NEW: Lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford have told Senate Judiciary Committee staff she is "prepared to testify" next week — but not Monday — so long as her safety is assured and hearing is fair. My latest. https://t.co/WiA3kXb2d8
— Sheryl Gay Stolberg (@SherylNYT) September 20, 2018
Sandra Newman, in the Washington Post:
… The most charitable explanation for the laissez-faire attitude of Kavanaugh’s defenders seems to be that sexual assault is so common that many people find it normal… This produces a strong incentive to believe some rapes are worse than others; that the rapes on crime shows are atrocities, while those that our acquaintances or ideological allies perpetrate are regrettable mistakes. The high prevalence of sexual violence can also produce a feeling of helplessness: if it’s so common, perhaps it’s just a given of male sexuality that nothing will ever change?
However, the evidence suggests we can prevent rape. First, it occurs at radically different rates in different societies. It may seem shocking that 6 to 15 percent of American men admit to serious sex crimes, but the percentage of men who say they’ve committed rape in China is 23 percent, and in Papua New Guinea, it’s a staggering 60.7 percent. The percentages of women who say they’ve been raped in these countries are similarly high. This large variation makes it clear that rates of rape are highly malleable. Sexual assault in wartime is notoriously high — but it also differs dramatically from army to army, and the rate changes rapidly in response to policy changes from above. For instance, the notoriously high rate of sexual violence by the Red Army at the end of the Second World War decreased abruptly when the Soviet leadership decided it was a political problem and instituted rules to discourage it. In the Salvadoran civil war, rapes by government soldiers plummeted once the United States threatened to withdraw military aid if the government’s human-rights record didn’t improve.
The crucial elements seem to be whether a rapist fears punishment and whether he feels it will be viewed as a serious crime by peers. In her study “Understanding Sexual Violence,” conducted for the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health in 1990, Diana Scully conducted extensive 89-page interviews with over 100 incarcerated rapists. Her first significant finding was that rapists assumed they would never be punished. As one said: “I knew I was doing wrong. But I also knew most women don’t report rape, and I didn’t think she would either.” The rapists were also remarkably preoccupied by what other people would think of them, talking about their victims’ moral failings and lying about details of their crimes to make them seem less violent. They overwhelmingly saw the kind of rape they had personally committed as normal. As one subject put it, “When you take a woman out, woo her, then she says: ‘No, I’m a nice girl,’ you have to use force. All men do this.”
Scully concluded that these calculations played a crucial role in their decisions to force women into sex. Rapists saw rape as “a rewarding, low-risk act” they could engage in safely, and for which no reasonable person would blame them. In their eyes, their incarceration was the result of plain bad luck. All this is chillingly reminiscent of the reaction of powerful men targeted by the #MeToo movement — and of the reactions of conservatives this week who are willing to propose that Kavanaugh is guilty while excusing his act as a drunken mistake.
Sexual assault is a crime that is notoriously difficult to prove. Even with the laudable intent of preventing future rapes, we reasonably balk when forced to decide whether to put a possibly innocent man in prison. There is no such problem when considering whether to deny someone the chance to be a Supreme Court justice. All but five men in the world already share the terrible fate of not serving on the court. And, perverse though it may seem, the nomination of an accused sex offender is a great opportunity. Delaying or withdrawing this nomination will send a message that there is no such thing as ordinary, forgivable, just-a-bit-of-drunken-boyishness attempted rape. If we care about all the sexual assaults that haven’t yet occurred; if we care about the girls and boys who will become victims; if we care about preventing the debilitating, life-threatening trauma disorders victims often suffer, we must treat attempted rape as disqualifying for a Supreme Court justice.
Villago Delenda Est
Start putting Rethuglican Senators to death.
That will send a message.
(This of course will not happen. But it’s obvious that serious measures need to be taken, because these assholes do not think sexual assault is a crime).
diiferent-church-lady
@Villago Delenda Est: Indeed, a modest proposal.
different-church-lady
@Villago Delenda Est: Indeed, a modest proposal.
different-church-lady
One, in particular, was specifically denied the honor without even being accused of sexual assault.
eemom
Worth posting again this excellent article from yesterday — by an actual expert in this field — on what utter and appalling bullshit that is.
Key quotes:
Schlemazel
@Villago Delenda Est:
It would have been crime if Garland hd been accused. For people who claim a ridged moral stance their beliefs are highly fungible.
We really do need to set up a guillotine outside the Capitol building as a reminder.
Baud
I’m glad y’all still have the capacity for anger. I’ve been at a steady state of anger for so long that I’m not able to react naturally to specific outrages.
JPL
@Baud: Yes I am. Earlier today someone on Nextdoor mentioned they could not go to an early screening of First Man because of the flag. The gd flag that burned as soon as the space module left the f..king moon. The movie was filmed about 1/2 mile from me and those in that neighborhood received tickets to see it. Of course my responses were measured.
NotMax
@Villago Delenda Est
Disgust-O-Meter needle is now pinned for today.
Death threats against Dr. Ford are rightfully decried and abhorred but death threats against R senators are okay?
The line separating provocative from repugnant has been breached. And please, spare me the “see my nym” fig leaf.
