the morally upright Mormon senators don't seem to be moved by the plausible allegations of women survivors.
The planned Senate proceedings seem designed for maximal pressure on a single accuser. She will no doubt be grilled as though she's on trial. And Democratic questioners will have a mere 5 minutes each to question each of the two witnesses with no follow up time. Nor can Democrats call corroborating witnesses, and they can't call Debra Ramirez, the other woman with credible allegations. (Please see Ronan Farrow's PBS News Hour interview for an explanation of his reporting and how they exceeded what has been reported by the NY Times.)
As usual for our current Senate, patriarchy usually trumps due process. And they intend to extend that to our Supreme Court with the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh.
5
The GOP Senators are incapable of having a conversation about sexual assault and the aftereffects caused thereby. But these same men have no problem making laws which control women's reproductive rights. Gilead here we come.
7
In all of these horror stories about sexual attacks, physical and verbal abuse, and similar events in the news everyday, millions of Americans are involved as innocent bystanders. These are people who have had similar things happen to them and have managed over many years, decades even, to keep the memories and feelings at bay. Now it is all coming back to them. Now they have to relive the events themselves and dredge up the ways they coped or tried to forget. Their shame, confusion, guilt, and mental trauma are once again raw sores. Their marriages, relationships and overall emotional health are now at risk. What a pity.
1
At some point the republican need to admit they made a mistake with Kavanaugh. If there are two women there maybe more. When is it okay for him to allow being drunk as a possible excuse. Sorry that will not work. The fact that trump is going after Dr. Ford tells the whole story. One liar is supporting the other liar.
6
Kavanaugh will be gone before Thursday's hearing.
1
Grassley "said he hoped to create an environment that would “not be a circus.”
He and his compatriots have already made this a circus. Are there no other qualified conservatives who comported themselves well as younger men? After all, Neil Gorsuch managed to make it through the process without skeletons being exposed. I would assume the Federalist Society has many more people waiting in line. Why go to the mat for this one?
8
The Republicans have made up their minds to put Kavanaugh on the bench and they are not going let facts or testimony from Dr. Ford or anyone else change that. This is a done deal.
If you support Dr. Ford's request for a fair hearing then you must vote republicans out of office.
10
American women cannot prevent this show trial, or this Supreme Court appointment - and the events of recent days have shown just how hard men in power will fight to get a conservative Supreme Court. The Mitch McConnells of this world aren't going to give up.
The one thing that American women can do...is vote. and volunteer, in the mid-term elections.
I hope that women make the coming mid-term election a milestone in American history.
9
The full Senate should vote to restore the 60 vote rule for Federal Judges.
The vote should be 100 to 0.
A lifetime appointment deserves it.
4
@swenk
Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer should be who you are mad at. They made the decisions that got us here.
2
"Grassley said he hoped to create an environment that would 'not be a circus.'"
Too late, the circus is in town. This all could have been avoided if:
1) Trump had seriously vetted his nominee, Kavanaugh, before announcing that he would be the nominee. Instead, Trump took the name off of a list provided to him by the Federalists Society, which apparently did not perform a full background check, only an ideological one. and,
2) Once the allegations arose, then the FBI, as a neutral arbiter could have conducted the extended background investigation. It could have determined what is credible and what is not through interviewing all parties with any knowledge of the allegations.
Instead, we have a nominee being bull rushed through the Senate to get him on the bench by October 1, as Sen. John Kennedy (R-La) has said for the beginning of the Fall Term of the Court. I suppose the issue of subpoenas to Trump will come before the Court and they need that vote. The Republican members have distorted the rules, pressing a life time appointment to accomplish a short term political advantage. Hence, the Circus.
8
This committee has to set an example. It is unfortunate that could not control himself as a young man under the influence of alcohol. However, as his yearbook clearly indicate, a negative attitude towards women was clear, even when not under the influence. Either way, what he did was a crime and if had been reported at the time, he probably would be working in a less sensitive position that doesn't involve deciding on the course of people's lives.
There are many other candidates that will not have this cloud overhanging them and the Republicans need to set a higher standard if they don't wish to self-destruct while the world is watching.
8
Judge Kavanaugh has come across publicly as the then young Dudley Doright, the upstanding preppy, ever sober and respectful of young women in the orbit of his obviously very privileged life.
The contradictory information from a variety of other credible sources is compelling for a markedly contradictory characterization.
The lack a candor and the inclination to sugar coat his teen and early adult behavior leads directly to serious question about his veracity — a huge issue for someone already placed so high in the federal judiciary and now poised to ascend to the highest court in the nation.
Legal acumen and his judiciary record are over shadowed by serous questions about his apparent lack of candor.
69
This used to be a process where a nominee routinely was confirmed 100-0. But now we see the spectacle of Judge Kavanaugh being rushed through by one party for political purposes and struggling to get to just 51 votes, with some serious character questions floating around to boot. This is supposed to be how Trump and the Republicans "Make America Great Again"? I have no idea how the R's are defining "Great". The Republican leaders have demonstrated absolutely no shame, virtually no compassion for possible abuse victims, and even less for the concerns of this country's citizens. Nothing seems to matter to them but getting this man seated on the court and solidifying a little more conservative power. What has happened to the Republican party that Machiavelli has become their role model for governing?
56
@Derek Martin
Sorry but history says Dems are the obstructors. RBG got 96 votes. Kagan got upwards of 70 i think. McConnell thought it would be Hillary picking the next Justice when he refused to give Garland a hearing. All of this is just petty payback for that. Aka, Sour Grapes.
2
@GregP Saying Dems are "the obstructors" is cherry picking your evidence. Have Dems behaved as obstructors at various points? Yes. Have Republicans done the same. Absolutely. But there are also sound arguments for casting the Republican's as the primary escalator's of obstructionism in the current era. McConnell's unprecedented and ridiculous Garland 'argument' was specious from the word go. If Republican's were truly concerned with "original intent" where the Constitution is concerned, that never would have happened. Doesn't that qualify as obstruction? Or are we only counting obstruction in cases where you disapprove of the outcome?
1
@Derek Martin
McConnell was following the Biden Rule. I have watched the video of Biden making that argument. Have you? He was very persuasive and he seemed to be certain it was a correct choice at the time. Bush Sr. was in the White House.
Add to that the fact Obama could have put Garland on the Court thru a Recess Appointment and CHOSE not to. He wanted it to be an issue to help Hillary win a close election. He made a bad decision didn't he? How is that the fault of Republicans? RBG got 96 votes and NO ONE is to the LEFT of her. Open your eyes and live in the real world.
To me the big point in all of this is that Kavanaugh lies for convenience. He talks about not drinking to excess, yet his own high school yearbook page evokes that image, and his college cohort verifies the same. How can we believe that he was a virgin until well after he finished college. Please! And now we have a college buddy who shared conversation with him about that, back in the day. What would be his interest in a frat like DKE or a secret society like t!ts & cl!ts? And why isn't Mark Judge being subpoenaed to testify before the SJC? That is because they don't want to hear what he would have to say.
7
Why is the Senate committee using an age old sexual assault defence strategy by hiring a female attorney? I thought they wanted to get to the truth (insert eyeroll). Seems they've picked a side.
How exactly is this new outside republican prosecutor, hired yesterday, supposed to know all of the information so far given to the Senate? They’ve already been caught hiding Deborah Ramirez’s information.
For a President who boasted about groping women’s genitals and stands accused and likely convicted in the court of public opinion of sexual affairs while married,his pre-judgment of a woman/women accuser of Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh for sexual misconduct is grossly misogynist and irresponsible. Dismissing women is Trumps calling card.
3
First question I'd ask Kavanaugh is why he didn't push for an FBI investigation since he claims he has nothing to hide. The victim wants and investigation why doesn't he. Plus why is there all of that vile commentary in his high school yearbook page if he's not that kind of guy? What kind of twisted twerp would infer that he'd slept with a student from another school and be so ugly as to include her name on his yearbook page? And why do some of his fellow classmates from Yale remember him as a belligerent, angry, obnoxious heavy drinking drunk?
8
@Sherr29
You would ask Kavanaugh why he didn't ask for an investigation but not Feinstein why she held the letter since July. Wonder what kind of investigation could have happened since July? A pretty intensive one wouldn't you think? But you want Kavanaugh to explain why he doesn't ask for one right before the vote to Confirm him? You really need him to explain that to you?
1
Mr. Trump ( I refuse to address you as Mr. President ). How many women have you groped? How many women did you rape or otherwise abuse who were unwilling to submit to your demands? How many women have you paid off to purchase their silence? How many women have you paid to have an abortion? Hearing you brag of your "success" rate with women there is no doubt that some of above examples are likely to be true!
2
Trump and the GOP may drag Kavanaugh over the "finish line" and get him on the Supreme Court, but the backlash from women voters and like minded males, and I am one, will continue to increase. A lot of woemn are saying "No Republican in any reace, anywhere" which will further increases the chances that the House and possibly the Senate will flipl.
3
Attention FBI: Investigate the Senate! We have become a nation of "men," not "laws." Start taking notes -- protect us from these people who would harm us for generations -- and preserve the checks and balances of our government. Process the evidence you have already gathered, publish it and send these fools packing!
I guess what this total embarrassment of a president meant was that there “were lapses of time”? Communicating clearly is a necessity for all politicians, even horrible ones.
As we all know “time lapse” is a film/photography term;
time-lapse
“adjective: time-lapse; adjective: timelapse
denoting the photographic technique of taking a sequence of frames at set intervals to record changes that take place slowly over time. When the frames are shown at normal speed, or in quick succession, the action seems much faster.”
I wish I could “time-lapse” to some point in the future when Donald Trump and his coterie of doofuses (doofi?) are but a distant, unhappy memory.
1
Grassley is a tired old white man like Hatch and the rest of the mob that's trying to ram through Kavanaugh's elevation to the Supreme Court!
If Americans knew what the 1% actually get away with, there would be a revolution!
5
Trump obviously listens to no one's advice. With about 16 women accusing him of sexual assault one would think the smart thing to do is maintain a low profile and act like he's preoccupied at the United Nations and has no time to assess what's going on. But no! He needs to be master of ceremony. The more he talks the more angrier women will be when they remember that Hollywood Access tape of him bragging of sexually assaulting women and keeping Tic Tacs in his pocket to freshen his breath so he could kiss unsuspecting women. The modern day Georgie Porgie.
2
DJT’s assault on women continues.
If the same fury was leveled at men with the same bias there would be no way he could survive in business or politically.
Women must join together in a similar, coordinated way. In 40 years in public life and now almost 2 years at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave I cannot see a single reason why any woman of any party would vote for this weakling in the WH.
Cosby is on his way to prison. DJT is not far behind him.
Vote 11/6!
3
Who thinks Trump attesting to Kavanaugh’s deep insight into law is anything other than appreciation for his ability to spin litigant’s wheels?
2
Both need a fair hearing on this matter, to clear the air if nothing else.
What this nomination has informed the electorate more fully, is that Mitch McConnell is not concerned with fairness or rule of law in this country. He is concerned with power and keeping it on his side. This is about the Republican Party and its donors. It is not about the Supreme Court or the Constitution. It is certainly not about what our country was founded on.
Vote them out.
5
If a witness for the United States Senate review of a supreme court Nominee wanted to be racked over the coals by a Arizona Republican
lawyer
dr. Ford would have traveled to Arizona.
The spineless republicans on the Senate Judicial committee need to retire from the committee.
2
Judge Kavanaugh, excuse me, but you left your halo in the Fox hotel room.
2
Julie Swetnick just came forward with very credible accusations of gang rape by Brett Kavenaugh. Swetnick has a long record of trust and security clearances.Kavenaugh must immediately withdraw. Ray Sipe
5
Donald this is one time when you, an infamous womanizer and sexual predator, should keep his lips zipped. Get in your golf cart, play a round at one of your courses at taxpayer expense and let the adults handle the problem.
5
Michael Avenatti has now released the sworn affidavit by Julie Swetnick, an impeccable source as he had claimed (she has top security clearance) that she was the victim of and witness to gang rape by Kavanaugh, Judge and others. Let's see what Grassley makes of this one.
1
How sad that the male members of the committee want to use a woman to humiliate & shame a fellow female. Wonder what they are paying her to destroy Dr. Ford on testimony? Nothing is going to change the committee's mind, they will confirm even if kavanaugh is found to have raped & then paid for an abortion of a woman other than Dr. Ford. They do not want to wait because they need trump's hiney protected before Mr. Mueller finishes his investigation & they need Roe v. Wade overturned & wiped from the record books. If Dr. Ford is believable & proven to tell the truth, then the democrats need to impeach kavanaugh when they take back the House and/or Senate and presidency. His future is really tarnished now.
2
Prosecutor Mitchell needs to be asked how many times she has gone into court in a matter of sexual assault without having it thoroughly investigated by law enforcement authorities by each and every Democratic Senator.
Just to establish her credibility as council.
Then asked if she would allow that level of investigation if she, or one of her family members were sexually assaulted.
By each and every Democratic member.
3
Alcohol intoxication tends to reveal who we are underneath, unmasked by learned inhibitory responses. The judge appears to be an angry woman-hating drunk. It doesn't matter what his alcohol intake is now, or whether he can control his worse instincts. Those instincts disqualify him on their own.
5
Do any of these Republican's really think ramming this confirmation process and vote is good for the country or for Judge Kavanaugh?
Do they really think by already proclaiming they will vote to confirm him regardless of what is learned in the hearing Thursday that this will end in a positive light?
Do they realize how bad the optics of this looks and out of touch these misogynists dinosaurs like Lindsey Graham, James Inhofe, Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republican's look like by this charade?
4
If the DNC is not spending big time $$ in Alaska and Maine to pressure Murkowski and Collins, then I guess the Democrats don't really want to take back the Senate.
1
The Republicans have told us what we need to know. They are rushing this through for no reason other than they know he's unfit and they are panicked they won't tilt the SC right before the midterms. Kavanaugh shouldn't even be a judge, based on his multiple lies, let alone a SC justice. As for Don the Con calling out the con -- it's rich!
7
On the surface the failure to conduct a thorough investigation appears to be regular dirty, hardball corruption. But it is also a specific kind of Republican corruption: the privileged don't need to be investigated, they just need other privileged people to vouch for them. The notion that good and honorable Republicans suddenly lost their decency after 2016 is wrong: they were always trumpoid, just more circumspect. Republican senators and plebes follow Trump because he has the boldness they lack. Blatantly abrogating normal procedures to put this creep on the court is just one more example.
6
The President of the US should never take a side in any hearing. Ever. This is yet another example of Trump obstructionism. He should let the process take its shape without comment. If
Kavanaugh is voted down, so be it. Find another nominee. But do not cast aspersions of any of the alleged victims or witnesses.
5
If the airwaves and print media are not saturated with images of Grassley, McConnell, Graham, etc. hiding sheepishly behind a skirt, the Dems will prove once again that they have become institutionally ineffective.
2
"President Trump assailed the latest woman to accuse Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, saying on Tuesday that she “has nothing” because she was “messed up” at the time..."
The same could be said of Kavanaugh with respect to both incidents: He too was "messed up" and his denial is thus suspect ("has nothing").
7
One has to agree with the President that Judge Kavanaugh froze up quickly during that interview on Monday. For this kind of response he has been prepping in the White House for days? He'd better put forth a better performance tomorrow, or even his supporters will be looking for a substitute!
I doubt that the opinions of a well known sexual pervert like Trump is going to have an impact on the thinking of any committee member, that is unless they are sexual perverts too.
3
Republicans, is this guy worth it? The optics with this are so, so bad. If they confirm Kavanaugh the message sent is either " We don't believe the women" or "Even if we do believe them, so what?" Ditch him, start from scratch, and find another Scalia clone with no toxic baggage. And so what if your base gets mad? They won't stay home on election day because their hatred of Democrats is stronger than any disappointment at not confirming a second conservative justice with "sexual misconduct" issues. Is power at any cost worth turning the already partisan Supreme Court into the "Sleaze Court" ? Where there's smoke, there's fire. Put this one out now before it comes back to burn you (big time).
66
@M Anderson
Not gonna happen. He will be confirmed. He should be confirmed and the next Nominee Trump puts up, will also be confirmed because there will be no blue wave in November. Open Borders and Guilty until you prove you are Innocent will not be the Voter's choice this November, or in 2020.
@M Anderson It's no longer about "this guy." It's about Democrats using women as tools. They give us all a bad name!
1
@M Anderson
If we can get him confirmed before the mid-terms, we'll have a conservative Supreme Court for the next 20 years, so yes, he's worth it. After the mid-terms, we probably won't have the votes to get someone so conservative in there, which is exactly why the Democrats are using this cheap trick to try and delay the vote. Not only do we not care about boys being boys, but everybody else we'd want to nominate is even sleazier than Kavanaugh.
It's interesting how Trump, McConnell, Grassley, Graham et al have all articulated disbelief in Dr. Ford's allegations, and are ramming through a vote on Friday expressing certainty that Kavanagh will be confirmed.
The GOP has done everything possible to impede an investigation, hasn't allowed witnesses to testify, and is leaving everyone with a " he said,she said" conundrum despite evidence.
Numerous ads have played endorsing Kavanagh, he sits for an interview on Fox News, visits the White House for prep sessions with Bill Shine and Friends, and issues denial after after denial. Letters are written in his support...then names withdrawn. PR firms are working full-tilt. His buddy attempts to blame someone else with the help of Zillow. Never have we seen this from a Supreme Court Candidate.
Meanwhile, we haven't seen Dr. Ford. Her lawyer has issued a few statements regarding the negotiations. The full-court press isn't on from her side.
What are the Republicans so afraid of? If they and Kavanagh truly believed in the rule of law, an investigation would take place. He would be cleared...or not.
Obviously, a tarnished Supreme Court Justice is better than none at all.
9
I have little hope that Murkowski and Collins will stand by morality rather than their party politics. The only way they will vote against Kavanaugh would be if there was assurance enough Democratic votes could push him through and thereby they could play both sides of the fence.
And yes it is about whether someone who has so boldly lied before the Senate, has had millions of documents about him hidden and won't answer questions directly is qualified to judge our laws in the highest court of the nation.
15
Unfortunately this is turning into a divisive toxic political circus. Whether or not people "believe" her is irrelevant and has no probative value. Attorneys who advise employers, school districts, and other organizations deal with this everyday: allegations of sexual misconduct must be appropriately investigated by a trained independent investigator who will collect evidence , interview witnesses, and make a finding according to the preponderance of the evidence. Only at that point can the senate honestly vote. The public should insist on an appropriate investigation. The allegations are too serious to play games.
6
@peter
Then I imagine you are furious at Sen. Feinstein for holding that letter that could have been used to begin an investigation back in July? NO, why not?
@GregP
Not furious. It is not productive. But it is very suspicious and should be investigated. Was it an oversight or intentional, and why? Feinstein's actions are relevant to the ultimate factual conclusion of the investigator.
I wish Christine Ford well tomorrow. I hope she is articulate and stands up for herself. I hope she doesn't cry. I hope that anyone, Republican or Democrat, with any integrity left in their character, will give her a fair hearing. As for Kavanaugh, God help him, no matter what happens.
6
@Mulberryshoots
She will be just fine tomorrow but she won't be testifying. What will that say when she doesn't appear? Oh, the fault of the old white men on the Committee for not wanting to question her? Or for asking her to testify first? Or they made their minds up so what is the point? It will be one of those she gives as an excuse.
Aside from the current allegations, we should not forget that Kavanaugh’s allegiance is firmly against the American People, and in service of corporate control of our government.
He will work to dismantle a government of, by, and for the People.
It’s time to put an end to this.
13
All this just so Trump can own a Supreme Court Justice and make sure that he can get away with whatever he wants to get away with. Kavanaugh is more than a get-out-of-jail card for Trump, he is a reliable backer for Trump in the future.
12
The man just has poor judgement. Not a person I want on the Supreme Court. He appears to be an opportunist who does not have the restraint needed to make fair and impartial decisions.
13
It's not even an issue anymore that the Republicans intend (and might very well succeed ) to turn the Supreme Court into a fully supportive element of the conservative wing of the Republican Party. (The Party may just be a one winged bird.)
The media seems quite content for this to be a he said-she said about Kavanaugh's ability to control his libido. Who needs a fair and open-minded judiciary? We're getting what the rich and powerful are paying for.
6
I don't trust Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Senator Susan Collins of Maine on this issue. Those two senators, are puppets on strings held by the republican leadership. As nice and independent as those ladies might want to look on camera, their decisions frequently tend to be what Mitch McConnell and the likes want. Ultimately it's usually as if Ms. Murkowski and Ms. Collins have no mind of their own.
It's pitiful, but I really don't think that those two ladies have enough back bone; let's see if they do, they might surprise us all.
7
The president of the United States has nothing better to do than rail at a woman who reveals that the Supreme Court nominee is not as fine a man as the president said.
Donald doesn't care except that he wants a win. He has dozens of names on a list of equally conservative jurists.
Kavanaugh is over. He has the Mark of Trump on him. He'll be lucky to remain on the federal bench.
11
Since when did alcohol become a hallucinogen, making young women imagine attacks that did not occur, attackers who were not there? Seeing the same attacker twice in double vision, maybe; inducing memory lapses, sometimes; seeing nonexistent attackers, no. Hallucination is simply not among the well-known effects for which men from time immemorial, from the merely hopeful to full-on predators, have plied women with liquor. Impairment of judgment is the goal, and loss of motor coordination for the truly sick. Liquor only acquires magical hallucinatory properties after the fact, in the mouths of predators and their enablers as they seek to discredit women's testimony to avoid accountability for what they have done. And we are all enablers if we accept for one second of doubt the nonsensical notions of liquor's effects that Trump, Kavanaugh's more unscrupulous supporters, and even liberal media trying to be "objective" are bandying about as if pharmacological truth.
4
@RRI
Congratulations! You missed the point. Not by a little, but by a lot. Completely missed the point.
By the reference to her being drunk, Trump wasn't suggesting that she imagined the entire event. He was saying that her being drunk may have affected her memory, such that one could reasonably question Ramirez's ID of Kavanaugh as the guys who did this. In fact, this comports with her own statements, where she acknowledged that she wasn't sure it was actually Kavanaugh who did it.
Although a Democrat, I used to like and respect Orin Hatch. Not any more. He is just a hypocritical politician like most of the rest of them. In 2016, the Republicans held up president Obama's selection of a Supreme Court nominee until after the 2016 elections. With the shocking Trump victory, they let the nominee wither and now Hatch decries the Democrats for delaying the Kavanaugh nomination until after the sex-abuse accusations are aired (and after the November 2018 elections). There should have been an 11th Commandment against Hypocrisy with Hatch's picture emblazoned next to it.
10
By his own account on Fox News, Brett Kavanaugh was a near-saint as a young man, and specifically was a virgin until well after college. Interestingly his comments to his classmate at Yale, Steve Kantrowitz, were quite different. Steve, it would appear, knew Brett before he was a virgin.
13
I applaud Dr. Blasey for testifying even though she knows the deck is stacked against her and that the Republicans will try to push Kavanaugh through anyway. By stepping forward she has shown the hypocrisy of the party and white men's club that rules our country today. After reading about Rachel Mitchell, how can one consider her an impartial person? Note her connection to the far religious right who said they will not come out to vote if Kavanaugh isn't nominated. She is out for blood, but she will be careful not to be obvious about it.
5
Trump loves to punch down on the little people under his weight.
His supporters are the same way, so this is smart politics for him.
Why are they is such a hurry?
What are they trying to hide?
Why not let the FBI take a look?
I think we know the answers.
(Looking more like any impeachment proceedings will have to include Trump, Pence, Gorsuch (illegit fruit), and Kavfefe)
5
It really disturbs me that so many people, particularly women blindly believe what Dr. Blasey and Ms. Ramirez claim.
Dr. Blasey has claimed that a good friend of hers was an eyewitness to her alleged assault by Kavanaugh. The woman denies ever going to a drinking party with Dr. Blasey and denies ever seeing the incident. (The NYT has buried that story).
Ms. Ramirez stated that Kavanaugh looks like the man who sexually assaulted her but she was not sure. (The NYT has buried that too).
But the #MeToo movement and the Democrats are so sure that both incidents happened despite the statement of both women. It has become a world where a woman can make a claim of sexual assault and not have to have any evidence. #MeToo want a world where a man is guilty of sexual assault even when ther is no evidence that the incident actually happened.
There are a lot of credible reasons why Kavanaugh should not be on the Supreme Court. The Sexual Assault hearing will be a disaster for the Democratic Party.
1
@Jeff: We believe them because they have a lot to lose and little to gain by coming forward. We believe them because their stories ring credible and true to those of us (men and women) who have experienced the terror and shame and confusion of sexual assault. We believe them because entitled white men have been doing this thing without consequence for centuries. We believe them because they seem much more sincere than does Kavanaugh, Trump, Grassley, et al.
7
President Pathological cannot bottle up his inner thug. It spews like molten lava. We watch as he destroys himself. We hope our elected representatives in the House and Senate have the courage, integrity and patriotism to control this clear, present danger and operating assault on our USA.
5
And now a third named woman with an impeccable resume and security clearances has come forward with a sworn affidavit alleging serious sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh in high school. This is not some left wing conspiracy. The chickens are coming home to roost for Kavanaugh and hopefully the misogynists in the Republican Party who dismiss women at their peril. Vote and get out the vote in November.
8
So a lawyer who specializes in sex crimes is going to question Blasey. Talk about missing the point. It’s about the integrity of the nominee, not whether or not she was assaulted. I hope Blasey backs out. She doesn’t deserve this.
2
Why is anything that President Trump says always characterized as “unleashes” or “attacks?”
1
Because that’s the tone of almost everything he says. Nothing is said quietly, firmly, compassionately. Everything seems to be delivered with monumental anger and outrage
8
@RS
Because he bellows out his criticism.
