Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

When we show up, we win.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing with Dr. Blasey and Judge Kavanaugh Live Feed Part III

Reader Interactions

257Comments

  2. 2.

    TenguPhule

    If they vote to proceed tomorrow, I can’t even begin to imagine how bad the fallout will be after this. JFC.

  3. 3.

    BretH

    Reposting from the nether regions of the last thread because it’s MY COMMENT AND THEREFORE VERY IMPORTANT!!!

    One “tell” that they are on a fishing expedition is that whenever Ford’s lawyer objects to a question with a point about client-attorney privilege, instead of going back to the prosecutor to rephrase the question they ask Ford to answer as best as she can. So they don’t have really specific things they are building questions towards and will take whatever answers are given.

  5. 5.

    Mary G

    This is the first time on Twitter that all my trending topics have been related to one thing – various aspects of this hearing. No sportsball/Throwback Thursday/celebrities I’ve never heard of. The whole world is watching the Republicans being Republicans, which will not go well for them.

  6. 6.

    Rommie

    I’d like to think Pence is not thrilled about casting a tie-breaking vote. I’ll be wrong, but I can hope.

  7. 7.

    Marcopolo

    I don’t know if anyone else has thought about commented on the fact that this hearing is exactly why Trump never wants his sexual harassment accusers to get into a court room. I know we haven’t seen K’s testimony yet but I have to believe that compared to Blasey Ford he will not come off well. Just as Trump will not come off well (really, who am I kidding, he would be a dumpster fire) versus pretty much every women who has ever accused him.

    At this rate we looking at a generational sorting of political party ID by sex, which makes me so hopeful.

    And I am a middle-aged white male.

    Also too, my sincerest thanks to everyone here who made a call to your Senators over the past week!

  8. 8.

    Elizabelle

    Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Mazie Hirono are the senators seated in closest proximity to CB Ford.

    That has to be reassuring.

    Will they be in the same seats for BK?

  11. 11.

    chopper

    i seriously am having a hard time figuring out how this could be going worse for the GOP and kavanaugh.

  13. 13.

    Ian R

    @Rommie: Or maybe he is. Voting against BK and hoping Trump gets indicted then impeached is Pence’s only shot of ever being president.

  15. 15.

    Aleta

    As Christine Blasey Ford prepares to testify, I can’t stop thinking about what @kerrywashington said last night during the @TimesTalks:
    She has destroyed her anonymity for the sake of our democracy.
    — Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones)

  16. 16.

    Mary G

    @chopper: Orrin Hatch bursting out that she’s a lying whore?

    I like how the Democrats are mosting just making speeches about how great Dr. Blasey Ford is, and how brave.

  19. 19.

    Mai Naem mobile

    I lurv Mazie Hirono. I want to move abroad to Hawaii to be represented by Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono .

  25. 25.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    back to “who paid for the polygraph?” Okay, she works for a bunch of morons, could she not have told them at lunch: “No, this is dumb, I’m telling you, I’m not gonna do it.

    @germy: I was hoping for a “as you well know” to cap that one

  26. 26.

    chopper

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    and she’s right about mitchell – she’s focusing questions on details before and after the assault, knowing full well that those are the sort that end up fuzzy after trauma, in an attempt to portray ford as an unreliable witness.

  28. 28.

    BretH

    Answer on the polygraph funding was priceless. Go ahead and make dirt on that one: I am aware of “GoFundMe” sites but I can’t keep up because I am moving and my normal schedule is a little fucked right now.

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    LOL. Mitchell reminds everyone that CBFord has a load of legal bills and the polygraph fee …

    and CBFord responds about the GoFundMe success; they’re mostly paying her security expenses.

    So: coming forward has been expensive AND people believe CBFord enough that they’re funding her expenses.

    OK there, Republicans.

  30. 30.

    TenguPhule

    @Elizabelle:

    Mitch McConnell is not having a good day. Any bad day for him is a better one for us!

    my greatest regret here is that Dr. Ford is having to martyr herself for the apathetic voter’s sins. Her life is never going to be the same. Her family is going to have to watch their back for gods alone know how many years against Trump’s true believers. She shouldn’t have had to do this. This country failed her.

  35. 35.

    eric

    you know who is having an interesting day? Whomever in Maryland has to make a decision to convene a grand jury!

  36. 36.

    Immanentize

    Oh that is a big mistake by Mitchell — “I will ask for a ruling from the chair.” She knows she is losing.

  39. 39.

    Fleeting Expletive

    Jesus this R prosecutor is trying to tree a who-paid-for-the-polygraph fox? IS this the best they got? Sounds like Alex Jones. What the fuck are they trying to prove? Where id this come from?

  40. 40.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    So I had a thought (ouch!)

    It was this, about the usual comments from the usual suspects that “all men do this, we could all be accused of this exact same thing” or “we’re all going to be accused of sexual harassment, no male-female interaction is safe anymore”.

    Up till now, I’ve been thinking, “you idiots, it’s not that hard, RAPE IS NOT NORMAL. SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS NOT A NORMAL PART OF WORK LIFE.”

    This week has got me thinking about the rape culture. These guys are so embedded in it that it’s not a question of distinguishing harassment and violence from normal interactions, they really all ARE rapey. They really think that’s the model of how you interact with women. They don’t have another model. They have no idea what we’re saying when we say you could just, you know, be normal and human and not rapey.

    I’m not saying this well but I hope what I’m saying is clear. Teens in certain circles are not even being exposed to the non-rapey model. They need to be. This is a place where somehow, in some way, we have to pierce the bubble. Damned if I know how.

  42. 42.

    TenguPhule

    @Elizabelle:

    Mitchell reminds everyone that CBFord has a load of legal bills and the polygraph fee …

    This is “pounding the table” part of legal strategy.