Cheryl Rofer
Twitter is currently exploding. A guy by the name of Ed Whelan, who is the president of a conservative think tank, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, just posted a thread in which he details house plans and an address to posit the theory that Christine Blasey Ford was not assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh, but by a classmate, whom he names. There are a variety of opinions from Legal Twitter as to whether this constitutes libel, and others are wondering if this second person has consented to the use of his name in order to take the spotlight off Kavanaugh. Several have noted that this appears to signal a real desperation on the part of conservatives, one way or another.
Kathleen Parker had earlier asked if there was a Kavanaugh doppelganger.
SenyorDave
The most charitable explanation for the laissez-faire attitude of Kavanaugh’s defenders seems to be that sexual assault is so common that many people find it normal
I think this is true, but one of the reasons I think this happens is because many people don’t take the time to consider just what sexual assault really is, and how it isn’t just “bad behavior”. I remember arguing with someone after the Tiger Woods revelations about his affairs. He equated Woods’ behavior with Mike Tyson’s. I was amazed and pointed out that Tyson was a rapist who was convicted and went to jail for his crime, and Tiger Woods had extramarital sex with consenting adults. One of them was a case of bad behavior (Woods), the other a case of a violent sex crime (Tyson).
Baud
@Cheryl Rofer:
We are all Brett Kavanaugh now.
Baud
@JPL: No loss for the movie goers there.
Luthe
I think this also has to do with the worldview of those defending him. They are of the mindset that if it wasn’t for cops and the Angry Abuser in the Sky everyone would be out committing crimes all the time (evangelicals are especially like this).Their view is that Judge Rapey was only doing what any man would do and just happened to get caught.
This is also why they can’t understand liberalism. The idea humans are fundamentally good without a Mean Sky Daddy standing by to smite sinners is beyond them.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
OT: from Rationalwiki’s GOP article:
Do you agree with the bolded statement? What implications do you think this has for the future of the Democratic Party if you do?
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: As a woman I can summon the outrage at this outrageous misogynist behavior by groppy old perverts of the Rapist party.
JPL
@Cheryl Rofer: Earlier I mentioned to a friend that they were going to come up with a substitute. My instincts are always wrong, hmmm I assume they studied MD law first.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: No we are not. And most guys are not like Special K, either.
Omnes Omnibus
@Cheryl Rofer: Whelan is using yearbook photos and Zillow as his sources.
WaterGirl
@Cheryl Rofer: Without an exact date or location info from Christine Blasey Ford, how the hell can they think they know where it occurred and who she “mistook” for K. ???
Personally, if we’re making up ridiculous stories, I think it was a house in Toledo, OH and the rapist died last year. They just make stuff up.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Luthe:
Arguably one of the more disturbing aspects of some religions. The idea of a cosmic dictator that could erase you from existence is too terrifying to contemplate. Why anybody would want that to exist is beyond me
Jay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Democratic Party voters vote for “improvements”,
ReThug voters vote their resentments.
dmsilev
@diiferent-church-lady:
I dunno, there’s not much useful meat on your typical GOP Senator.
WaterGirl
@JPL: Even if we pretend for a second the he didn’t do it — which I don’t believe for even half a second — he failed the character test the second he didn’t come out forcefully against all the attacks on her and insist on a fair hearing and instigation.
JPL
@Baud: Truthfully the poster received some negative feedback. Now my embarrassing encounter. The vintage cars, movie trailers and food tents were a few blocks from me. One day while passing I saw an ambulance and mentioned to my son who was with me that I hoped no one was hurt. After he stared and mentioned that they don’t use those ambulances anymore, I laughed at myself. That didn’t help. So if you see the movie and notice the ambulance, you can think of me.
dmsilev
@Omnes Omnibus: Sounds completely legit and authoritative.
JPL
@WaterGirl: I’m convinced it’s a setup. If they allow her to testify, she’ll destroy that line of attack.
Frankensteinbeck
@eemom:
The Republican Party is the pro-rape party. They believe in the right of white men to rape women. Their long-standing policies and the way they discuss the issue supports that view, and indeed that they feel strongly about it. They are aware that ‘rape’ is a bad word that can get you in trouble. Bizarrely, a very large number of white women share this extremely anti-woman attitude.
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
I don’t think it’s absolute, but I believe that it’s a much smaller factor than it used to be. The nation has been polarized into a ‘racist asshole’ and an ‘everyone deserves help’ faction. There is no basis for crossover between these opposed value systems. Things we think are good they think are bad, and things we consider hideous crimes they believe are normal and often desirable. They have gotten steadily more active and extreme as minorities become more visible and their numbers have shrunk. The only real variable is how motivated we are, and that seems to require giant slaps in the face. (Republicans receive giant slaps in the face daily, but we don’t notice, say, interracial couples on television or understand why that would terrify and infuriate anyone.)
WaterGirl
I think K is toast and they just haven’t accepted it yet.
Cheryl Rofer
It’s likely disinformation.
dmsilev
@Cheryl Rofer: The guy who Whelan accuses of being the actual attempted-rapist is probably calling lawyers as we speak in prelude to filing a libel suit. This is Elon-Musk-making-pedophilia levels of unsubstantiated accusations.
YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)
@Cheryl Rofer: It’s a classic SODDI defence (Some Other Dude Did It.) Ripped from a TV script.
debbie
I know how much everyone hates NYT around here, but their The Daily Podcast ran an interview today with Caitlin Flanagan who experienced the very same thing when she was in high school. The only difference is that she later got a full and sincere apology. Pity she’d already tried to kill herself, but better late than never, I guess.