Because he disregards facts.
Because he debases his target(s) of the moment.
Because he is a thug.
4
Why would we expect Trump not to unleash on Rameriz? Remember this is the man who separated immigrant children from their parents and had them locked in cages.
Trump, who has also assaulted women and proudly talked about it on tape, is a crude boar himself.
5
I have been concerned that the me-too movement not be excessively rigid about what constitutes sexual misconduct that threatens a person's livelihood. On the other hand, i am so angry that it is privileged white males, like Kavanaugh and the loathsome POTUS, who have such immense power over the rights and lives of women.
4
An alleged Trump quote from Bob Woodward's book Fear which I just read yesterday.
"You've got to deny, deny, deny and push back on these women" he said. If you admit to anything and any culpability, then you're dead. That was a big mistake you made. You didn't come out guns blazing and just challenge them. You showed weakness. You'e got to be strong. You've got to be aggressive. You've got to push back hard. You've got to deny anything that's said about you. Never admit.
The attack on Kavanaugh's second accuser pretty much sums Trump up. IMHO
14
@Vince
Just curious. What if someone accused you of a crime they say you committed 30 years ago,but you know you didn't do it. Would you admit you did it? Or would you "deny, deny, deny"?
Just because Trump says it, doesn't make it wrong.
Grassley demonstrates he is no longer fit for office as does his colleague from Utah. Seems they both have an extremely hard time grasping reality. The committee environment is an ever-growing circus of the worst kind and there is no way to cover it up with a contrived appearance of being otherwise. How dumb to these dinosaurs think we are?
6
“This witness to Kavanaugh’s sexual predation that’s going to take one of the most talented and one of the greatest intellects from a judicial standpoint in our country, going to keep him off the United States Supreme Court?”
Yes Trump because the SCOTUS should not tolerate one of it’s potential members being a confirmed sexual predator.
2
Murkowski and Collins will put on a good show but in the end, they will not be "her"os. I don't know what kind of hold the treasonous McConnell has on them but like all Republicans, they are cowards.
Do not let our democracy die. Vote D on Nov 6th.
6
It is cowardly of the Senate Republicans to bring in a woman attorney to do what they are paid to do. They are afraid to have their misogynistic questions be directly tied to themselves so they hired a gun to intimidate Dr. Ford. I hope Senator Flake will have the decency to speak directly to Dr. Ford, who showed great courage coming forward with her story. This November the Republicans must be made to pay for this mistreatment of women. Make sure you are registered and vote.
9
Is she licensed to practice law in D.C.?
5
Women are objects to be used, indicates Charles Grassley. That's why we are going to use a "female assistant" as a tool to question the witness. This is a Senate Hearing, when did this "female assistant" get elected to the Senate?
9
"We want to depoliticize the whole process, like the Democrats politicized the Anita Hill thing" -- ummm, come again, Senator Grassley???
That this oaf and his brethren think they can keep stepping on the accelerator without any of us passengers noticing speaks to their total arrogance.
5
Bloomberg news has just reported a third accuser has come forward.
1
How can any republican vote for Kavanaugh? What a disaster of a country we have become. Feckless corrupt leadership, power and money mad congresspersons, base moralless news outlets (FOX). and the destruction continues. Sickening!
7
Can America possibly cover itself with more glory than this? So Republicans think that rather than a TV spectacle of Republican men beating on a woman, they will get a female Republican pit bull to do it . . . and that will not cost them politically. They really think that we out here are that thick.
I used to think that you had to be a pretty sharp cookie to rise to the level of Congressman of the United States. After watching that particular institution for many years now, I have been soundly disabused of that fallacy. These guys are mostly pretty work-a-day minds at best and most more venal than the average pipe fitter.
Get the money out of politics so that we can get decent, intelligent people in there whose moral fiber is not shaped by their contributors' demands. How on earth can we think that in a country where policy is bought and sold every day of the week we will somehow have a governing system that actually responds to the needs of the majority of the electorate?
And how do we think this will all end? Are elected officials going to grow a moral spine suddenly? Will there be a collective Saul-on-the-road-to Damascus moment? Of course not. What will happen is the moral rot will eventually subsume the system, leaving us with nothing that remotely represents participatory democracy.
It's like hearing a bad noise in your car engine and assuming that it will go away on its own. It won't. The car will cease to function at some point.
10
@Bounarotti
"I used to think that you had to be a pretty sharp cookie to rise to the level of Congressman of the United States. "
Really? I never thought that, and don't know anybody who ever did.
What exactly are we paying the Republican committee members to do? When it comes time for heavy lifting/dirty work call a woman. Gutless weasels each and every one!
9
This particular administration is absolutely as despicable as one might imagine. You know it is bad when you pine for the Bush\Cheney days. Hmmmm... perhaps that is the plan?
2
Trump's railing against women is intolerable. What does this freak think he represents?
This isn't politics, this is bad behavior and a clear showing how primitive and uneducated he is. And such a man thinks of ruling the world, no wonder the UN assembly laughed itself sick yesterday.
7
Our president is disgusting. We have all gotten so used to the so-called leader of our country using his official platform to harass and intimidate ordinary American civilians.
It is truly shameful that we all have to put up with this irresponsible, unethical behavior on a daily basis.
7
This is the most disgusting administration and president of all times. He should be impeached along with Pence for obstruction of justice and crimes agains humanity.
9
New York Times – your time is almost up to derail the next Supreme court justice. I have to say, I’ve never quite seen so many stories and attempts by you to get your needs met. Unfortunately, we both know your mission is doomed.
@Mike DeMaio.yes,they must have hired these women to come up with these fake stories so they can continue to publish fake news.....really?just wow...
1
“I’m confident we’re going to win,” Mr. McConnell said.
Who is the "we"? Republicans? Straight men? Team Kavanaugh? It's certainly not our country.
That's what it's all about for these good old frat boys -- testosterone-fueled toxic masculinity and winning the game. I'm a 60ish male, and I'm sick of it. It's certainly not, "We'll give Dr. Blasey a fair hearing so that we can make a decision that's best for the country." It's all about who wins and who loses. Go, team, go . . . ugh.
7
Ms. Murkowski said on Monday that Judge Kaganaugh had laid out for her a powerful precedent case about the importance of "reliance of interest" it creates.
Can it be assumed that the "precent" referred to Roe v. Wade?
And how about the unprecedented - or unpresidented as Trump spelled it - spectacle of a wannabe member of SCOTUS declaring that all through high school, and many, many years through college and grad school he stayed a virgin with stone-faced wife looking on?
3
The American Bar Association gave Kavanaugh its unanimous highest rating after conducting about 120 interviews.
How much effort did they make to seek out and interview people like Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and other women on the receiving end of Kavanaugh's loutish—and possibly illegal—antics?
The ABA really should revamp and rethink its process for judgeship recommendations, at the risk of embarrassing itself even further.
And, it should retract its rating.
9
". . . but the president and some of his advisers worried that [Kavanaugh] was not forceful or indignant enough . . . "
Too true to form!
Ask me if I weary of the President's bluster and "sturm und drang". So tiresome!
1
So these "seasoned" all male Republican senators now openly admit they cannot perform this very critical function of their job.
It's obviously time to relieve them of their majority "rule" and vote out as many Republicans as possible in November.
Then double down and get the rest of the fossils out in 2020.
2
Now a second woman accuses Republican Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.
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.
How can we keep our country moral, decent and honest? How can we protect our little children? How can we stop promoting indecent and immoral lifestyles to the rest of the world? Simply put God back into the equation.
Whether republican or democrat, Christian or atheists, if what we think, say, or do is decent, moral and right...then it comes from God. If what we think, say, or do is indecent, immoral and wrong then it does not come from God. You can only lie to yourself and others, but not to God. This may be why separation of church and state exists. Blessed be those that believe in His name: who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Democrats are still acting the role of sore losers in the 2016 elections. You need to remember that Democrats - not Republicans - nominated the second worst candidate in history. That she lost to Trump is a testament as to how bad a candidate she was. You can dream up all the excuses you want but the fact remains that you lost. There are likely more SOTUS vacancies coming up in the foreseeable future so nominate someone who has broad appeal and is electable. And hope that Trump keeps on unleashing his wacky tweets because right now they are your best ally.
1
@Richard B Seriously, because more voters voted for Hillary you really believe that we should all forget about the Kavanaugh accusations that an FBI investigation could demonstrate are lies? Unless...
2
Isn't is something, that these Lords of the Flies Republicans are neither honorable nor brave enough to do their own questioning?
9
It's a not-so-subtle warning to all women:
If you're going to come forward about rape or sexual harassment, there's a hefty price to pay.
It's a stunning display of how little progress we've made as a society, particularly since men who come forward about sexual abuse occurring decades earlier are believed without question.
That some women go along with Don's intimidation tactics demonstrates that those women are some of the worst misogynists out there.
The irony couldn't be any more nauseating.
7
Murkowski is finally feeling the heat from her constituents - good. I'd like to see a few other Republicans develop a spine (Flake and Corker) and vote no on this disgusting charade of a supreme court nominee but by this late hour have little expectation of this party.
Sad to see an entire political party gutted by corruption and led by dinosaurs too aged to understand that the people they are supposed to represent have moved on without them. This period will be looked back on with all the scorn it so fully deserves.
5
One would think that by this age, Trump would be able to hold his emotions in check and not lash out at two very brave individuals. But he and Kavanaugh are alike in so many ways: white, privileged and dismissive of women. Both of these petulant males may torpedo the nomination through their own arrogance and inability to act rationally when times are tough.
7
I'm an Independent voter. This has all the appearances of a hit job on the part of the Left. Big question I have vis a vis Senator Feinstein is why she sat on Dr. Ford's letter for many weeks. The timing of the release is very suspect. BTW, I'm a senior and will be the first to say that she, and many other Senators, are long past their sell-by date. Please retire.
1
Republicans refuse to formally acknowledge or investigate the accusations, but bring in a female prosecutor—a ringer, perhaps?—because they want to avoid the obvious picture of bias of a bunch of privileged, old men sitting in judgement of a female. This bit of stagecraft is perfect, but will only serve their shrinking base. The optics remain.
4
Trump would not know "the truth" if it hit him in the face. He is so eager to get Kavanaugh confirmed that he is willing to smear Ms. Ramirez as well as Dr. Ford.
Meanwhile, most Republicans are prejudging the situation in Kavanaugh's favor. Let us note that most Republicans are men, just like Kavanaugh. They have no idea what it is like for women to come forward against powerful men, the taunts, the threats, the pain of going public and not being believed. Women have everything to lose and little to gain but their own self-respect when they speak out.
Kavanaugh has been called out by one Yale friend already. No doubt there are others who could speak to his behavior, such as Mr. Judge, but who choose not to get involved.
This too is typical behavior when a woman says she was assaulted. Let us not forget the famous 1964 case in NYC where Kitty Genovese was murdered and then raped while many ignored her screams.
My own senator, Lindsey Graham, has his mind made up before the hearing on Thursday. Shame on him and the others like him.
5
President Trump is correct in supporting Brett Kavanaugh and standing behind the man. Mr. Trump has doubts about Deborah Ramirez' claims that she was a victim of sexual abuse by Judge Kavanaugh 35 years ago due to her faulty memory and her excessive drinking. No one else remembers the incident nor saw any evidence of this occurring. This is a very serious accusation and surely someone would have remembered it if it took place. It is her word against the many others and I believe he did not do it.
If Ms. Ramirez had definite proof you can bet your bottom dollar that she would be appearing before the senate judiciary committee to give her testimony. She does not want to appear because she has doubts and does not want to perjure herself. This is a serious crime and she knows it.
This is a travesty of justice that any man can be accused of a crime he swears he did not commit. You only have to look at the Duke lacrosse players case to see what happened and their names being cleared after being smeared in the media and by liberals.
Ms. Ramirez has an agenda and that is to keep a good man off the Supreme Court. She is a Democrat and liberal and knows he leans conservatively and will affect the court's decisions for years. She wants the court to continue to swing leftward and this is unlikely to happen if Judge Kavanaugh gets on the court. She would risk damaging a man's reputation to reach her goal. How pathetic and she will not succeed in her venture.
The repubblicans have been getting away with lies here. If the Dems are doing this where is the proof of that allegation?
1. They assert the claims are false, in fact pretending they did not know of Ms Ramirez when Ms Blasey's name came out.
2. They keep alleging the Democrats are "doing this" but no one has challenged them to provide the evidence that supports that allegation. As far as we know this is them creating a lie to obscure or worse chasing their paranoid delusions. I think we all realize they know full well that these women are legitimately individuals who stepped up to report what they think are disqualifying facts.
3. They are hiding the majority of Kavanaugh's records. Since what they have released indicates he lied at the confirmation hearing for his current appointment we can only conclude that they docs they are hiding contain proof of other crimes Kavanaugh committed.
4. There is no timeline for confirming a SCOTUS appointee, why the rush to vote starting back when you were pretending that you did not know about Ms Ramirez?
5. Why do they fear an FBI investigation?
6, Senator's Murkowsky and Collins are being dishonest. If they were in fact concerned about women getting fair treatment and consideration they would not be quibbling. They would be demanding a proper FBI investigation to remove all doubt without equivocation. As it is it seems clear they are intent on confirming this candidate as soon as they land on an excuse they think their voters will buy.
10
These aren't hearings; they're an inquisition. And they would happily burn Dr. Ford at the stake if they could. They care not one iota about whether he assaulted her. How dare a woman impede a man's entitled path of grandeur?
If Kavanaugh is given the seat, I hope there are marches that make the former women's marches pale in comparison.
16
Trump is the biggest con man in the world and he does not really care about our nation or the Supreme Court. He only cares about promoting the Trump brand in Russia. Trump ascribes bad motives to others because that is the only way he can think. God bless these women for having the courage to protect our Supreme Court. God bless our country and help those in our government who were elected to protect the constitution, Do Their Jobs!
5
Is this a football game? Republicans say they want to win. Shouldn't we all want to win by getting out facts and discussing Kavanaugh's fitness to be a Supreme Court judge for life? It's a really big deal, but the whole process has been so rushed and so secretive that we have no idea who this man actually is. The drunken violence and sexually off-balance allegations from high school and university are only part of his story. Shouldn't we know more of his more recent history, his current and post-school drinking behavior, those gambling allegations - and certainly a discussion of his judicial history is in order. The latter is being deliberately kept under wraps. All the Republicans are concerned with is ramming this thing through so they can be certain the SC is skewed to the right for many a year. We need better than this. These old white men need to think of the country for a change....
2
How is the current process even close to fair. The vote to confirm the nominee is already set for 9:30 Friday morning. The GOP is not even pretending that they will listen to whatever is said by the victim tomorrow. The Republicans on the committee have abdicated their responsibilities to a prosecutor from Arizona because of the optics. What, were they going to bash the Doctor on Thursday. We the American people deserve to have these claims investigated before we have someone put on the Supreme Court for life. Are the republicans so desperate to elevate this guy that they have lost all sense of decency and a moral compass. Have they realized that after November they may be in the minority, Are they trying to do what Mitch claimed he was protecting America from, putting someone on the bench without the peoples wishes being heard. The hypocrisy and idiocy of the majority party is troubling and I applauded Senator Murkowski for wanting to slow down this train and have hearing.
3
Murkollins has become the Anthony Kennedy of the Senate; ironic, as they now can decide the fate of Kennedy's replacement.
The vicious nature of your personal attacks has nothing to do with the fact that her last name is Ramirez, does it Mr. President?
Why don't you check with her directly, Mr. President? Perhaps a roll of paper towels will silence her.
2
So the GOP has decided to collectively hide behind the skirts of a female prosecutor rather than reveal themselves to be the misogynists they are. Only they aren't fooling anyone except themselves. Collins, Murkowski, Flake and Corker - history stand ready to judge you. Do the moral thing and refuse to seat a justice tainted by allegations of sexual predation. We already have one on the court, and another in the White House.
5
This is a question more than an obligation. I notice that Senators are now saying that they interviewed Mr. Kavanaugh "under penalty of felony"? The unusual wording made me wonder exactly what statute was being referenced? Could some fine reporter ask that question?
1
While sexual assault, at any age, should disqualify a person from serving on a court where he (most assaulters and most justices have been male) may very likely be in the position to make decisions that will affect women, the accusations against Kavanaugh should never have seen the light of day.
Rather, given Kavanaugh's documented handling of ill-begotten documents from Sen. Leahy and others, his likely complicity in the Alex Kozinski sexual misconduct, and his dogged and unethical (and maybe illegal) pursuit of the Clintons via Ken Starr - and his almost certain perjury - are sufficient to disqualify him. This is clearly a case of a "president" and complicit and malleable Senate majority wanting to force through a justice to serve a political agenda.
What this all fails to take into account is that the position in question is Supreme Court Justice, as in justice. Justice will not be served if Kavanaugh joins the bench. Sadly for all of us, this will hold true with anyone nominated during this administration.
6
How about a special prosecutor to question Kavanaugh?
Sen. Murkowski is right to be skeptical of the nominee. So should all the other senators.
You know, there must be a dozen or more other individuals who are more than qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. And none of them have checkered pasts and all can put their partisanship on hold in order to do the job well. Yet the R's continue to push this imperfect man. The obvious reason for this is that he has an agenda and Trump and Co. like it. What about us?
4
Given the utter lack of details, and what seems to be, lack of composure on Fords part, this will be the last we hear of it before he's confirmed.
I predict that she falls apart under questioning from this panel of Republicans. She seems to be a very fragile woman.
We will see.
The Democratic senators plan to ask the questions themselves of both Ford and Kavanaugh, though Grassley has announced that the lawmakers will only get five minutes each to question Ford and then Kavanaugh.
Nothing can be accomplished in a 5 minute interview. This hearing is a joke by Republican design.
4
All of the actions of the GOP emphatically suggest that they could care less about finding the truth. Truth is secondary to their ultimate goal of attaining supreme power and control over the masses. Their extreme gerrymandering in Michigan is a prime example of the GOP attaining almost complete control of state legislation for the past 10 years, right up to poisoning the children and residents of the City of Flint. All of this bitter and partisan divide can be cleared up in a matter of days and weeks if only they would call for an FBI investigation of the facts, but they won't because they know it would result in the emperor has no clothes moment of their true intentions. If Dr. Blasey Ford is up to it, maybe just maybe, it would behoove her to file a criminal complaint with the courts. What do you think?
2
The Supreme Court nomination process is sorely broken. The fate of dozens of key statutes is in the hands of nine people with life appointments who earn their seats because they reflect the political ideology of whoever happened to be president when they were appointed. Having said this, the Democrats, being a centrist party, nominate moderate thinkers who are sensitive to the interests of all sorts of Americans and who tend to rely on a nuanced and multi-layered reading of the Constitution, precedent, and the current landscape. The Republicans being a far wright reactionary party only nominate far right reactionaries with retrograde views justified with the thin nonsensical veneer of "originalism" and "textualism" as if they can both read the minds of people who lived two hundred and fifty years ago, and as if nothing has changed in those two and a half centuries.
We need three robust political parties in this county. The current mainstream Democrats would occupy the center. The Bernie wing would be a social Democratic Party, and a new Conservative party needs to rise out of the conservative wing of the Democratic Party.
2
At this point he only thing that can possibly slow down the non-stop express train confirmation of Kavanaugh is a massive non-violent collection of demonstrations by 10's of thousands of mostly women in Washington in the next 36-48 hours with sit-ins and demonstrations in targeted capitol buildings and even on key roads. Essentially clog up the system's arteries. Demand that Rodriguez be allowed to testify etc. If arrests are made for 'trespassing' etc. those arrested should go limp to highlight their resistance to the injustices taking place in the committee. 150 people were reportedly arrested yesterday and it was barely covered by the media. If tens of thousands are involved they will be heard. If they aren't it will serve to highlight the illegitimacy of the manner in which the hearings have been conducted. What better way to give up your body than in a noble cause?
3
True or false, he said and she said, under this heavy cloud Kvanaugh confirmation should be postponed until everything is clear and most of the Americans are satisfied. After all the government, the supreme court, the congress and America belong to American citizens and they should not be ignored. To make everything clear ( acceptable) , FBI should be involved. This is a life time appointment, so few more weeks will do no harm to anybody. Remember Merrick Garland waited almost a year and did not get a day in congressional hearing and the Supreme court had 8 judges.
4
President Trump indicates that the account from Ramirez can't be fully believed because she had been drinking.
Kavanaugh claims that he never assaulted anyone at any time. There are creditable accounts of frequent heavy drinking on Kavanaugh's part. If we apply a standard similar to the one the president applies to Ramirez, Kavanaugh's blanket refutation must be similarly discounted. Does Kavanaugh really accurately remember everything that happened during those episodes of heavy drinking?
The Republican members of the Judicial Committee claim there is no need for the FBI to investigate the claims of Kavanaugh's accusers - that committee staff are fully capable of all necessary investigation. And yet they have engaged an outside lawyer to interview on their behalf. If they need to engage an outside lawyer, then their own actions seem to contradict their stated grounds for refusing to engage the FBI.
4
It would be surprising and disappointing if Senators Collins and Murkowski support Mr. Kavanaugh. He can claim respect for women all he wants, but his conduct at Yale (which is corroborated by accounts of others ) shows that under the veneer of respectfulness, once stripped away with alcohol, lies a character that is fundamentally disrespectful to women. Roe is a privacy based case - how far can the government go into otherwise private decisions of women. A Judge who is disrespectful of women, deep down inside, could not be trusted to faithfully assess and decide an abortion case based on the legal analysis of privacy considerations because he will underweight the privacy interests of women in that analysis.
2
Is it ethical for the President of the United States to constantly broadcast his personal opinions on legal proceedings in our country? Is he meaning to influence these proceedings with his deep knowledge and moral prescience? That's what I thought.
6
Allegations of these women aside, his yearbook alone should be enough to keep him from obtaining a Supreme Court position.
Let him be where he has been, but not the Supreme Court.
1
The one fact that almost everyone agrees on is that young Kavanaugh was a heavy drinker to the point of stumbling drunk and blackouts. How dare 45 refer to Kavanaugh as "fantastic" and yet criticize his accuser as "messed up" and "nothing" because she admitted to drinking at a dorm party. This perpetuates the culture of elite white male dominance that is setting a ruinous example in this country and needs to be stopped. If there is any doubt what effect this is having on the US, one need only look to the behavior of the GOP Senate majority. America, wake up and vote. Make your voice heard and hope that the damage done isn't irreversible.
6
@Kate: I guess your point of view is that whatever a man was as a child or young man is what the man is now. Does that also apply to women who drank to excess and used drugs as a teenager?
While republicans played "Fair" game with Mr. Garland's nomination during Obama period, the Democrats are playing "Con" game with Mr. Kavanaugh's nomination. As Chief Law enforcement officer of the nation, our president from family value party had already passed on his verdicts on Ms. Ford and Ramirez. Welcome to reality TV show on fairness doctrine by our role model president. While serving on Supreme Court, Mr. Kavanaugh will side with all issues related to family values.
1-She doesn't recall basic details of this traumatic event.
2-Ford is also a Democrat, as well as an anti-Trump marcher, raising questions about the motive and timing of the allegations along with their veracity.
3-She told no one what happened to her at the time.
4-The four people she said were at the party say there was not party.
5-Her immediate family don't support her claims.
6-The famous therapist notes from 2012 don’t mention Kavanaugh.
It is ridiculous that the vote is being held up for this.
McConnell doesn't get it. It's not about the Republican party winning. It's about country. The third victim will come forward in time for the network news tonight. If the Republicans "win" after her statement they will have lost women for at least two election cycles.
1
I have since Dr. Blasey came forward shared much of my own experiences here, as have so many women and some men. It has been both cathartic and deeply painful. It’s disturbing to read the comments of many Kavanaugh and Trump supporters to me and other survivors of sexual assault disregarding our experiences. Who take issue with one point we’re are making yet fail to even acknowledge we were victims of sexual assault. Those who outright debase our experiences are the worse.
I believe some of them either disrespect women in general or perhaps are on the defensive because they too have acted similarly to Kavanaugh and Trump at some point in their lives.
Lastly, I find the words of our president despicable. His behavior at the UN unbecoming his office. I find it reprehensible that McConnell, Grassley, Hatch, Pence and the rest of the old boys club are voicing Kavanaugh’s confirmation is a forgone conclusion. They have no desire to learn the truth. They only wish to seat a man who will be hostile to women, minorities, LBGQT, science, and workers rights. They want a man who will further blur the lines between church and state, allow businesses and Wall Street to take advantage of the public, and allow government to serve the only the rich at the expense of the majority of Americans. They get all this and more with Kavanaugh.
5
Haven't we all seen this song and dance before?
I distinctly remember this particular number when the Tax Cuts For Billionaires Bill (that provided 0 Funding for CHIP and other services for the needy) was up for vote and the waivering dances that Murkowski & Collins put on because of the potential harm the bill might have on children and the elderly.
They (and RIP, Sen. McCain) were the "heroes' who saved Obamacare.
But, before their haloes could even fully shine they marched arm-in-arm with their GOP commanders and voted Yes! on the biggest tax cut to billionaires this country has ever seen and that all of our children, and children's children's children will be paying for.
No, I have no doubt that Murkowski, Collins, Flake, Corker or any other GOP Senator will do anything but vote for Kavanaugh. Period. Full Stop.
2
I guess we have learned
I think his denials are because of his daughters. He doesn't want them taunted at school over him and he doesn't want them to think he did these things.
Sadly, there is evil in the world and it echoes very loudly from the mouths of those who defend rapists and molesters. Our country should pass laws that are much harsher against sexual assault predators. Also, victims need psychological support to deal with the trauma and it should not be at their expense.
4
@JLT: We also need a culture where women don't automatically and blindly beleive every single accusation fo male sexual assault. It goes against your personal beleive system but some women do lie about being sexually assaulted.