    I wonder what exactly Mitchell was offered that she’s willing to eat this shit sandwich Grassley served her. Political ambitions? They plan to have her run in Arizona for McCain’s seat?

  43. 43.

    Ian R

    @raven: I believe the person running it shut it down when it hit about $200k (in a day), and said there would be another if it ended up being needed.

  44. 44.

    TenguPhule

    @Immanentize:

    Oh that is a big mistake by Mitchell — “I will ask for a ruling from the chair.” She knows she is losing.

    “Hey Ref, help me out here!”

  45. 45.

    Mary G

    Maggie H and the rest of the FTFNYT crew must be furious that she went to the WaPo. Serves them right.

  47. 47.

    TenguPhule

    @Fleeting Expletive:

    IS this the best they got? Sounds like Alex Jones. What the fuck are they trying to prove? Where id this come from?

    I believe she’s just reading off a script Grassley’s aides prepared for her.

  48. 48.

    Mnemosyne

    @burnspbesq:

    I was just saying in the thread below that I suspect that this whole situation is making Republican women think about their own assault stories that they’ve compartmentalized or repressed/minimized, and they’re PISSED at Dr. Ford for making them think about those traumas again.

    They’re just as triggered by this past week as liberal women are, but their response is to blame the victim because their worldview doesn’t allow them to do anything else.

  51. 51.

    Mary G

    This format was a terrible mistake by Grassley. The Democrats are being masterful in their use of their time.

  53. 53.

    germy

    @raven: I’m pretty sure it’s closed now.

    According to their site, they’re done, and they said not to contribute to any other go fund me’s because there were some fraud ones popping up.

  54. 54.

    Cacti

    @TenguPhule:

    This is “pounding the table” part of legal strategy.

    I wonder what exactly Mitchell was offered that she’s willing to eat this shit sandwich Grassley served her. Political ambitions? They plan to have her run in Arizona for McCain’s seat?

    As someone who practiced in Maricopa County for multiple years, I can tell you that the County Attorney’s office is utterly corrupt at the upper levels, and abetted the worst abuses of Joe Arpaio for years. Andy Thomas finally got hauled before the State Bar when he started opening vexatious investigations into his political rivals on the county Board of Supervisors.

  55. 55.

    Mnemosyne

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    Yesterday, MomSense was talking about an organization that goes to high schools and does role play with the kids to model consent, but I can’t remember what it was called. It was in one of the evening threads.

  56. 56.

    trollhattan

    POLITICO (I know, I know)

    THERE ARE A LOT OF REPUBLICANS who are already hoping that the White House will pull BRETT KAVANAUGH’S Supreme Court nomination — “today,” as one put it to us. “Total disaster,” as another senior Republican told us. Factions in and around the White House — Trump allies — are getting concerned. As we said this morning: It’s hard to see what Kavanaugh can do to change the strikingly difficult political dynamics. He has already said, without a doubt, that he did not do anything — that has left him no wiggle room. We’ve not spoken to a single Republican so far who thinks this is going well for them. Most think it’s an abject disaster.

  58. 58.

    JGabriel

    @Marcopolo:

    I know we haven’t seen K’s testimony yet but I have to believe that compared to Blasey Ford he will not come off well.

    Kavanaugh didn’t even come off well answering softball questions on Fox News. It’s hard to imagine him doing well under questioning from Democrats, and particularly from Democratic women.

  60. 60.

    Elizabelle

    Do we think Mitch McC will actually make his Senators vote on the BK nom? It may be what the donors want, but it is pretty much poison, without the fig leaf of an FBI investigation (which even the deplorable Meghan McArdle is now calling for).

  61. 61.

    Immanentize

    Mitchell was hoping that Dr. BFord would dis the republicans. But she didn’t. And she did it so genuinely and in such a guileless way.

  62. 62.

    schrodingers_cat

    From MAGA mouthpiece

    If Kavanaugh does not make it through, three things people will hear from Trump allies – A) A reminder of Kavanaugh’s service under Bush B) The lack of an internal political process around the pick inside the WH C) The lack of thorough internal vetting

    Why is coming up with excuses for T, her job?

  63. 63.

    Leto

    I think the reason they keep circling the money question is they want her to say: George Soros is my sugar daddy, and I do everything he says! Gotcha!

  68. 68.

    Cacti

    @Mnemosyne:

    I was just saying in the thread below that I suspect that this whole situation is making Republican women think about their own assault stories that they’ve compartmentalized or repressed/minimized, and they’re PISSED at Dr. Ford for making them think about those traumas again.

    They’re just as triggered by this past week as liberal women are, but their response is to blame the victim because their worldview doesn’t allow them to do anything else.

    On Mediate, there’s an article about a conservative female caller to C-SPAN, who started out calling Dr. Ford a liar, then burst into ragged sobs recalling her own sexual abuse.

    I think the cognitive dissonance is reaching the breaking point for some who have been conditioned to believe that the right wing is always on the side of morality.

  69. 69.

    JGabriel

    Politico via trollhattan:

    THERE ARE A LOT OF REPUBLICANS who are already hoping that the White House will pull BRETT KAVANAUGH’S Supreme Court nomination — “today,” as one put it to us. “Total disaster,” as another senior Republican told us. Factions in and around the White House — Trump allies — are getting concerned.

    Senate Republicans probably want the nomination pulled before they have to go through the shitshow they’re expecting from Kavanaugh’s testimony.

  74. 74.

    Eljai

    Is Mitchell is trying to paint CBFord as some kind of conniving political operative? It’s not working. Also, I can’t confirm but in the previous question period, I thought Mitchell asked CBFord when she “leaked” to the press. That seemed very accusatory to me. There’s nothing wrong with CBFord telling her story to the Washington Post.

