SCOTUS Nomination II: I Like Beer

[metalhead]

I always find Benjamin Wittes' articles interesting and I think he did a good job putting in context everything we know about Brett Kavanaugh and his thoughts on what this means going forward.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/why-i-wouldnt-confirm-brett-kavanaugh/571936/

This is extra noteworthy because Wittes got super indignant on Twitter when the Ford story first broke and people started dragging him. He said Kavanaugh was of the highest integrity and a close friend and some such and could not bear to hear people cast aspersions on such a flimsy foundation.

He appears to have, er, changed his tune. Not the first person I've heard who claimed to previously know and respect Brett Kavanaugh as a man of integrity and high character. Just goes to show you - just because some guy you work with seems like a swell guy and works well with you doesn't mean you know anything about who that person really is.

 

[bernie14]

It sure does.

That should have been obvious

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I always find Benjamin Wittes' articles interesting and I think he did a good job putting in context everything we know about Brett Kavanaugh and his thoughts on what this means going forward.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/why-i-wouldnt-confirm-brett-kavanaugh/571936/

EDIT: I also love the latest "angry drunk frat bro" story about Kavanaugh is getting drunk and starting a bar fight with a guy he thought was the singer for UB40. (And, of course, their most famous song is about wine.)

Excellent recommendation, thanks.

This quote right at the end scares the bejebus out of me because it rings too true:

We are in a political environment in which there are no rules, no norms anymore to violate. There is only power, and the individual judgments of individual senators—facing whatever political pressures they face, calculating political gain however they do it, and consulting their consciences to the extent they have them.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

This is extra noteworthy because Wittes got super indignant on Twitter when the Ford story first broke and people started dragging him. He said Kavanaugh was of the highest integrity and a close friend and some such and could not bear to hear people cast aspersions on such a flimsy foundation.

He appears to have, er, changed his tune. Not the first person I've heard who claimed to previously know and respect Brett Kavanaugh as a man of integrity and high character. Just goes to show you - just because some guy you work with seems like a swell guy and works well with you doesn't mean you know anything about who that person really is.

I actually know people who worked with this guy. Never seemed off to them in any way.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Here's the nut of Wittes' essay, the tl:dr:

I do not begrudge him the emotion, even the anger. He has been through a kind of hell that would leave any person gasping for air. But I cannot condone the partisanship—which was raw, undisguised, naked, and conspiratorial—from someone who asks for public faith as a dispassionate and impartial judicial actor. His performance was wholly inconsistent with the conduct we should expect from a member of the judiciary.

Though he also goes on to a very even-handed and nuanced consideration of the relative credibility of their two testimonies.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Though he also goes on to a very even-handed and nuanced consideration of the relative credibility of their two testimonies.

And still finds her far more credible than Kavanaugh. Not to the point that he would be convicted if this were a trial but to the point that on balance he's more likely to be an attempted rapist than not and should therefore not take office.

This is extra noteworthy because Wittes got super indignant on Twitter when the Ford story first broke and people started dragging him. He said Kavanaugh was of the highest integrity and a close friend and some such and could not bear to hear people cast aspersions on such a flimsy foundation.

He appears to have, er, changed his tune. Not the first person I've heard who claimed to previously know and respect Brett Kavanaugh as a man of integrity and high character. Just goes to show you - just because some guy you work with seems like a swell guy and works well with you doesn't mean you know anything about who that person really is.

Thanks for pointing this out. I did not know the context.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Trump is now openly mocking Ford at his rallies.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/02/politics/trump-mocks-christine-blasey-ford-kavanaugh-supreme-court/

He also ranted that the country is not a safe place for men and we have to get smarter and tougher. I have tried to quote but it's not playing nice on mobile. It is a short, uneditorialized report.

 

[Broken_Erika]

It's a sad day in America when sexual assault allegations are taken seriously!

 

[Berzerker]

HOWEVER, i would like to know this psychologist's opinion regarding the matter..

If Ford's memory was false, why did she name the same boys on Kavanaugh's calendar in the same time frame?

Where can I find those to read? And how much can those weight in support of her allegation given that the 4 witnesses she placed at the alleged party all denied that this party with her ever happened? Those are the four witnesses she'd need to have any proof, at least one backing her. Not even her best friend did.

You expect someone to prove a negative for being on an alleged private event 30 years ago? Fine, tell me how can that be proven. And Kavanaugh has provided proof: two the people at the alleged party all denied that they remember any such party at all. It didn't exist according to the other witnesses. What more proof can you demand? What more proof can any human being provide to show that this kind of accusation is a lie?

Her 'best friend' was not a witness, there was one witness according to Ford (excluding Kavanaugh of course) and that was Mark Judge. And her friend said she believes Ford, for what it's worth. Kavanaugh supplied the corroborating proof for her accusation, his calendar matches her testimony as to who was at the 'party'. It doesn't matter if these other people remember it, she did and the calendar supports her memory.

So, next on the fun things list...CNN has a letter written by Kavanaugh in high school to his friends...the guy who said that the senate would have to ask Mark Judge if he was the "Bart O'Kavanaugh" depicted in Judge's book...and the letter is signed "Bart."

Apparently he got the nickname because a teacher garbled Brett and turned it into Bart, so his buds called him Bart.

 

[El_Machinae]

With sexual accusations, we have to remember statistics. There are a certain percentage of women who will lie (for whatever reason). Because it's a percentage, we can use the law of large numbers. There are more women willing to lie about (say) Matt Damon than will lie about me. This is only because more women know of Matt Damon. Every famous person will be hounded by allegations.

