That moment when a nominee for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court refused to shake the hand of a father whose daughter was killed by gun violence.@fred_guttenberg, a man of courage, confronts Brett Kavanaugh, a man with none. pic.twitter.com/pVzYAaPatz
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) September 4, 2018
Wow, here you can hear @fred_guttenberg telling Kavanaugh that his daughter "was murdered in Parkland," and Kavanaugh whirls and walks away pic.twitter.com/VdkTij2Vdp
— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) September 4, 2018
We’re supposed to believe “Coach K” mentors 6th-grade girls. He’s a “car pool” dad who shows up at every sporting event. But he can’t muster the character to shake the hand of a man whose daughter died in a mass shooting because it would piss of the @NRA? pic.twitter.com/jqjH22htxa
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) September 4, 2018
Father of Slain Parkland Teen (Fred Guttenberg) Says Not Only Did Kavanaugh Turn Away As Soon As He Mentioned His Murdered Daughter. But Kavanaugh Himself Asked Security to Remove Guttenberg and ID'd Him to Security By the Bracelets He Wears for His Daughter. pic.twitter.com/7MD66IBLk3
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 5, 2018
“The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.” ~Anne Frank pic.twitter.com/6YLZmtHwV2
— Ryan Deitsch (@Ryan_Deitsch) September 4, 2018
If Kavanaugh had the political sense god gave the common alderman, he would have given the guy the big handshake right there before god and the world. Maybe an arm draped over the shoulder.
Why are people so bad at this?— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) September 5, 2018
trnc
Being an asshole doesn’t appear to have hurt his career so far.
randy khan
He has no soul.
Adam L Silverman
The only good news is that the Armed Intelligentsia has not yet weighed in on this. Most likely because it isn’t being covered on Fox News or Breitbart.
burnspbesq
And after all of today’s events. McConnell is still smiling, because he knows that none of it will have changed any Republican votes.
NotMax
Deep-seated fear of contracting compassion cooties.
Mary G
It did not help that Raj Shah at the White House immediately put out a video from way away and said Kavanaugh was going to shake hands, but the security hustled him away before he could, which is refuted by every angle. Such a clumsy lie. And DiFi set it up, so proud of her. She has been bad at things, but not guns.
Mike G
He strikes me as an ass-kissing moral coward, which of course is the only kind of candidate Trump would select.
When he worked for Ken Starr he noticed Starr’s prissy self-righteous outrage at Bill Clinton’s behavior, so he doubled-down acting extra-poutraged and digging up the most humiliating and intrusive questions for the deposition. His enthusiasm for presidential accountability ended the moment a Repig took office. His blatant lie about being the most thoroughly-vetted candidate for the SC, and here he’s too cowardly to even extend a courtesy if it might piss off one of his owners.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@burnspbesq: I wouldn’t bet against it, but stranger things can happen. And things like this, and the secret documents, and “What are you hiding and why?” might well drag down the Republicans in individual races. It’s like the Abrams and O’Rourke races: This fight can have down-ticket effects even if the Rs drag him across the finish line.
hueyplong
This incident merely makes Kavanaugh more attractive to 51 Senators.
It’s all about November.
BruceFromOhio
Finally, the sins laid bare for all to see. Let us observe who else turns and walks away.
Gin & Tonic
I really wish people would credit the photographer who caught that moment perfectly in living black and white: Andy Harnik of the AP. That’s a prize-winning shot, if you ask me.
Mary G
Moar cheating:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/a-republican-congressman-helped-a-rival-collect-signatures-to-get-on-the-ballot-some-of-those-signatures-were-fake/2018/09/04/3e1c439c-b049-11e8-9a6a-565d92a3585d_story.html?utm_term=.e1791954b7a1
WaPo: A Republican congressman helped a rival collect signatures to get on the ballot. Some of those signatures were fake.
He called up the Democratic activist who discovered it when she saw her neighbor who had moved away had supposedly signed, and tried to intimidate her. Now there’s a special prosecutor. How stupid can they get?
Gin & Tonic
Plus, what I’m reading elsewhere on the Internet (so it has to be true) is that Feinstein introduced Guttenberg to Kavanaugh before this moment, so Kavanaugh already knew who the guy was, and turned away then called security to get Guttenberg out of the room.
I’m sure he’ll just call balls and strikes when he’s on the SCOTUS, though.
Mary G
Adam, if you are around, can you close my link in #12 that I forgot? It’s captured the reply button.
waspuppet
You know, as with so many things Republicans do, if it was really a mistake all Kavanaugh has to do is seek Guttenberg out and make a point of shaking his hand, and/or saying something, tomorrow. Not only is it the decent thing to do, but Wolf Blitzer would carry him on his shoulders for the next 6 months.