  75. 75.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Elizabelle: Liz Mair is GOP operative whose eyes remind me of Robert Shaw’s description of a shark in Jaws

    Liz Mair @ LizMair
    I think they’re going to find a way to get rid of him that saves face. Maybe it’ll be Flake or Sasse who seals the deal, but the story will be “he couldn’t get out of committee,” Trump will be allowed to rail, Senate Rs will get a pass, and we’ll get a new nominee.

    I think Ben Sasse is the new Paul Ryan, young-ish handsome-ish smarmy douche that the Sunday morning bookers are gonna fall in love with. That said, I think he’s smart enough to see the way this is going.

    GOP stooges Josh Krashauer and Jeremy Peters are saying they either have to pull this nomination or at least call Mark Judge, and I suspect even Lindsey Graham isn’t so far gone to see that latter can only postpone the former after making Kavanugh look even worse.

  80. 80.

    TenguPhule

    @Elizabelle:

    Do we think Mitch McC will actually make his Senators vote on the BK nom?

    yes. Either he withdraws on his own or they will have to vote on his nomination.

    Turtle’s fascist reign of terror in the Senate depends on his control over the GOP majority. Any wobbling there and he’ll discover half a dozen Starscreams ready to try and take over the leadership.

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne

    @Elizabelle:

    Knowing Flake, that means he believes her but is going to vote for Kavanaugh anyway, because Party Before Country, and Bros Before Hos. ?

  83. 83.

    sukabi

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: What I think you’re trying to get at is that self-proclaimed Christian men with an authoritarian bent are more likely to view and practice sexual assault as their right as”men” than other groups of men.

  85. 85.

    TenguPhule

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Sen. Graham warns Democrats: “If this is the new norm, you better watch out for your nominees”

    Sen Graham, if this is the new norm, you may want to remember that Treason is still punishable by death under the Constitution.

  87. 87.

    TenguPhule

    @Elizabelle:

    Jeff Flake looks genuinely sad.

    Many predators practice protective coloration in order to keep their victims from noticing until its too late.

  90. 90.

    Immanentize

    Harris kicks a little ass. Critical point — “Kavanaugh has not (asked for an FBI investigation, asked for other witnesses, asked for experts to testify).”

  91. 91.

    cynthia ackerman

    I said a day or two ago that I hoped Kavanaugh proves to be the Edmund Pettus Bridge moment for the GOP’s worst tendencies.

    Two things today tell me it’s happening.

    First, the way the Ford portion of today’s hoedown is going. Even knee-jerk sycophants (now Napolitano) are stunned.

    Second, the absolute tone deafness of far right harpies trying to shame Dr. Ford (Malkin, e.g.) is going to backfire in ways which get a few low-information fence-sitters upset.

    Please proceed, Senators.

  92. 92.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @TenguPhule: Not enough mention I think, that a lot of this is because Mitch McConnell not only thought a quick SC vote before the mid-terms would jam Red State Ds, but that he, like trump, simply enjoys power politics, rubbing the Dems’ faces in “I got the votes fuck you”. Turtle McSoapy was shattering norms before trump ever rode down his escalator to the applause of underemployed NY actors

  93. 93.

    Leto

    Sen Harris sliding the knife, nice and slow, into Grassley regarding his past statement about Anita Hill and FBI investigations.

  95. 95.

    VeniceRiley

    When Butters said “You better watch out for your nominees.” I laughed. Oh really, Miss Lindsey? Bring it on! It could never get worse for Dem nominees. Also I am completely enraged. But MSNBC panel just buried him after, and that made me happy.

  96. 96.

    trollhattan

    @Mnemosyne:
    Exactly so. Flake acts like Trump has trackers on his family and dog. He’s “brave” in saying non-complimentary things since announcing his retirement, but the actions remain as before.

  97. 97.

    Mnemosyne

    @Elizabelle:

    I do hope that this whole process ends up being cathartic for Dr. Blasey Ford. She stood up, she told the truth, and powerful people believed her and thanked her for coming forward.

  99. 99.

    Mary G

    This proceeding is a tryout for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020 that they could never afford on pay TV. It’s karma for all the free air the media gave Twitler in the last election. And they are not using up their 5 minutes to blowhard, they make a quick point and shut up. Bravo to all of them.

  101. 101.

    TenguPhule

    @Mnemosyne:

    and powerful people believed her and thanked her for coming forward.

    And rest of them behaved like assholes. I hope she isn’t further tramatized by a firsthand up close look at the jaws of the GOP machine.

  103. 103.

    Aleta

    I am so feeling Blasey Ford’s reliance on her scientific knowledge of how the brain works. I strongly relate to how intellectualizing your own life experiences is a coping mechanism.
    — Amanda Marcotte

  104. 104.

    Doug R

    @Mart:

    Booker bugs me a little bit. I think he is really sincere, just his demeanor makes me wonder about him…

    He’s trying to stay out of the way, saving his rage for Kavanaugh.

  108. 108.

    randy khan

    @Elizabelle:

    Do we think Mitch McC will actually make his Senators vote on the BK nom? It may be what the donors want, but it is pretty much poison, without the fig leaf of an FBI investigation (which even the deplorable Meghan McArdle is now calling for).

    If he doesn’t have 50 votes, I predict there will be no vote. A friend suggested that Kavanaugh could demand a vote, but I’m sure that McConnell has ways of convincing him not to go that way. (For instance, noting that there hadn’t been hearings on the other accusations yet, and that the Republicans could hire the Mitchell again – this time to question him.)

  111. 111.

    sukabi

    @TenguPhule: Graham needs his closet cleaned, he’d feel so much better*…might be behind bars but the pressure would be off.

    *Unless his closets contain something very far from social norms, which I suspect may be the case.

  112. 112.

    debit

    So, was the last bit by Mitchell a way of covering her own butt? Because otherwise the answer is: I asked for the FBI to do an interview as part of the investigation and was denied.

  116. 116.

    Elizabelle

    Have you guys been looking at the staff sitting behind the Senators?