That's why the trick is to only attend the more credible accusations. You only need one actual believable molestation to believe that someone is a molester. It doesn't matter how many accusations are disproven, because we expect false accusations. False accusations prove very little other than give evidence to the type of people that would signal boost them.

It's why I believe that Trump assaulted Natasha Stoynoff. She literally has a paper-trail of what assaulted women do. She confided in friends. She extricate herself from the situation. She tried to move past it. Her friends advised her to do these things, that there was no point being an accuser. The best she could hope for was to rebuild.

Ford seems to have a lot of similar elements. Her previous 'disclosing' to loved ones, without actually chasing justice, is probably the best evidence It was (from her perspective) the best she could do. Sure, she has reasons to try to torpedo Kavanaugh ...

As Colbert said (paraphrased) "Why, at this rate, we won't have people who're credibly accused of sexual assault running the highest levels of government ..."

 

[Sommerswerd]

She lied about being afraid to fly

Every time I hear this one I have to just shake my head.

When you get on an airplane, you honestly believe that no one on that plane with you is afraid to fly? Not even the people sitting on the plane getting smashed with the in flight alcohol to calm their nerves and/or pass out so they can sleep through it? The last flight I went on... a couple weeks ago... there was a guy sitting across from me that was, according to what he told me, "completely effed up off of pills" (ambien IIRC) and he was still ordering drinks the whole flight. The guy was obviously inebriated, and would start cussing like a sailor anytime you talked to him... not angry or belligerent, just in a jovial, conversational way... like all his filters were turned off. The reason he gave me for getting poop-faced on pills and liquor was... *drumroll*

He was terrified of flying...

So I guess he wasn't really there and I imagined him, because people who are afraid of flying NEVER get on planes EVER... Except they do. Some of them self medicate, some of them just grit their teeth and suffer through it... but the argument that she must be lying about being afraid to fly because she (Dr. Ford) flew to Washington (or some other places) is just... let's just say its a really poor argument.

 

[metalhead]

Is inno actually Donald Trump Jr.? It would explain a lot.

 

[Sommerswerd]

So, next on the fun things list...CNN has a letter written by Kavanaugh in high school to his friends...the guy who said that the senate would have to ask Mark Judge if he was the "Bart O'Kavanaugh" depicted in Judge's book...and the letter is signed "Bart."

Another brick for the house of lies he is building...

Spoiler Simpsons reference :

Speaking of America's favorite cartoon family... Here's another reference that seems hilariously relevant under the circumstances:

Spoiler Do the Bartman :

An iconic lyric of the song... also hilariously and ironically relevant:

Which mirrors exactly the progression his defenders have been following "He didn't do it, nobody saw him do it, you can't prove anything"

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Every time I hear this one I have to just shake my head.

When you get on an airplane, you honestly believe that no one on that plane with you is afraid to fly? Not even the people sitting on the plane getting smashed with the in flight alcohol to calm their nerves and/or pass out so they can sleep through it? The last flight I went on... a couple weeks ago... there was a guy sitting across from me that was, according to what he told me, "completely effed up off of pills" (ambien IIRC) and he was still ordering drinks the whole flight. The guy was obviously inebriated, and would start cussing like a sailor anytime you talked to him... not angry or belligerent, just in a jovial, conversational way... like all his filters were turned off. The reason he gave me for getting poop-faced on pills and liquor was... *drumroll*

He was terrified of flying...

So I guess he wasn't really there and I imagined him, because people who are afraid of flying NEVER get on planes EVER... Except they do. Some of them self medicate, some of them just grit their teeth and suffer through it... but the argument that she must be lying about being afraid to fly because she (Dr. Ford) flew to Washington (or some other places) is just... let's just say its a really poor argument.

This is me. I developed a fear of flying over the last couple of years. Yet I can't avoid flying for business or pleasure. I've even looked into taking a boat for an upcoming Hawaiian vacation and it is not at all practical (pretty sure @Cutlass helped me find some services, they just take weeks to get there).


This was always a stupid line of attack, especially since no one told Ford that the committee had been willing to work out some arrangements such that they would go to her. No one told her that so she hopped on a plane. Then she gets there and they tell her they would have gone to her and even though she didn't know about it somehow she's a liar for taking the flight to DC and back. Stupid, stupid, stupid

 

[Yeekim]

Of relevant:

Spoiler :

The text reads: "But he pantsed me once in kindergarten!"

 

[Synobun]

Why do you think that's relevant?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Orin Hatch is now smearing the third accuser of Kavanaugh even though they tried to prevent the FBI from even talking to her. They cite a guy who claims he had an emotional (but not physical) affair with her who says she told him she really likes gangbangs.

Disgusting af

https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-the-actual-fck-republicans

Why do you think that's relevant?

He's operating from the same playbook as Hatch

 

[Synobun]

Orin Hatch is now smearing the third accuser of Kavanaugh even though they tried to prevent the FBI from even talking to her. They cite a guy who claims he had an emotional (but not physical) affair with her who says she told him she really likes gangbangs.

Disgusting af

You can only be raped if you don't like the activity in general? Only prudes can be raped? That's a hot take.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

You can only be raped if you don't like the activity in general? Only prudes can be raped? That's a hot take.

It's also likely a whole clothe fabrication. Plus, she has been through multiple security clearance/background investigations just like Kavanaugh. For Kavanaugh, that is proof he could not have done anything wrong per the Republicans but somehow that logic doesn't apply here.

 

[sophie]

Also she freely provided this information and were she to be caught lying she would lose her job. She has nothing to gain, and everything to lose, by lying.

Kavanaugh on the other hand...