But it never occurs to them to do it, and it never occurs to Our Media Stars that it’s actually possible.
donnah
Guttenberg was just on Laurence O’Donnell’s program and said he now makes an effort to speak to any public and political figures to introduce himself as the parent of a child murdered at Parkland. He said he knew that Kavanaugh clearly heard him and was surprised that Kavanaugh deliberately turned away, refusing to shake his hand. There was no “security” move to pull him away from Guttenberg; he did it himself.
You can see in the video that Kavanaugh’s expression abruptly changes when Guttenberg says who he is. Kavanaugh is a disgrace. His confirmation disgusts me.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: Done.
And with that, I’m to bed!
Suzanne
@donnah:
Me too, and I am thinking unkindly of every lefty and centrist voter who just couldn’t bring themselves to get the fuck over it and pull the lever for HRC.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
Local news just stupidly equated Nike’s stock falling 3% with their Kaepernick decision. No other context about similar companies also experiencing a drop in their stocks over the same time period because of stupid tariffs. Nope, must be that flag-hater Kaepernick’s fault!
Oh, and “some” people have vowed to stick by Nike but “others” are going to boycott. Gotta love that lazy, context-free vagueness, right?
cynthia ackerman
@waspuppet:
Christ, what an asshole.
The fact that this tool is even considered for appointment, much less that he’s virtually assured of success, makes me feel like I’m living in a real life Idiocracy.
Cacti
Like any right wing sociopath, Kavanaugh can’t feign empathy because the entire concept is alien to him.
And bringing his minor children to the hearing so that they could be theatrically removed had all the authenticity of a professional wrestling match.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Mary G:
Christ, what a fucking thug. And these people consider themselves real Americans.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I heard more of the hearing than I saw today. Why was Condi Rice there? And how long has it been since she had any fiber? She looks like she was very uncomfortable.
opiejeanne
@Cacti: What’s this about having the kids removed?
opiejeanne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Moral fiber or dietary?
lamh36
ICYMI (or maybe I just did):
gene108
All Brett has to do is impress 50 Republican Senators. The rest of us don’t matter. And those Republican Senators are being paid by their billionaire backers to be impressed.
Hope this wakes the Left up and has them taking the courts as seriously the Right.
Mike in NC
Said it before, but Kavanaugh bears a strong resemblance to the idiot store manager on the TV sitcom “Superstore” starring America Ferriera.
gene108
@cynthia ackerman:
To be fair, President Camacho and his Cabinet seemed to want to do right by the people. They just did not know any better.
I cannot say the same for the current crop of Republicans
Gin & Tonic
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Let me guess: Sinclair?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Interesting, and with the caveat that all races are different, I believe Andrew Gillum also ran far fewer TV ads than his primary opponents
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Gin & Tonic:
Don’t know. It’s 21 WFMJ and I can’t find any Sinclair connections. It was just such a lazy news report that I caught the tale end of and royally pissed me off
Gin & Tonic
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: You can walk from Somerville to Cambridge before lunch leaving door hangers along the way. You can’t walk from Pensacola to Key West.
Gin & Tonic
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Huh, still locally-owned. That’s unusual.
WaterGirl
What a total fucking pig this man is. As I’m thinking about the nominee not just him turning away but also not shaking the man’s hand AND also calling security to have the gentleman hauled away I can feel that my face looks just like it would if I had stepped in fresh puppy shit and it was oozing between my toes.
This fucking prick needs to go down.
rikyrah
They are hiding 90% of this mofos public service record, and things should just proceed? Phuck Outta Here ? ?
Perjuring piece of garbage ?
dww44
Speaking for myself, tomorrow I will be calling my 2 Republican senators again to ask them to vote no on Kavanaugh and to be principled and bring a halt to this unseemly, undemocratic, patently unfair ramming through of his nomination. And, no, they didn’t get a mandate to do this. They represent all of us not just the monied interests.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Gin & Tonic:
Yeah, it’s only locally-owned because it’s owned by the The Vindicator, which itself is still locally-owned.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@dww44:
My AP Gov teacher, himself a Republican, mocked the very idea of poltical mandates.
philpm
The look on Kavanaugh’s face is the one of a man who just saw his future and realizes it ends realllllllly badly. There is serious fear in that look.