Kavanaugh is so clearly morally bankrupt that the idea any member of OUR United States Senate would support him is traitorous.
I wonder how much the Koch brothers and their brethren had to pay their operatives to try to destroy OUR America.
They might think they won but boy, do we have news for them. They think they have seen resistance? They ain't seen nothing yet.
10
The Republican leaders of Congress are willing to lose control of the House and Senate for one or more Congresses if they can get a 5-4 Ultra Right Majority the Court. The goal is to dominate the Judiciary for two or three generations or more. Their goal is within their grasp this and next week.
10
@Pat Choate
The goal, Pat, is ultimately to allay their fears of changing demographics that show whites will be a minority in this country in the not-so-distant future. There are people in this country who feel strongly about the abortion issue for cogent reasons, and I respect them. But they don't serve in the Senate. To our government (read: rich white cats), the issue is that whites are projected to become a minority, yet white women continue to have abortions--and according to studies, they are the most likely women to seek abortions. So the men gotta control all those uppity white women who actually demand something that has been declared a right in this country. Hence Kavanaugh.
2
The Times should be clear about what data they use when they call Senator Collins "an institutional minded centrist". The data I am familiar with is that Ms. Collins votes with Trump (not a centrist by any means, and certainly not "institutional") 95% of the time. How is this "centrism"? Collins can say what she will, express concern, but her voting record is evidence of her steadfast Republicanism, and she should be labeled as such.
23
Kavanaugh is an imperfect man pretending to be perfect with obvious lie after lie. A president living in a narcissistic fantasy land. A sex crime prosecutor taking the place of senators (senator for a day). Sex, lies and...video. A great movie maybe.
7
Will she question Kavanaugh too?
9
So we can't be certain whether Kavanaugh is a rapist or abuser or not, so lets just give him a lifetime Supreme Court appointment. After all there is probably no one else that would be without a history of sexual abuse.
9
Mr. Trump does understand that women are people. He does not understand that to women rape is a filthy crime tantamount to murder. He does not understand that many women kill themselves after being raped. Mr. Trump does not realize that rape is a filthy crime to be prosecuted by law. Most sexual predators like himself do not understand any thing beyond their genitals.
11
There are no "Centrists" in the Senate. Sen Collins voting record is consistently party line. Every Senate session she has been, and I imagine will be. This doesn't mean every vote, but most Senators can claim a rare exception.
This is a great place where the NYTimes asserts something with no place in facts. It sounds good to believe that some Republicans are a mythical beast, it is not a claim they ever give to democrats. I guess it must be like being a virgin makes you clean enough to be loved by a unicorn or deserve on the Supreme Court.
9
I can't believe we are still reading about this because if he was a Democrat he would have been out long ago. Another distraction that the media has to follow while Trump spews nonsense and the world laughs at us. The national news has been the National Enquirer for two years and I am really tired and sick of it. Democrats need to get out of their bunkers and start fighting or this country is going down the tubes.
18
Plow right through old republican men.
Surely, women will not notice.
*November 6th
17
The tough guys 'n' gals who rutinely talk tough on the GOP controlled Senate Judiciary Committee have taken a dive for cover and are passing their responsibility to represent their constitutes by having someone else question Dr. Blasey.
Their pick?
A female prosecutor from Arizona, where everyone voted "Right" as in "Correct" as in "Trump" during the past Presidential election.
So much for "gop-guts".
This ain't the GOP of my heyday!
3
Oh it is just another phony act on her part. She just wants to look like she actually cares about women, for her voters benefit. She will vote for Kavanaugh no matter what. Otherwise her big donors will drop her and she knows that. Look at her steely face. What a joke!
The Republican women operate as transgender white males politically. They look down and despise other women and deep down they ain't too fond of themselves neither. They are very much akin to that famous queen from the Scottish Play
11
I don’t spose it occurs that you’re making exactly the same kinds of attacks on women you’ve never met that Donald Trump makes.
You’re probably right but for the sake of justice, and all that is good, I hope you’re wrong. There will be a simple test though - when it’s her turn to vote. I did get a laugh out of the transgender comment and the irony behind it, even though this is not a laughing matter.
If the senators were serious they would do the questioning. Instead they’ve chosen to hide like the cowards they are behind the skirt of a female prosecutor. Add hypocrisy to the description of these cowards and misogynists.
Personally, I have mixed emotions about this appointment. If Kavanaugh and his good ol’ boys club wins, we’ll have another tainted justice on the bench. This should enflame women everywhere, and quite a few decent men. That is, it will only make the coming blue wave bigger. The downside, of course, is that we’ll have a pig like Kavanaugh on SCOTUS for the rest of his life.
1
@Robert No, I have not met this ONE woman, but I have met her voting record and heard her pretend to care about people when her voting shows the opposite. And the same goes for her fellow elected female Republicans. Their voting record is pretty anti-women and anti-working class. Anti everyone but elite white people. Oh and let us not forget anti-clean air and water and health care too. Now for the Scottish queen, if she were alive today, I have to think she would be a Republican. "If it t'were to be done, it should be done quickly" or some such. Isn't that is what is going on now?
Lisa Murkowski is right, and these three women need to be taken seriously. Why aren't the other Republican women Senators asking for an FBI investigation? Shelley Moore Capito, Senator Susan Collins all need to speak out to stop the attack on the brave women who are coming forward. Republican males appear to have the decision made, and they plan to plow right through her and get to the vote. Their defense of Kavanaugh has shown their true colors. They are insulting Dr. Ford and accusing the victim, when they should be asking the FBI to investigate these accusations of Judge Kavanaugh's binge drinking and assaulting women.
I am disappointed by the slut shaming of these women that is being attempted on social media is further evidence of the inability of the Republican Party to take women seriously. Mr. Trump, the party's leader appears to have a sex problem based on his numerous settlements and infidelities, but his ego can not see that as a problem, so he doesn't see it in others.
9
The Misogynist Eleven clearly think "optics" are what matter. The idea of eleven hideous white men (Jeff Flake you have chance to make it only 10) thinking having a woman doing the dirty work (Rachel Mathews you have a chance to shock them out of their smugness) will shift attention away from their true motivations is even more disgusting than if they did the interrogation themselves.
This is independent of the truth of what may or may not have happened. In any case at this point the hearing is so rigged to vote yes is an affirmative vote for the attitudes and sexist contempt the process embodies.
11
Will Brett Kavanaugh also be subjected to questioning by the outside counsel?
8
How can one reliably question a man who, unless I'm mistaken, is confirmed to have perjured himself to congress, lying to the American people? Whatever he says is suspect. We already know he is willing to blatantly lie to the American people and our representatives. In addition to this, he has already lied about this case, so I wonder why not have the FBI get involved?
4
Now that the Republicans have hired a sex crimes prosecutor to question Professor Blasey, that same prosecutor should also be tasked with questioning Judge Kavanaugh on behalf of the Republican faction of the Judiciary Committee. The asinine hagiography that we have seen thus far from the Republican committee members has been nothing but a shameful abdication of the Senate's role in vetting this nominee.
10
By Trump attacking an accuser, he is setting up the climate of acceptance for his Pardon.
4
So the GOP has resorted to an Inquisitor? That sure sounds like a sure fire way to make a witness feel comfortable.
6
“They’re playing a con game,” he continued, “and they play it very well. They play it actually much better than the Republicans.” He went on to call it a con game several more times, even at one point spelling it out, “C-O-N.” Calling a sheep black is easy for Trump. For him to accuse anyone of playing con games is the height of hypocrisy, having mastered the strategy as a businessman and as the mastermind behind Trump University.
8
The most telling image regarding the real Kavanaugh was when the father of that girl gunned down went to shake his hand and pro-NRA Kavanaugh looked at him with cold disdain and walked away. Kavanaugh is nothing more than a Neo-Con pro big business apparatchik, devoid of feelings for those he hurts or whose lives he destroys. When Kavanaugh described Roe v. Wade's right to abortion as settled "important precedent," that tells you next to nothing about what he really thinks. From his time on the bench, he narrowly interpreted when a woman can exercise that right. More importantly, once installed as one more of Trump's SCOTUS Rubber Stamps, Roe v Wade remains precedent until he votes with the other far right majority to overturn it.
8
Remember that it was Judge Kavanaugh who wanted to release the more unsavory and sensational aspects of President’s Clinton’s affair in his attempt to ruin his character.
These details Judge Kavanaugh wanted releases had nothing to do with the legal case, but rather the tactic of personal character destruction.
President Clinton subsequently was disbarred for perjury in denying a marital affair.
In this case, Judge Kavanaugh has established the MO and must live by it.
It is clear he has perjured himself numerous times in Congressional testimony. He refuses to take a lie detector test as did his accuser (who passed the test) over this physical assault on a 15 year old girl.
He should be disbarred and lose his current position - forget the Supreme Court.
17
Primary Murkowski. Let her run as a Democrat.
2
Get it together Republicans, let the Democrats have their day in the sun today then take this to a vote tomorrow and confirm him, enough of this!
4
The greatest hypocrisy may be the war that the newspapers and Hillary Clinton conducted against Gennifer Flowers and the other women who had been used by Bill Clinton.
Are today's champions of Dr. Ford willing to tell Hillary that she should never have assembled her team devoted to destroying those womens' reputations?
4
Beyond the hilarity of your bringing this up given that the Crusaders for Moral Justice who went after Bill Clinton on trumped-up corruption charges that collapsed into nothing and then settled for charges about consensual sex between two adults were led by one Ken Starr (lost his university job after getting busted for covering up rape charges) and lawyered by some guy named Kavanagh (currently in a bit of hot water over sexual assault), why yes, hideous apple-polly-logies, some of us think that Dr. Ford has a right to a fair hearing and decent treatment.
And in fact, a modicum of decency from this lout of a President.
4
“Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and the chairman of the committee. He said he hoped to create an environment that would,“not be a circus.”
Too late
2
What do you gain when you step forward as a victim?
Nothing. You get NOTHING. Actually, you get abuse. Shame. Threats. Violence. Hate. Fear. Disgusting labels. Privacy violation. PTSD. Anxiety. No justice. No vindication. No validation. No reprisal for your attacker.
You get nothing. So why would ANY victim lie? No gain can possibly outweigh the immense public assault, the tidal wave, that comes after a woman steps forward. You get beaten down, again and again and again.
America, you are spiraling. Your government is in real danger of being hallowed out from within and I don't see how it can be repaired. The world is changing, and yet to persist with antiquated behaviour is beyond me. I'd say fix this, but that time has come and gone. Your system is too broken to fix. Tear it all down, Americans, and start again. Maybe then, you can reclaim some form of dignity and morality on the world stage. Because as of right now, I literally can't stomach reading about the escalating theatre of the absurd you've become as a nation.
14
Charles Grassley's decision to bring in a woman sex-crimes prosecutor takes a page out of the Catholic Chruch's attempts to intimidate women coming forth to seek acknowledgment of sexual abuse by priests. A dear friend of mine sought nothing more than an acknowledgment from St. Louis Catholic hierarchy of the abuse she endured from a priest through her Catholic elementary school years in the 1960s. The most cringing part of her meeting with St. Louis Catholic officials was their obviously strategic enlistment of a woman to make statements belittling her claims, seeking to inject confusion, and manifesting the very ostracism that kept her and legions of other child victims from reporting earlier. At the time she met with the local church hierarchy, another woman who had been a classmate abused by the same priest was seriously mentally impaired, and yet another had committed suicide. My friend has herself since then died barely having reached the age of sixty.
I am not a believer myself, but I am an Iowan by birth. Senator Grassley's graceless effort to shred decency and basic golden tenets attributed to Christ to get a corporate/patriarchal consiglieri on a higher Court to take back the control Roe v Wade gave to women over their own bodies and lives while handing corporations greater domination secures Iowa a putrid brand in American history.
232
@David Chan Hemingway
So eloquent, David. Thank you so much.
Keep commenting!
@David Chan Hemingway, I live in Iowa, though I am not a native and never voted for Grassley (heaven forbid). Iowa may very well elect a Democratic for governor this year--the race is neck and neck. I think the typically conservative farmers, and their wives, have had it with Trump and the--yes putrid--form of "governing" that Grassley so gladly seems to go along with . The times are changing, even here in Iowa. Many, many Iowans are absolutely fed up and done with Grassley, along with Rep. Steve King.
2
@David Chan Hemingway Excellent comment. I agree with you. It is no fun to be represented by Republicans who have no honor, no decent, no values, no moral, no ethics. I know. I have watched my own Republican representatives sell their votes to the highest bidder for years.
Sickening.
1
Murkowski and Collins talk a good game but vote the party line. They’re both out when their terms are over. Disgusting people.
10
Religious Hypocrisy #101 - Lie like a lawyer, steal like a president and covet the female sex like both and you will be a hero!
4
Leave it to the Republicans to abdicate their responsibility and outsource the questioning of an abused woman to an outside lawyer - one from Joe Arpaio’s county nonetheless. Sadly, they will probably get away with it. Let’s see if Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Flake others can stop this; or at least slow it down and conduct a legitimate investigation.
5
Why do I tend to believe the accusers so rapidly? Easy. Any man that feels that he not only can but should make decisions regarding a woman's reproductive rights; by definition, has no regard or respect for women. As such, it's not hard to imagine such people assaulting the people for whom they generally hold in contempt.
5
Telephone interviews are as credible as submitting written questions to a suspect and waiting a month for a response. You need to see people when you ask them questions. There's more to an answer than the spoken word. Telephone interviews in a critical case are a big no-no if the person you need to talk to is accessible. And then you need to use FaceTime.
If Kavanaugh said he is a very different person when he's intoxicated and showed regret and remorse one would have a very different perspective than to one who outright lies. Clearly a blackmail candidate and possibly on the Supreme Court too. How many other compromised judges have the Republicans installed under Trump in their haste to take control of the country?
5
I really feel pity for the women, particularly in leadership role, in a party, which still live in medieval age and try to impose that regressive mentality of rest of the population. These women are either fully consumed by hereditary political and/or religious allegiance that brought them to GOP. Those, almost blind allegiance also deprive them to learn new things, update thier views on sociopolitically evolving issues based on forthcoming scientific evidences. They fail to keep their own dignity as a women, fight for the right causes for women, in a party that institutionalized "conservative" values that still accept men are the master of the universe, "truth" depends of men's approval and men should be in charge. Such mentality, that too from a leader (political or corporate or otherwise), is very dangerous to the society they live or represent. Unfortunately, Republican party not only believe in that medieval mentality but also successfully convinced so many "conservative" who are mostly 'highly religious'.
GOP senators like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski should look at the mirror, take a deep breath and gather the courage to stand up and do the right thing- as a woman and a human being.
5
The fact that Mitch McConnell thinks it would be a "win" to succeed in this appointment says it all. None of them, least of all Kavanaugh, are interested in the truth.
5
I don't understand why the FBI can't do an investigation. Laying aside the bad news the Republicans might learn is their primary worry that such an inquiry would take too long and delay the vote until after the election?
3
Mr. Trump gives the Democrats far too much credit. They have shown time and time again that they aren't organized enough to have a unified attack on Mr. Kavanaugh. Brave women have come forward, not for political purposes, but for fear of the character of a man to be appointed to the highest court.
3
I have a full-time job, and three young kids to take care of, but I cannot take my eyes off the news this week and last - it's like watching a car accident in slow motion, where I know it will all end tragically on Friday, and there's nothing I can do about it. I am angry. I am upset. I am taking this personally. And those feelings are a huge departure from the relative detachment with which I normally watch politics.
I cannot be the only one who feels this way.
While I cannot stop this confirmation, I have resolved to make changes in my professional life as a female litigator. And, I have resolved to raise my sons and daughter to be neither perpetrators nor victims. And, I will do whatever I can to keep people like Kavanaugh from from obtaining power going forward, in whatever sphere I have influence.
14
@LL
If the world Ford is trying to create takes shape, you will need your litigator skills to defend your sons from charges made by anyone who wants to harm him.
These accusations need to be investigated by the FBI as the accusers are requesting.
But all Americans need to know what is the number one reason Trump nominated Kavanaugh?
It is because Kavanaugh has made it very clear he believes that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted for any crimes.
If the Muller investigation is allowed to run its course it is highly possible there could be deeds revealed that Trump could be prosecuted for.
Kavanaugh is Trumps "ace in the hole" or more appropriately his potential "get out of jail free card".
7
What the Senate Republicans are doing is producing a mock trial in the committee with a friendly prosecutor to go through the motions of appearing to be a criminal proceeding such that a guarantee against double jeopardy occurs so Judge Kavanaugh is free of any looming subsequent criminal charges by outside authorities. The Senators are Lawyers you know.
1
Now the republicans have called on an attorney who specializes in prosecuting sexual offenders. Normally her job would be to question Judge Kavanaugh, since he is the alleged offender, not Dr. Ford - the accuser.
When will the republicans stop reverting to obfuscation and obstruction of justice?
There is no chance this will turn into a fair hearing, with material witnesses not subpoenaed, especially an eyewitness.
We really need an FBI investigation.
10
Amazingly the Kavanaugh confirmation fiasco is one more adverse consequence of Trump's scorched earth campaign to obstruct justice in the Mueller probe. Other prospective nominees were available but none except Kavanaugh professed the extreme views of presidential immunity from investigation. Trump is ripping our nation to shreds in multiple ways far exceeding Putin's fondest dreams.
10
We shouldn't be mistaken about Senator Murkowski's role. She is midway through her act as converted doubter. She will pretend to consider the evidence and dutifully conclude that, though not every detail has been cleared up, there is no reason to hold up the nomination. She will vote to confirm. Being a role-model for wavering women is her role in a PR routine. Your rights are at stake, the future character of the country is at stake, but, in the true All-American Way, it all comes down to a PR routine.
11
The one and only thing both Collins and Murkowski are looking at is the GOP's internal polling.
6
That this question is on democrat/republican divide, and that only female senators are the ones likely to change their vote over this shows two things.
1) It's purely partisan divide over Kavanaugh's qualifications. Perhaps obvious, but also really questions the legitimacy of the process to approve a candidate for a supposedly impartial and politically neutral supreme court role.
2) The legal issue of the sexual assault allegations are so questionable that only a woman would swing her vote, for her need to "believe" someone of her own gender. Gender-bias is strong and not legal reasoning.
1
The news over the past weeks has been triggering for me and other sexual assault survivors. My heart goes out to those survivors who haven’t had the benefit, as I have, of decades of psychotherapy and spiritual growth for incidents that occurred for me from ages 10-22, starting over 50 years ago. I am hopeful for our new generation of boys and girls. The times they are a-changing.
128
@Rachel Belle
I have never felt so angry and unsettled as these past few weeks.
These old geezer Republicans refuting, dismissing and disparaging Dr Ford and now Ms. Ramirez has ignited a firestorm within millions of women and thankfully, now many men.
"MeToo" started it but Ford and Ramirez are refueling the outrage.
1
Judge Kavanaugh is obviously a man of outstanding character. He has as a character witness, no less than the President of the United States. If President Trump says Mr. Kavanaugh isn't a sex predator that's the final word. It doesn't get any higher or better than that!
7
@Carl
You are joking, right?
5
Are you being sarcastic? Is there really a constituency that believes as you do? Woe the nation.
5
Republicans saw racism and misogyny dying, and decided to embed its ideology and social structures into the Supreme Court for a generation and beyond.
What Trump says is not the storyline. Underneath his litany of rage is a violent hand of silence over the mouths of America's women, people of color, legal residents, families and children, religious faithful, refugees. Democrat is inclusive, a negative.
More then anytime in our history, our presidential politics is filled with pain, raw pain and racial hate. The pain of lies and mistrust. The pain of questions to be answered that are ignored, questions of leaders who cannot reach out to the people they seek to represent. Across America, which Republican candidate has visited any of the hundreds of families of the dead killed by guns? Name one. One family, one person, one mother, one community they have sort to comfort.
One family embraced. One eulogy given. One. One name. One heart touched. One.
Does Republican politics have any room left for love and understanding? For building a country whose strength is its healing? The Republican scene takes its comfort in the right to kill; their Second Amendment ignores the dead.
Republicans have put power above the Constitution. With Healthcare, guns, criminal justice, with voting and women's rights, and now with the institutions of government itself including the Supreme Court, Republicans have cleaved division like stampeding blind mules.
(Part 2 below)
5
@walterhett (Part 2)
Power. Profit. Preserved. Oppression. Exploitation. Control. Myth-building the rep of their lying high school drunk who ganged up with his boys to physically and socially harass female students with yearbook smears and assault them in private homes. Lying about the yearbook, that it was the passion of a single date.
He lied again! On Fox, he said during his interview, that he drank at the age 18 legally. When he was 18, the legal age for drinking in Maryland was 21! Kavanaugh could not have been drinking legally in Maryland when he turned 18. The law has been changed before his birthday.
His claim is clearly a lie. It doesn't need the FBI, or a special prosecutor or or a committee of Congress to check it. Is it a lapse of memory or a lack of integrity? Given that he submitted to being prepped at the White House for his appearance, given that he spent much of his career as a political operative, given his pattern of lies, the paradox that he is can not be accepted and nor can good results be expected.
As they cast blame, these men are the dead in spirit. We may judge God as slow or as a delusion, but their words and deeds cannot be blessed.
4
The Republican Senators are acting just like those privileged boys from Georgetown Prep - except these 'boys' are drunk with power and it is the country that is being assaulted.
16
I would like to see a female prosecutor interview the judiciary committee (esp. Mitch).
8
It is not news that an unleashed mad dog would bite a woman. This President has already shared his opinion on where it is appropriate to grab a woman so let's be honest, this President couldn't care less about the abuse of women. What he does care about is getting a Supreme Court nominee in place who believes in absolute Presidential power and who doesn't believe that a President can be called to task by anyone for abuse of that power - you know, the Putin Presidential model. To that end, he will "assail" anyone who gets in his way
15
In order to lower the stress of 11 Old White Men grilling a women about her sexual past, what about glove puppets? These men could hide beneath their benches with only their hands up puppets as they quiz Dr. Blasey.
Failing that, the Muppets must be deployed to do their civic duty.
Whatever is finally decided, it must not lower the dignity of this quasi-judicial body.
6
Lisa and Susan are republicans before they are women... every republican is a republican before anything else... before God... before family... before country...
There is no doubt how this ends... the guy is going to be on the court. Republicans do not care about criminality, morality, or ethics... unless they can use those topics against a democrat.
Tell me I'm wrong? Just watch... he's already confirmed, we're just waiting for the announcement.
7
@J - I hope somewhere in Murkowski's or Collins' heart there is a woman who is above party. I hope for that but you are probably right in the end. If he gets on the court, this country is going to explode I think.
Let's remember who this is that's lambasting a woman who was abused by someone.
Donald Trump is a man marching arm in arm with a compatriot woman abuser. Donald trump is a man who would thrust his hand into a woman's panties and claim "she likes it."
And we on the sidelines are supposed to believe the likes of guys like Trump and Kavanaugh? QWe know in our gut who's telling the truth and who's lying. Mitch McConnell knows who's te3lling the truth but has to go along with the lie in order to keep the anti-abortionists voting Republican.
It's all cooked. We live in a world where we feed at a trough at every turn now. And, sadly to say, in more and more instances, it's getting to the point who ever has the pointiest elbows gets to eat.
2
Interesting and ironic that Trump accuses the Dems of playing a con game with respect to the Kavanaugh confirmation when in fact Trump has orchestrated the most monumental con game on Americans, including his base who he has convinced that he is on their side. What a joke!
7
go check out what's on the docket for the Supremes Monday.... it would be a win/win for Trump.... if he is impeached or pardoned he cannot be tried on the state level if this passes.... you cannot make this stuff up
In a recent poll released this week women voters have already decided the fate of the Republican Party in that democrats have a 27 point lead over their republican rivals. Despite all of that, and whatever comes forth in this hearing tomorrow, the "good ole boys" will pull out all the stops to make sure Kavanaugh is appointed. Their arrogance(and ignorance) is unparalleled.
When I look at the picture of Lisa Murkowski, over and over again I ask the question, "how could she stomach continually being a member of a party that values women so little and support a President who is even worse"?
12
@Deus..concerning that they do not care about the elections.... they are only focused on the decades of control they will receive to make this country what they wish it to be.... a big fat bank account for them & their benefactors
1
And they chose to interview Dr. Blasey a DA from Maricopa County? Wasn’t that Joe Arpaio’s fiefdom?
6
How much further can these old white men republicans fall? They can’t even do their own dirty work, they have to call in a woman. We are seeing a country implode with the republicans trying to establish one part rule by voter suppression, voter disenfranchisement, voter fraud claims, unconstitutional laws abetted by a corrupt Supreme republican Court.
4
Does Brett Kavanaugh deserve more consideration of innocence than any other man who has been accused of sexual assault that dates back years, if not decades? Time has no memory - any victim of assault will tell you that. And is there any guarantee there aren't more such stories about Kavanaugh out there bubbling up while the Repubs try to ram through this nominee? Many men have lost their jobs and reputations and freedoms for the same behaviour - including Kevin Spacey, Louis CK, Albert Schultz, Harvey Weinstein, Jian Ghomeshi, Bill Cosby and the list goes on. Trump himself has sexual assault lawsuits pending as I type this and they will be pursued the minute he is no longer a sitting wannabe president. Kavanaugh deserves no more, no less than any of these men. Kick the bum out.
10
Please stop giving any press to Murkowski and Collins..they are never swing votes..they hem and haw for the publicity and then vote the Party Line...
7
@Linda Garbin
Same for Lindsey Graham,
3
Trump is the last person on the planet that should comment.
As usual, he makes himself an easy target by the usual tweety out bursts and off the cuff, impulsive outbursts to the enemy of the people -the press-
to his base ,- the press is being so unfair,
2
Have we ever had a “leader” of such monumental insecurity, insensitivity, ignorance, bombast, and incompetence? I think not.