    Do the GOP have any non-Caucasians?

  117. 117.

    cmorenc

    @Mnemosyne:

    They’re just as triggered by this past week as liberal women are, but their response is to blame the victim because their worldview doesn’t allow them to do anything else.

    …focus not on the vast majority of GOP women for whom your statement is accurate, but the 5 to 10% who are likely having the opposite reaction and identifying with Dr. Ford, as confirmed by recent polling about Kavenaugh. We don’t need to persuade or convert the irredeemable 90% of the GOP base to undermine their future electoral prospects – we only need a sufficient awakening among that 5 to 10%.

  118. 118.

    FDRLincoln

    Looking forward to President Kamala Harris giving Christine Blasey Ford the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2021.

  120. 120.

    FlipYrWhig

    @VeniceRiley: “You’ll rue the day you started this when *you* want to nominate a lying rapey hatchet-man to the Supreme Court!”
    “Um, OK, see, I have a feeling we actually won’t want to do that.”
    “Well not anymore! Harrumph harrumph harrumph.”

  122. 122.

    OGLiberal

    @Mandalay: They are no better than Republican men even if slightly less believe Kavanaugh. I said in an earlier thread, the GOP women I know won’t/don’t care about this – assaulting women takes a back seat to hurting brown folks, tax cuts and protecting fetuses. That they are women means that while I don’t expect a larger number of them to believe Ford, a LOT more should be undecided. GOP dudes, of course, will believe Kavanaugh even if Ford had a video recording.

  123. 123.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mart: I know what you mean. Booker, especially when he was mayor, reminds me of what Letterman once said about Leno: “It’s great that Jay happened to be chugging along in his Stanley Steamer when that elderly couple needed their tire changed, but how did the photographer find out about it?”

    But he gave a hell of a speech at the ’16 convention, and definitely has his moments in the Senate

  124. 124.

    Mary G

    @Elizabelle: No. And very few women. When they have a group photo, like with interns, they put almost all the women in the front row of the picture and then there are three or four rows of men.

  125. 125.

    sukabi

    @randy khan: haven’t been actually watching, but if I were him the women I wouldn’t want questioning me are all on the D side, Mitchell might be his best option….pretty sure she wouldn’t be asking questions if she wasn’t in the gop pocket.

  127. 127.

    Elizabelle

    CBFord as she exits behind the Senators’ seats: to Kamala Harris, delightedly: “My Senator!”

    But she does not linger.

  128. 128.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @Rommie:
    Minor, but I believe Pence has cast the most tie-breaking votes of any VP since at least 1945. Another sign that this is minority rule

  131. 131.

    HeleninEire

    Very very very good. She made zero missteps.

    And if Mitchell was supposed to break Ford she failed miserably.

    Trump gonna call her FAT in 3…2….1.

  132. 132.

    Adam L Silverman

    @randy khan: Here’s the problem, unless or until either Kavanaugh withdraws or the President withdraws his nomination of Kavanaugh, the nomination is pending and no one else can be nominated for the vacancy. So if McConnell won’t hold a vote because he doesn’t have the votes and neither Kavanaugh will withdraw himself nor the President will withdraw his nomination of Kavanaugh, then the nomination will linger until the next Congress is sworn in at the beginning of January.

    At this point there are only three options if they intend to bring a new nominee: McConnell holds the vote and Kavanaugh is voted down, Kavanaugh withdraws himself from consideration, or the President withdraws his nomination of Kavanaugh.

  134. 134.

    Humdog

    In the midst of this brave woman’s travail, can we not call Senator Graham “miss”? Being a woman is not an insult.

  139. 139.

    Fleeting Expletive

    my decorum is shot to hell. Grassley’s bailout is a quote for the ages ::Let’s just be nice here/to her–he mumbled. Adjourn for 45 minutes…not adjourn, just recess. It’s fucking over, Cornyn’s troubled, Lindsey is loyal to the end about flying and polygraphs. No search warrant? He’s too far gone.

  141. 141.

    Mary G

    Gillibrand is doing her audition in the hall and making a lot of great points. Hitting Grassley for using a prosecutor – Dr. Ford is not on trial! Saying to women across America that you don’t matter, we don’t believe you. This is an unmitigated disaster for the Republicans.

  144. 144.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I turned it off

    Elizabeth Nolan Brown @ ENBrown
    THE PROSECUTOR IS BLAMING FORD FOR THE TERRIBLE FORMAT OF THIS HEARING DEAR LORD #KavanaughHearings live

    What the everlovin’ fuck

  145. 145.

    HeleninEire

    Oh shit. Miss Lyndsey is calling Ford “emotional.” Come on Lyndsey just go with “HYSTERICAL.” Go there, bitch.

  146. 146.

    Adam L Silverman

  147. 147.

    Kay

    Kombiz Lavasany Retweeted
    Walter Einenkel
    ‏@wallein
    21m21 minutes ago
    More
    Sen. Lindsey Graham threatens character hit jobs against Democratic nominees for court

    As opposed to just not allowing a hearing at all? Democrats are up then. They’re better off than they were before.

    They’ve already done the worst. Their threats are meaningless, after Garland.

  150. 150.

    Adam L Silverman

    @cmorenc: Also, the numbers of Americans – men or women – identifying and registering as Republicans has gone down over the past two years. So there are fewer of them, but their support for the President and the GOP shows up higher in polling.

  153. 153.

    patrick II

    A outraged Lindsay Graham is being interviewed and shown on MSNBC• He repeatedly says how angry he is because this is just a sham being run by the Democrats to delay the appointment until after the election. Ever hear of Merrick Garland Mr. Outraged?

  155. 155.

    Elizabelle

    I would love to see the Lindsey Graham meltdown video. What are you watching? Does anyone have a full clip?

  156. 156.