Martin
@rikyrah: They need Kavanaugh to keep Trump out of prison. They’ll burn the place down to get him confirmed. He could whip it out and start jerking off in the hearing and they’ll still confirm him. The reason the Dems are fighting are to ensure that the GOP pays as much of a price as possible for this win.
Chetan Murthy
@NotMax:
ALL the upvotes. Yes, this is precisely it. Wanna be the sort of man who can commit all sorts of atrocities in pursuit for “more for me” while still being able to go home to your children every evening? Just make sure you NEVER, NEVER, NEVER experience/witness the results of your actions.
It’s about having a clear conscience.
Neldob
The man is a cynical toady of corporate and big money and is just one more corrupt scum endorsed by the repuglicans.
Mnemosyne
For folks who missed it earlier, one of the writers at Wonkette had epic coverage of today’s hearing:
https://www.wonkette.com/brett-kavanaugh-calling-balls-and-strikes-all-over-your-face-an-illegitimate-supreme-court-confirmation-hearing-liveblog
It was apparently a full day of all 10 Democrats on the Committee taking 10-15 minutes apiece to say, “Fuck this asshole” in legalese and demand an adjournment that a sundowning Grassley almost gave by accident at one point.
The Dangerman
@Martin:
A useful tactic to avoid handshakes, but runs the danger of Trump whipping it out in public for pleasure, and, shit, pretty soon Hannity has to extoll the virtues of Onanism on FOX.
Ruckus
Charles Pierce
Why are people so bad at this?
SATSQ
Because they are FUCKING REPUBLICAN ASSHOLES
Why do we have to answer this every time. FUCKING REPUBLICAN ASSHOLES have all the desirability of a massive e-coli infection after 5 days.
And I know very, very well where of I speak.
John Revolta
@The Dangerman: “The liberals, who are all for Free Love and Gay Marriage and Tranny Boys using the Girls’ Bathroom, won’t even let a grown adult have a little pleasure all by himself, not bothering anybody yadda yadda woof……….”
Hey, this is easy!
Ruckus
@Chetan Murthy:
He doesn’t have a clear conscience.
Most of these asswipes are not stupid, they are evil, soulless, less than worthless piles of the scum that scum can’t stand, if there were a heaven and a hell, these are the people that the devil wouldn’t touch, which is why he has a fork. They have devil cooties.
He doesn’t have a clear conscience, he has none.
Mnemosyne
I know that the New Yorker/Bannon thing is dead, but I couldn’t let this tweet go unseen ?
Aleta
@Mike G: Right on target.
If Kavanaugh had any moral sense he’d say to himself: I don’t want those things out in public. And if it did come out, I’d be voted down. So obviously SC judge is not the job for me. I’ll withdraw and do something else!
But no. Even though he looked guilty as hell from the beginning and nervous about all the NRA money.
I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I’m looking at one right now.
Mnemosyne
@Chetan Murthy:
What Ruckus said. It’s not about a clear conscience —it’s about plausible deniability. If Kavanaugh can avoid ever meeting an actual victim of gun violence, he can claim that he made his pro-NRA decisions from a completely neutral and unbiased position and he just didn’t know that he was hurting anyone.
But as soon as he meets the victim of one of his decisions face-to-face, the jig is up. Plausible deniability is gone. He can no longer claim that he didn’t know he was causing damage and makes it clear that he doesn’t care.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: The vast majority of the media could benefit from an unpaid Teen Vogue internship.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
I like that. Guy wants to be a United States Supreme Court Justice and he’s happy to be a fucking tool of the ultra rich right and gun humpers. Yeah that’s a good look for that job. Of course the asswipe that “nominated” him regards his oath of office as a fucking joke, why shouldn’t this asswipe? All the people’s ass.
Villago Delenda Est
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Or at least some upside the heads with a clue-by-four.
TriassicSands
He doesn’t need common sense and he doesn’t have to good at it, he’s got a Republican majority and powerless Democrats. Besides, he’s like Trump, who doesn’t like military personnel who get captured. Kavanaugh has no use for people who get murdered. Not his problem. His main concern appears to be the well-being of large corporations. All his compassion has to be saved for them and their CEOs. There simply isn’t any left for ordinary human beings.
What did it for me was the expression on Kavanaugh’s face. Apart from Donald Trump,* I don’t much care for calling people names, but honestly, Kavanaugh = P…O…S.
Cacti
@opiejeanne:
Kavanaugh brought his two daughters, ages 13 and 10 to his Senate confirmation hearing. Wifey rushed them out of the Senate gallery when the protesters started getting all protest-y and the Dem Senators started asking impertinent questions.