I just listened to it while out on my evening walk. I’m not a fan of much of what Flanagan has published, but the pocast’s definitely worth listening to. I wish it would be played at the hearings just to shame BK and his pig supporters.
Spanky
@WaterGirl: @WaterGirl:
Well, I assume the “they” you’re referring to include the senators on the committee and the Senate in general who would confirm him if the vote were held right now. So no, he’s not toast.
schrodingers_cat
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Who or what is this rational wiki and why should I take their unsubstantiated claims as truth. I would like to see their data and analysis before I take this broad brush statement as fact.
Jay
They are just gaslighting the base.
Mandalay
@Cheryl Rofer:
IANAL, and I have not even read the offending tweets, yet I am fairly confident that it will not constitute libel.
Why? Because I have gone through the dispiriting experience of reading Popehat’s analysis, and informed reader comments, about Elon Musk’s meltdown towards the person who mocked his recent rescue efforts in Thailand.
The bottom line is that the bar is set absurdly high for winning a libel action in the United States, no matter how baseless and offensive the comments might be. And someone like Musk can just throw money at the problem until his opponent has to throw in the towel.
Jay
@schrodingers_cat:
Rational wiki is a snarky version of Wiki, focused mostly on debunking CT and cranks.
Mary G
@dmsilev: @YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S): That guy is slime and I hope the other guy sues him for defamation. I tweeted back that this is exactly why we need a full investigation by professionals, not one of the people who believed Hillary was molesting children in the basement of a pizza parlor that doesn’t have a basement. Twitter is going nuts for real.
schrodingers_cat
I dug a bit deeper about that Ganesha ad in Texas.
1. They stole it from Zomato which is food delivery and food review website in India.
2. The D challenger in the district is of Indian heritage.
I think it was a subtle way to rally their own troops and otherize the challenger. See good Christian folk, devil worshiping idolater wants to be your next Congress critter.
JPL
@dmsilev: Has anyone seen how much his bank account has grown? just sayin
schrodingers_cat
@schrodingers_cat: ETA: Also, whoever made the ad is stupid and knows nothing about Ganesha or understands the symbolism behind Ganpati. Vote R party because our symbol is an elephant and you guys worship Ganesha. Genius. Not.
eemom
@debbie:
There are a lot of women who experienced the same thing who are not smug ass rich twats who state that they would otherwise be totally cool with Kav as a Supreme Court Justice; not being among the class of women who would get fucked for generations if that were to happen. Too bad the NYT didn’t find one of the millions of those who are rape survivors.
Sorry, but fuck Flanagan.
Bill Arnold
Poked at the Kavanaugh Yale Truth and Courage secret society membership for a few minutes in google just now. If anyone is interested and hasn’t already seen, the Yale “Truth and Courage” secret society membership was disclosed in a (the?) 2004 confirmation hearing.
CONFORMATION HEARING ON THE NOMINATION OF BRETT M. KAVANAUGH TO BE CIRCUIT JUDGE FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
(text)
The earliest ref I’ve found for the offensive nickname for “Truth and Courage” is an oft-linked buzzfeed piece.
The Yale Secret Society Brett Kavanaugh Joined Was Mostly About Drinking, Yale Alumni Say (July 11, 2018)
Which is to say that media investigators need to up their game speed.
schrodingers_cat
@eemom: Agreed with you about Flanagan. She and Katie Roiphe (sp?) are the worst.
Mary G
People believe her.
dmsilev
@Mandalay: I do think we should admire the opening bit of that article:
Aleta
Better subpoena Mark Judge to straighten this out !
Mandalay
@WaterGirl:
I agree. Put aside the issues of whether he assaulted her, and whether his denial is a lie, and assume Kavanaugh is completely innocent. Then why wasn’t he one of those welcoming a hearing to clear his good name?
It’s ironic that if he had done that he would have a lot more support now, regardless of whether he innocent or guilty. Even Trump is handling this better than Kavanaugh.
Chyron HR
@Spanky:
The GOP senate caucus rewrote the entire tax code in illegible scribbles in one day and voted it into law overnight. If they actually wanted to move Kavnaugh out of committee and confirm him, he’d be a supreme court justice already. This just looks like another Obamacare repeal fiasco where a large minority (if not a majority) of the Republican senators know that confirming Kavanaugh is a terrible idea, but each one of them is too cowardly to be the one that kills the nomination.
JPL
Truthfully not all white guys look alike. Garrett and Kavanaugh don’t look like twins. just sayin
Jay
“Confirming the fears of many immigrant families who have declined to step forward and claim children who are being held in detention facilities, a new report shows that more than 40 people have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after doing just that.
CNN reported Thursday that between July and early September, at least 41 people have been detained after attempting to retrieve their young family members from government-run detention facilities, which are now at 92 percent capacity with more than 13,000 children in custody.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/09/20/evil-worst-fears-realized-ice-arrests-dozens-family-or-guardians-attempting-retrieve
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Spanky:
Yeah, but this shitshow just keeps getting worse and worse with each new revelation. They really should just withdraw the nomination and get some else who’s less toxic. But they can’t because Kavanaugh is a good R foot soldier and Trump’s pick. That and they’re scuzeball authoritarians.