    TenguPhule

    Chuck Grassley’s heavy-handed stewardship of a very delicate hearing

    Even before Ford was allowed to deliver her powerful and emotional opening statement, Grassley ran through complaints about how Democrats and her legal team have handled the process. After apologizing to both Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh for the things they have been subjected to in the past two weeks, Grassley placed the hearing in a partisan context. He repeatedly described Ford’s letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the committee’s ranking Democrat, as “secret,” suggesting that it was nefariously hidden rather than a symptom of Ford’s desire not to come forward at that point.

    “Some of my colleagues, consistent with their stated desires to obstruct Kavanaugh’s nomination by any means precisely — by any means necessary, pushed for FBI investigations into the allegations,” Grassley said. He added that the hearing would be “in stark contrast to the grandstanding and chaos that we saw from the other side during the previous four days in this hearing process.”

    Feinstein spoke next, and she quickly noted that Grassley had not introduced the witness — despite having introduced the outside GOP counsel questioning her, Rachel Mitchell — and said she would do it for him.

    The conduct has not gone unnoticed.

  157. 157.

    Kay

    @Adam L Silverman:

    How great of the NYTimes to preview Trump’s defense like that. Identical to what the Trump operatives plan to say, as usual.

    “The master knew it would be a disaster. He was poorly served!”

    They have to do something at that newspaper. Switch it up or something. It’s bad.

  160. 160.

    Mary G

    And CSPAN is back to callers and another old woman saying she doesn’t believe Dr. Ford because one time she said the worst thing was them laughing and another time she said the worst thing was him putting his hand over her mouth, so she’s lying about everything… Click. I know I should feel bad for the denial and suppressed pain these collaborators must be feeling, but I just want to slap her.

  162. 162.

    Martin

    @Mandalay: Someone, I think a GOP political consultant has stated that we don’t choose our politics based on our religion and beliefs, rather we choose our religion and beliefs based on our politics. This whole exercise seems like a perfect encapsulation of that.

  163. 163.

    Adam L Silverman

  164. 164.

    randy khan

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Remember that McConnell is entirely amoral and result-oriented. If the Republicans don’t have the votes and Kavanaugh isn’t smart enough to withdraw without a push, McConnell will provide whatever push is necessary. I wasn’t kidding about him telling Kavanaugh they would need more hearings to explore the other accusations.

    But I really don’t see Kavanaugh as a Bork kind of guy. He will be smart enough to know that a vote to reject him would be worse for him than withdrawing, if for no other reason than that McConnell et al. would remember that he didn’t play ball.

  165. 165.

    Elizabelle

    @Mary G: That’s what got me to turn off C-Span too.

    I think maybe C-Span should learn: you give air to ugly shit like that, we stop watching or listening to your program.

  166. 166.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Adam L Silverman: This is some bullshit. “Oh he was very concerned, he saw this coming, he’s not surprised, he’s just ranting about how it’s going badly because he was expecting it so much.” There is absolutely no reason to believe this. Where do you think Haberman got it from, Ivanka?

  168. 168.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @opiejeanne: Oh, Senator Graham, I want to punch you in your smug lying-ass face right now

    You’ll have to get to him before Cynthia Alksne (sp?), a former prosecutor on MSNBC, who’s gonna grab and Uber over to the Capitol and bounce him off every marble wall in the building

  169. 169.

    Chris

    @patrick II:

    The beauty of it is, I’m sure he’s not faking. He actually is outraged. These people are so used to a world of “I want, you give, and then I am happy” they’re morally outraged by any kind of resistance at all.

  170. 170.

    Elizabelle

    I hope someone is seriously investigating this: why is Lindsey Graham so terrified of not having BK on the Supreme Court?

    Why is it personal to him? I think a lot of these cretins want judicial cover for when cases involving them come up.

  171. 171.

    TenguPhule

    @Elizabelle:

    But by the same token, Democrats should stop calling for Kavanaugh’s nomination to be withdrawn, as if that could possibly put this scandal to rest. Two days ago, yes, but now the nation cannot afford to punt. Regardless of what it might do to Republican chances of putting a conservative in the seat, or to Democratic chances of retaking the Senate, once Thursday’s hearing concludes, the president must reopen the FBI background checks to try to establish the truth of the allegations, from Swetnick and Ford and Ramirez. If the FBI substantiates them, any criminality should be referred to local prosecutors for possible prosecution. If the FBI is unable to substantiate any of them, then despite the lingering questions, Democrats should join Republicans and unanimously confirming Kavanaugh, to signal that some things — both #MeToo and the integrity of the nomination process — are above politics.

    your faith in Megan McArdle was sadly misplaced. Even after all this she still bothsided bullshit.

  173. 173.

    Adam L Silverman

    @randy khan:

    Remember that McConnell is entirely amoral and result-oriented.

    I think I wrote a post about this yesterday referencing one I wrote about this in June.

  178. 178.

    Elizabelle

    @TenguPhule: I didn’t say I clicked on the McArdle item.

    I never get out of the boat with McArdle. Never. Don’t look a vampire in the eyes. (per Stephen King) Don’t read McArdle. You can’t undo the damage.

  179. 179.

    The Moar You Know

    In effect, this sex crimes expert asked NO questions about the alleged crime itself.

    @Adam L Silverman: She’s a Republican but not stupid. She sticks her arm into that woodchipper she knows she’s getting back nothing but a stump. Smartest thing anyone in the GOP did today.

  181. 181.

    Martin

    At the end of the day, Kavanaugh is entitled to this job and we will burn down as many lives as we need to put him in that job.

  184. 184.

    Kay

    @FlipYrWhig:

    They’ll defend by saying they did get it from administration sources. Which is the problem.

    No one is doubting they said it. The thing is whether it’s true.

  186. 186.

    Elizabelle

    @Adam L Silverman: Per Senator Graham: So the real villain is …. drumroll …..

    Diane Feinstein. “For betraying CBFord’s trust.”

