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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBloomberg: 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.
...
Kavanaugh can wait to see if Fords allegations fall apart under questioning. Its possible shell prove a jumble of contradictions. But from what we know so far, its hard to imagine she would. Ford doesnt 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 wont 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.
Thats 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.
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Cha
(297,154 posts)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)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.
Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)spooky3
(34,439 posts)Will ask the Montgomery County police to launch an investigation, then plan for an in-depth interview with Rachel Maddow or Lawrence or Ari.
Lonestarblue
(9,971 posts)Something needs to wipe that smug expression off Kavanaughs face.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Sorry, the last few years have made me feel kind of violent.
dalton99a
(81,451 posts)FakeNoose
(32,633 posts)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.
LiberalFighter
(50,888 posts)along with Clarence Thomas and Gorsuch.
quakerboy
(13,919 posts)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)The President* will be pretty jealous.🤑
Just more evidence of his ineptitude coupled with his misogyny! 😉
REGISTER and VOTE!
JHB
(37,158 posts)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)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)Bret Kavanaugh will change his story at least three times.
Dr. Ford will not.
Kajun Gal
(1,907 posts)Hekate
(90,645 posts)catbyte
(34,373 posts)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)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)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.
Frequency Kenneth
(78 posts)Grassley and Hatch too. There should be age limits on these geezers!
Grasswire2
(13,568 posts)torius
(1,652 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,128 posts)but we do need some luck and have a heck of a lot of work cut out for us
womanofthehills
(8,698 posts)?Verified account @MichaelAvenatti
All indications are that Dr. Ford is not alone. Buckle up - that includes you Mark Judge. #Basta
Ilsa
(61,694 posts)Played practical jokes on him, harassing him.
A package of peel-off tattoos that say "Sitting Rapist", etc.