MagdaInBlack
@schrodingers_cat:
I was just thinking of how these folks who call themselves Christians have absolutely no concept of symbolism. They are completely unaware that their religion is loaded with it, because they’re literalists.
Metaphor and symbolism is lost on them.
jl
So, OK, other than making calls to Senators to oppose Kavanaugh, I’m out of this confusing maze of mirrors. Just too damn heinous and hideous and complicated for me to figure out.
From Josh Marshall’s twitter feed, and what I heard on news radio driving between meetings, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry or vomit for all of them, apparently enough evidence of an assault on this woman and no use trying to deny it. So, the GOP has decided to frame some random dude who was vaguely around at the time and friends with Kavanaugh?
i’ll look for a blog post or news story explaining it in a few days.
If that is what the GOP is doing, how low can you go? If you dig yourself into a cesspit that goes down to the center of the earth, and keep going, you start going up again, right? But these people just keep going lower.
different-church-lady
@JPL: It didn’t burn, it just got knocked over.
MagdaInBlack
@eemom:
Who among us has not met a version of this guy.
Viva BrisVegas
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Clinton won 53/41 among those earning less than $50K. Even though that group is disproportionately non-white, it still tells us that those who would benefit most from liberal programs, will still vote for liberal programs.
I think that Republican support has two main elements.
First the white South, which votes along religious and white ethnic lines. They don’t care about anything other than a guarantee of heaven and keeping the (insert racist term) below them on the social scale.
Second, the white petite bourgeoisie, who vote on their resentments because they believe they have the resources to avoid the worst effects of Republican policies, while approving of the deleterious effect of those policies on the lower orders.
These are the deplorables, and they intend to remain deplorable.
Roger Moore
@SenyorDave:
I think this is also deeply linked to outdated sexual mores that require women always to say no. When women can’t say yes, even if that’s what they really want to say, then all of their noes are inherently suspect. And when any no might really mean yes, men are encouraged to keep pushing in the hope of turning that no into a yes. It’s a horribly screwed up way of communicating. When men are constantly encouraged to ignore, or at least question, when women tell them no, it’s guaranteed to result in men committing sexual assault because they don’t take “no” seriously.
debbie
@eemom:
She’s not at all cool with the nomination. That’s the whole point.
different-church-lady
@Mary G:
It’s either that or they no longer believe the GOP. Or some combination of both.
JPL
@different-church-lady: lol That is what the film should have shown. I remember watching although the flag was not a big thing. Can you imagine if at the end they actually showed what happened.
different-church-lady
@dmsilev: Pardon my obvious bias, but the fact that he’s a white South African explains every single bit of it.
jl
So, I won’t have a clue about what have of Josh Marshall’s tweets are saying for a while.
There is Kavanaugh, is buddy Judge, and some dude named Garrett.And there is some weird game of musical chairs and insinuendifying and implicriminating that there was a physical assault on this women, their social circle knew about it at the time, but gosh golly geee, damn it was Judge or this Garrett person.
So, if any commenter cares to explain I’ll check back later. Just, for God’s sake is all, Yeebus I can’t believe the filth coming out of the GOP.
MomSense
@Baud:
Same here although babies in cages almost caused me to stroke out.
I had to add punching a bag to my morning workout. I’m considering switching from the gym to a boxing club.
JPL
@jl: You left out show me the money, because someone is collecting it.
Cheryl Rofer
Jay
@MomSense:
Try out a no-sparring Aikido Dojo instead. It’s a more positive environment, intense and relaxing. It also will teach you how to physically control someone with out hurting them, and how to avoid being attacked.
Chyron HR
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
But they can’t because
Kavanaugh is a good R foot soldier and Trump’s pick.Trump already paid him 200 grant to rule whichever way the presidential Twitter account says to.Mandalay
@different-church-lady:
Your comment reminds me of this blast from the past. As subtle as a flying brick.
debbie
@Jay:
That doesn’t sound as satisfying as bloodying a BK supporter’s nose.
JPL
@Cheryl Rofer: What are the odds they agree with that? hmmm
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@JPL:
What’s even funnier? Every single flag that was left has since faded to white due to the UV light from the sun bathing them for 30 days at a time in alternating cycles.
Roger Moore
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
They can’t because there isn’t enough time between now and the election to confirm anyone else, and there may not be enough time left with this Congress even if they do it in the lame duck session. They desperately want to confirm Kavanaugh because they’re afraid they’re going to lose control of the Senate, so it’s him or nobody.
Bill Arnold
@Chyron HR:
Significant chance that this involved paying off a gambling debt.
J R in WV
@Luthe:
Evangelists :
This is because they are NOT fundamentally good, and do need Mean Sky Daddy to keep them on the straight and narrow.
Haters. The rest of us just wish there was Mean Sky Daddy to smite them, but know there isn’t. So we pay the cops to look out for them. And wish they would do the job!
Jay
@debbie:
Aikido uses body control to force compliance. Moves start out a zero pain to the attacker, but if needed, can be quickly ramped up to 11. If you need to, with some moves you can rip someones limbs off.
The training arena is very supportive, gentle, physically strenuous, and at the same time, like a deep tissue massage.