    That dog won’t hunt. It won’t even leave the yard.

  187. 187.

    HeleninEire

    @opiejeanne: Nah we’re good. Idiot said that the Dems want this to go past the midterms “when they have the Senate.” He gave away the game. They think they are gonna lose the Senate!

  191. 191.

    Kay

    @Martin:

    He lies too much to be in that job anyway. They all say they “go in with an open mind” and they “won’t comment on hypotheticals” – I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the fact that this guy told blatant lies about 17 times in the brief period he’s been speaking publicly. They should take him off the bench. He’s dishonest.

  193. 193.

    patric II

    @Chris:

    I’m sure he’s not faking

    We agree 100%. The dismissal of Ms. Fords allegations are in part because they do not see them as important — particularly in relation to what they want which is by default always the most important thing in the world. Lindsay further complained about the way the Democrats treated their nominee and that there would be payback when the democrats had their own nominee. As if the quality of their nominee had nothing to do with what is happening now. Try not to nominate the Bill Cosby of Federal judges next time Lindsay.

  195. 195.

    PPCLI

    @Elizabelle:
    @Mary G:

    Republicans being Republicans, there is no doubt that they had a whole binder full of older women (and younger women whose voices would allow them to credibly present themselves as older women) waiting ready to phone-bomb CSpan (etc.), no matter how the testimony went, with variations on the same message: “I was assaulted and I don’t believe this woman because ….”

  196. 196.

    Mary G

    @Mary G: That picture of the lady prosecutor sitting in front of the Republican senators – all male, all white unless you count Ted Cruz, which I don’t – is such bad optics. Dr. Blasey Ford had to sit and look at that for hours and I know it would make me sick.

  197. 197.

    BlueGirlFromWyo

    @Kelly: I don’t know. I have a feeling Merrick Garland is not at all rapey. Too bad he didn’t get the opportunity to display that at a hearing.

  201. 201.

    bemused

    I was pretty stressed before the hearing started but Dr. Ford did great this morning.

    I don’t know what is driving Lindsey Graham but he reeks of desperation to me.

  205. 205.

    Kay

    @Martin:

    Sexual assault issues aside, I don’t remember a supreme court confirmation hearing that revolved so much on whether the candidate was lying. We really shouldn’t have to establish that he’s not a huge liar at this point in his career. That should be a given. He’s asked a question we should be able to assume he will answer truthfully.

    They keep lowering the bar for these people – it’s not good. Raise it back up- and quick. “Huge liar, sure, but I’m fairly certain he didn’t rape anyone”. That’s not good enough.

  211. 211.

    TenguPhule

    @NotMax:

    Who the hell gave the green light to producing Schlumpy Old Men?

    Direct to remainder bin material.

    Clint Eastwood.

    Also, Plan 18 from Outerspace has been green lit.

  212. 212.

    TenguPhule

    @Kay:

    We really shouldn’t have to establish that he’s not a huge liar at this point in his career. That should be a given. He’s asked a question we should be able to assume he will answer truthfully.

    Clarence Thomas.

  215. 215.

    patrick II

    018 at 2:40 pm

    @Chris:

    I’m sure he’s not faking

    We agree 100%. The dismissal of Ms. Fords allegations are in part because they do not see them as important — particularly in relation to what they want which is by default always the most important thing in the world. Lindsay further complained about the way the Democrats treated their nominee and that there would be payback when the democrats had their own nominee. As if the quality of their nominee had nothing to do with what is happening now. Try not to nominate the Bill Cosby of Federal judges next time Lindsay.

  216. 216.

    Mary G

    No one really believes this woman is lying. If they vote him in: It is because they believe her and don’t care. We should stop saying believe. It’s not about that anymore. It is about whether or not they care.— Glennon Doyle (@GlennonDoyle) September 27, 2018

    They’re outraged because he’s entitled to the job, and if he’s a rapey drunk, well too bad.

  218. 218.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: there was a theory in the summer of 08 that he and Lieberman planned to run the McCain White House from Justice and State, respectively (or maybe the Pentagon for either) while McCain would be a figure head flirting with reporters and giving gravelly-voiced speeches about something larger than ourselves

  219. 219.

    PsiFighter37

    @bemused: Someone somewhere suggested that Russia has kompromat on Lindsay’s predilections, and that is what has turned him into an abject lapdog.

  220. 220.

    sukabi

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: while an ass whooping would be cathartic, what needs to happen is his closets need to be cleaned, along with the other self dealing, treason enabling, constitution shredding assholes he conspires with. That would put him out of the senate for good.

  222. 222.

    Miss Bianca

    @Humdog: What you said. Thx.
    BTW, o/t, but fwiw I also endorse the “lock the door and just be gone” approach to your encroaching GOP relatives. A bit passive-aggressive, perhaps, but if they disrespect your boundaries, they deserve it

  223. 223.

    PPCLI

    @Adam L Silverman: The problem that the NYT Trump-stenographers face that Judith Miller didn’t face is that the lies Miller had to pass on as truth were not obviously false on their face. But acting as a stenographer for a reality challenged fabulist is harder to credibly pull off.

  225. 225.

    TriassicSands

    If anyone ever wants to see an extraordinary example of mindless partisanship, they need to watch the brief interview with Lindsey Graham after Dr. Blasey Ford had completed her testimony. Graham doesn’t care at all if Kavanaugh attacked a 15-year-old girl. All he cares about is whining about how the Democrats have conducted their affairs since Blasey Ford came forward and the possible effects that could have on the mid-term elections. He also may care about convincing the Sexual-Predator-in-Chief to name him Attorney General.

    I was no fan of John McCain, but if there was even a shred of integrity in the man, I have to believe he would be sickened by Graham’s performance in the Kavanaugh proceedings. Amazingly, Graham is rapidly ascending to the top of the list of despicable Republican elected officials. Yes, Trump has a lock on the top slot and McConnell is a strong number two, but with Paul Ryan heading for Wingnut Welfare, Graham has moved into the number three position.