This rant is unwarranted, unconscionable, and unacceptable. It would probably result in discipline, if not termination, in just about any other job in America.
12
I hope that the female assistant remembers to bring coffee for the guys when she comes in tomorrow....
9
OK, so now we are reduced to seeing one sexual predator -- posing as our president -- defend another sexual predator -- his nominee for the Supreme Court. Maybe the Senate can dredge up enough Republicans with a conscience to end this shameful drama before it permanently stigmatizes the highest court in our land. Maybe not.
7
What I want to know is how come Mitch McConnell is not getting grilled by the media for wanting to ram rod this vote through? He was OK with allowing Obama’s supreme court pick to wither on the vine but he’s OK with putting a misogynist; as suspect sexual assaulter on the highest court in the land?
I think Chuck Grassley is a snake in the grass, but Mitch McConnell is the one who or helped put him there and is the real villain in this story. He needs to be scrutinized and called to account for orchestrating this circus and enabling this process and this presidency for what they really are – a big sham!
Vote in November as if your life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness depends on it – because it may very well be all put in jeopardy with this supreme court candidate.
8
All too believable McConnell and the rest of the GOP see it as about "winning." Winning. A potential lifetime appointee to the Supreme Court of the United States of America is credibly accused of sexual assault and now certainly seen to be lying about his past and that's what they are talking about, winning? We all lose.
2
@Lively B LOL! Credibly? No date, no time, no place, no year, and no corroborating witnesses! What a joke!
1
@jge you are attacking the alleged victim, right in line with what Trump does. The confirmation process is not a court of law. Ford has not even testified, yet you trumpet that it is a joke. I myself take allegations of sexual misconduct seriously. You are part of what is wrong with America.
1
There are many reasons to vote against Kavanaugh. His sexual history is the least of the issues. The hypocrisy is galling. The GOP stole a seat last year by refusing to even have hearings for a qualified moderate candidate who was nominated by President Obama. Now they are trying to jam Kavanaugh through in large part to appease the religious right. The religious right have situational ethics. All they care about overturning Roe vs. Wade. The don't seem to be bothered by the ethics and the personal actions of the men for whom they put in office. The GOP has spent so many years lying to the public, gerrymandering districts, and putting up barricades to prevent minority Americans to vote that they have broken the system. I am so glad we have so many women running for office. A lot of the problem is caused by old white men (I am embarrassed to be one of them) trying to stay in power, by holding everyone else down. The entitlement is appalling. Polls show that white men view themselves as an endangered minority. Shocking. Thank God I am gay and currently living in Mexico. But, I still vote! I sent my absentee ballot in today and voted for three women. You go girls!
12
Trump is commander in chief of some 200,000 women that serve in the military. He basically just told all of them that if they are assaulted he's not on their side.
9
Listen to Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and it makes me wonder if there is a way to trade Tennessee with Puerto Rico for statehood.
6
At least Senate Republicans, despicable though they may be, are at least smart enough to realize that having eleven white men grill Dr. Blasey might be a bad look. No such concerns from the Harasser In Chief.
The GOP is forever branding itself as the party that couldn't care less about equality or respect for women. That will not play well in the long run.
5
Kavanaugh lies. Just like DJT. if he had one iota of the integrity he claims to have, he would be the one asking for an FBI investigation. If he was the man he claims to be, he would be more humble. He would admit that he drank in high school and college. He would admit that he might have done stupid things when he was drunk. he would ask that an investigation be done to clear his name, because he would not be afraid of the truth.
Liars do not deserve a seat on the court.
4
I am so disgusted by the men on this committee who are so "chicken" to ask the questions for this case. THEY GET PAID BIG BUCKS for the supposedly JOB they AREN'T doing.
They should be voted out. I have been on the behind the scenes and to me these men are part of the "OLE BOYS BUDDY" system in Washington DC
We should have yerm limits for the supreme court justices, congress, and senators should have them also.
ALL of us are sick and tired of this injustice to women. This "so called president " should STOP interfering with the FBI, DOJ, and many other law agencies.
This" so called president" was laughed at the UN this is NO laughing matter. Our country is under a CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS! WAKE UP PEOPLE march and protest this dictator we have as a president the Ole BOY CLUB in Washington DC needs to do their job in a fair manner and they are not doing this. To hire a republican female that comes from that part of AZ shows they owe dear ole Joe A. a very big favor.
Murkowsi, Flake, Collins, Corker and many others who represent the GOP need the FBI to investigate this guy again. They are tryong to jam this guy down every womens throat and the "so called president" should be convicted of conspiracy and collision with the Russian, tax evasion, obstructing and interfering with the judicial branches of government. He IS NOT MY PRESIDENT!
3
He certainly is your president and calm down, what's with all the capitals?
1
@There, you know what he means. He is not "my president" either. It is figurative not literal, although I wish it were literal. I know "duly elected", right? Well, not the popular vote.
Does Debbie Ramirez's Puerto Rican heritage affect the treatment she is receiving from President Trump and his administration? Perhaps a few roles of paper towels are in order?
7
Shameful. With Mitch and the gang, it is almost as if the victim has to prove her innocence.
2
" ... assuming they get no Democrats." But it seems like that's no longer (or was never?) a foregone conclusion. Somehow I missed that. How many Dems are planning on voting to confirm?
3
@Mike typically the 3 blue dogs
If Kavanaugh was really innocent wouldn't his friend Mark Judge be eager to testify in his defense, instead of hiding out at a beach house in Delaware? The history of alcoholism alone should disqualify him.
9
I just watched Joe Kennedy on Morning Joe speak about the issue. He made it sound like everything is being done according to Dr Ford’s request. Maybe Senator Kennedy truly believes what he’s saying but it’s very misleading and simply not true. Grassley and the GOP comittee are dangerously kidding themselves and their base.
It show how low are country has sunk that the Judiciary will rush to place a unindicted conspirator under credible sexual assault allegations on the Supreme Court. If ever an FBI investigation is needed it certainly is in Kavanaugh’s Confirmation hearing, Chuck Grassley should resign the Senate along with Orin Hatch and the other GOP committee members.
2
On the Senate floor, self-righteous Senator Hatch called the growing opposition by women who make allegations a Democratic smear. I guess resourceful Democrats in the Senate must have gotten hold of one of Mitt Romney's folders full of women and selected a number of women to come forward at this time.
The "trial" set for tomorrow with the county prosecutor from Arizona flying into DC to get a win for the GOP. Their hope seems to be a prosecutor style tearful admission from the witness that indeed she is lying and that the evil Senator Diane Feinstein put her up to it.
What the Law and Order watching Republicans keep forgetting is that the standard needed from this "trial" is not a reasonable doubt on Kavanaugh's truthfulness but that each Senator who decides on his nomination must be absolutely certain that he is telling the truth and that everyone else is lying.
5
This will be the chance for Jeff Flake to stick it to the salivating ultra-right wing of the Republican Party who forced him out of his seat by challenging him for being too moderate before the Arizona primary. Will he now vote for confirmation of Kavanaugh, the darling of the Tea Party?
6
By now in most job interviews the person conducting the interview would say "Sorry, you are just not a good fit in light of our needs, but thanks for coming in."
12
@Dan88
On the contrary, he would have been hired on the spot with those credentials.
@AACNY Except you don't get hired on "credentials" alone. Thus, the need for an "interview."
And many employers now investigate candidates' social media for red flags, similar to how Kavanaugh's HS yearbook entries are raising red flags.
Kavanaugh’s “credentials” for this job consist entirely of the virtual certainty that he won’t hold this criminal president accountable. Otherwise he’s a mediocrity and a reactionary hack who exists solely to dazzle Trump’s rubes who regurgitate whatever is spoon-fed to them.
They refuse to allow an investigation for fear of what might be revealed about Judge Kavanaugh. They refuse to personally ask questions of Dr. Blasey for fear of what those questions might reveal about the person asking them. They refuse to delay the vote for fear that additional, credible accusations, or "acquisitions", as President Trump called them, would come to light.
Have there ever been more despicable, cowardly politicians than the Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members?
7
Thee protests too much!
As this circus spins out of control, why is the public- and our gatekeepers of Democracy, so easily ignoring the fact that a job candidate is unwilling to admit to his prior actions and associations, or acknowledge the potential of personal growth. Even if Brett (or Bart) took the boorish route of over exaggerating his actions and conquests, he never, ever recognizes his (active) role in the frat boy culture in which he was a participant. (And who was editing the entries in that prep school yearbook- shaping these boys to manhood?) Fess up. Should someone with this character flaw be on ANY bench- even the one on which he now sits?
To the very brave women who have come forth, THANK YOU! To the men who have evolved beyond their privileged youth to recognize the consequences of their cruel actions, thank you.
To parents everywhere trying to gleam examples and lessons for their kids from current events, good luck!
11
McConnell stole a SCOTUS seat from Obama two years ago, and his recent comments make clear that he has every intention of ramming this one through as well. I keep wondering when the American people are going to conclude that enough is enough from the GOP.
This is not going to end well - and I'm not talking about this specific issue.
8
@ChuckyBrown
Biden Rule.
Thursday's hearing certainly is "make or break" for Judge Kavanaugh. Either he will show courage and own up to his past behavior—and apologize for it—or he will continue to hang on to naive alibis, such as, because there was no penetration, there was no sexual activity. I wasn't aware that there was a way a man could prove he hadn't had "sexual intercourse" until a certain age. Perhaps Judge Kavanaugh can enlighten us on this point. (Hint: It has nothing to do with the meaning of the word 'is'.)
A good novelist will create a flawed character like Judge Kavanaugh: Someone who makes a bad decision at the beginning of the novel, and all of the readers know this. For the rest of the novel, the readers witness this character slowly digging himself deeper and deeper, when all that character had to do was acknowledge his initial mistake. We don't know how this novel ends, but we're starting to turn the pages faster and faster.
3
There’s a prevailing theory among political pundits that the reason Republican Senators vote on party line is their loyalty to Trump, who’s popular with The Base , and therefore voting against him could hurt their re-election chances.
This is not true in the Kavanaugh confirmation.
Corker and Flake have the opportunity to do what they must know is the right thing and vote NO.
The problem with Republicans is deeper than their loyalty to Trump. It’s their moral and ethical deficiencies.
10
The Senate Committee is bringing in a heavy hitter by the name of Rachel Mitchell to question Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Will she also interrogate Judge Kavanaugh?
5
The most revealing and unjust statement is “I’m confident we’re going to win.” That statement by McConnell shows that it isn’t about getting the best justice for the court, it’s about winning and losing, Republican vs. Democrat. In that case, we all lose.
11
I do not believe we can ever know the truth without witnesses or evidence; however, I have served on a few juries and found it a difficult task to convict anybody based on even circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence includes all surrounding circumstances and In Kavenaugh’s case we have a very old allegation without witnesses against a man who has led an exemplary life. Ultimately, if he is not confirmed it will be because of bias, politics, and perhaps no small degree of sexism. Is that the type of evidence we use to snuff out the life of another person? I fully adhere to the philosophy that we should let many go free before convicting one innocent person since I might one day be that one innocent person facing the firing squad.
1
This is not a criminal trial. The rules of criminal procedure do not apply. This is not a civil trial either so the rules of civil procedure do not apply Indeed this is not a court proceeding. This is a hearing (nominally) for a Supreme Court nominee. You are confused as to the standard to be applied. Your "experience" in criminal or civil trials do not apply.
The Trump/McConnell strategy appears to be a rush on confirmation as serious criminal allegations loom. Once on the Court, a Presidential pardon would be easier after an affirmative vote in the Senate. It would be easier to spin. The rush is on and may include a loyal Republican Prosecutor from Arizona.
3
There is something else in the works here that needs to be discussed. Trump, our 'so-called' president saying 'how could they ruin this good man's life?", is another package of 'red meat' to his base, specifically Evangelicals. This kind of thinking is that the man may have made mistakes, but he should get a mulligan, as afterall, you don't want to ruin his reputation and career. This idea that it doesn't really matter if you ruin a women's career and future, because after all she exists to support men. The crazy thing is, many women still believe this and will not come forward as they don't feel worthy of ruining a man's future career path. I have news for these women, men are just more emboldened to act out in this way, if they don't get any consequences for their actions. This will continue unabated with other women. Our current president is the perfect model of this. God sees sin as sin, regardless of gender, race, socioeconomic level, etc. What is wrong is wrong. There is no justifying it with the ends justify the means. Women can NO LONGER afford to allow men who feel entitled to their behavior because they stay silent thinking they are NOT worthy to be cared for and respected as a person of infinite worth in God's eyes. Women need to be as brave as Dr. Ford in confronting their fears and stereotypes and tell the truth and nothing but the truth, not only to the world but to themselves. we deserve better and we need to challenge these men to be better.
8
In January 2016, 28 graduates from Georgetown Prep were sworn into Congress. This begs the question, "How many Congresspersons went to Georgetown Prep, or prep schools with similar ethos? "
Georgetown Prep and schools like it are bastions of white, male privilege. The boys that attend these schools, in large part, come from wealthy families, and the schools inculcate them with a sense of entitlement.
That's why they can be habitually drunk, objectify and molest women, and still enter top universities and step into top careers.
And that's why our silver-haired Republicans, Trump included, fight against these womens' accusations so forcefully -- they expose the culture and beliefs of these men, and threaten to help topple their anticipated continuing power.
Trump went to a military prep school. His father thought he needed more discipline. For all of that, Trump's crowning achievement in high school was being voted "Ladies Man" in his 1964 senior year.
It follows that our Republican electeds, raised to embrace sexism, would not trust Kavenaugh's accusers. Especially Trump, because he is a womanizer, and, is hoping Kavenaugh can save him from further prosecution over Russiagate.
10
If Murkowski and Collins and Flake were genuinely concerned about "the process" being fair, then they would simply and collectively say "we are not going to vote in favor of Judge Kavanaugh unless and until there is an FBI or other neutral investigation, and other pertinent witnesses have been called to testify."
Grassley and McConnell would immediately understand they would not have the votes to "plow" his confirmation through on a party-line vote and, viola, there then would be a more thorough vetting of Kavanaugh's background and these alleged incidents.
Unless Murkowski, Collins and Flake step up and do this, then they are just three more Senate Republican Party hacks posturing that they are "concerned."
20
Senator Murkowski should address her comments to the Democratic Senators. Many of them have already indicated that they have already made up their minds and nothing they hear or see will change their position.
1
Hmmm...I have viewed the legal system from the inside for more than 30 years and it was always the case that the prosecutor (outside or otherwise) cross-examined the accused, not the victim. Now hold on, Times
Repliers, I know that this is not a criminal proceeding, and the rules, if any currently apply to the selection process, are different. But the all-male GOP committee membership certainly has telegraphed its cowardice, its lack of confidence in controlling its condescending vitriol, and its blindness to the optics of hiring a female sex-crimes prosecutor to undermine Professor Blasey Ford, rather than to carefully examine her allegations against Judge Kavanaugh by initiating a credible investigation.
6
The GOP hired a specialist to destroy Ford's testimony. They do not have the guts to face her themselves. They care less about truth. Women across the US will take care of Republican senators next voting cycle.
How many can remember the exact dates of events? Even a couple days can be a challenge to some.
6
What McConnell and Republican company don't get is that even if they ram this nomination through, the investigations and examinations will not end and ultimately they will have a justice in the headlines every day as new revelations continue to to emerge.
The Kavanaugh story is not going away with a Kavanaugh confirmation.
12
I can't recall anytime in the past 50 years that a standing Congressional committee brought in outside counsel to question a witness. All committees, and I assume this includes the Judiciary Committee, have their own counsels, both majority and minority ,so if the members of the committee feel they don't have the necessary competency to question a witness they can have the counsels do so. I assume that the problem the Republicans have is that their counsel is probably a white man, too.
To bring in outside counsel simply for the purpose of optics is ludicrous especially at the last minute so the witnesses and their counsels have little time to exam that person's record (what if turned out she was close friends with Kavanaugh).
If those Republicans feel they and their counsel can't handle the job, why don't they resign from the committee?
8
The congressional counsel is going to make a very quick work of this woman, she has no chance in my opinion.
“The second accuser has nothing,” Mr. Trump said. “She thinks maybe it could have been him, maybe not. She admits that she was drunk. She admits time lapses. There were time lapses. This is a person, and this is a series of statements, that’s going to take one of the most talented and one of the greatest intellects from a judicial standpoint in our country, going to keep him off the United States Supreme Court?”
And what about Judge Kavanaugh? He was also drunk...and very likely doesn't remember things. His drinking binges seem to be well-documented and backed-up by classmates. Maybe he's "messed up." Maybe we should be looking at his drinking and drunken behaviors instead of assuming the woman in this story -- and the first story -- is the one who doesn't know what she's talking about.
4
Trump admits Republicans Con the American People.
11
Mr Trump has shown by his public behavior that he does not have a sufficiently high intellect to be POTUS, but he does know how to spell the epithet C-O-N.
11
It still startles me to see our President behave like a pig.
22
@Emily J Hancock it still startles me that Americans elected a pig. Voluntarily. Because they thought he was the better choice.
4
I can only imagine the fear in these men as they watched Bill Cosby go down in flames due to an assault that took place in 2014. Cardinals are falling due to assaults that occurred 30 years ago. Kavanaugh must be loosing a ton of sleep - what else is going to come out?
10
There is a larger issue here. We have had this culture of white, privileged american males used to getting away with things because of their status. If this man is confirmed, it basically says to girls today that if a rich white boy rapes or attempts to rape you, nothing you do or say will matter because his privilege will protect him. To those types of boys, it just says, see you can get away with it. Enough is enough, yes when you are 17 you are responsible for your actions and yes it can derail your whole life. Stupid 17 year old is not a defense. Just ask Judge Cavanough vis a vis his court ruling on a 17 year old girls case regarding abortion.
388
@ART And if he doesn't get confirmed it says our justice system is just the opposite of what it has been. Instead of innocent until proven guilty it will be guilty until proven innocent. I for one am not ok with that.
1
@ART Exactly this. In their "religious fervor" to confirm this unfit toad Republicans are giving boys permission to rape my daughters.
@ART
Indeed--check out what happened to Maryville (MO) high school student Daisy Johnson after she was assaulted by a HS athlete from a politically-connected north MO family just a few years ago.
Demonstrators hold 'Justice for Daisy' rally at courthouse steps | FOX 4 ...
https://fox4kc.com/.../demonstrators-hold-justice-for-daisy-rally-at-cou...
...and they wonder why assault survivors don't come forward??? Any of us (mental health professionals, teachers/school counselors, etc.) who have ever worked with assault survivors can name at least a dozen clients/students/etc. with whom we worked or about whom we were told by others who had not ever come forward publicly (e.g., to law enforcement) for every one who had. The re-victimization--evidenced by the reaction to Dr. Blasey & Ms. Ramirez, even in this #MeToo era--clearly demonstrates why assault survivors choose not to report.
Having the President of the nation hang assault survivors out to dry in public, especially after getting elected despite admitting his own history of sexual assault on the Access Hollywood tape, is a strong message to assault survivors that silence is safer.
We live in shameful and sorry times. Kavanaugh's character and life experience do not matter to Trump and the GOP. All that matters is that they can put this guy on the Court and he will vote the way that they want him to. His magically disappearing debt, hidden files and paperwork all point to a nominee who is beholden to several someones. I feel that regardless of what tomorrow's hearings reveal or any other credible witnesses that are brought forward, if McConnell has the votes, Kavanaugh will be sworn in as early as a week from today. Not one senator who votes for him under these cloudy conditions deserves to hold his or her seat beyond the end of their current term of office. I hope voters make them all accountable for their lack of character and fitness to be an elected official in the Congress.
18
The statement by Senator Murkowski that the issue can broadly be described as whether a female victim of sexual assault should be believed suffers from several logical and practical deficits.
First, not all reports of sexual assault are alike. Factors affecting credibility like intoxication, corroborating evidence like an immediate report, a rape kit or other witnesses affects credibility as doed the relationship between the accused and accuser.
Second, the timing of the report is extremely important. Memory is not total recall like pulling up a computer file. Memory Distortion Syndrome is real.
Third, motivation of the accuser matters. This includes pressure from third parties and their motives.
Senator Murkowski & Senator Hirono may want to call The Innocence Project and ask the people there how many hundreds of men identified as rapists were falsely accused by sexual assault victims "100% certain" under oath they had correctly identified their attackers in describing recent assaults, not incidents 37 years in the past. Many African-American men were lynched based on such evidence.
Evidence and circumstances determine credibility, not the accusation or gender of the accuser.
5
"We're going to plow right through it" - Mitch McConnell
“I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process" - Brett Kavanaugh
"I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything." - Donald Trump
Republicans have no concept of consent.
13
The messed up accusing the messed up of being messed up. imagine that. Trump pretty clearly appointed a flawed person to the position. He has to live with that, but it should be no problem since he seems to have no issue living with himself. The important question here is whether or not the GOP can live comfortably with their decisions. I can't imagine it will be an issue since integrity does not seem to be high on their list.
5
Looking back over Western history, it appears this is a unique juncture. Occasionally in history, the course of nations has turned on a woman's marital preference, or a woman's reproductive output. But never before, as far as I can tell, has the course of a nation ever turned on a woman's word.
4
Watching the news this Wednesday morning has been frustrating.
Many well-meaning commentators spoke of the obviously stacked deck being presented to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the vicious attacks by Donald Trump, the hiring of a female prosecutor as though Dr. Ford were a defendant in the dock and the rush to both a Judiciary Committee vote and a confirmation vote by the full Senate by the end of the week.
The pundits expressed the opinion that the Republicans are taking a big political risk by ignoring the public backlash from the shabby treatment of Anita Hill in the hearings on Justice Clarence Thomas.
It was enough to want to shout at the TV screen, “Don’t you realize that the Republicans are inspired by the Thomas episode? Thomas won. The most conservative, anti-woman member of the current Supreme Court is Clarence Thomas!”
6
@sdw. I don't see what's wrong with hiring a professional sex crimes prosecutor, male or female, to conduct the questioning of Ford, and I presume, Kavanaugh. As long as the person is fair-minded, she should be accustomed to taking the victim's side -- that's what prosecutors do. She also may be more adept than senators at asking Kavanaugh questions that could trip him up if he's lying.
It looks like we've reached the point where truth and facts really are irrelevant. I know someone who was raped, never reported it. I know countless women who have been sexually assaulted in the workplace, never reported it. There are countless studies saying the same thing over and over again: the victims are afraid and don't think anyone will believe them. And they’re right. It’s #MeToo 101. Old white men are still in charge, but the times they are a changing.
15
Those who are most desirous to see Kavanaugh take a seat on the Supreme Court should be the most eager to conduct a full investigation first. Think how big of a win it would be if nothing disqualifying comes back. And how the whole nation dodges a bullet if something like that does. There is literally no downside to pausing for a thorough review of his early years.
8
What is this dog and pony show all about?
I've listened the Republican Senators and Leadership, and regardless of what Dr. Ford says, they've made up their minds she is not credible and they are going to confirm Brett Kavanaugh.
I get the feeling someone could come in with DNA evidence and evidence on film and that still would change their minds, and they would still find a way to discredit it.
This is bizarre, going to do more damage to the Supreme Court, the Rule of Law and bipartisanship than anything anyone can imagine.
These Republican's owe it to both Dr. Ford and Brett Kavanaugh to have this fulling investigated, witnesses heard and everything clarified for a fair and honest vote; otherwise this process they are ramrodding through will do more damage to Brett Kavanaugh's personal and legal life.
8
Senator McCain saved the Affordable Care Act for millions who would have lost health insurance under this Republican Congress. Who will be the Senators who will now save the Supreme Court???
8
@RLW it certainly won't be Lindsay (Boot-licker) Graham. I'm sure Mccain would have more than a few words to say about his former friend's submissive position to Trump.
1
The GOP has turned their backs on women.
11
@Bill -Thank you Bill
@Bill
Democrats have done so much worse. They've turned their backs on the concept of fairness and turned the concept of justice on its head. Hard to understand anyone buying into their "guilty until proven innocent" argument.
If anything, it's democrats who have turned their backs on the very foundation of our justice system, which is innocent until proven guilty. All Americans should shudder at the thought that democrats might condemn them to guilt like this.
Does Rachel Mitchell have the combined time of Eleven Sexist Men to interrogate Christine Blasey. If somehow she starts believing Christine Blasey and feels pulled towards her will the ESM have the freedom to come in and pull her off the stage. Will she also question Brett Kavanaugh or will that be left to the 11 men craving the surge of male bonding. How much time does each Democrat have to question both witnesses.
9
Donald Trump referred to Judge Kavanaugh as "one of the greatest intellects from a judicial standpoint". With all due respect to Judge Kavanaugh, does anyone out there, besides Donald J. Trump himself, think that Trump is capable of recognizing a judicial intellect, or for that matter an intellect of any variety???? So Sad!!!
15
When the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on Friday, as announced by Senator Grassley, the whole world will be watching. Bye, Bye, Republican Senate majority. If you can't work for the good of the entire nation you should be booted out of office.
21
Letting Mitch McConnell jam Kavanaugh’s nomination through the Senate might be to the Democrats’ advantage, as well as that of the country as a whole.
How so?
If the Kavanaugh nomination is withdrawn, the GOP would quickly put forward another right-wing judge, equally committed to curtailing women’s rights, protecting corporate interests and achieving other goals in the ultra-conservative, Federalist society playbook. Senate Republicans, relieved that this time they aren’t expected to vote for an accused rapist, will probably go along and vote him (or her) onto the Court.
Might it not be better for the Democrats – and the country – to let the GOP force the Kavanaugh nomination through the Senate, so that he can be impeached and removed later after the Democrats control the Congress and – presumably after 2020 – the presidency as well?