Kay
@schrodingers_cat:
I love that :)
Mike J
@Cheryl Rofer: Weird how twitter randos know so much about guest lists and floor plans for a party 35 years ago. One would think a rapist was feeding him defense talking points.
jl
@Roger Moore: Apparently even if they need to frame some person to get Kavanaugh off the hook for an assault that, every bit of new evidence that comes out, did happen.
Even if this is some BS trial balloon, it is truly heinous and vile. So, rig the game against the victim, ,and frame and innocent person, and who gives a shit as long as we can get our crook on SCOTUS. And I think that is the only term for Kavanaugh: crook. Maybe there is a list someplace and I can find out how these stunts rank in terms of evil and desperation, but I don’t want to see one right now.
eemom
@debbie:
Uh, here’s what she said in the Atlantic two days ago:
She was against it only AFTER it became personal for her.
I repeat, FUCK HER.
lamh36
Kavanaugh has already said, he ready to go on Monday…since thats before Ford agreed to testify…then now he can’t be all…no wait…I want to go after she does…
oh and smart…to make the ALL MALE Republican judiciary ask questions instead of some female proxy pawn
Mary G
I love how Dr. Blasey is dictating terms to these old white dinosaurs – Brava! I hate what she’s being put through, but so impressed by her bravery. I just go on Twitter and every post I see from a Republican about “it wasn’t him” or “It’s no big deal, she pushed him off” or the million others I just send a donation to their opponent. It’s going to leave me bankrupt, but I am so sick of this shit.
Mary G
@eemom: OMG, I just clicked over to that article and the spot for other pieces by her starts with “Why the left is so afraid of Jordan Peterson.” I didn’t read any of it.
Jay
@Mike J: @jl:
The RWNJ’s have been swimming in Conspiracy Theory for decades. They don’t need any coaching to crank up their unreality.
Wapiti
@MomSense: A punching bag. You’re a genius. I’ve been rage-eating: read something, get too angry to think, stomp out to the kitchen and have a snack while I cool down. I think the punching bag might be better for me.
Mary G
Paging Alain:
Calouste
@Mandalay: Musk is also getting sued in the UK, which has very different libel laws. I don’t think he stands a lot of chance getting away with it there, although the penalty is not going to be more than a million or two.
lamh36
@lamh36:
So, They done gone from Brett wasn’t there, to well ok…maybe someone who LOOKED like Brett was there…but not Bret…smh
Kay
She’s been just excellent in this. A +
eemom
@Mary G:
Exactly. That’s why I feel confident that she’ll do whatever it takes to keep his filthy ass from being confirmed.
IOW, while she has made perfectly a reasonable demand wrt the FBI investigation that no mythical creature known as a non-evil republican would have a problem with, she’s not going to make that a deal breaker for her testimony.
Now she’s said she’ll appear some day next week other than Monday with appropriate precautions for her safety, etc. Are the actual republicans gonna make themselves look like still worse fucking monsters than they already are by not agreeing to THAT? Wouldn’t put it past them. And again, I think — hope — that if it comes to that, she WILL show up on Monday — with lots to say about what scum they are, among other things.
See Jennifer Rubin’s column today. (And again, cursed be the day that I find myself totally agreeing with her.)
debbie
@Kay:
I hope ABC didn’t bleep any of that.
smintheus
In disturbing ways, Kavanaugh reminds me of the arrogant police inspector/murderer in the film Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970). It dawns on you as you watch the film that far from trying to hide who he really is, the man actually is doing and saying everything he can imagine to provoke somebody, anybody to react to the glaring evidence he keeps laying in front of everyone that he is a sociopath – from grandiously authoritarian and spittle-flecked pronouncements about society’s ills, to planting clues that he’s a monster, to bullying random people into denouncing him for his crime, to telling superiors flat out who he is, to inviting a witness to blackmail him. And throughout the film, nobody but nobody on the inside of power wants to admit that they know anything is wrong with him. He keeps testing the boundaries of what he has to do or say to provoke anyone he’s working with into denouncing him, and yet he barely even gets a raised eyebrow or quizzical look.
This is Kavanaugh. His entire record is as a sicko partisan, for which he gets kicked upstairs to the courts to do more of the same. In-your-face lying more or less constantly throughout, daring anyone to call him on it. A documented trail he leaves of his web of deceit and spying. Blatant conspiracies to commit crimes – rape, torture, you name it – shrugged off as unknowable imponderables.
Poor Kavanaugh cannot convince a single Republican power broker to denounce him, no matter what he does.
AThornton
This is why this country is fucked-up
28% of the respondents can’t be bothered to learn if the GOP nominee for the Supreme Court is a rapist. These jackasses are the reason the GOP are doing that shuck & jive word salad slut shaming bullshit: it works.
Source: Political Wire
smintheus
@eemom: I read that the other day and thought ‘What a repulsive human being! It’s all about her whims.’
Mary G
@eemom: I know. They finally took the “Right Turn” off her column. I never read her before Trump, just saw snippets of stupidity here and elsewhere, but except for a longing for a good daddy like Romney or Evan McMuffin and a reflexive protection against anyone who’s not all in on Israel, she’s written a lot of great stuff and now I read her almost every day.
lamh36
Dan B
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Identity has always mattered more than community or individual benefits except in extreme moments. Through massive decades-long communications campaigns launched by the Powell Doctrine the right has branded liberals and progressives as weak and emotionally sensitive. Right wing leaders have been branded as strong leaders and protecters.
