Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

erronis

(15,241 posts)
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 07:39 PM Sep 2018

Bloomberg: Brett Kavanaugh Is Cursed Either Way

This is an exceptionally strong piece. I hope it presages the future.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-21/brett-kavanaugh-is-cursed-either-way

If he makes it to the Supreme Court without being cleared, his ordeal won't be over.


One way or another, Brett Kavanaugh will have to pay.

...

He will not necessarily pay explicitly for whatever it was he did or didn’t do on that contested night long ago. Although if Christine Blasey Ford appears to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and if she acquits herself credibly, then Kavanaugh is unlikely ever to sit on the Supreme Court – no matter what Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says.

Kavanaugh can wait to see if Ford’s allegations fall apart under questioning. It’s possible she’ll prove a jumble of contradictions. But from what we know so far, it’s hard to imagine she would. Ford doesn’t have to be sure of the color of paint on the wall 35 years ago. She only needs to be sure of the details of the attack as she has already described it.

Conservatives viewing her actions as a product of Democratic skulduggery fool themselves. Her allegations were problematic for Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who first received them in confidence. If Democrats had plotted to weaponize the allegations for best effect, this late-inning muddle would not have resulted.

If McConnell is correct and Republicans manage to push Kavanaugh through to the high court, no matter what, Kavanaugh won’t be out of the woods.

This is not 1991, when Anita Hill accused soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. And Kavanaugh, the beneficiary of virtually every privilege that status and education can afford, is not Thomas.

Democrats in 1991 were already the party of feminists. But many of the Democratic men in Congress – Barbara Mikulski was the lone Democratic woman in the Senate – were just as doltish toward a female accuser as Republican senators are today.

That’s no longer the case. Democrats have four women on the Judiciary Committee, and the men are so different from the cast of 1991 that Senator Chris Coons of Delaware has publicly mused that maybe he should cede his committee time to his two female colleagues who are former prosecutors and superior interviewers.

More important, the Republican Party of 1991 is not the party of 2018. The party leader then was George H.W. Bush, a war hero with pronounced social graces. The current leader is a habitual liar and crude demagogue who has been accused of sexual predation by more than a dozen women while continuing to behave as cad-in-chief.

The GOP of 2018 views the Supreme Court differently as well. Republicans were not facing electoral attrition in those days, desperately trying to sabotage the future. Republicans had held the presidency for three terms and were on the verge of a historic victory in the House over a corrupt and complacent Democratic majority.

Now, Republicans are investing in a partisan court to deliver partisan outcomes to advance partisan goals that are insulated from democratic accountability, such as elections and popular opinion, which Republicans increasingly fear.

...
25 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Bloomberg: Brett Kavanaugh Is Cursed Either Way (Original Post) erronis Sep 2018 OP
That's what a lot of us are thinking! Good Cha Sep 2018 #1
This malaise Sep 2018 #2
K&R Scurrilous Sep 2018 #3
While Dr. Ford is in town, I hope so badly that she spooky3 Sep 2018 #4
Yes, yes, yes! Lonestarblue Sep 2018 #6
Preferably with a baseball bat. smirkymonkey Sep 2018 #17
+1 dalton99a Sep 2018 #21
Agreed FakeNoose Sep 2018 #5
He absolutely needs to be removed... LiberalFighter Sep 2018 #8
Only if we continue to ostensibly operate under rule of law quakerboy Sep 2018 #7
The ratings for this hearing will be YUGE! B Stieg Sep 2018 #9
The comparison with 1991 leaves out his perjury... JHB Sep 2018 #10
It should matter--it should've disqualified him from the get-go, but absolutely catbyte Sep 2018 #16
Whatever the outcome, this will happen in the coming week: Mr.Bill Sep 2018 #11
I know he's screwed with his wife for sure.... Kajun Gal Sep 2018 #12
Catholic -- probably not a divorce. But surely not happy. nt Hekate Sep 2018 #22
I so hope I'm wrong, but I believe McConnell--unless Murkowski & Collins can be shamed catbyte Sep 2018 #13
Dr Ford Has A Crack Legal Team DallasNE Sep 2018 #14
Not to mention if they do seat him we could see a SCOTUS judge indicted cstanleytech Sep 2018 #15
Fuck McConnell Frequency Kenneth Sep 2018 #18
no thanks. ewwwww. nt Grasswire2 Sep 2018 #24
As we now know, GHWB's "pronounced social graces" included groping women's buttocks. nt torius Sep 2018 #19
The pendulum always swings back bucolic_frolic Sep 2018 #20
and don't forget Avenatti - sounds like some women may have contacted him womanofthehills Sep 2018 #23
It would be hysterical if the women on the court Ilsa Sep 2018 #25

Cha

(297,154 posts)
1. That's what a lot of us are thinking! Good
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 07:52 PM
Sep 2018

to see this. Thank you, erronis

Pervert-in-Russian ASSet.. fixed it.