It is highly likely that Kavanaugh will perjure himself on Thursday,
so having him as a “placeholder” on the court, subject to removal within the next year or so as the truth comes to light and Democratic control and real constitutional checks and balances are restored in Washington, could turn out to be far better than having a lifetime appointment of a far-right justice who was unimpeachable from an ethical standpoint.
10
After watching Mr.Kavanaugh’s performances on Fox News and before the legislative committee, I have come to believe that he is as delusional as Mr. Trump, or shares Kelly Ann Conway’s penchant for “alternative facts.” Either way, he is not fit to be a Supreme Court justice.
The current members of the supreme court have been noticeably silent, but I wonder what John Roberts and his peers think as thy watch the spectacle that is further eroding Americans’ confidence and the integrity of the court. Everyone now relizes th courtnis anything but apolitical. This all could have been avoided if the nominee were a moderate or centrist like Garland, but that would not support the Republican agenda. This isn't about upholding our constitution, but asembling a court that will legitimize the repressive and elitist policies of the Republican Party. This isn’t about maintaining freedom and democracy. It is about maintaining control.
52
Senator Murkowski: Why won't trump order an investigation by the FBI?
Why won't Grassley?
What is bizarre is that no one on the right wants to get to the truth of this man.
I have to wonder why.
Please - help.
12
What's the real reason GOP politicians are so afraid of Kavanaugh's nomination failing? Because countless of them have their own accusers waiting in the wings. If Kavanaugh fails because of his alleged abuse of women, their heads could be next on the chopping block. Is Clarence Thomas next? The President? Mitch? Chuck Grassley, way back when?
Every single male GOPer who ever abused a woman in their pasts will never know when there time has come. Will Lindsey be the next one who is revealed? Perhaps old Orrin Hatch? We already know about Trump -- How many more are out there, holding tightly to their secrets?
IF Kavanaugh is held accountable, countless more will have to spend the rest of their political lives looking over their shoulders. That's something that Mitch and his boys can't risk.
16
Kavanaugh's response on the use of a contraceptive as equivalent to abortion is a clear indication that this judge would limit the freedom of a woman to choose. If an investigation showed addition lack of considerations toward women, it would simply confirm his earlier response.
17
@Ray
Judge Kavanaugh was describing the position that a party to
a case had taken, he was not saying that was his position. Senator Harris deceptively edited his answer to make it appear that was Judge Kavanaugh's position.
1
I doubt any of the judiciary should be asked to describe how any medicine works. Until they are presiding over a case where evidence is presented they are allowed to be ignorant of those details and that might not be a bad thing.
If he was looking at an appointment in a medical capacity that's different.
What's the point of having someone testify under oath when they've already been proven to lie under oath?
20
@M
Responses not to your liking should never be confused with "lying". If he had lied, you can be sure there would be perjury charges. The only place this accusation is being made is on the internet, where pretty much anything goes and falsehoods get repeated as truths.
As of today, he's the only one who has actually answered questions under oath.
1
True, Kavanaugh did answer questions under oath. That’s when he perjured himself.
1
It was a big mistake for Kavanaugh to go on Fox and claim that he never drank to excess. This opened the door to more witnesses coming out to refute him. So now we know for sure what a liar he is.
Republicans are now blocking Debra Ramirez from testifying, according to her lawyer, and are “plowing through” with a committee vote on Friday. Ms. Ramirez’ lawyer reports that various people knew of the sexual assault episode at Yale, and an FBI investigation would prove her allegations.
25
The judiciary committee needs to hire a lawyer to do their job.
Fire the lot of them and give us their salaries and pensions and health plans back.
25
Ever heard of Roy Cohn?
3
@EdH It should be illegal for them to hire an attorney to question Professor Ford. It is their responsibility and should not be outsourced because of "optics."
Maybe Trump can have his lawyer, Michael Cohen, offer Dr. Ford money for her silence and threaten her with legal problems if she does not stop attacking Judge Kavanaugh's character.
Oops! I forgot! Mr. Cohen has troubles of his own and now is very busy talking with the Mueller team.
It's so hard to find good help when you need it.
He'll have to fall back on his Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee instead.
13
No one should be put on the Supreme Court without having gone though a full and fair process. Kavanaugh insists he wants it and the American public deserves it. That can't happen until the FBI investigates the allegations. Then, and only then, can a fully-informed decision be made. Senators need to stand up for America first and foremost by refusing to proceed without it. America is watching; voters are watching; our children are watching. Will Senators set the bar high or low?
18
@Better4All
In the case of appointments, all the FBI does is background checks, which they have already done, including adding Professor Ford's letter to the file. It is the job of the Judicial Committee to conduct investigations and each side has staff for this purpose.
The idea of an FBI investigation is simply a delaying tactic.
3
@Better4All
If Feinstein had released the letter she had in July that 'full' investigation could have happened. You just want a weeks long investigation that cannot determine any relevant facts, to be followed by weeks of hearings do discuss those non-relevant details that are found and, viola, its past the Mid-Terms. You falsely believe you have a chance at taking the Senate. You don't. You won't even hold the House. So they will confirm this week.
1
Con game = Senate Republicans stonewalling Obama's SC nomination. How any of them can, with a straight face, accuse Democrats of games is beyond me.
36
@Matt
Do yourself a favor and go to youtube. When you get there, search for 'the Biden Rule'. Watch a few of the videos and maybe you will stop believing what McConnell did was anything but what Democrats would have done in his place.
1
@GregP
More specifically, Biden condemned the concept of using an FBI investigation as an arbiter of guilt or innocence because, as he repeatedly states, "It's not conclusive."
McConnell decried these allegations as 35 year old uncorroborated accusations, while at the same time refusing to allow corroborating witnesses. It's like the writers of "Mean Girls 2" are supplying the republicans with talking points and tactics.
10
There are many reasons to be troubled by Kavanough. It is too bad we can only focus on one of them. There are also many reasons to be troubled by the behavior of the Republican Senators in this process. I don't know when a political party has ever been so openly and brazenly hostile to a functioning democracy as this Republican Party is now. People need to vote. Seriously. Every pundit, entertainer, journalist who has an audience needs to push voting and push it hard.
24
Well that makes it ok? She was drunk so she should expect it?
What have we come to when this is representative not only of the thinking of the President but also what he believes is an acceptable public statement? To circle back to the Access USA tape, there simply is no "locker room talk" with Trump, It's obvious he thinks this way about women regardless of the circumstances and local. Nor can he employ the excuse that he hits back when he is attacked. Trump himself is being accused of nothing, nothing, period. Trump is an obnoxious simpleton. To put it more succinctly, our President is a jerk.
33
@DWS
It is possible as a result of her drinking and the decades gone by, that her memories are muddled and that her attacker was someone else at the event.
It is not enough to say, "I believe." The specific details matter immensely. Mistaking Kavanaugh for their attackers would be a terrible injustice and why it's not enough to say, "I think he did it."
5
You're just moralizing.
3
@AACNY
That's what a routine FBI investigation would resolve.
But the right leadership fears rattling the cage too vigorously lest some truth intrude on their perfect parade.
1
Do you remember President Clinton and his definition of sexual relation? May be judge Kavanaugh has a different definition of to be a virgin? After all, may be he is taking course of English from the lawyer who is now rewriting the English language as we know: Rudy Giuliani.
7
@Wilbray Thiffault
How about Dr. Ford's own attorney's definition of assault. Acquaint yourself with the way she dismissed Paula Jones' accusations while representing Bill Clinton.
"No intercourse" was one of the reasons for dismissal. I kid you not. Worth a read. Brings this into sharp perspective. Politics drives everything.
1
I did not have sex with that woman.
2
@AACNY
Bill Clinton, like Kavanaugh, like Trump, like Cosby, etc., ad nauseam, certainly took full advantage of a culture of male privilege. It is time for that culture to, be exposed for what it is, and to just go - along with the bozos who wallowed in it.
1
These women can't remember when, where or what !! This is wrong and the liberal democrat leftists know it. The Democrats have an ulterior motive and they are using mendacity and subterfuge to block this nominee.
5
@Mark Andrew
Odd. I say the same thing on why the Republicans refuse to call in the FBI to investigate. This could all have been examined long ago, but no: The Republicans demand that we remain in ignorance on who this man is.
Sorry, I'm not buying it.
Investigate him or get rid of him.
This is the USA, not the Soviet Union pulling some "show trial" out of Stalin's era.
6
After my return to the United States in October, I will fight the patriarchy you promote with tooth and nail.
3
@rosa
You are correct that this accusation could have been examined long ago, but Senator Feinstein held on tho Professor Ford's letter for several weeks and did not bring up the topic in written questions or in open and closed questioning of Judge Kavanaugh.
Is it possible that Senator Feinstein had assessed the value of Professor Ford's letter and determined that its greatest value would be as a last minute delaying and smear tactic?
Trump is his own best Frenemy
Who else would risk his own ego/stature against single issue political combat, every time!?
This man child has no sense or vision other than creating and winning a sequence of unrelated and conflicting negotiation battles, and claiming victory in the face of abject failure!
This is NOT Leadership - it is little "r" republican chaos brought to you by big "R" Republican elitists.
9
A smear campaign to stymie Kavanaugh's nomination? Really? This is a nomination that is being rammed through by McConnell without due process ... a veritable blatant GOP hi-jacking of judicial process.
8
@John Townsend - a veritable blatant GOP hi-jacking of judicial process.
Again.
Kavenaugh's assertion that he was a virgin is off the point. The behavior that he displayed, according to those on the receiving end were threatened and bullied, with sex as the means of bullying. That's what a guy like him doesn't understand. I couldn't care less about his "purity" – it's the use of physical force to terrify and coerce a smaller person. And, alcohol tends to bring out the "real" person. A bully who thinks it's fine to force a younger, weaker or less wealthy person isn't someone who can be an impartial judge. The FOX interview did not make him more credible to me.
26
Why should we even be considering putting this man on the Supreme Court of our country?
11
Murkowski and Collins, just two more bought and paid for bottom feeders following orders. Useless, the pair of them.
10
If you had one tenth the distinction of either one of them, you would be sitting in the Senate yourself.
1
Realistically, the allegations are serious crimes and pending public testimony by Dr. Ford may inspire the respective prosecutors where it occurred to charge and try Judge Kavanaugh. I wouldn't want that, but lets just say it were to occur. Then a possible motive for Trump's destruction of the witnesses is to set the stage politically for a Presidential pardon of Judge Kavanaugh. I don't think a majority understands the seriousness of this. The Republican Committee probably chose the sex crimes prosecutor from Maricopa County, Arizona keeping in mind that she may be very lowal to Republicans and slant her inquiry in favor of the Judge. You know how the law sticks together. Her selection may be another design to help Judge Kavanaugh elude criminal charges. Yes, this hearing tomorrow will be a de facto trail of sorts with potential serious prosecution looming and Trump probably intends to pardon him should that occur.
5
I keep wondering what Elaine Chao (Sec of Transportation and McConnell's spouse) thinks of all this.
As an Asian woman, and as a person who has spent her professional career around men like Kavanaugh, Chao has had a front row seat to seeing women get harassed and marginalized. What has she experienced herself?
To witness her husband implement such a vicious campaign against Blasey Ford and Ramirez must be unsettling. But maybe not - after all, 21% of Republican women support the confirmation of Kavanaugh.
7
Hopefully Senator Murkowski and a few others will use common sense when it comes time to vote on Kavanaugh and if it looks like the accuser is believable they will shoot him down.
This should not be about party, but about the nation.
5
@BTO
She will be weighing Kavanaugh's impeccable credentials against the credibility of the accuser and the quality of her account.
His long exemplary record and outstanding personal references have set a high bar that she will have to surpass. As it should be.
@AACNY, his record is only impeccable if she says it is.
The same thing could be said about the accuser having impeccable credentials.
Earth to Collins/Murkowski: Playing the "very serious person" here won't work. Without John McCain around this time you will actually have to lead. Are you up to it?
19
Huh? How often does a senate committee deem itself not competent to question someone before them? This attorney is not elected. And picked by republicans? Wasn’t Sen Harris on the committee - thought I saw her questioning Kavanaugh. Guess Grassley doesn’t deem her, a former prosecutor and a woman, competent. What a circus.
8
@ellie k.
It is a common occurrence to have specialist attorneys question witnesses in Congessional Committee hearings. The vast majority of hearings are mundane affairs and most Americans don't see them.
The only reason to attend a kangaroo court is to see the kangaroos. Why are they going to be locked in their cages the day we all see the zoo? The end result was always predetermined and they want to use Dr Ford as thin cover of a "fair" process.
Judge Kavanaugh has an exculpatory witness named by his accuser, but won't call in his "alibi" to testify on his behalf. That tells me all I need to know.
6
Dear President Trump,
Not only it is unseemly for the President to get involved in mud slinging from that lofty office, but if the accusers' case is as weak as you claim, then certainly it will fail when examined closely.
If you truly want to throw your political opponents off balance, switch your game plan: Dump twitter, restore the function of the White House press releases and press corps, and tone it down, as you have for a day or two on occasion. Acting like a traditional president would confuse the heck out of all of your enemies.
3
This president is either demented or a very very slow learner. He just doesn't get it, and frankly, the majority of Americans, men as well as women, just don't get Donald Trump. He is so clueless about almost everything (with rare exceptions).
Someone as out of touch with reality in the 21st Century should never have been elected to the position he now holds. The only recourse now is to marginalize him by electing a veto proof anti-Trump majority to both houses of Congress. The Republicans have failed to do their job as the majority party should. Now is the time to elect new leaders for the next Congress.
6
When the Democrats take over because of winning the mid-term election control of the House and Senate, we need to make major constitutional changes to the Supreme Court. What appears to me is we'll have 2 of the 9 Justices who have been accused of alleged sex offenses, and these men are going to sit in judgment of our American laws and ultimately all Americans.
I have to say Sens Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn have literally killed what used to be a credible Republican Party; this Party is over!
8
Two of the eight sitting justices were appointed by a man who was credibly accused of sexual misconduct.
1
Stating the obvious; Trump is passing judgement on these women before they have had a chance to utter one word in testimony. If this is an example of what they can look forward to before the 11 G.O.P. men on the Judiciary Committee; good luck on trying to find an open mind. Once again; the fix is in.
5
Just the optics of listening to Mitch McConnell explain why they are hiring a "woman" as an assistant to ask the questions, and listen to him also say that they will vote on Friday and expect him to be confirmed tells me it doesn't matter what Dr. Ford say, or what documentation of witnesses she has put forth, they already have made up their minds that she isn't credible.
I listened to some of the Senator's like Jim Inhofe, who is virtually calling victim a liar, what don't these dopes in the Republican party get?
It's such a weird contrast to listen to Donald Trump and these Republican's showing a complete lack of respect for a victim of sexual trauma, abuse and attacks; and then I watch the news coming out with sentencing of Bill Cosby and it highlights how little the Republican Men or woman in the case of Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee just don't get it, and are fine with smearing the victims regardless of the evidence.
7
Optics suddenly became a primary concern of this assemblage of so-called patriots, devotees of the Constitution? Hauling in a lawyer as cover for their horrible image is the coward's way. Sen. Graham in particular deserves a special place in a museum for weaklings. A former member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, an almost daily presence of Fox News (Trump TV), he suddenly hides behind a skirt.
What's the hurry guys?
7
The process is ridiculous: Trump has called the accusers liars, some of the GOP Senators said they'd listen to the accuser, but they wouldn't change their minds and the GOP is railroading a vote for the day after Ms. Ford testifies, before any more negative information surfaces.
The mid-term election better turn in the Dem's direction or we are in for several more years of this wheels-up-and-locked, backward trajectory.
12
It's time to Ditch Mitch (and his cronies too)! People, wake up! The entire world laughed at the POTUS yesterday -- and Bolton is trying to start Armageddon! We have a crazy child leading the "free world" and its time to stop him before he has a nervous breakdown.
Supreme Court nominations? (HOLD!). Replace our Congressional Leaders Now! And do that peacefully -- by simply stopping them from conducting ANY official business until the GROW UP!
12
This man...Mr Trump has no morality and no virtue what so ever! To even grant him workspace on an island would be considered overwhelming. He should not even have the power he has in our country. This whole scenario is an extreme example of how WEAK our country is. NOT how strong it is. One look at the face of Lisa Murkowski and we can see the lies expose themselves. How weak our system of government has become. We must react with every bit of strength we can muster and defeat this horrible man and the horrible wrath he places upon us.
7
You Republicans think we Democrats are believing the accuser based on no evidence? Well, it is because you are forcing us to. We have to make our decision based only on the words of the accuser and the accused, because you refuse to allow any concrete evidence be gathered and presented.
So, we have chosen between 1) a believable claim made by a reputable woman who is not a political operative, who took a polygraph test and insists on an FBI investigation, and 2) a man with a history of heavy drinking in his youth, involved in a frat-boy culture that included his bragging about supposed sexual escapades along with his buddies but now claims he was a virgin during those years (so one or the other must be a lie), who inexplicably doesn't insist on an FBI investigation that could theoretically clear him as likely as not, who is backed by a stonewalling Republican power structure that is obviously scared to death to let the FBI investigate.
What other conclusion can we come to?
27
@Jenny
And her story came out in 2012 without any connection to the current hearings. She has nothing to gain by pursuing the truth and much to lose.
He on the other hand has everything to lose and has great motivation to lie about his past and no reason not to.
1
@Jenny
Each side on the Judiciary Committee have committee staff whose job is to conduct investigations. Senator Feinstein had Professor Ford's letter for several weeks. Are we to believe that during that time, the Democratic staff were not investigating her allegation?
1
@Jenny
Total nonsense. Kavanaugh has been investigated by the FBI multiple times.
Kavanaugh's critics are hoping the FBI will find something. You cannot find something that doesn't exist.
2
Democrats have been dodging the Ford hearing since she came forth. First, they protested, "She deserves to be heard!" Then when the republicans made several offers to accommodate her, she refused each, and, instead, made unreasonable demands of her own (ex., he must testify first).
Democrats called republicans "bullies" and "insensitive" but now demand it be those same "bullies" who question her. Moreover, they refused to investigate her.
Most don't realize that the FBI doesn't make recommendations or weigh in with findings. It simply turns over the results to the committee, whose job it is to investigate. Yet democrats have refused to investigate. Instead, they now demand an FBI investigation, which they know is highly misleading.
It's hard not to believe that democrats have used one ruse after another to stall the proceedings, hoping for a miracle midterm election. Republican voters expect otherwise.
Judge Cavanaugh has impeccable legal credentials and stellar personal references. Outside the partisan bubble, he is a highly credible nominee. It is Dr. Ford who has to earn her credibility, which will be weighed against Judge Kavanaugh's.
4
@AACNY
Admit that you only think this way because you support the tactics used against Merrick Garland and you just assume that everyone else also works in shady underhanded ways.
4
@J
Never assume. I wish Garland has been allowed a hearing. It's highly unlikely he would have been confirmed because democrats didn't have the votes and that today they'd be complaining about the unfairness of that nomination process.
Just like they're doing now. In fact, it's safe to say the democrats would vehemently oppose anyone slated for the swing vote spot on SCOTUS. The fact that they've abandoned any semblance of fairness is illustrates this.
Which bring us to Kavanaugh. He is an outstanding nominee. His credentials are without blemish and should weigh heavily in his favor.
@J
Were there any attacks on Judge Garland's character?
In 1992, Senator Biden, then chairman of the Judiciary Committee, delivered a speech on the Senate floor stating that it would be inappropriate for a President to make a Supreme Court nomination in the last year of a President's term.
RE: "Rachel Mitchell has been hired to question Dr. Blasey "
What was her job brief? What instructions was she given? It seems clear that her client is not the people of the United States, Judge Kavanaugh, or Dr. Blasey, but the GOP in the form of Senator McConnell. McConnell who is so certain that the hearing is a meaningless exercise that he has scheduled a vote first thing Friday.
6
Kavanaugh has an impeccable record? If so, why has the White House held back over 100,000 documents and redacted information in what has been released? Why did GOP Senators release 42,000 pages of Kavanaugh documents only the night before the hearings? Surely it's worthwhile to allow adequate time for a full review of his record.
4
If Judge Kavanaugh were a smart and honest judge, he would insist that the original FBI investigation re-open to gather the facts needed to clear or corroborate his activities to the greatest extent possible.
In light of the fact that 88% of sexual assaults are never reported, when Donald Trump said:
" I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!", it proves once again that Trump is neither smart nor honest.
4
Look, I will grant you that Democrats and liberals are far from perfect. But in the wake of, I don't know, let's say the Merrick Garland nomination, how can anyone take seriously the Republicans' claim that they want to "depoliticize the whole process"?
And surely Donald Trump knows a "con game" when he sees one. He's an expert on that subject.
6
Going to go on the record and say that Ford will not testify tomorrow. Not under Oath. She never intended to.
1
I greatly admire the courage of the two women who have spoken out about the abuse they suffered from Brett Kavanaugh. I find their stories compelling.
The Republican senators have an agenda of their own, of course, and see these women as a speedbump.
But they may have hit a wall.
4
McConnell currently has the raw power required to force Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court, and that is what will happen, regardless of the optics or short-term consequences.
This entire circumstance (GOP controlling all branches of government after 2016 election) was anticipated by nobody, and Trump is completely disposable.
And anyway, the GOP has shown repeatedly that playing by the rules is fine when convenient, but make no mistake, they will instigate a constitutional crisis and violate all precedent and decency to gain control of the Supreme Court.
McConnell knows from experience that the opposition is too dispersed and distracted to stand the GOP down in a consistent, forceful manner, and it's why they are in the drivers seat in US politics. Nobody will hold a gun to their head, pull the trigger, and not apologise to the propagandised miscreants who vote for them.
King Con imagines that everyone, in every place, is conducting a con game, because that's Trump's game. I am a Democrat with 7 family members who hold Yale degrees , but I can assure the King of Con that neither the past nor politics has anything to do with my impressions of him and his toady, Brett. They speak for themselves, and I am not impressed.
6
For Trump this is standard operating style, "deny, deny, deny." It is like another day in the park. Nothing strange about it.
1
Could the Democrats hire a prosecutor with similar credentials to Rachel Mitchell to question both Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford?
Since Trump swore while campaigning to only appoint justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, the Democrats must question Kavanaugh how he was pre-qualified to meet that criteria. Was it the Trump, Federalist Society, or who?
The country already elected a sexual predator for President, so what difference does it make to the Republicans if they approve another to the Supreme Court?
After their stealing the open Supreme Court Justice appointment (Merrick Garland) from President Obama, the country, and the Constitution, it's clear that the Republicans are tearing apart our democracy and that they believe that the end justifies the means. Moral corruption rots their House.
7
What is missing here is the question of whether a group of male Republican Senators might be banding together to protect the reputation of the Supreme Court by refusing to vote until a proper investigation is performed. Why must we assume that none of them place a high value on the Constitution.
6
where are other senators like Flake and Corker who don;t have to worry about pleasing voter Trumpets? Murkowski and Collins will continue to "muse" but then fall in the band of Trumpets. Trump has proved that there are no bounds to his shameless behavior before or afte his election. He used the rigged election system called electoral college concocted by white christianprotestant men who were slave-owners and people of means that is undemocratic in the 21st century. Don't hold your breath that these four GOPers will ask the senate to challenge the Grassly's committee's conclusion as unacceptable for insufficient evidence of thoroughness and just postpone their advice not reject Brett but demand investigation.
1
Let me start by saying, if Professor Christine Ford's was indeed sexually assaulted at any stage in her life, I have every sympathy for her. I have no problem at all she now makes her complain 3 decades after the alleged event. However, I do have considerable skepticism and reservations about her claim as it stands. The timing is fortuitous to say the very least, at the very juncture Judge Brett Kavanaugh being nominated to join the USA Supreme Court. And the way she has handled her appearance or otherwise at the upcoming SJC hearing makes me hard to resist the conclusion her motive is part of an underhand scheme to derail if not to scuttle Judge Kavanaugh's nomination. All these add together do cast serious doubt on her credibility. For decades now, at least, the Left has been, insidiously, tried to monopolise legal, political, social, and economic discourse and narratives in our society (by this I mean Western democracies). To the exclusion of any other opinion(s). And to the extent any departure is silenced. This is not only not a healthy development, but also a hugely disturbing one. It is for this reason I firmly support Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to join the Supreme Court. I am not a USA citizen. I am a first generation Australian. I thank NY Times for allowing me to air my view in this space.
4
@Anthony Tsang
Thank you for saying it so well.
2
@Anthony Tsang
Timing: The timing was Feinstein's, Not Dr. Blasey's as she informed Feinstein in July. But if it wasn't done before the only time left is now.
To derail if not to scuttle: Well, of course. It isn't being done to anoint him. It is being done because the things that should disqualify him (lying under oath, lack of impartiality) are being overlooked so that Trump gets his "get out of jail free" card in this critically important position. If you knew an arsonist was being appointed as a fire chief, or a embezzler as treasurer I would hope that you too would speak up at this juncture.
Other opinion(s): other opinions are fine. But when these opinions are made up, self-serving, run counter to logic, established information, when science, data, and facts are ignored, when people's lives are ruined these are not simply a matter of a difference of philosophy but a danger to people and the world than these opinions should be challenged and sidelined.
@Anthony Tsang You think that Prof Ford set this all in motion back in 2012 when she talked about the assault to her therapist? Knowing full well that she is putting her life on the line she believes that she needs to come forward now because Kavanaugh is nominated for the Supreme Court. As a patriot she is drawing her line in the sand. She has nothing to gain by coming forward.
Do not be fooled by any of this posturing. The single greatest threat to our democracy and well being is from Kentucky - mitch mcconnell!
For some unknown reason the current GOP leaders are afraid of this sad, twisted joke of a senator.
It’s time to to look deeply into what mcconnell does and says, after all he works for us the American taxpayer.