If you find yourself in conversation with a FOX /Breitbart zombie ask them if we need strong communities or strong leaders. The dissonance will likely result in an explosion. Their cognition has been molded into strong = good , weak = scary, leader = good, community = confusing because it could include unsafe people.
Dems have been poor at mass communications. They resist simple statements and coordinated communication. Case in point is Kavanaugh. Is every Dem candidate using his nomination as a consistent way to explain what Dems believe? The GOP has gone to war for him. Some Dems have stood up and pushed back but the party as a whole has not jumped behind them with the ferocity that the GOP has in support. There’s a simple message: We want our daughters to be protected. All upstanding men and women will fo whatever it takes to protect our daughters and any community that is threatened.
I’m not hearing that yet. Will I soon?
B.B.A.
A modest proposal: To play it safe, let’s just throw every white guy from Montgomery County in prison. (I lived there a couple years in high school, and I’m willing to take one for the team.)
lamh36
JPL
@lamh36: It’s unusual that they are going with all white men look alike excuse. If Garrett steps up and takes the blame, someone needs to check his bank account.
smintheus
@Cheryl Rofer: The testifying first ask is brilliant. Since Kavanaugh insists he knows absolutely nothing about the alleged incident, there’s no logical reason why he cannot testify first.
I doubt Ford expects to get that from Grassley, but it provides a brutal talking point about Kavanaugh’s record of evasiveness whenever he’s confronted with past wrongdoing. The man wouldn’t even give a straight answer to Kamala Harris about whether he’d talked to Trump’s law firm about Mueller, without trying to first elicit what Harris was going to say about it.
Kay
@lamh36:
That’s probably a good sign, though. She was pretending to be sympathetic and respectful there for a while- that wasn’t working so they’re going to Plan B- their real personalities. Mean spirited and nasty.
lamh36
Maddow reporting on MSNBC that the latest poll has Kavnaugh at a -4 which is the LOWEST of any SCOTUS nominee….ever…
Like…WHY DAFUQ the GOP is clinging onto this guy
raven
@lamh36: to save the baaaaabiessss.
Aleta
John Harwood
JPL
@lamh36: I’m so glad that you have returned in order to keep us up to date.
lamh36
dmsilev
@smintheus: If the GOP insists on letting Kavanaugh get the last word, they could always call him back again a second time after Dr. Blasey’s testimony. Not really sure what that would get them, but it’s in their power to do so.
Kay
@lamh36:
The Ed Whelan tweets are unintentionally hilarious. I get the floor plan but I can’t figure out why he made up the part about how someone in the family room can’t see someone coming down the stairs. Is that a preemptive defense of the people in the family room? That they didn’t see the person coming down the stairs (the attacker), so we can’t ask Special K if he saw attacker?
How long did he labor over this? All night, I bet.
lamh36
@Kay: Yep…you know that Kellyanne initial reaction was straight bullshit
debbie
@lamh36:
I knew Kellyann couldn’t keep that façade up for long.
James E Powell
@different-church-lady:
Yes, but he was a Democrat. And worse, he was appointed by a black president. To Republicans, there can be no greater crime.
jl
@JPL: Well, yeah, fact that all us White guys look exactly alike has long been a patronizing stereotype. I deal with it every day. /snark.
Only thing I know about this Garrett fellow is his name. But I’ve read that given the laws of that state, statute of limitations do not apply. And state crime, so Trump can’t pardon him. So, ,whether he is a good person or a fellow Trumpster jerk, it boggles my mind.
If this Garrett person is dumb enough to take the rap for some money, he is dumb enough to be a Trumpster, and deserves what he gets. But that provides no excuse at all for GOP.
Outrage piled on outrage piled on outrage. GOP has become just utter fetid slime.
And just heard some GOP talking head on the radio. They’re going to smear the victim.
I just cannot believe it, but it is, isn’t it? Our federal government is infested with monstrous people.
Shana
@dmsilev: Well not unless you give it a good long braise.
lamh36
@Kay: I mean…just no sense…and reporters who retweeted that mess (hey Maggie H…) who then tried to delete it are just ridiculous.
At least I’ll give Jake Tapper credit for calling it the crazy unsubstantiated mess it was
debbie
@lamh36:
Haha. Trump will never admit a mistake.
TS (the original)
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Has much to do with the big money advertisements from pacs – who put fear into the actions of democrats and reliable conservatism from republicans.
Dems advertise the postive – the GOP wins with the never ending negatives. I have no idea how to reverse this – although I think Beto is going in the right direction – as did President Obama. Beto still has to contend with the nasty ads from his opposition & if he loses, that will be the reason.
smintheus
@Kay: This is great. Republicans are rushing forward to admit that they don’t think Ford is lying about the incident. It now moves from the “alleged” column into the “factual” column. They’re going to have a hard time pushing it back to “alleged”.
lamh36
@Kay: Wait…the guy Whelan is implicating…is a middle school teacher? I mean…not for nothing…but this kinda conspiracy theory can’t be good for his job or if he has a family his family…
And even if he did take the fall for say a payout…WHAT THE FUQ kinda payout would you accept to do that to your family?