  226. 226.

    Gravenstone

    @Elizabelle: His standing argument was that he would bring Kavanaugh to the floor for a vote, regardless of the outcome of the committee hearings. We’ll see if he retains the ‘courage’ of his convictions.

  227. 227.

    Aleta

    (Joe Manchin on Tuesday) “The man has to have a chance to clear his name, but these ladies have the complete opportunity to tell their story.”

    This is one Republican hope (Graham just now): to return to categorizing the case as ‘he said she said.’ The public has been trained to dismiss those, because ‘We can’t know what happened’ and ‘This is about our culture, and human nature;’ so ‘We’re not responsible.’ (See also the early military excuses for dismissing female victims. )

  228. 228.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Kay:

    They keep lowering the bar for these people – it’s not good. Raise it back up- and quick. “Huge liar, sure, but I’m fairly certain he didn’t rape anyone”. That’s not good enough.

    At this trajectory it’s going to be “Sure, he did cut off that head but he didn’t dance around dressed in the skins” will be put forward by our moral betters before the end of the Trump admin. The race to the bottom with them is truly amazing. .

  230. 230.

    Kent

    What strikes me about all of this is the horrifying picture of the world of exclusive DC area prep schools in the 1980s. Those guys were all horrifying stone cold drunks and bragged about it. And have never once faced any accountability for their actions. Yet their world of friends and associates kept pushing them upwards into high and higher jobs and levels of status. The rich are truly different from the rest of us I think.

    I’m the same exact age as Kavanaugh. I graduated from a working class suburban HS in Oregon in 1982 and also knew a buch of kids who were horrifying drunks and drug abusers in HS. Mostly they were the kids of mill workers, loggers, log truck drivers, or farmers. That sort of downscale blue collar world. They partied hard, blew off HS, and basically followed in their parents foot steps into downscale blue collar lives. I know for a bunch of them it was a game to get girls drunk and into bed. That wasn’t even secret. The bragged about it all the time in football and in school. And compared notes on the best ways to do it (beer, liquor, pot, etc.)

    When I check up on them on facebook it is mostly pics of hunting and fishing trips with lots of beer, guns, cammo, and MAGA hats. And a few are in and out of prison for various violent offenses and spousal abuse. No one is pushing them upwards into top positions of responsiblity. The rest of us know better. It’s only in the DC swamp where we apparently snatch these creeps up and push them into the highest levels of responsibility in the country.

  232. 232.

    joel hanes

    @Kelly:

    Nominate women. Only women.

    The Court (and the Presidency) were exclusively male for the first two centuries of the nation’s existence.

    I’d be good with them being exclusively female for the next two centuries.
    That wouldn’t completely balance the scale, but it’s be a start.

  233. 233.

    The Moar You Know

    I don’t know what is driving Lindsey Graham but he reeks of desperation to me.

    @bemused: Plain and simple: Senator Lindsey Graham is a closeted homosexual from the state of South Carolina (known throughout these United States for their state motto “God Hates Fags” or something like that) who has been living in a de facto marriage with his chief of staff for the last twenty years.

    He has a lot invested in staying in the closet.

    It is important to remember that, as Adam is fond of saying, the government is “compromised at all levels”. This is not Adam talking out his ass or using hyperbole. All the dirty secrets have been hacked out and are in the hands of one Donald J. Trump, and like his spiritual father, J. Edgar Hoover, he is using them to enforce loyalty at any and all costs. Lindsey Graham went from telling us all how unacceptable Trump was to being willing (literally) to take a bullet for him, and that transition took place over the span of a mere several days. Not due to a sudden revelation of Trump’s merits. I will presume he was shown a very small amount of the compromising information that the real powers have on him, and he got the fuck in line with alacrity. He’d rather die than have any of that info come out. Why, I can’t say, but that he regards such a fate as worse than death is obvious.

  235. 235.

    Adam L Silverman

    Ruh Roh!!!

  236. 236.

    BlueGirlFromWyo

    @KaySo why didn’t he withdraw him? Seems like a journalist would ask that. But it’s the NYT’s flack. Never mind.

  238. 238.

    Fair Economist

    @Adam L Silverman cites from Twitter:

    In effect, this sex crimes expert asked NO questions about the alleged crime itself.

    Mitchell knew the crime was real and asking detailed questions about it would hurt her goal of helping the rapist.

  240. 240.

    Rand Careaga

    @TenguPhule: Quoth McArdle:

    the president must reopen the FBI background checks to try to establish the truth of the allegations, from Swetnick and Ford and Ramirez. If the FBI substantiates them, any criminality should be referred to local prosecutors for possible prosecution.

    Of course, since prosecution does not equal conviction, and conviction does not always equal guilt (unless, er, you happen to be blah), the Democrats should join with the Republicans in confirming the nominee unanimously, amirite?

  241. 241.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @PsiFighter37: I’m an Ockham’s Razor kind of guy, and I tend to think if there was evidence of Lindsey having a personal life, it would’ve leaked by now. I think he’s a “vol cel”, if that’s a term. I think he both wants a first tier cabinet job, AG or SecDef (Pompeo’s all in for trump, I don’t see him going anywhere), and failing that, is just desperate to get reelected from a state for which he has always been a bad fit, as John McCain’s Establishmentarian sidekick. Now he’s trump’s pekinese, which even some trumpers in SC may find contemptible.

  243. 243.

    Mnemosyne

    @Chris:

    Yep. Republicans are outraged because they’re not getting exactly what they want when they want it, and they feel that as an injury.

    Plus they’re pissed that Dr. Blasey Ford is extremely credible and is making them look bad, which is ALL HER FAULT!

  244. 244.