It time we ensure once and for all that mitch is in his last term in office.
Kentucky deserves better. The US demands better!
7
I"m not necessarily a judge Kavanaugh fan but I do think that accusations which are 30+ years old (and I think both are) have to be taken with a grain of salt at the very least. This is the very reason that there are statutes of limitation on most crimes. Eyewitness accounts are notoriously inaccurate. It's always very troubling when it's only the account of the victim herself with no corroboration versus the alleged perpetrator. What concerns me most is the added #MeToo movement momentum to this situation. As with any mass movement for justice, it sweeps up the innocent along with the guilty. Whether it be the Great Inquisition or the #MeToo movement, sometimes the best intentions can turn very ugly. Obviously if the accusations are true then it is certainly concerning but it still is 30+ years ago when the man was very young. Who hasn't made mistakes when they were very young? May he who has never sinned throw the first stone.
5
@Mike L
Sure, 'the event' was 30 years ago... but all the lying about it is very present.
5
@Mike L This argument about how "young" Kavanaugh was when these alleged events occured might be more compelling if Republicans were not simultaneously pushing to have teenagers of color prosecuted and sentenced as adults.
3
@Mike L
Sexual assault—much like murder (irony here)—stays with a victim forever. For that reason, there should be no statute of limitations on sex crimes
1
Professor Ford should answer questions asked directly from members of the committee - NOT through a spokesperson, representative, or "female assistant," as tone deaf Mitch McConnell referred to their hired attorney. If they insist on allowing the female assistant to question Professor Ford, perhaps she should hire a representative to answer the questions? Just a thought. This situation is getting uglier and uglier by the day for the Republicans, and on Election Day they are going to get their clocks cleaned.
4
There are many people who could corroborate the claims made by the women and probably other victims as well. That is why Republicans are trying to push this confirmation through as fast as they can. They can't wait for another shoe to drop. We have heard a number of character witnesses speak in behalf of Kavanaugh saying they have never seen him abusive to women. I would be asking them if they have ever seen him drunk? If they haven't, does that mean he has never been drunk?
2
the committee Republicans broke the confirmation process and now they are taking a sledge hammer to the pieces. talk about avoiding doing their job and completely failing their Constitutional responsibility. they know this nomination will go badly for them and they want an "unnamed" outside party to blame. (great transparency huh?) I wonder why anyone would take that job!
2
So it is true. The 11 old white guys ARE afraid of the optics so, in a Darwinian world, they went out and hired a female attack dog to do their bidding. Well I trust that women will see right through this charade. I just hope the suburban white women who put Trump in the White House are also watching with discerning eyes.
27
Oh for God's sake she's not a female attack dog. She's a prosecutor who has spent her life defending the victims of sexual assault.
The funny thing to me is that whichever way the 11 old white guys went, they lose. They have chosen to defer to a woman, which shows they aren't up to the task of doing their sworn duty. Either way, not good optics.
These Ravanaugh proceedings are a joke and an affront to the Constitution and the American people. The elephant in the room is Senate majority leader McConnell, a master of underhanded judicial maneuvering, who should be held in contempt for ramming this despicable travesty forward. He deliberately stalled the Merrick Garland nomination who wasn’t even provided a vote with 10 months left in Obama's term. If Kavanaugh had even a smidgen of integrity, he would request that the hearings be postponed to at least the new year.
25
The Democrats false claims about Kavanaugh which are political and intended to smear him are a hypocritical insult to the women who actually have been accosted. It will make those cases harder to get a hearing.
7
@Amy Is it the Democrats who are accusing Trump's pick for the court of sexual assault, or, the women who were allegedly assaulted? I believe the former, unless one believes a certain comedy channel masquerading as a news outlet.
1
@Amy
Don't forget the Republicans went after Bill Clinton when they tried to dig up something during his impeachment attempt-28 years! But it's ok when the Republicans did it-right Ms Republican? LOL
3
@Amy The "Democrats" are not making claims about Kavanaugh. That's just Trump's way of politicizing and thereby dismissing the very serious charges being brought by two independent women who say that they were abused by Kavanaugh. Of course everyone knows how much this President cares about the abouse of women in this country - he's all for it
1
President Trump did not "unleash" or "lash out" as the article states. Anyone who heard it knows this is, once again, untrue. He said what he thought.
2
A distinction without a difference
2
@Len
Trump said what a lot of Americans are thinking. Kavanaugh's critics have the false impression that his accusers are exempt from examination and criticism, while Kavanaugh is guilty until proven innocent.
@Tim Rutledge It is not a distinction without a difference, as you would like to think. In fact, just the opposite. It proves that this paper (as well as so many others) distort the truth at a minimum and outright lie at the maximum. If they project such distortions just in framing the news, imagine what they are doing within the reportage of an event.
What are the odds that Murkowski is the next disloyal Republican that gets 'Flake'd by Trump?
7
When did we get used to the President of the United States publicly castigating and insulting his own private citizens? Every time he does it ( calling the security officer at Marjory Stoneman "disgusting", e.g.) I am shocked but a little less so. It is still so jarring and wrong. Publicly and loudly demeaning Ramirez should be so out of bounds that a hue and cry goes up, but he keeps doing it. And he gets away with it. I am so looking forward to the day that he is a private citizen again.
67
@Marjorie
Wonder if the President can be found guilty of libel or slander? Name calling by a President should be considered 'out of bounds'; we do not as citizens insist on a stop to this behavior. You are right we are beginning to 'accept' it as , Oh that's just the President of the United States!!! blowing his big mouth again. As we become numb to this behavior we become collaborators. how do we say stop, this is unacceptalbe!! One way is NOT to put it in headlines..if he does not get attention, the comments will only increase in intensity and perhaps then his comments will be labeled libel and slander and racist; legally he can then be stopped...
1
Grassley and Don the Con are trying to tag team the notion that their behaviors are attempts to "depoliticize" this charade of truth seeking.
Grassley was there at the Anita Hill debacle. He failed to offer honest and fair treatment of Ms. Hill, displaying the same prejudicial attitude toward the truth then as he is doing now.
Trump is a known liar, fraud and sexual predator. He has absolutely no standing to be expressing any opinion much less casting dispersions on the character of the women who have come forth with disqualifying allegations of sexual misconduct by a nominee for the Supreme Court.
If Kavanaugh had any integrity, he would have demanded an FBI investigation. He must have alot more to hide. Old school mates are coming forward as Independent character witnesses with serious contradictions to Kavanugh's claim of not being a sexual abuser. He is now pushing full speed ahead on his vote in order to out run other verifiable claims that would give support to the claims that he is lying.
26
Trump and his supporters say there should be a presumption of innocence on Kavanaugh’s behalf and they are right. But where was that presumption of innocence when those people were shouting “ lock her up” in reference to Hilary Clinton?
16
Trump & His Party are sure giving Nero and the Romans a run for their money as far as tearing down the republic.
Our social fabric continues to change our government does not.
We elect a sexual predator and he is aided and abetted by a bunch of older/elder men to the point to where they do not have the courage to question a woman (who now has four corroborators) who alleges that Kavanaugh tried to rape her.
Elections over time, have consequences. It is about time we start to come to grips with our future and accept that gender relationships (hetero and same sex) along with race are changing the face of this country. We continue to try and hold it back and believe that we can re-create the 1960s or another decade.
Shame on us if cannot change to get this right.
Rome is BURNING...but no one seems to be smelling the smoke.
17
@Mgk Should Kavanaugh be seated on our highest court that court will be no longer a court to be respected. It will be reviled and considered as nothing more than Trump's and McConnell's stooges and a kangaroo court, at best.
4
Well, The Donald would know all about con games, wouldn't he?
21
Not only does the emperor have no clothes, he also lacks class. He's no more than a boor, a bully with power he does not deserve.
Why is it OK for Republicans to block court choices during the Obama years, and especially the Scalia replacement, but when Democrats try to make a case against a nominee, it's a con job?
No appointment to the supreme court should ever come down to a single vote. It's wrong for all of us.
86
@wihiker The Kavanaugh situation is not about Trump, though that may be difficult to believe in these times. And tit-for-tat is not an intelligent way to go about doing the government's business. Kavanaugh is eminently qualified for the job and the accusations go back to "time immemorial". The rest is bias and political subterfuge.
2
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Republican leadership has retained an outside female counsel to question Dr. Blasey.
If there is anything / anything that underscores the inability of these old, sclerotic, white males to relate dispassionately and sensitively to a female victim of sexual abuse in a manner that does not hurt them politically and expose them for the dinosaurs that they are, it is this decision.
20
So GOP ers — remember 51 of them represent 18 % of the population of America—-are not going to listen or interview the second accuser? Her lawyer said they won’t even speak to him.
NO WOMAN SHOULD VOTE FOR THIS NOMINEE UNTIL THEY HEAR. FROM THE SECOND ACCUSERS.
Also Grassley out to pay this woman prosecutor aka hired gun out of his pocket as she is doing work he is paid to do. And he should resign from the committee if they are unable to do the work.
16
From my perch in Cnada I wonder how much pressure the Republican leadership and WH is exerting on the Senators who may be wavering in their confirmation vote.
Everything in American politics seems to be if I do for you what will you do for me.
Is there there any moral backbone left in American politics? If there is/was then Kavanaugh would belong gone.
45
@John V
We honor the concept of Innocent until Proven Guilty. I call that a moral backbone.
1
@John V
A Kantian moral imperative for Americans in general and 45 in particular?
Ufff, the neighbours are a demanding lot!
2
@GregP This is not a criminal trial.
If it were anything close to a criminal trial, the Republicans would not have been allowed to withhold documents or dump 42,000 pages of evidence on the Democrats the night before hearing. There would also be an impartial investigation into the allegations, witnesses would be interviewed and factual evidence would be collected.
Hiring Rachel Mitchell to gently and compassionately walk Dr. Blasey through her story while then turning the questioning of Judge Kavanaugh over to committee Democrats has all the earmarks of a setup. Give Dr. Blasey her due, her moment to be heard (by a woman!...how much more respectfully could we have treated her?), then show committee Democrats aggressively questioning Kavanaugh, the wounded, aggrieved choirboy being maligned by those mean and "pushy" Senators Hirono, Harris, et al.
The Democrats are getting either snookered or merely trampled; I'm not sure which.
4
@Andrew Hidas
If they allow Dr. Blasey-Ford to be attacked by the prosecutor from AZ, they will fail her. Rachel Mitchell is McConnell's attack dog; she will do his dirty work for him. I hope other attorneys who are competent step forward to assist Dr. Blasey-Ford.
To ask an experienced female attorney to question is the right thing to do. It takes the political gamesmanship out of the questioning. We want to hear each side in a matter of fact way do we not, in a straightforward manner. We don’t need the republicans riding roughshod over Ford or the democrats egging her on and coaching her. We need to hear both sides of the story and move on from this.
5
@Hjb
Hiring an outside attorney IS political gamesmanship.
5
@Hjb
Except, of course, it is politics. Republicans are contorting themselves into pretzels trying to make an unfair process appear fair. Just like they are doing with the Supreme Court.
4
@Hjb
The experienced female attorney is an aggressive prosecutor, and is linked to the cruel and corrupt Arpaio administration. She will be the attack dog McConnell and Grassley want, and that will allow them to maintain their smarmy pretense at a fair hearing for Dr. Ford. I read where at least two very good, experienced attorneys have offered their services to Dr. Ford, hopefully she will take their offers. Otherwise, she will suffer the fate of Anita Hill. These are not good men; they never have been good men. McConnell is possibly the most corrupt man in Congress; just ask the miners in Kentucky who are dying from Black Lung disease.
1
Anyone who is depending on Murkowski and/or Collins to not fall in to the party line is delusional. They will talk the talk of compassion and empathy, but their fear of repercussions from McConnell and his boys will supersede any commitment on their part in seeing that justice is done. Make no mistake, the Republican party is solidly patriarchal and it will stay that way until the voting public says differently. We have an institution in which the Republican party is scared of Trump and female Republican legislators who are scared of their leadership.
44
“You’re also not seeing him on his footing. This isn’t his footing. He’s never been here before. He’s never had any charges like this, I mean charges come up from 36 years ago that are totally unsubstantiated.”
Maybe Trump should coach him on how to properly handle sexual assault allegations. He has enough experience.
34
Any women who votes for this man as well as any of the GOP, is a blot on humanity. Men who supports are in same boat but there are more men like Mitch, Trump, Hatch, Grassaly & Kavanaugh and they will try to fight for their privilege.
11
Murkowski is going through the "Rand Paul Charade" of pretending to care...and then voting like the Men Folk TELL her to.
27
@Paul P.
I hope the native Alaskan voters are paying attention to Murowski; they can vote her out of office.
2
“I’m confident we’re going to win,” Mr. McConnell said.
Exactly, because this is about winning and losing, not whether our next Supreme Court Justice is a sex offender or not. Nice priorities.
39
@Mike
It is about winning and losing but that's because the Dems have made it into that. Of course he's not a sex offender. The fact you can even imply it without evidence is proof of how far we have fallen in this Country. It used to Innocent, Until Proven Guilty. Now, its Guilty, Unless you Prove You are Innocent. What Country is this where that can be true today?
1
@GregP Try again. I said "or not". And the only reason this cannot be determined is because Republicans are refusing to allow an impartial investigation. The FBI investigation into Anita Hill's allegations took 3 days. And yet Republicans refuse to do the same here. So, honestly, Greg - give me a break.
Absolutely disgusting behavior by Trump and most of the Senate Republicans. They could care less about Kavanaugh as long as they get to play by their rules. The Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are blinded by partisanship. To attack the accuser is not how we do things in our system.
51
So, let's get this straight: a committee of old male senators need to bring in a female interviewer because they can't be trusted to speak respectfully and appropriately to a woman? Shame on the voters who continue to elect these unprofessional and incompetent politicians.
227
Will Kavanaugh take a lie detector test is the one question I would as of him.
56
I thought “the Acccuser” had agreed to be questioned by the Senate. This sounds like a criminal trial with the accuser as the accused.
70
@Mercy Wright That is what she requested. But the 11 male senators are too scared of how they will look, so they are taking the coward's path. It's outrageous and is most certainly sexist.
53
She also requested a FBI investigation. So have the other women. Kavanaugh and the GOP don't want one. If you'd been accused of such a crime wouldn't you do anything you could to prove your innocence? Or is this more of the bizarre world of "the truth isn't the truth "world of Trumplandia?
8
@Ambroisine
No, Amb, that's NOT what "she requested".
Doctor Ford (not "she") requested the F.B.I. investigate. Chuck Grassley refused.
Two of K's references (his Yale professor and his yearbook target) have now reversed themselves, an unprecedented abandonment. The more that's learned, the less appropriate the man appears. The test is not if he is minimally qualified but whether he is the BEST candidate. That answer now appears "no"
74
Well the problem is that he asserts that he didn't drink or have sex while all around him they was complete debauchery which makes it hard to believe him. If he would comment on the culture of the time or fess up to something he might be more believable but as it is I think he's completely lying.
47
What a charade!
Kavanaugh has already demonstrated during his confirmation hearings that he lies, he will simply do it again.
The GOP has demonstrated repeatedly by its public statements that it is acting in bad faith in regards to Blasey-Fords appearance.
32
What a terrific idea! Go to the county in the entire United States that established a reputation for refusing to entertain thousands of sex assault complaints by virtue of its chief law enforcement officer for decades (Sheriff Joe Arpaio). Pick THAT county's sex crimes prosecutor. Brilliant.
50
The hired “female assistant” hired by the Republicans is undoubtedly someone who will grill Dr. Blasey like a prosecutor. It was a mistake to refuse questioning by anyone other than the dotard Republican committee members.
24
There is rich irony of the juxtaposition of the SCOTUS hearing and yesterday's sentencing of Bill Cosby to prison for his sexual assaults.For years he preyed on women and got away with it because of his TV persona.Finally his accusers were heard.The women's stories were finally accepted.One would hope that the Senate Judiciary Committee would take this as a wake up call!
28
@JanetMichael don't hold your breath. They wouldn't. They already criticized the amount of time elapsed. Yet Cosby has accusations going back around the same time period like the adults who accused Catholic priests of sexually molesting them when they were kids.
If GOP leadership insist they "will win," what have Flake, Collins, and Murkowski told them? Or, like with Dr. Ford, are they simply pretending to listen to Flake and the two female Senators.
12
@BMD, if the democrats and the rest of the country are smart they can and should start thinking of next steps, immediately after the mid terms.
“US Supreme Court justices may be impeached by the House of Representatives and tried in the Senate, just like the President. The justice must have committed a serious breach of ethics or be accused of "high crimes and misdemeanors," a vague term that encompasses both criminal acts and various forms of judicial misconduct.”
2
It is now Oppressors vs. Victims in America, and the Republicans have embraced being the Party of the Oppressors.
Decent, honest, honorable people from all walks of life, who may have thus far been spared being forced into the cohort of Victims, are standing alongside the traumatized & oppressed, because they understand that unchecked Oppression inevitably crushes more & more lives underfoot.
Like its conjoined twin, Corruption, Oppression chokes off the vitality & promise of any society, leaving only masses of underperforming walking wounded everywhere.
If you haven't yet read Andrea Constand's victim impact statement from the Cosby sentencing, please take the time to do so. It tersely sums up what so many others around you have lived.
If you want your kids & grandkids, your nieces & nephews, your students & successors, your planet to be free from the clear threat of rampaging Oppressors that Trump & his GOP gleefully glorify, stand with the Victims.
Yes, vote, donate, volunteer. But in these critical days when the Oppressors are out to steal the Supreme Court from decent people, let your resolute resistance to Oppression be felt by the Oppressors. Let it be thunderous, ubiquitous & impossible to ignore.
36
Instead of bringing in a prosecutor, why doesn't the GOP call on a female senator to question Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Blasey? Is there any precedent for this? Why allow one element of a legal case (a prosecutor) but not allow others, like an actual investigation and questioning of witnesses under oath and testimony of experts on sexual assault. It looks like Grassley is trying to present this prosecutor as such an expert, but she’s representing the GOP senators, not Dr. Blasey. And she herself is not testifying. A bizarre set up.
17
@Galfrido. Dr. Ford should be heard by the 11 Senators -- all men -- of the Judiciary Committee. That's what Dr. Ford requested, and that's the opportunity she should be given. The bad faith of these men is appalling. It's a stain on their characters, and most undemocratic.
16
No mention/consideration of whether the “sex crimes prosecutor” will also question Judge Kavanaugh.
33
Will the prosecutor cross examine Kavanaugh as well? Would only seem fair.
25
@Anon I agree. But Dr. Ford should be allowed to choose a separate sexual assault prosecutor to question Kavanaugh.
Poor President Trump, he has Mueller coming up behind him, and his get out of jail free card slipping away in front of him.
12
To me that statement by Grassley, that Democrats "politicized" the Anita Hill charges, is the most disgusting thing that he has said so far. Democrats did not filibuster the nomination. Senator Joe Biden did not jump up and say he believed Hill. Instead, the Democrats went along with the very questionable nomination by a Republican president. All of them should be ashamed.
23
And Joe Biden stopped Anita Hill’s witnesses from testifying.
11
@Mercy Wright
And, he did later apologize for that. Plus, he didn't vote for Thomas.
Why does the majority population vote for these guys? Sure the Republicans come off like Prehistoric cavemen but all of the blame can't be leveled at them. Women make up the majority of the population and they out live us men. Knowing all of that my question is why do they vote for these guys? The Right had to hire a woman to question Dr. Ford because they don't know how to talk to women. It is obvious that along with taking away a woman's right to choose they would love to take away her right to vote also. To watch these octogenarians be so condescending to women is painful and I am a man. What is sickening is that if women voted in their best interest these guys would sitting on their front porch reminiscing about days gone by.
39
Regardless of what happens on Thursday, I think that Collins and Murkowski should vote against confirming Kavanaugh because the process has been flawed from the beginning. Do they really want to be associated with this debacle, just to retain a senate seat? Hey, they might get some Democrats voting for them if they do the right thing.
Someone has to press the reset button on this whole mess. Start over, with a serious investigation of the allegations and release of all the Kavanaugh documents requested.
That is the only high road open to these Republican senators. The road they are currently on is pretty swampy. The only reason for the rush is the fear of losing seats in the mid-terms. There was no rush to fill a SC seat when it was Mr. Obama's purview.
28
@maggie Murkowski won her seat because a lot of Democrats voted for her in a write-in election. She had best remember that if she's thinking of running again.
What is getting lost in the focus on serious allegations of sexual misconduct is Kavanaugh’s record of lack of honesty, which should be an absolute disqualifier. There are recently released emails strongly indicating that he violated grand jury secrecy rules, a serious ethical and legal breach. Former Senator Feingold also recently wrote an editorial stating that newly released emails reveal that Kavanaugh lied to him during his confirmation hearings for the DC Circuit regarding his role in the controversial nomination of Charles Pickering to the Fifth Circuit. And now Kavanaugh flatly denies sexual misconduct claims by two women, claims that are corroborated to a degree by character witnesses, witness statements, and in Ford’s case, a polygraph test. His “choir boy” defense does not pass the smell test. Any one of these lies, as well as lack of integrity, should disqualify him from the highest judicial honor and responsibility in our country. How sad that the Republican Party is now truly the party of Trump such that honesty and integrity mean nothing.
58
@J. Quite so! Judge Kavanaugh is now a proven liar on several counts. Not only ought this to disqualify him from the Supreme Court, where he will serve for a lifetime, but he ought not to be a judge at all. Why does the FBI not enquire how all his credit card debt got erased, while we are at it. This really has become a Kangaroo Court, and I am being unfair to kangaroos.
10
@J.
Yeah... not really. The only reason his glide path to the court has been interrupted is because he flatly denies the allegations - the incident never happened. They can't be both telling the truth, so one of them is a liar. He has everything to gain by lying, she has everything to lose.
I would have had more respect for him if he admitted he did it, but it was a long time ago when he was a stupid kid. But he won't.
Faux moderate Susan Collins plays Shakespeare very well each time there was a deciding vote when a litmus test of moderation was demanded but each time she flunked miserably in the end. No one should expect any difference this time.
And really, forget about being a moderate of anytime, with all this news about Kavanaugh - about his behavior toward women when drunk - and his denials border on unbelievable, one has to wonder if America should put a liar and evasive individual on the SCOTUS. So it is not just woman or moderate, anyone with a hint of conscience and patriotism will reject Kavanaugh outright.
Really, maybe Sen Lisa Murkowski still has some decency left but one shouldn't expect Sen Susan Collins not to fall in line to do Trump's and McConnell's biddings. All her apparent deliberations are just acting
32
Is attorney Rachel Mitchell the lead interviewer for the Republican members or a confirmation witness for Dr. Blasey?
-"FL: Are there common misconceptions about sexual offenses and offenders against children? If so, what are some of the most significant?
RM: First, I would say the largest misconception is that “stranger danger” is the rule rather than the fairly rare exception. About 90–95% of victims know the person who is offending against them.
Second, a very common misconception relates to when and how children tell. People think that children would tell right away and that they would tell everything that happened to them. In reality children often keep this secret for years, sometimes into their adulthood, sometimes forever. And they may or they may not tell everything.
Third, there is a perception that this happens in secret, but the reality is that it frequently happens with others present in the same house and often in the same room.
Fifth, it is important to understand that demographically sexual offenders are about the same as the general population when it comes to having a religious preference. In fact they look like us. Demographically they are very similar to the general population. Economically, educationally, racially, religiously, they are demographically the same.
https://www.proclaimanddefend.org/2012/03/19/interview-with-rachel-mitch...
2
His youthful indiscretions could be excused. His lying about them is immediate disqualification for the Supreme Court and any other government position.
20
Men hiding behind skirts. Maybe the male Republicans on the judiciary committee have their own guilty pasts. They don't want to be seen on TV blushing or showing any other giveaway. Maybe they are secretly afraid of women - hence the antagonism to women's rights. Whatever the underlying reason, there is nothing to like or respect. It would be best for our country if the next justice on the Supreme Court is a woman.
16
Trump on Democrats: "It’s a con game they’re playing; they’re really con artists.” This is really rich, coming from a guy who has conned everyone he's crossed paths with during his entire adult life.
27
@Alan Grossberg: yup... the ol' "when you point a finger at someone, you're pointing 3 back at yourself" routine. poor donald- it's pretty evident he just doesn't get it.
1
Sen. Murkowski says, “It is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed.”
No, it is not. There is simply no proof that she has been a victim, merely her own unproven allegation that she has been victim.
It’s “The End of Innocence”. More specifically, it’s the end of the presumption of innocence. Even more specifically, it’s the end of the presumption of innocence for men accused of sexual crimes.
Every accusation must now be believed. The burden of proof rests with the accused. Mere allegations can destroy lives, reputations, and livelihoods. None of the safeguards of our legal system are available. Indeed, the foundations of the legal system have been turned upside down.
Innocent men should be terrified, but so should women. The innocent men who will be destroyed are their fathers, sons, husbands, and brothers.
4
@John, no, this is not the end of innocence. You may be blind to assault survivors' experiences, how academia and society has re-victimized them for decades, but you are not immune from the changing tide. Trump and Devos's attempts to roll back a recalibrating of the scales will ultimately be reversed -- such as the Education Department's advice for colleges to adopt a preponderance of evidence standard in disciplinary hearings. No, this is not a big threat to us menfolk. As long as we act with decency and treat others with respect -- and how we would want our future or current daughters and wives or girlfriends treated. Simply step up, man. Your bald excuses will ebb after the returning flood.
12
Nonsense. It's a question of credibility. Kavanaugh has ready proved himself a dissembler at best and a perjurer at worst. The allegations should be assessed in the context of this record. And he fails the test.