Good Luck to Dr Christine Ford.. I believe this is true and it should bring Kavanaugh down, and would if there weren't a bunch of sociopathic perverts for putin trying to prop him up as if their lives depended on it.

malaise

(268,930 posts)
2. This
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 07:56 PM
Sep 2018

More important, the Republican Party of 1991 is not the party of 2018. The party leader then was George H.W. Bush, a war hero with pronounced social graces. The current leader is a habitual liar and crude demagogue who has been accused of sexual predation by more than a dozen women while continuing to behave as cad-in-chief.

spooky3

(34,439 posts)
4. While Dr. Ford is in town, I hope so badly that she
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 08:20 PM
Sep 2018

Will ask the Montgomery County police to launch an investigation, then plan for an in-depth interview with Rachel Maddow or Lawrence or Ari.

FakeNoose

(32,633 posts)
5. Agreed
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 08:24 PM
Sep 2018

Not only will Brett Kavanaugh go down, but I believe this will bring down the Republican Party. Well, it's the beginning of the end, but they are going down. All of Charles Koch's and Robert Mercer's money cannot change the facts - time and demographics are against you. Let alone the morals, values and laws of the American people that are also against you.

If Kavanaugh gets voted in now, he'll be removed later. And it will happen at the soonest possible moment. I'd like to see Gorsuch removed too, but that can be determined later. Kavanaugh will have to go.

quakerboy

(13,919 posts)
7. Only if we continue to ostensibly operate under rule of law
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 08:39 PM
Sep 2018

Republicans are not playing by the old win some, lose some, try to win more than you lose rules.

They are playing to win it all, and losing the vote on slimy k would be the end of that game.

B Stieg

(2,410 posts)
9. The ratings for this hearing will be YUGE!
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 08:45 PM
Sep 2018

The President* will be pretty jealous.🤑

Just more evidence of his ineptitude coupled with his misogyny! 😉

REGISTER and VOTE!

JHB

(37,158 posts)
10. The comparison with 1991 leaves out his perjury...
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 08:47 PM
Sep 2018

It's not just one thing from decades ago. He's been shown to have committed acts that are grounds for impeaching him RIGHT NOW from his current position, much less a higher one.

Clarence Thomas had -- and has -- a level of unconcern with conflicts of interest that should have derailed him even before Anita Hill entered the picture, but conflicts of interest is a much fuzzier subject than clear evidence of lying under oath

catbyte

(34,373 posts)
16. It should matter--it should've disqualified him from the get-go, but absolutely
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 09:25 PM
Sep 2018

nobody is even discussing that aspect of Kavanaugh's utter lack of ethics, much less calling for his rejection. Seriously, why doesn't anybody want to find out how his $200,000 gambling debt was suddenly paid off, or how he managed to pay his $92,000 country club initiation fee, or his kid's $10,000/year private school tuition, or how he could afford his $1,225,000 home on a $200,000/year salary? He didn't marry money, nor is his family particularly wealthy. These things trouble me as much as his sexual assault history.

Mr.Bill

(24,282 posts)
11. Whatever the outcome, this will happen in the coming week:
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 09:08 PM
Sep 2018

Bret Kavanaugh will change his story at least three times.

Dr. Ford will not.

catbyte

(34,373 posts)
13. I so hope I'm wrong, but I believe McConnell--unless Murkowski & Collins can be shamed
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 09:15 PM
Sep 2018

into doing the right thing--which I have little faith in. Republicans aren't stupid. They see the writing on the wall, the buzzsaw they're heading towards in November. They know that Kavanaugh could very well be their last, best chance at stacking the court, and they'll unleash every vile, underhanded, dishonest dirty trick they know to make that happen. There are no Republicans in the Senate with any integrity at all.

DallasNE

(7,402 posts)
14. Dr Ford Has A Crack Legal Team
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 09:20 PM
Sep 2018

Her story must be compelling otherwise this top talent would not be on board

Knowing that Ford required medical help over this means that the tactics of Grassley and McConnell are to get inside of her head and cause her to have a breakdown and do poorly with her testimony. I think her team has done a great job of shielding her from this gambit.

Today's Republican Party is ruthless top to bottom so they wouldn't bat an eye because the only thing that matters to them is power.

cstanleytech

(26,283 posts)
15. Not to mention if they do seat him we could see a SCOTUS judge indicted
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 09:24 PM
Sep 2018

and sentenced as a sex offender still as from what I am reading there is no statute of limitations in the state where it happened for the crime he is accused of.

bucolic_frolic

(43,128 posts)
20. The pendulum always swings back
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 09:48 PM
Sep 2018

but we do need some luck and have a heck of a lot of work cut out for us

womanofthehills

(8,698 posts)
23. and don't forget Avenatti - sounds like some women may have contacted him
Sat Sep 22, 2018, 11:25 PM
Sep 2018
Michael Avenatti
?Verified account @MichaelAvenatti

All indications are that Dr. Ford is not alone. Buckle up - that includes you Mark Judge. #Basta

Ilsa

(61,694 posts)
25. It would be hysterical if the women on the court
Sun Sep 23, 2018, 12:57 PM
Sep 2018

Played practical jokes on him, harassing him.

A package of peel-off tattoos that say "Sitting Rapist", etc.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Bloomberg: Brett Kavanaug...