    Amir Khalid

    The sense I’m getting here is that Kavanaugh has lost all credibility at this point, especially in light of Dr Ford’s strong performance as a witness against him; but the Republican party is desperate to seat him on the Supreme Court nonetheless, and can still do it if enough of its Senators toe the party line. So I’m asking, how have today’s developments affected the party whip count? How soon will that information be out?

  245. 245.

    Dan B

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: The view from my very gay perch is straight people who have LGBTQ friends tend to have equal (searching for precise word here) power dynamics between men and women.

    Gay couples, especially gay male couples, and male to female trans people tend to throw them off. In the back of their mind is the eternal question, “Who’s in charge?” and for trans, “Why did you surrender your privilege?”. Many conservatives world is focused on power hierarchies. We find the behavior of the current GOP to be abusive. They don’t understand why we hate this behavior. They’re just trying to establish “proper order”.

    Straight people who have egalitarian (again, not the best word) dynamics between the genders tend to be interested in what everyone contributes.

    When I first came out it was common to here the “innocent” question, “Who’s the man?” Gay couples mimicked this in their relationships. One partner would be the femme, the other the butch. This is uncommon today and has been for decades.

    Socially conservative people feel that gender based hierarchies are vanishing and they feel chaos is inevitable. The males act out with bigger guns, smoker trucks, or incendiary anger at “defiant women”. The females bahve increasingly like hostages in an abusive cult. Their rewards become materially hollow and the psychic damage to their personal worth comes with an ever higher price tag. Dince they’re essemtially blind to the system they embrace their confusion and distress continues to mount. When we point out the abuse and/or criminality their options are to strike back in anger or abandon a system that they’ve lived in. Their crisis is an existential crisis. It’s a false crisis but seems genuine to them.

    End of pop psyche…

  248. 248.

    TriassicSands

    Kavanaugh has come out punching. He’s angry. Outraged. He’s a victim.

    His family has been “totally and permanently destroyed.”

    I want Senator Harris to question him.

    (Uh, oh, it looks like another case of “high tech lynching.” It’s worth remembering that Clarence Thomas got lynched all the way to a life-time seat on the SCOTUS.)

  249. 249.

    AThornton

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The House is gone. Cook Political Report reported earlier this week Dems will net-gain 25 to 40 House seats and only 23 to majority.

    The Senate is different because the GOP are defending only 9 seats and it’s tough to see where a D can break through.

  250. 250.

    Dan B

    @Elizabelle: Jeff Flake seems like one of those conservative men who was trained to be polite to women by strong women who would punish him if he was not. He may have known some strong women who rewarded kindness, and let their intelligence and ability shine without regard to how men thought.

    I also remember how there was a theory that strong mothers made their sons gay. There was mo similar theory for lesbians. The concept was that strong women were emasculating and taught their sons to be weak – power hierarchy at its core.

    I thought my mother was a strong woman but my parents had a balanced give and take. Decisions about money and home were made jointly. This was considered radical in the 50s. Jeff Flake seems to come from the “strong women ran the home” division of labor dynamic. Poor sad Jeff.

  251. 251.

    Chip Daniels

    @Dan B:

    Socially conservative people feel that gender based hierarchies are vanishing and they feel chaos is inevitable.

    Weird, innit, how the natural order of the universe is just so, so, natural and inevitable and preordained that it must not, cannot, be questioned.

    Oh, but if it isn’t rigidly enforced by human hands, it will disintegrate into chaos.

    Maybe that their theory of what happened to the dinosaurs- without humans there to correct them, they started having buttsex, and well, y’know.

  253. 253.

    Dan B

    @Elizabelle: Another flash about “sad Jeff Flake” is he’s from the ‘males as knights in shining armor protecting the fair maiden’ culture. He’s torn between hierarchy and his “duty” as an alpha male.

    Blasey Ford defended her honor just fine so what is the purpose of a knight? Is he just an appendix or an evolutionary dead end?

  254. 254.

    TriassicSands

    @Immanentize:

    Kavanaugh has called for a “full” investigation. I assume he wants AG wannabe Graham to head the investigation. Lindsey would get to the bottom of things — namely how bad the Democrats are.

  255. 255.

    Bill Arnold

    @Eljai:

    Also, I can’t confirm but in the previous question period, I thought Mitchell asked CBFord when she “leaked” to the press. That seemed very accusatory to me. There’s nothing wrong with CBFord telling her story to the Washington Post.

    Just a guess based on insufficient information, but I think that this may mean that she tipped the WaPo using an anonymous leak mechanism. Just for the record, here they are:
    Confidential Tips
    They support SecureDrop (best in many cases), Signal, WhatsApp, Peerio, encrypted email (pgp), postal mail.
    I.e. she used methods also used by leakers in the DJTrump administration.
    Also, I haven’t found a transcript yet to verify that the word “leak” was used. Not watching the thing again.
    (Many more people than usual with earbuds walking around slightly smiling at work today. Male and female. :-)

  256. 256.

    Dan B

    @Cacti: I’d love to hear more of conservative women screaming at liberal women and then crying about their abusive. Cognitive dissonance csn be transformative. Breaking through this has parallels with coming out for LGBTQ people. It’s often wrenchingly painful. There are people like Roy Cohn and a number of toe-tapping and hustler-hiring conservatives who do great damage. This may be a pivotal moment. These women imagine their choices are between orderly hierarchy and drug and sex addled socialism. They will have to abandon or fight with their friends and families. If we can provide an attractive and safe alternative we will herald a societal change that is long overdue.

  257. 257.

    Dan B

    @The Moar You Know: Lindsey Graham is probably a closet case. That inflicts and requires a lot of damage personally and to others. At the same time he’s from what amounts to a wolf pack, polite wolves, but.. you know what I mean. If he’s perceived as weak the pack may rip him to shreds. At the very least he will never get wingnut welfare.

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