And enough with this "presumption of innocence" foolishness. This is a job interview, not a criminal trial (despite Republicans' criminalization of Dr. Blasey's testimony). If Kavanaugh were a candidate for a cashier position at the local 7-11 he'd have been bounced by now.
8
@John, presumption of innocence is not a relevant concept in a job interview. A seat on the Court is not a constitutional right. He is not being tried in a criminal proceeding that may end with him losing his liberty. He is being considered for a professional promotion.
16
If true, the alleged attempted rape is a criminal matter that could be prosecuted. I believe Trump is setting up a pardon of Judge Kavanaugh by attacking his accusers. That is the most likely motive.
1
@Shakinspear
He can't pardon him for something he isn't charged with.
5
While I believe Dr. Ford, it’s obvious we’ll never know the truth.
2
@DW
Once public allegations are made, a prosecutor in the jurisdiction in which the alleged crime occurred could charge Judge Kavanaugh with a crime. Any Lawyer would know this, especially under theses circumstances, and it is highly likely the race is on for confirmation to avoid that and a possible pardon from President Trump. Republicans are playing chess, thinking many moves ahead.
I find it appalling and cowardly that the Senators will not be asking the questions in their Senate hearing. They have hired a woman to ask the questions they won’t, but seem to have no problem making statements to the press and voting. It appears that their votes are already decided and their only interest is in getting through Thursday.
27
What maybe held against the "mistaken identity and foggy memories” excuses of the republicans is that this goes as well for Kavanaugh.
It could very well be that the allegations are true, but because of his heavy drinking at the time of the incidents, he just doesn't recall them...
It would not make him less responsible though....
14
It could be that. Or it could simply be that this was such a routine and ingrained pattern of behavior among Kavanaugh and his cohorts that the incident, to them, was unremarkable and thus unmemorable.
That, to me, is the final nail in his coffin. The sheer obliviousness of the trauma he inflicted.
4
The nation shifted when Clinton got his free pass a generation ago. The accuser will be heard and disregarded and Kavanaugh will be selected. The coming elections will see an entrenchment of the vote, not a large swing one way or the other. The vast majority are not watching this.
5
When did impeachment become a free "free pass?"
8
The 11 GOP men on the Judiciary Committee are all cowards. They've outsourced their responsibility in an effort to keep their contempt for women out of the Senate record and to silence the opposing committee members.
None of this comes as a surprise from men who follow the Trump playbook of doubling down on misogyny and bullying.
16
If Senators Susan Collins ("Our Susan", from Maine) and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska don't vote against Kavanaugh -- an alleged sexually violent harasser nominated by Trump for the Supreme Court -- their names will be mud. Clarence Thomas's name has been mud since 1991, after he was confirmed for seat on the Supreme Bench despite Prof. Anita Hill's lurid and traumatic testimony against him. Justice Thomas has remained largely mute for past 27 years. We await the vote (if Kavanaugh's confirmation process does come to a vote) and another nominee from our "fantastic, fantastic" president who is -- thanks to his Aesop frog bragging at the U.N. General Assembly -- a global laughingstock.
50
Remember Kavanaugh praising former Chief Justice Rehnquist as one of his heroes? Rehnquist, who helped lead voter suppression in Arizona back before he was appointed? And now there will be a prosecutor from Arizona doing the dirty work on behalf of Kavanaugh and the GOP? Take notice, fellow Americans and use your privilege to vote!
20
Rather than there headline herein of "... Key Republican Wavers."?
How about this instead:
"Key Republican actually takes the time to grapple with right vs. wrong, and what is in the best moral and ethical interests of the American people." (I guess that's a bit long for a header, but you get the gist).
We must stop undermining those who may vote against party lines on Kavanaugh by saying they are "wavering", or "giving in" or "weak".
It will take Murkowski and others who vote against Kavanaugh real courage -- the likes we've not seen since John McCain saved Obamacare.
Rather than threaten the "wavering", we should be celebrating those who stand by the rule of law and human decency.
39
The floor vote that starts America's comeback.
Murkowski declares "nay." Then Flake walks out and gives the thumb down gesture.
13
@Son of the Sun
At least 5, maybe as many as 8 or 9 Dems will vote for Kavanaugh.
Based on Trump's own words about being untrustworthy drunk and Kavanaugh's admissions on wanton drinking he should have no belief or trust in Kavanaugh in the same manner he has for Ford.
Well there is that whole the President is above the law thing that Kavanaugh believes that makes him trustworthy and the only choice for Trump.
6
Trump seems determined to lose the women's vote, starting with the two he most needs.
18
@Dana Charbonneau
Whatever makes you think American women believe any person accused is automatically guilty? They have sons, husbands, brothers and, most importantly, objectivity.
Anyone who believes the accused is guilty until proven innocent or that a simple "I believe" is enough to convict someone has lost touch with ordinary Americans.
Two can play this game. Christine Blasey Ford should whisper the answers to her lawyers and have them answer the questions for the record.
15
Senator Lisa Murkowski may appear undecided just to ensure a fair process. Everything depends on how Dr. Ford is treated by the men on the senate judiciary committee and how credible her testimony of appears considering that the case against Judge Kavanaugh is unprosecutable in a court of law with key evidence missing unless there is a another mysterious witness with a video or image from the past like the lady who provided a not funny at all image of Senator Al Franken. One does not know what is going on behind the scenes or in the minds of senators. Speculation is rampant is all we can say. The male senators may just shut up as the senator from Hawaii wants to her to but when the times time comes they will vote along party lines. Right now there is not a single democrat who is likely to vote in favor of judge K.
6
That the Republicans hired a woman to do their dirty work for them is proof that they only care about how this looks, not the substance of the allegations. Let's see if they also use the woman (and yes, she is being used) to question Kavanaugh as well.
Jamming this nominee thru will come back to haunt them, not just in the mid terms, but in next year's inevitable impeachment trial after the Democrats fully investigate Kav's background.
41
Part of me hopes the Senators themselves question Dr Blasey on live tv, then vote to confirm Kavanaugh. And that this brings out the Democratic vote even more strongly against every last one of these grifters.
7
@S North
Sorry to crush your hopes but the GOP has made this a sham hearing and not just by hiding behind a outside female cross-examiner. The whole hearing will be limited to 2 hours
2
The Republicans decided not to do an investigation.
The Republicans decided that there should be no other witnesses.
The Republicans set up an arbitrary deadline so they could say everything is the last minute.
The Republicans decided to change the norm and have a female attorney do the questioning. She is probably an attorney (Clarence Thomas type-sellout)who was briefed to be dismissive of Dr. Ford and go soft on Kavanaugh instead of seek the truth. It is terrible for the old boys club to be dismissive, better to get a ambitious, pliable woman to do it.
The Republicans set out these ground rules, but they are going to turn around and say the allegations can’t be supported based on the unfair ground rules that they set.
Furthermore, Judge Kavanaugh could had been a virgin and guilty of all the things that he is accused of by the women. He may had been a virgin but that doesn’t mean he was of pure mind. He even smeared a woman in his yearbook profile by implying that he is one of many who had sex with her.He wasn’t concerned about her character or reputation.
33
@Gary Oh that is different, after all, she's just a woman. As this unbelievable charade goes on, I wonder what happened to our country? We now live in a sewer and the Republican Party wants all the rest of us to muck around in it.
I hope that Senators Collins and Murkowski have the courage to stand up for women and vote against this very obvious misogynistic candidate.
53
@Kris
Agreed. But isn't it the duty of the senators to vote as the majority of their constituency favors and not from their personal outlook? In that case why are these on-the-fencers having so much trouble making a decision?
A bunch of old white men who haven't learned anything since Anita Hill's very persuasive testimony in the Thomas confirmation. But McConnell is the real disgusting and corrupt individual. How is it we have such people running our country? Kavanaugh should have dropped out by now. The evidence is out there and it speaks volumes. And they don't even have the pride to hide their sexism and tolerance of abuse in our new "Trump America." They have no integrity at all.
80
What “evidence”? I believe Dr. Ford’s allegations, but that’s all they are. There is, and never will be, proof that Judge Kavanaugh did what he’s accused of doing.
2
There doesn't have to be "evidence." This isn't a criminal trial. It's a job interview. There are better candidates, so the committee should drop him and move on.
4
@LTBoston
If this is a job interview, Judge Kavanaugh certainly gets the job.
HIs personal references are stellar. His professional credentials exemplary and includes the highest ABA rating. He has received high marks from all the women he has mentored. Not one whiff of untoward behavior has ever been found, despite his having been investigated multiple times by the FBI.
Contrast that long list of evidence supporting him with the uncorroborated accusations of one woman. She has yet to prove she's credible and will have to demonstrate that all the evidence supporting his nomination should be thrown out. That's a tall challenge.
I cant figure out why, that in order to find the truth, the all male republican side of the committee cannot gather the courage or integrity to question Dr. Blasey themselves. I guess they believe they are too remote from what women think and feel.
Neither can I figure out why woman's truth is considered a female thing and a man's truth is considered a universal thing.
98
Those are very good points.
8
@GRAHAM ASHTON, "...a man's truth is considered a universal thing."
Why am I not surprised?
1
@GRAHAM ASHTON
It's all optics for the camera - they don't want to be seen as ganging up or attacking Dr. Blasey. Such courage, no?
Yet another attack from Trump. You know, he just can't get along with anyone. Think about it. He's dragging America down with him. I don't think he agrees with respecting women's equality and rights. He seems to love attacking women when they get "Uppity".
Don Trump is remarkably similar to a Mafia Don in so many ways. It's scary. I'm not surprised considering where he grew up.
13
Are you listening to your Senate colleague, Mssrs. McConnell and Grassley and Graham and Cornyn?
Lisa Murkowski said, “it’s about whether or not a woman who has been a victim...is to be believed.”
I have high hopes now that Brett Kavanaugh’s coronation onto the Supreme Court is no longer the pro forma ceremony that the president and the Right have been certain about since July have thought it would be.
Senator Murkowski is saying (are you paying attention, Susan Collins?) that sexual assault is a serious allegation to level against anyone, especially a nominee for the Supreme Court, and it must be investigated.
There’s hope for justice yet. But only hope, as the men in the Senate just want this done for their own reasons. Ms. Murkowski is saying (finally) “not so fast, guys.”
10
Any Senator who votes yes on Friday should be removed from public office. I have never seen the Senate act so disgracefully.
65
Whether Kavanaugh is confirmed or not, he's now damaged good.
And one can only be happy to serve it to the grumpy old men McConnell et al.
12
Ms. Mitchell is a sex crime prosecutor. She regularly attacks men like Mr. Kavanaugh to secure justice for women like Dr. Blasey. Ms. Mitchell was obviously hired to win Dr. Blasey’s trust. What the Republicans apparently want is not to agitate Dr. Blasey and to let her tell her story. They want no arguments and they are unlikely to aggressively dispute facts. That, in turn, suggests that they are willing to let her testify without rancor. They probably figure that they will prevail as long as things remain calm. They have the majority, of course, and they simply don’t want to chance losing it.
5
@michjas
Yes, it is a good strategy. Good optics.
Then Friday vote to confirm Kavanaugh regardless.
Simple.
Diabolical, but beautifully simple.
1
@michjas
The old adage "Be careful what you wish for" comes to mind. Republicans have maneuvered very carefully, bending over backwards trying to accommodate Dr. Ford. Democrats' response has been to call them "bullies".
Democrats have gotten what they asked for. Dr. Ford is now going to have to match her credibility against Judge Cavanaugh's. He has quite a bit. Hers remains to be seen.
The words and actions of Trump and the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are outrageous and offensive. McConnell calls Rachel Mitchell, the chief of the Special Victims Division of the Maricopa County attorney’s office in Arizona, a "female assistant!" It should be illegal for the Senators to hire an outsider to question Dr. Blasey. It's their job.
Trump says sarcastically, “Oh, gee, let’s not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that.” Flashback to October 2016: Trump is caught on tape (in 2005) talking about how he can do anything, such as kiss and grope women's private parts and he still became President!! If a man accused of sexual assault by over a dozen women can and did become President, of course, Trump thinks Kavanaugh should be on the Supreme Court. We the people could not have set the bar lower when "we" elected Trump. As we've seen from his other appointments, unqualified, immoral, liars are welcome on his staff and the SCOTUS.
Last, Trump needs to stop accusing Democrats of playing a con game and doing it better than Republicans. Let's not forget that Republicans stole Merrick Garland's Supreme Court seat!
25
The whole thing is a farce. There is no attempt to find the facts, only a huge defensive barrage frm the Republicans. This is a pattern of behavior that is juvenile and inexcusable, defensive attacks and ranting. They are all in this together and they refuse to use the FBI who are professional and thorough because they will find something. Why else would the Republicans be hiding behind a defensive wall? There is a process in place to vet these people fairly which needs to be respected. The Republicans are there to uphold and respect the institution and they grossly undermine it at every turn. They have subverted their party. The traitors are now in charge and the rest are base cowards who fear for their jobs.
The whole world must be laughing or crying at the US inability to cope with such dysfunction and growing chaos. Watching a proud democracy go down the drain is depressing. What a mess. Sometimes you need just need to throw the lot out and start over with a clean slate. Just do it. Get it over with. Save your country.
19
Just like they are doing to the female accusers, Trump, McConnell and the rest of the GOP will bully Murkowski and Collins, the GOP women, into getting their votes - again disrespecting women and steamrolling.
7
In fairness and the pursuit of truth, I assume the judiciary committee will task the female prosecutor with the cross examination of the alleged attacker, as well as the respectful examination of the alleged victim?
8
Thursday is the opportunity for voices to be heard- vote Friday. If the accuser doesn't turn-up on Thursday, then there's no reason to delay the vote any longer. Get this man confirmed, you have abused HIM long enough!
4
The more Trump runs his mouth the better is is for those of us who believe that this nomination/confirmation of Kavanaugh circus should end.
If I were Kavanaugh I would be embarrassed that a career criminal like Trump is advocating for me. I would want as much distance from him as possible, but it seems that Kavanaugh has gotten cozy with Trump, taking his instruction while sitting in the White House being coached on how to answer pointed questions about himself.
10
Murkowski in my opinion is just playing to the camera so she can act like she is concerned. If she was for real wouldn't she tell the reporters chasing her around that she is not voting unless there is an investigation? Collins and Murkowski don't want look like total traitors to their gender so they have become adept at waffling.For the life of me I can't see why women are not holding these senators feet to the fire.Keep thinking maybe Corker maybe Flake maybe Collins or maybe Murkowski is going to save the day and I guarantee you Kavanaugh is confirmed. If The GOP doesn't pay for the despicable way they are treating this in November I will truly be disheartened.Why isn't money being spent on The Left to call out this confirmation charade? No wonder The Right runs roughshod over The Left with impunity.
21
Of course, as Trump says, the Democrats are far better at the confidence game than Republicans. This is because con artists stay as close to the truth as possible in order to avoid internal contradictions. That's something of which Republicans are incapable, instead relying on the tactic of the Big Lie - thank-you Dr Goebels: it still works.
4
We have now been desensitized by so much horror under Trump that we are no longer horrified by the prospect of a President of the United States attacking in a personal way simple ordinary women who have the gall to accuse somebody he nominated for office for assaulting them!! Truly horrific.
35
@Alfred Yul
Well remember the President has twelve accusers of sexual impropriety that have been ignored.
The President admits to impropriety on the bus that is similar to what his accusers claim.
This is all dismissed as locker room talk. As you think. Is not indicative of who you are.
Now we have a Judge who claims to be a Renate alumnus. A Judge who was a heavy drinker and hung with a party crowd therefore he may not even remember all he has done. Of course, he is going to produce calendars from High School and college to dispute all that.
5
Even putting the alleged sexual misconduct aside, Kavanaugh has shown himself to be unworthy of the position. Trump continues to drag down the standard of everything he touches.
13
With Trump having Kavanaugh’s ‘back’, the judge had best check for stab wounds. He’s at least guilty of a very poor choice of ‘friends’.
6
I am disgusted that the President of the United States involves himself in attacking an alleged victim before the matter has even come before a proper hearing. Trump is a disgrace, and it is no wonder - though a tragedy - that our President was laughed at in disbelief at the UN. But it is understandable.
25
@Nathaniel Brown. Blaming the victim is the lowest of low, POTUS is a nightmare. He is an embarrassment. I hope to awaken some day to find that proper political and / or judicial process has him removed from office.
If the GOP and Trump won't get the FBI to do an investigation....I suggest any witness or victim (alleged) walk into their local FBI office and make a statement. Will that get a ball rolling?
8
Our president is a great one to be counseling Kavanaugh on how to react to these charges...
3
If the Times is really going to believe Senator Murkowski's feigned concern for elevating an alleged sexual assailant to the Supreme Court, I would invite them to review their own coverage over her "concern" for the Tax Heist earlier this year, which ballooned the deficit while handing out windfalls to the billionaire class that owns the GOP.
She toed the party line then, as she will now. Please stop believing this disingenuous charade.
"We're going to win" crows Mitch McConnel, knowing full well that his entire side of the Senate Chamber will have no problems elevating an alleged sexual predator to the Supreme Court for the second time in my life. He not only has predetermined that he will vote for confirmation, regardless of what happens during Thursday's hearings, but he knows exactly how Murkowski and Collins will vote as well.
8
Trump's latest tweet implores the evangelical base to "pray for Kavanaugh," an obvious ploy to get them out and voting. The Republican desperation is building to a fever pitch.
1
I'm really thinking now that McConnell wants to rush the vote through because he knows Kavanaugh is fatally flawed and his candidacy is doomed. McConnell wants to move this along ASAP to someone else who might have a better chance -- but he can't, or doesn't want to, say that. He sounds like a guy who has fading confidence that he will get 51 votes, let alone 40. Avenatti's his new client will take her at-bat on Wednesday night, and this sounds as if her story could be devastating. McConnell knows this, too.
1
The country and justice wold be better served if the republicans hired 11 women to do their voting on whether or not to recommend Kavanaugh.
7
After all the boys will be boys talk , I found Judge Kavanaugh assertion he was a virgin for some time after high school to be strange but possible. After tee salty talk, it certainly to apparently put him in a better light.
So many thanks to your reporting by another Yale student , which now seems even more credible, that he was not.
And at one major lies,they all seem like major lies.
A glibly lying judge would be bad on any court, but the Supreme that already has some opinions that look like facile lies, it would be a disaster both to the court and to our nation.
6
@cover-story
He could have been a virgin and done everything he is accused of doing.
His virginity didn’t keep him from being a Renate alumnus.
3
@cover-story no
His "virginity" has absolutely nothing to do with anything.
3
Trump publicly admits that Republicans play. a con game. Not as well as Democrats, he claims, but still a con game.
1
Yea, "the Democrats politicized the Anita Hill thing", and look how that worked out. It really doesn't matter who gets brought up to testify against Kavanaugh - after Trump's triumphant UN tour, he'll just hit the road to remind congress folks who's boss at election time.
For perspective, remember Obama couldn't even muster a hearing for his nominee. Whatever will need to be done to confirm Kavanaugh will be done. And, the time-honored tradition of sexual assault will be upheld in the Executive and the Judicial branches of government. The legislative just doesn't have the heft to pull it off.
1
If Kavanaugh is innocent, why not make him take a lie detector test. And why not make Mark Judge testify under oath and take a lie detector test? It appears that the Republicans on the judiciary committee don’t care whether these allegations are true or not. They will do whatever it takes to push their agenda, whether or not they have to go to nefarious means to do so.
6
The irony is too sweet to ignore. Maybe Rachel Mitchell will stick around to serve as one of his grand inquisitors at President Trump’s impeachment trial.
In the meantime, a bitter irony raises the question: why would a career prosecutor, dedicated to the victims of sex crimes accept an assignment to discredit a victim/survivor in a setting stripped of basic elements of fairness, like a proper investigation. Ms Mitchell should be ashamed and should reconsider taking on this assignment.
12
@Joel Z. Silver
Maricopa.....home of Sheriff Joe and tents for convicts. I doubt she has a lot of experience with victims.
3
After carefully watching Judge Kavanaugh's interview on Fox, Judge Kavanaugh seems to be so removed to this all with his overly-scripted and repetitive non-responsive answers. Consider at 15 minutes into the interview, he does not allow his wife, Alison, to respond to a question directed to Alison on the merits of an FBI investigation.
This is a question I would ask:
Judge, you describe such valiant and tremendous effort in all your formative years at Georgetown Prep, continuing at Yale, to be a role model in the Community and in the Church. What was your biggest failure in those formative years?
SCOTUS Justices should also be concerned after watching the interview on Fox. I watched it twice. SCOTUS must come before the desires of Judge Kavanaugh's dreams.
The GOP is pushing for a pyrric victory at a cost unaffordable to our democracy. There are other equally conservative Judges that will not create such harm to the Court. Consider all future briefs that will undoubtedly insert Judge Kavanaugh's statements on Fox News and from the unprecedented hearing that will take place on Friday. If sworn in, I expect all to be used against him in, among others, attempts in Motions To Disqualify.
Hon. Senators, when considering all events please consider values and actions. This one decision may be your legacy. You must vote "No" on the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh. SCOTUS cannot be allowed to be pulled down with the other two uniquely dysfunctional branches of Government.
6
The collective unconscious of these utterly uncouth and so-sadly all-male people comes through at every step: for Senator Mitch McConnell to describe the outside council for Thursday's hearing as a “female assistant” speaks volumes. It is indicative of this whole unbelievable affaire, which itself reflects a whole all-encompassing culture of abuse of power and privilege. It is truly time for a major make-over of America.
10
@Julia
Maybe one her duties is to make them coffee before she questions Kavanaugh and Ford.
3
Yay for female assistants! Hopefully she'll get to the bottom of it all and then clean up the mess.
6
Republicans in Congress surely are a cowardly bunch. They are too cowardly to question Dr. Ford themselves, so they bring in a woman "assistant" to do their dirty work. She is a prosecutor of sex crimes, but she is acting as a defense lawyer for the accused. Meanwhile, the Republican politicians will lob softball questions at their nominee.
It's not surprising. The leader of their party is also a coward, afraid to even be interviewed by the Special Counsel. Compare him to Hillary Clinton, who testified for ten hours in a publicly televised hearing, answering every question from Republican Senators. If Trump is so innocent, he should want to tell the American people his story, in public and under oath.
6
But this is a “circus,” isn’t it? Since the 11 committee members will not question Professor Ford directly, there’s good chance ‘the language of sexism’ between genders won’t be exposed by a group of mainly elder senators, who neither really know how to handle an irrational issue like sex with some kind of ‘decorum’ (= afraid of getting tied-up in terms they’re uncomfortable using), nor courageous enough, because of this insecurity, to do their civic duties——and have bought someone to do “an errand” for them. That’s what’s really pathetic and un-American about the ‘three rings’ being thrown around under the tent here. Yet this is a done deal, no? Errand completed; vote on Friday, Nielsen-ratings through the roof, and we can all get back the real show. Something entertaining before the MLB playoffs and week 5 of the college football season....and you call it “democracy!”
8
Many of us are trying to make it the best democracy possible. And are you so certain that Japan is fair to women?
1
"The charges are totaly unsubstantiated" says Trump. Well, there is a professional and even handed process in place well equipped to sort it all out, the FBI. Use the process, quietly, such noisy ranting is unprofessional and childish because it means nothing except that it suggests guilt. The process is designed to solve the problem. Choosing a supreme court judge is a serious thing and needs to be done with care and all due process. Rushing it through is probably criminal behavior.
6
So, Republicans hired a “female assistant” (as Senate Majority Leadder put it) to ask questions on behalf of all-male Republican senators. Ms. Rachel Mitchell should take Judge Kavanaugh’s now famous recommendation to Ken Starr to ask graphically explicit questions to Bill Clinton. She should not be afraid of asking Mr. Kavanaugh intimate and explicit questions.
I am perplexed with the stark difference between the pious virgin choir boy lifestyle that Mr. Kavanaugh said lasted years after high school in Fox News interview and the descriptions provided by his male classmates at the Prep School and Yale that depict heavy drinking and braggadocio of sexual experiences.
I hope truthfulness is respected at the highest level of government, if it is a democracy. I am not a U.S. citizen, but I am a concerned foreigner, watching anxiously where American democracy is going. I did not expect ever to see U.S. president being laughed at at the UN General Assembly.
6
"As Mr. Trump and Republican leaders insisted that they will install Judge Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court despite the accusations"
Install. Despite. That's all you need to know about the modern GOP.
Nothing matters.
16
Surely the gushing support for Brett Kavanaugh from Trump should be enough to kill his election to the SC.
6
Why are men who are raped by priests always believed and women raped by men rarely, if ever believed?
10
@NK
This is perhaps the most ill-judged comment since Trump tweeted covfefe. I admit to being both perplexed and troubled by what it suggests. That it seems to be gathering approval is almost sinister.
@NK
I don't like to see this turned into a competition between victims.
Rather than the chaos of their being limited to five minutes each, the Dems should yield a portion of their time in order to designate maybe 30 minutes to one of their number (e.g., Harris or Klobuchar), allowing their remaining 25 minutes to others who might wish to participate.
4
I am genuinely heartbroken by the lack of decency shown by our elected officials including our President. If this tone continues, our young people will not even know what decent behavior is. The disrespect shown by Senators who should know better is setting the worst example imaginable and this will haunt us for years to come. And for what? Power?
Senator McConnell and his cronies should be ashamed of themselves. Watching them behave like bullies on the playground makes me want to weep. These are adults, granddads, chosen for their wisdom to represent us in hallowed halls must set good examples.
At age 80, I've been around - hung out with all kinds of folks, rich, poor, white, black, young, old, and I've never seen anything like this. I've been trying to be fair by listening to both Fox and MSNBC, carefully and seriously. Both sides, with some erudite guests, make good points. But the lack of heart, of empathy, of reflection is just plain sad.