Mary G
Hoocoudanode?
jl
@lamh36: ” WHY DAFUQ the GOP is clinging onto this guy ”
Kavanaugh is Trump’s insurance policy in case the Mueller investigation creates a shit storm that hits the fan.
After an obsessive harassment of Clintons and a large numbe of their associates, now, coincidentally of course, Kavanaugh has divined original intent and the true meaning of the plain meaning of the text in the Constitution, that the president is effectively above the law during, and AFTER, his time in office. Kavanaugh is a crook whose presence on the SCOTUS will create a long running Constitutional crisis, even AFTER Trump leaves office.
That is what I think the deal is. Just that dangerous and horrible, and that simple,
Kay
@lamh36:
Oh, no. The reason she says she wouldn’t confuse the two men is she once visited the nice one in the hospital.
That Whelan would put that out with so little information! He had no idea of her history with the innocent boy. “Well, no, because he’s actually my ex-husband”. Anything can happen when you’re just throwing it out there!
smintheus
@dmsilev: Yup. A brilliant counter offer.
Kay
@Mary G:
Isn’t that great? It didn’t work. The magical tax cut con has finally run out of steam.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@lamh36: The good news is if that guy isn’t in on the scam, I’m guessing Whelan and his outfit, the “Ethics and Public Policy Center”, have lots of sweet wing nut cash for him to go after
thank god for Brother Pierce and his encyclopedic knowledge and memory for these asshole
lamh36
@Kay: IKR…just ridiculous
TS (the original)
@Cheryl Rofer: I like this tweet in response to Erickson supporting Ed Whelan
@CDReisswriter
Replying to @EWErickson @EdWhelanEPPC
Because randomly accusing men of rape is OK as long as a guy’s doing it? But when a woman does it she’s a liar?
PJ
@debbie: She’s one of those conservatives who can empathize, but only if it’s something that’s happened to her.
lamh36
@Kay: smh…just saw that statement from the lawyer…smh
Mandalay
@Calouste:
The problem is that the UK now has a law to restrict “libel tourism”, and since Musk resides in the UK, and the person suing him resides in Thailand, the case may not even be heard.
And even if it is I suspect Musk will get a pit bull lawyer to argue that the crybaby bringing the case is a piece of shit nobody, and the notion that he has any reputation to be harmed is absurd. And while the process will cost Musk a fraction of what he makes in one day from a tiny uptick in the stock market, the other guy will be devouring his life savings.
OTOH, I suspect the board of Tesla may not approve. I hope they persuade Musk to issue a curt non-apology apology, and have him make a suitable donation to some needy charity like Psycho Billionaires with Tiny Co**s.
lamh36
TS (the original)
@Mandalay:
And what a bar to be below!
smintheus
@lamh36: Sorry that Ford didn’t wait longer to shoot it down, to allow every Republican senator to endorse the theory first.
PJ
@debbie: But only because of her own personal experience with sexual assault, otherwise, she has nothing against Kavanaugh.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
Hawaii always has to punch above our weight.
jl
@jl: Maybe a lawyer here can set me straight if I misunderstood the legal blog article I read, my understanding of Kavanaugh’s ‘evolution’ in his thought on a president obeying the law and upholding Constitution works like this.
He can’t deny Congress power to impeach, try and remove a president. But he will rule out any meaningful investigation of president needed for impeachment or trial. And, can’t investigate a president for ordinary crimes while in office.
And after president leaves office, some legal mumbo jumbo about now there is a lack of standing for anyone to go after him for impeachable offenses. Because he isn’t president anymore so the issue of impeachable actions is moot. And some blather about similar blocks on going after ex-president for ordinary crimes committed in office.
If any lawyers here can clarify or correct my understanding, I’ll check back later. Anyway, from what I read, Kavanaugh completely changed his mind on the president having to bother with following any law while in office, which just happens to coincide with his partisan loyalty. This crooks will be a nightmare on SCOTUS, on everything from labor law to environment to civil and voting rights and money in politics,, but especially on the Constitutional order that prevents a president becoming an de fact dictator, and which we have followed for over 200 years. IMHO.
lamh36
@lamh36:
TenguPhule
@B.B.A.:
FTFY.
Some white guys I understand are very fine people.
Aleta
@lamh36: I’ve been thinking either Kav or Judge, or both of them, using their friend to get themselves out of this mess. And the late night booze says that he can’t be charged, while promising they can make it up to him later. Gotta think they have made up stories to get out of trouble before.
Cheryl Rofer
catclub
@lamh36: I wonder if they can get Mark Judge to remember this assault by the one armed fellow student
debbie
@Dan Pffeifer
Move over Alex Jones, @EdWhelanEPPC is coming for your grassy knoll.
Omnes Omnibus
Why is everyone assuming that Garrett is in on this? I am guessing that not everyone who went to Georgetown Prep is a monster.
lamh36
Ladyraxterinok
Looked up Whelan thread claiming Ford IDing wrong guy. Anyone else think he looks like Stephen Miller?
Chyron HR
@smintheus:
Oh, he’ll still be at the hearing on Monday with his giant printout of the floor plan, laboriously walking the country through the whole conspiracy theory. “The Eagles get turned up, and to the left. Up, and to the left. Up, and to the left…”
dmsilev
I have to say, I’m mildly disappointed that Ed Whelan didn’t stretch pieces of yarn between the pins on his map. Is there no longer any respect for tradition?
lamh36
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m just amazed that this Whelan dude would just randomly name check this guy KNOWING that doing so could be detrimental to not just him, but the other guy?