Besides Republican SCOTUS nominees, who brings their young children to a job interview?
Procopius
I just feel uncomfortable with a man who only coaches girls’ sportsball teams. Probably because of a character flaw of mine.
NotMax
@Cacti
Cannot begrudge her bringing the kids to witness a slice (however ragged) of history first hand. Even knowing that the penchant of the right wingers is to have family displayed as a prop in order to use them simultaneously as a shield and a crutch.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: agree
Major Major Major Major
@John Revolta: ooh, maybe not with the t-word there. ?
opiejeanne
@Cacti: Thanks.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
To be fair, the character whose voice is being used would probably use the t-word and the n-word equally as casually. But it’s probably worth drawing a bit of a veil over it even when it’s being used as an example of a casual slur said by a terrible person.
Sister Golden Bear
@John Revolta: I know you’re doing a character voice, but if you could avoid the t-word in the future, I’d be much obliged. As Mnemosyne suggested, please veil it instead.
Because usually when I hear that word it’s either being used as a slur, or by people threatening to physically attack me. (Yes, the latter has happened. A number of times.)
No I’m not personally triggered by it, but it’s got similar sort of problems as the n-word and doesn’t need to be flung around casually.
Sister Golden Bear
BTW, in response to the thread downstairs, this is a good example of why representation matters. Straight white dudes don’t have the awareness nor the context about why the t-word is problematic that LGBT people do.
sukabi
@Cacti: alito brought his young kids to his confirmation as well, don’t think they stayed long as questioning was pointed and made his wife cry.???
Amir Khalid
@cynthia ackerman:
When one remember just who appointed Kavanaugh, it all makes sense.
Jr
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think that’s right. I would also like to see pols disconnect from social media, particularly Facebook.
evodevo
@Cacti: Obvious. It was a show stunt. To prove what a caring “family values” man he is. I’m glad it backfired. Go Dems!
Another Scott
@Mary G: (Maybe someone else already made this point here…)
OTOH, I think Popehat makes a decent point:
Yeah, sometimes it works (e.g. in the Texas governor race with Ann Richards), but one has to be careful with it.
‘morning everyone.
Cheers,
Scott.
wuzzat
@Another Scott: Honestly? Enthused is not quite the right word for what I think most of us feel over this situation, but I would hope that if confronted by the victim or survivor of any violent crime, any political appointee could muster civility and at least a veneer of sympathy. You can shake someone’s hand and tell them that you’re sorry for their loss without promising that you’ll do whatever they want because of it. You can even tell them that you’ll work to ensure that other families don’t suffer what they’ve suffered, assuming you mean it, without that meaning that your plan to achieve that goal is the same as theirs. This isn’t just Politics 101. It’s Human Decency 101, and yes. I’d like the the nominees I approve of to be able to pass that test as well.
Another Scott
@Amir Khalid: Along those lines, …
We often hear about how Anthony Kennedy was the “swing” vote on the SCOTUS, and how he was somehow a moderating force because of a couple of issues (gay marriage, abortion), yet Kennedy (supposedly) gave Trump his seat in return for the demand that Kavanaugh be his replacement.
Why are so few asking how someone so “moderate” could demand that this monster replace him? Maybe Kennedy isn’t actually so “moderate” after all??
And if Kennedy is such a moderating force on abortion, why has abortion rights and access been chipped away and restricted for the last few decades while he’s been on the court??!
“Who are you gonna believe? Me or your own lying eyes?”
Grrr…
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@wuzzat: Good points and well said.
I’m reminded of when Hillary was FLOTUS and the press was demanding that she hold a press conference to answer questions about all her “scandals” (billing records, cattle futures, the whole 9 yards). She waited a while, then said OK and picked a date and time. The appointed hour came, she started her Q&A and said she’d be there as long as there were questions. After 2-3 hours (IIRC), the Washington press was getting antsy and wanted to leave but she kept going. She ended up diffusing what could have been a disaster by handling it very well by showing she could handle the optics (as well as the substance).
Yeah, K should have either had the decency to do the right thing automatically, or should have known how to handle an “ambush”. He didn’t. How he handles it going forward will merely reinforce opinions about him, rather than softening opposition.
Cheers,
Scott.
J R in WV
@Gin & Tonic:
True that “You” singular cannot visit everyone in Florida.
“You” PLURAL certainly can, if you get a big enough group of volunteers, by putting all your energy into organizing rather than spending big money on political ads on TV in the expensive markets of Florida. Visit everyone, ask them to vote, mention your candidate, hand them a nice brochure.