I only hope that a degree of fair listening without rushing to judgment can take place on Thursday, not just for Dr. Ford and the judge, but for the nation - especially the young people who can't help but be deeply affected by these hearings whether they admit it or not.
As a shrink, I hear how beneath the jokes and sarcasm my patients express, is disappointment, fear, and anxiety. So this is a plea for dignity, respect, and empathy from senators and from the prosecutor they unfortunately hired. We need to hear male dignity.
9
Ramirez has no credibility. She admits she was drunk and has a poor memory.
As for judge Kavanaugh, to me the big question is does he still drink alcohol. If he no longer drinks alcohol and or he no longer drinks heavily, the accusations from more than 30 years ago are irrelevant. He is not the same person today that he was when he was a teenager.
2
@Fatso
Possibly not. But sexual aggression is a pretty consistent pattern with some men. Most self.respecting women would want nothing to do with a man who was an attempted rapist at 17.
Republicans hired a “female assistant” (as Senate Majority Leader put it) to ask questions on behalf of all-male Republican senators on the committee. Ms. Rachel Mitchell should heed Judge Kavanaugh’s now famous recommendation to Ken Starr to ask graphically explicit questions to Bill Clinton. She should not be afraid of asking Mr. Kavanaugh intimate and explicit questions.
I am perplexed with the stark difference between the pious choir boy-like virgin lifestyle that Mr. Kavanaugh said lasted "years after" high school in Fox News interview versus the descriptions provided by his male classmates at Prep School and Yale that depict habitual heavy drinking and braggadocio of sexual experiences.
I hope truthfulness is respected at the highest level of government, if it is a democracy. I am a concerned foreign citizen watching anxiously where American democracy is going. I did not expect ever to see a U.S, president being laughed at at the UN General Assembly.
6
It is time that thoughtful Americans turn their backs on the Republican Party. The party leadership is bought and paid for by anti-American, anti-human being, pro-wealth/corporate/business interests. The Republican Party exists for one purpose: to control our lives, our money, our way of life and that is not what I believe is in the best interest of American citizens.
8
The good senator asked: “We are at just a difficult place because the conversation is not rational on either side,” she said. She added: “Just look at some of the hateful things that are being said out there. How do you dial that back?”
The obvious answer is to not confirm an extremist which would ramp up the situation.
6
Is quorum required for the committee vote? If Democrats will not show up to vote, would Republican vote carry?
5
@Greg Wiecko
Excellent question.
"Seven Members of the Committee, actually present, shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of discussing business. Nine Members of the Committee, including at least two Members of the minority, shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting business. No bill, matter, or nomination shall be ordered reported from the Committee, however, unless a majority of the Committee is actually present at the time such action is taken and a majority of those present support the action taken."
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/rules
We stand on the brink of the appalling event where United
States Senators value their party over their commitment to represent their constituents and the concepts of the Constitution.
A vote for Kavanaugh today is dereliction of duty whereas a vote for Kavanaugh in three months may be defended. Those are your choices.
3
I don't think anyone can prove beyond a reasonable doubt what really happened. Allegations alone don't really cut it. If Kavanaugh's appointment is derailed, Trump may pick someone who is much further to the right than Kavanaugh and that person will be confirmed. It might well be a woman this time. The Dems will howl even louder than they are now but it will be for naught. As they say, be careful what you wish for.
Our country is faced with a powerful Me-Too force against an unmovable Judge. The fact that president Trump has now entered this fray with his remarks proves conclusively that he should never have been elected president of the united states in the first place.
6
The US could use a third party that would force compromise between the other two parties. That would help balance things out.
3
I just finished watching the PBS documentary on the history of the Mayo Clinic - a remarkable story of achievement by an immigrant medical family and the Sisters of Saint Francis. It's an inspirational story of selflessness commitment that speaks eloquently to what it was that made America great. What followed unfortunately was the now nightly recap of the rampant political fraud eating away at that greatness.
Sad to see the incumbent of the most powerful position on earth evoke such derision and laughter at the U.N. General Assembly - an institution America was instrumental creating. Equally disturbing to see the legitimacy of the Supreme Court seriously compromised by a blatantly corrupt, partisan appointment review process.
The Mueller probe and the November mid-terms are seemingly the only things that stand in the way of Trump and the GOP inflicting serious, perhaps permanent harm on America's democratic institutions. We're witnessing an increasingly desperate, frontal assault on the former, and a conspiratorial campaign to once again rig the outcome of the latter. Pundits and pollsters predict a cleansing blue wave. That would be welcome but the enormous rot in the system make it anything but certain.
6
This comedy/ drama is being enacted not just in America but on the world stage and doubtless everyone will have an opinion but the way things are progressing or perhaps sinking deeper into the mire, and they have been, it's plain to see that it is a duel out of which the GOP are determined to come out the victors, a unworthy result as Trump pours scorn on the abused women. Reading much of all that's available and watching debates for and against, it would have made good reason for the GOP to involve the FBI to get to the bottom of the accusations and denials but, doubtless being in possession of more unsavoury information, they feared it would be unearthed portraying Kavanaugh in a far less complimentary light and thereby possibly defeating their aim of seeing him in the black robe. Thursday not too far away.
3
These allegations may all be untrue, or they could be less serious than the reporting suggests. I personally don't believe that at the moment, but it's important not to come to any firm conclusions about these past events at this point.
We can, however, begin making firm conclusions regarding this judge's respect for the integrity of due process and the importance of an apolitical Justice department. Why not submit to an investigation by the FBI? And why even engage in talk about partisanship? The fact that Kavanaugh went on Fox News to play the victim and rouse up support from the republican base is extremely troubling.
4
In such a situation, it does not seem very appropriate that a single vote can decide a win or a loss (too much pressure for that voter). So what about fractional voting; a voter can choose any number between 0 and 100? If the average is more than 50, it's a confirmation.
That's not how humans ultimately make decisions, which are in the end emotional, informed by life experience, especially when those humans are judging the suitability of other humans for weighty lifetime positions
The choice of a female prosecutor to question Dr Blasey certainly appears to be intended to intimidate her while simultaneously taking the heat off Republicans on the committee. This is supposed to be a hearing, not a trial. Dr Blasey is not a suspect; to all appearances, she is somebody trying to do her civic duty under extraordinarily adverse circumstances. The New Yorker article about Ms Ramirez’s accusation is very troubling, despite the conflicting claims of her contemporaries at Yale. Nobody has refuted her accusation or presented evidence that calls her credibility into question. Kavanaugh’s college friends have merely expressed disbelief that he could have done such a thing and pleaded ignorance of the party where it happened. She too deserves a non-adversarial public hearing. There is growing evidence of a pattern of behavior here and that pattern demands serious attention. Witness the Cosby case, where the testimony of multiple victims made Konstand’s accusation impossible to dismiss. Ms Blasey should not have to stand alone, and there is no justification for compelling her to do so. If the Senate will not allow Ramirez to testify, I hope she will summon the courage to do an interview with one of the major broadcast news organizations. That should not be the sole privilege of the nominee.
118
@UCB Parent It is exactly why Dr. Ford should not testify in person but be willing to testify under oath during a deposition. There is no excuse for putting her through this trial by fire. None.
1
@UCB Parent Noteworthy: the article says that the special prosecutor "has been hired", but it fails to identify who exactly did the hiring. I suspect this was calculated. I agree, it takes the heat off the male committee who wouldn't want to appear to ask hard questions to an alleged female victim and so a female prosector "was hired". And yes! It IS supposed to be a hearing, NOT a trial!
1
@UCB Parent
Ms. Mitchell is a sex crimes prosecutor. That means she regularly works with women victims to convict male offenders. Her job is to support victims in their effort to secure justice. She regularly grills men like Mr. Kavanaugh and confides with women like Dr. Blasey. She was obviously hired because she is skilled at working with female victims of sex abuse. Nobody wants her to intimidate Dr. Blasey. To the contrary, they want someone who can win her trust.
Republican are on the loosing ground in the country, Trump lost popular election and won electoral votes thanks to Putin. People have negative view of Kavanaugh and clearly do not want this guy in SC regardless the reason. There are 51 Republican Senators and I am wondering if these facts could convince at least some of them that they are very far from the level of support among Americans to insert drastic changes in the system. Please, have some decency and respect People.
38
When our great presidents spoke in the past, people believed their word.
Today we have a Republican party and a president who simply cannot be trusted to do what is best for all Americans.
Words matter, trust matters.
When Trump says Kavanaugh is a "fantastic" man, it's just another sales pitch by a con-man.
Today, Trump and the current Republican party can no longer be trusted to lead our country.
When you become president, you have to be a president of all the people, you have to reach out to all sides.
Trump has clearly proven he is not capable of doing that.
Bret Kavanaugh is now tainted and stained by association. We cannot trust his association with this president and his party --especially Mitch McConnell who prevented a qualified moderate like Merrick Garland being appointed to the Supreme Court.
88
What ever happens on Thursday, it is very clear by their own words, that the Republicans intend to do everything they can to get Kavanaugh on the court. No matter what Dr. Blasey says, no matter what the evidence, they will vote to put him in the court. What a farce.
62
@sjs, Evidence? What Evidence? The statement of someone regarding events from 30 years ago when she was tipsy at a party? The statement of someone who never went to the police, never told her parents and otherwise never reported the alleged crime? And why is she speaking up now?
Even but she believes that her statements are true, how do we know she did not give consent?
@sjs
This is very true. It seems in the U.S. today the positions you may espouse are far more important then the acts you may have committed. One need look no further then Trump himself as a prime example of that.
2
The Republicans managed to get an illegitimate president into the White House. There’s no reason to think they can’t do the same with the Supreme Court.
Cheaters and evil people do win sometimes.
3
If the allegations are true about Brett Kavanaugh's being so drunk so often, how did he do so well as student at Yale given the academic work load? Well enough to be admitted to Yale Law School which accepts a very small percentage of highly qualified applicants. He must have been quite remarkable student. That, or the allegations are extremely exaggerated or just untrue. Reason dictates the latter conclusion.
6
I have a friend who prided herself on her drinking and partying and went to Vandy for undergrad and Emory for law school which I realize is just top twenty but she made partner in a large firm at age 32. I knew another guy who drank like mad once staying up all night on a train ride in Spain (he also speaks three languages and has an MPH) drinking just for the challenge. He also went to Vandy and graduated medical school at Johns Hopkins. Those are just two examples of the resiliency of youth. I didn't drink in college but completed fifty credits my freshman year and had a part time job. I disagree that you used reason to reach your conclusion. It sounds like you used your conclusion to reach your reasons.
7
Yale has a reputation for selecting wealthy kids with parents who have influence and money. It has had that reputation for 50 years that I know of.
1
@MCH
I had two students at a prestigious northeastern college who had impeccable academic records and were highly regarded individuals. Definitely destined for good things. Both also were notorious for their excessive drinking and had life-of-the-party reputations, and these young men always seemed perfectly able to function even though it was evident they occasionally came to class hungover or possibly still drunk. One went on to a major corporate career and one ended up serving time for drunk driving and now lives on disability. It is possible to excel academically and still be a binge drinking frat boy. And it’s possible to crash and burn.
1
This frat boy government is a bad joke.
We survived 9/11 and Shub's nonsense, only to have to endure Trumpler and more nonsense, and "locker room banter" and minimization of women because boys will be boys.
This is getting so old.
103
Really Kavanaugh cannot win. Did he lie on Fox news when he said he was a virgin for years after high school or was he lying to Steve Kantrowitz in freshman year? Why is the Senate rushing? Why not interview these men who are willing to come forward and get a better view of Kavanaugh as he is/was not as he learned to portray himself by none other than the Lian in Chief and his crew?
20
The Senate has its own rules and so,
yes, someone besides a Senator
may ask questions at a hearing.
I do not think Kavnaugh will be confirmed
no matter what is said on Thursday.
I do not think the Republicans have done their duty
to determine what may or may not have occurred between
Mr. Kavanaugh and Ms. Ford and his interaction with Ms. Ramirez.
I do not think self-styled liberals and progressives
have given Kavnaugh a fair hearing but instead lash out
at him for reasons known only to themselves.
If Ms. Ramirez can remember details at a drinking party
34 years ago, where she was sexually intimidated, why
can't Ms. Ford remember how she ended up at this gathering,
they rough date and how she got home some 36 years ago ?
We are lectured again and again that Ms. Ford cannot be expected to remember such details, but told that we must trust Ms. Ramirez's details even though she admits she was drunk.
There is not a person alive who could defend themselves against
such accusations from so long ago.
In the end how many Liberals and Progressives are leading this Lynch Mob because Mr. Kavanaugh might rule to
return the question of abortion to the States as the 10th Amendment makes clear it should be.
Meanwhile the killing of babes in the womb continues
and not a word about the daily mass slaughter of innocents.
2
@John Brown
Get your science straight: abortion is legal in the first trimester when there is no "babe", only an embryo. After the first trimester there has to be a medically documented necessity to abort in order to save the life of the mother. Hospitals have Boards staffed by medical doctors and psychiatrists who are also medically qualified; those Boards decide on when abortions are necessary. The decisions are not made on the basis of religious beliefs; they are made on the basis of how best to save a life an already existing human being.
5
@Linda Miilu - facts don’t fit their narrative but ending legal abortion is and has always been the goal here. Republicans will do whatever it takes to see that happen, no matter how vile their deal with the devil is.
They need to be voted out of office in droves and if confirmed, Kavanaugh should be impeached.
@Ann
The "facts" you speak of may not be facts.
One could change the word "Republicans" with
Democrats and say they have done whatever they
can to stop Kavanaugh...
Are there no more good judges in this country, other than a self-confessed drunkard? Is being heavily drunk an acceptable justification that he gives for his behavior? How is such a person desirable as a judge, never mind at that court level?
When during 2018 many public personalities, having occupations and positions normally requiring less of a perfect probity than a federal judge, lost their jobs in under 24 hours for similar type of accusations, one wonders why this person is seen by some as un-replaceable? I am sure this country must still have some decent, respectable and more intellectually-inclined judges, ready to serve.
29
@Open minded to alternatives
I don't recall that Merrick Garland was a man with an alcoholic past. He was a respectable, moderate judge who was confirmed by the Senate for a Superior Court; then suddenly he wasn't suitable for the Supreme Court? He was denied a hearing. But, a man with a sketchy past regarding drunken behavior, a hidden archive of position papers supporting torture on behalf of the Bush/Cheney Administration, and a devout Catholicism which would mitigate against support for Roe v. Wade is suitable for the highest Court in the land?
5
We've been through this before with Murkowski and Collins.
They pretend to raise concerns, but always vote with the party.
62
@David Henry Statistically speaking, one or both of these two women could be a survivor of abuse herself. If not, there are likely to be women in their families or social circles who are telling their own stories now. So we shall see.
1
@David Henry
Shame on them. I hope the outcome is different this time.
2
Kavanaugh will be confirmed. There’s little doubt about it. Then trump and what passes for the GOP will drag America a little further into the cesspool of dishonesty, meanness, and venality they’re so gleefully sloshing around in. Another disgrace for the country.
31
Judge Kavanaugh is a proven aggressive partisan Republican, so don't restrain yourselves from politicizing this situation or aggressively pursuing the truth. His veil of dignity was shed decades ago. The presence of such a partisan Judge will destroy the remaining civility of the Supreme Court should he ascend to it. I don't buy his timid interview appearance. He's out of the back rooms and in the light now.
52
I wonder the woman lawyer -- whoops I mean "female assistant" --hired by Mitch McConnell also fetches coffee.
44
We need to change the number of votes needed to confirm for federal judicial & SCOTUS appointments. A simple majority isn't right for such important positions and creates this circus. I hated it when Harry Reid changed it. If they can't get to 60, then lower it to 58 or 55. And for America's sake, please vote in people who will work with the other party. No "one party rule."
33
@Linda D
Harry Reid did not change the rules for Supreme Court justices. That one is on Mitch McConnell.
6
@Linda D Why do Justices have to be appointed for life? How about one ten year term? A lifetime is too long for some of these extremists..
1
“I’m confident we’re going to win,” Mr. McConnell said.
That more or less sums up everything that is wrong about our politics. It isn’t about determining whether a nominee for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court is worthy of the appointment; it’s about “winning”.
280
@James Williams
Trumpler and the GOP sold their souls, were complicit in accepting help from Russian white supremacists to win the 2016 election, that gave them majority control of the US government.
Treason.
Far worse than just an obsession with winning.
18
Let's apply the Mitch McConnell standard to this nomination. It is clear by now that Judge Kavanaugh has become a lightning rod and the Senate is bitterly divided over his confirmation. With the mid-term elections just six weeks away, and with most voters aware of the stakes for the Supreme Court, why not wait until the outcome of the election before voting on his nomination? Oh wait, that standard applies only to nominees of a Democratic president.
214
@DbB - they are too afraid of losing the opportunity.
Reublican-Trump-Grassley-Lindsey railroad job. The arrogance of these blatant villains! Hurry, November.
58
I wonder if the Senators have a “Kavanaugh “ to write up their questions in advance?
7
A classic case of careful what you wish for... everyone around Trump seems to crash and burn. He picks the ones who wouldn't otherwise be picked for whichever office they are up for. They are flattered and accept. But like the saying goes, they had already risen to the level of their incompetence and it outs under the glare of this administration's ineptitude.
27
If the hearing consists only of testimonies from Dr Ford and Judge Kavanaugh, we will undoubtedly have a he-said, she-said situation. But it doesn't have to be so. According to Dr Ford, there was a witness in the room--Mark Judge. Subpoena him and make him testify under oath.
If he says he wasn't there, it truly will be he said, she said.
If he says he was there and the assault didn't happen, it will make it easy for the committee to endorse the judge and move on to confirmation by the Senate.
If Judge says he was there and his testimony shows that Kavanaugh has lied to the committee, Kavanaugh should not be confirmed. The committee wouldn't have to decide whether the actions of a 17 year old should derail the confirmation; the fact that he lied to the committee during his confirmation hearings would be adequate justification. Then the president could nominate another conservative judge recommended by the Federalist Society. (One of the women would be a good choice.)
5
@Duane Bender And what if he says his high school years were a total blank because of his black-out drinking habits?
5
@stefanie
Judge wrote a book, "Wasted". That says what needs to be said about Judge. This ought to embarrass any Republican who pretends to be moderate. McConnell did not hesitate to hold a seat open on the SC for 14 months until Trump was appointed by the Electoral College. Now he is in a rush to get a drunk ideologue on the Court?
@Linda Miilu I know of the book. My reference was to Kavanaugh--not his friend who admits to being blacked out while drinking.
A simple follow up background check would solve all of this and spare the country the nonsense we have been witnessing. Trump, the GOP and Kavanaugh don't want this simple investigation and want to rush to confirmation because they know that what the American people will find out if even another week is allowed to go by would disqualify him from serving on any court.
30
@HG Wells I'm wondering what Mr. Avenatti will come up with tonight? He said he has another victim who came to him and will announce it on Wednesday. Today should be very interesting.
"Rachel Mitchell, the chief of the Special Victims Division of the Maricopa County attorney’s office in Arizona, has been hired to question Dr. Blasey." How tone deaf are these senate Republicans?
Surely, Ms. Mitchell is eminently qualified to handle Senator Grassley's job, indeed, the job of the 11 men on the Senate Judiciary Committee, but the name "Maricopa County" is synonymous with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and the insensitive, illegal and antisocial behavior for which he is known. Now this hearing has Sheriff Joe's presence hanging over it.
I know from what I speak: in Josephine County, Oregon where I live, Jonathan L. Knapp is running for sheriff against the incumbent. Mr. Knapp is a former Sergeant in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department. Our area is a Republican stronghold and solidly supports Trump, yet Mr. Knapp is projected to lose in a landslide.
We cannot know if the Maricopa County connection is weighing down Mr. Knapp's campaign, but we can surely state without doubt, it's not helping, and in such a right-wing region as ours, that says quite a lot about the presence Sheriff Joe has on other decent people from Maricopa County.
26
We would hope that any mature, rational adult who holds an office of service to the American people would wait until the testimony on both sides is fully heard before rendering a verdict. Then, there's Trump . . . The con who waves his arms frantically and shrieks "C-O-N" because he's projecting and picked Kavanaugh only because he wouldn't indict a sitting president. There's a stench from the GOP side of the room that just gets harder and harder to ignore.
48
There are a significant number of other witnesses that will not be called but should be called in order to have a FAIR and COMPLETE investigation into the charges against Kavanaugh. Dr. Ford's husband has said she named Kavanaugh as her attacker years ago. Kavanaugh's Yale roommate has stated that Kavanaugh was capable of enacting the activiity Ms. Ramirez has described. Not allowing these women to have corroborating witnesses testify is unfair and incomplete.
Kavanaugh should have called for an FBI investigation if, in fact, he knew his name could be cleared that way.
Kavanaugh should not have holed up in the White House getting advice, practice, and guidance to frame his answers which may or may not be HONEST. What will he owe the WH after the fact? Another reason to vote NO on confirming Kavanaugh before the Thursday hearing even takes place.
41
Do Senators Flake, Collins, and Murkowski have the courage to vote no?
60
@Barbarra
They never have in the past, why should this time be different ? Only hope is that Murkowski owes her position to the voters of the First Nations, who have expressed their dissatisfaction with the nominee.
1
Only an FBI investigation will clear his name.
So, if he doesn't fear his truths, he has nothing to fear before the lies...
Or does he???
20
Rachel Mitchell, the chief of the Special Victims Division of the Maricopa County (!!!) attorney’s office is okay with grilling women and being referred to as a "female assistant" by McConnell. If her job location didn't send us a red flag, that should. Let's hope she surprises us, but I for one am cringing already.
39
why is the GOP becoming the party of sexual predation
and alleged attempted rapists?
it was the party of Lincoln.
21
@David The part of Lincoln died in the 1876 election.
1
@David Hey, David, the democratic party ideal of a duty to provide equal opportunity to all was obviously Lincoln's stance back then what with the emancipation proclamation and his abolitionist perspective. Even though he was a Republican then, today, he would be a Democrat. I don't know if there is a link between Republican ideals and sexual predators. My hunch would be that political leanings do not predict likelihood to offend. Interesting question. As far as image wise, I agree the Republican party is ugly right now.
1
Is it OK to have a "lawyer" asking questions, other than a senator, on a senate comite hearing? Just asking...it looks like a bad idea!
12
“I’m confident we’re going to win,” Mr. McConnell said.
How do we, the American people, "win" when a lifetime judicial appointment is offered to someone who boasted about being one of a group of football players who counts himself as a "Renate Alumnus", jokes to his fellow entitled Georgetown Prep buddies in 2015 that "What happens at Georgetown Prep, stays at Georgetown Prep", bends the truth if not outright lies about what he did during the Bush years, and is all in all someone who plays to whatever he perceives is his current audience?
We need Supreme Court justices who will stand up for the Constitution, the American people, what is right and what is true. We do not need another Good Old Boy who disrespects women and generally kisses up to the privileged.
Have we learned nothing in the years since Anita Hill came forward so bravely? I am sickened.
119
I find it strange, frankly, that the country is broke ( -23 trillion ) and there are 100 Senators who routinely question witnesses all year round; and the committee has hired an outsider to question the judge and the professor. Fiscal conservatives, making America great again. Absurd.
( The author is not affiliated with any political party).
22
The narcissism of old men. If confirmed, a number of them will be close to 100 (or nearing death) while Brett Kavanaugh is still making rulings impacting millions. What is the legacy here which they will hardly have time to "enjoy"? Or is it just a matter of "We're doing this because we can?"
The question becomes; why this individual?
Surely there are other potential nominees to carry the GOP water to the Supreme Court. This man acts and looks like a bad tempered dry drunk and complete phony.
It is clear the GOP ceased being a political party tasked with governing; it is a perpetual white man's fraternity concerned only with life-time pledges.
I can only imagine what this era will be called.
36
I’m a proud democrat, at the same time, I believed in Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, when they stood their ground a few times, thinking they were going to do the right thing, but they proved to be just another republican and chose their party not what was the right thing to do, the right thing for America people. They are playing the same game again, they will give in and the wrong man will be confirmed.
32
@BB These two are just as calculating as their male GOP counterparts and have rarely stood any ground on principle: These two make decisions hoping the "ground" won't sink below them for the next election cycle.
The three to watch and worry about are Democrats Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp and Claire McCaskill- the three DINO's.
10
Kavanaugh is clearly not the right choice for a lifetime appointment in the Supreme Court because Kavanaugh is probably a sex-criminal/rapist! There are very many better alternatives, even those who hate women so much that they want to make abortions illegal, so why are Republicans so desperately wanting this criminal/rapist in the Supreme Court?
12
@Gandalfdenvite Because he is the one most likely to give Trump a "get out of jail" card.
5
Republicans in Congress:
If you’re okay with appointing a supreme court justice who could be a serial rapist and a drunk and a gambler, by all means confirm Kavanaugh.
But we know who you are.
And when the next election will be.
46
The fear of the truth that the Republicans have shown just simply negates any chance of my voting for any of them: they fear the truth that Kavanaugh probably committed a sexual attack and refuse to have that truth come out, whatever it is, and all the while they believe he did the foul act. Despicable haters of the truth, Trump followers, Trump puppets. No truth in the halls of the Senate. Just raw power telling us to shut up and take the Justices that they choose to rule over us, regardless of any of their character flaws. After all don't we all have skeletons in our closets? Aren't we, who detest the truth when it shows how afraid of it we are, the rulers of the people? They gave us the power to rule them so we rule them. Shut up and be ruled. Public servants? Not us. WE will be public servants 2 weeks before the election. Six weeks before the election we are the power of the ruling class, the monied class, the superior class and we will appoint any degenerate we wish to. Shut up and be glad we give you a Supreme Court Justice who is like us: afraid of the truth and sexually a little off kilter - and anti-Row v- Wade.
12