Like…he got the name from someone…
but yeah…I just cannot imagine someone being willing to let his name be used in that way…but nothing Repubs do surprises me anymore
debbie
@PJ:
Nowhere have I defended her. But in her account of her experience, she showed the power of a heartfelt apology and genuine remorse on the part of the attacker. I wish BK could be made to listen to it.
jl
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m not assuming Garrett is in on anything All I know about the guy is name, and from reading a comment on this blog, he has a wife and kids, and teaches middle school.
If he is in on it, he is vile fool who deserves whatever he gets, including some conspiracy and fraud something or other that a a lawyer can maybe explain. If he’s not in on it, then I hope he runs over the Avenatti’s office asap and we see some legal crowbars and sledgehammers coming out.
dmsilev
@Chyron HR: Nah, he’ll show up with twenty seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one.
debbie
@Ladyraxterinok:
I do. I also don’t think Garrett bears much of a resemblance to Kavanaugh.
Ruckus
@lamh36:
It says that Special K (hat tip to S. Cat!) has a typical republican character. Whatever/whoever one can lie about, steal, cheat on, defame, etc is OK as long as you are a white, wealthy, republican man. IOW he’s about 9 levels of hell below snake shit.
jl
@dmsilev: Conan O’Brien’s Hannigan Conspiracy Yarn plant can only push out a certain amount produce on short notice. Probably spools and spools on back order.
B.B.A.
@TenguPhule:
We’ll have to agree to disagree.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@dmsilev: Two tin cans and a string still work for me.
zhena gogolia
@catclub:
Hahaha!
Ruckus
@Aleta:
Perish the thought, that two preppy white drunks would make up stories or lie or rape or cover up using someone else as an excuse. These are honorable men. Of course you have to have a extremely warped sense of honor or no understanding of the word if you come close to thinking these are in any way honorable men. They are lying, cheating conservative scum. But I repeat myself.
Jay
@lamh36:
Social Media has long allowed and enabled slanders, lies and doxxing.
Aleta
Huh, here’s a thread that suggests Whelan’s been involved w the confirmation effort and the Fed Society head of the effort for Kav
https://twitter.com/jbarro/status/1042950097552588800
Mandalay
@lamh36:
Well they have to get someone before the November elections just in case the Democrats take back the Senate, which is unlikely but possible. So if they dump Kavanaugh they have to find someone else and get him/her confirmed by the end of the year.
And then there’s this:
Aleta
@Aleta: That thread also reminds us that
“Orin Hatch has been mentioning mistaken identity for the past week.”
J R in WV
Well, every day the storm in DC becomes more astounding and amazing.
We have a confirmed perjurer being lifted up to the Supreme Court, who was a member of a “fraternity” at Yale that had the semi-official chant of “No Means Yes, Yes Means Anal!” called the Tits and Clits fraternity. He was proud to be a founder of Alcoholics Unanimous in his private prep school~!~
So obviously not qualified to be any kind of “judge” whatsoever, by his own words. Now ALSO accused of attempted rape of a very young woman, 15 years old, by the victim, now a well known professor and doctor, so more educated than the attacker. Even less qualified, not really eligible to be a member of the bar, let alone of the judiciary.
How strange this all is — we are truly past the mirror into Wonderland on the Brown Acid. My body is too old and beat up for martial arts, so I’m doing escape into space opera fiction, and fantasy with Elves. Not free, but good for my spirit.
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus: I have friends who went there. To my knowledge, none is a rapist. One is even a Democrat!
#NotAllGeorgetownPrepAlumni
Steve in the ATL
@TenguPhule:
I’m pretty awesome, but clearly an outlier.
Steve in the ATL
@jl: he’s a rabid right wing partisan and nutjob. There is no legitimate legal basis for any of his radical, extremist positions.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: My army buddy Bill is pretty alright. He did have a friend from college who wrote him a letter that ended with “No means yes, and yes means up the butt.” No, he didn’t go to Yale. He went to Princeton. I am glad I chose a LAC.
I really wish names would stick and edit would exist. I am not good at typing.
jl
@Steve in the ATL: I read one of these nutjobs, Kavanaugh, or Gorsuch, or one of the other reactionary justices, over ruled a SCOTUS decision that has been a firm precedent since 1820. 1820!
Just to clarify that eighteen hundred and twenty years CE. To put in context, 198 years ago. Now it is obvious to the original intent and plain meaning of the text people that ruling was wrong.
To put in further context, a lot of the Framers were still alive and walking around at that time, reading the papers and keeping up with the times. But, they seem to have missed the corruption that was introduced into Constitutional interpretation way back then.
These people are crooks and nutjobs. I need to go find the article where I read about that ruling to remind myself of the details.
Omnes Omnibus
@jl: A Circuit Court judge cannot overrule Supreme Court precedent.
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus: but Gorsuch, Roberts, and Alito can and do.
@jl: this shit is so depressing that I’ve had difficulty following it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: True.
jl
@Omnes Omnibus: OK, thanks. I need to find that article to remind myself of the details.