# Can Democrats actually stop the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 4, 2018, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733 "2018-09-04T12:49:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 111
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2201 "2018-09-21T03:14:19Z")
It turns out Ed Whelan is close friends with both Kavanaugh and Leonard Leo. There is some speculation that they may have been involved in crafting Whelan’s theory or at least being in the know about it and giving Whelan the green light to put it out. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2202 "2018-09-21T03:46:01Z")
OK so whatever the upshot of the left and right of it, it seems that she is saying that she knew him and his cohort well. He wasn’t a stranger. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2203 "2018-09-21T03:47:14Z")
If Kanavaugh is behind Whelan’s reckless speculation, then he’s worse than I thought. Trying to place suspicion on some other schoolmate—whom for all we know was a perfectly well-behaved kid—to protect your own hide is about the most cravenly thing imaginable. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2204 "2018-09-21T03:50:43Z")
Dr. Ford already issued a statement through her attorney that she socialized with both Kavanaugh and his lookalike in high school, in fact even visited the lookalike when he was in the hospital. She well knew who her attacker was and would not have mistaken him for the other fellow. (The name of the man was withheld, presumably so he would not be subjected to harassment.) Despicable. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2205 "2018-09-21T03:50:57Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Given the opportunity to back up your claims, you could have chosen to back up your claims. That would’ve been a good thing to do, if your claims were solid. > > Instead, you quibble over the letter “s”. That’s a good thing to do, if your claims are weak as shit, and you’re hoping to distract folks from that. > > Nice try. Speaking of people unwilling to back up claims … ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2206 "2018-09-21T04:03:04Z")
The “doppelganger” signed the letter of support for Kavanaugh, using his name and the name of the school where he works. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2207 "2018-09-21T04:06:44Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > … There is some speculation that … Without a link, or explanation of the source of this speculation, this is just a worthless rumor. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2208 "2018-09-21T04:37:34Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > You’re calling a person a rapist without any evidence except one person’s memory. Would you take the same standard for you? I have the advantage of never having committing felony sexual assault, so no one will have a memory of me attempting to rape them. Pity we don’t hold our SCOTUS nominees to the same standard. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2209 "2018-09-21T04:39:15Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Boom. First substantiation from a classmate. I wonder if it will be the first of many. [NPR - Kavanaugh Accuser’s Classmate: ‘That It Happened Or Not, I Have No Idea’](https://www.npr.org/2018/09/20/649787076/kavanaugh-accuser-classmate-that-it-happened-or-not-i-have-no-idea) > [@](#): > > A former classmate of Christine Blasey Ford tells NPR that she does not know if an alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh took place as she first suggested on social media. > > “That it happened or not, I have no idea,” Cristina King Miranda told NPR’s Nina Totenberg. “I can’t say that it did or didn’t.” > > That’s different from what Miranda wrote Wednesday in a now-deleted Facebook post that stated definitively, “The incident DID happen, many of us heard about it in school.” > > … > > Miranda’s new comments are a significant development in what remains a largely “she said, he said” account of events between Ford and Kavanaugh. > > “In my [Facebook] post, I was empowered and I was sure it probably did [happen],” Miranda told NPR. “I had no idea that I would now have to go to the specifics and defend it before 50 cable channels and have my face spread all over MSNBC news and Twitter.” > > Miranda noted on Twitter that she did not have “first hand knowledge” of the incident. > > … > > Miranda said staff from the Senate Judiciary Committee had reached out to her, something she was not expecting. She said she will not go through with a committee interview if asked. > > … I guess we’re back to zero of many again. “I was empowered and I was sure it probably did [happen]” is a comical line tinged with sadness. Someone drank too much of the #BelieveWomen kool-aid. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2210 "2018-09-21T04:46:27Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Without a link, or explanation of the source of this speculation, this is just a worthless rumor. Stop pretending that your interlocutors are just fact-free idealogues and you’re just fighting ignorance. (Bricker does that shtick much better.) You were willing to post this: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21217571&postcount=1758](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21217571&postcount=1758). A cite-free tweet by a Qanon believer. You just thought that a falsehood that would support your cause should be out there for discussion. Just come out as a partisan. The pretense that you’re holding the mindless libs to account with “facts” is tiresome — and, as I said, Bricker already does it, a lot better. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2211 "2018-09-21T04:51:50Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > Stop pretending that your interlocutors are just fact-free idealogues and you’re just fighting ignorance. (Bricker does that shtick much better.) > > You were willing to post this: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21217571&postcount=1758](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21217571&postcount=1758). A cite-free tweet by a Qanon believer. You just thought that a falsehood that would support your cause should be out there for discussion. > > Just come out as a partisan. The pretense that you’re holding the mindless libs to account with “facts” is tiresome — and, as I said, Bricker already does it, a lot better. I certainly don’t claim to be “non-partisan”, but you will notice that in my post I both made clear that it was unsubstantiated, and more importantly, included a link so my readers could evaluate the source for themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2212 "2018-09-21T04:57:50Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I certainly don’t claim to be “non-partisan”, but you will notice that in my post I both made clear that it was unsubstantiated, and more importantly, included a link so my readers could evaluate the source for themselves. I’m not sure that linking to obvious horseshit is a defense against the accusation that you are repeating obvious horseshit. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2213 "2018-09-21T05:03:12Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I’m not sure that linking to obvious horseshit is a defense against the accusation that you are repeating obvious horseshit. The guy that recently wrote “I’m capable of putting 2 and 2 together. And in this case 2+2 = rapist” is going to lecture me about repeating obvious horseshit? _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2214 "2018-09-21T05:14:04Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > …is going to lecture me about repeating obvious horseshit? Don’t think of it as lecturing, think of it as _noticing_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2215 "2018-09-21T05:18:21Z")
Here’s an interesting [graph](http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2018_38/2573391/net_support_for_kavanaugh_by_party_july-present_republicans_net_support_democrats_net_support_independents_net_support_chartbuilder_03dbeb5ebea188f703e4fc9de7da1221.png). It shows the results of approval polls for Kavanaugh over a three month period. No surprises that his approval ratings are lowest among Democrats and highest among Republicans, with independents in the middle. And no surprise that his approval ratings have dipped among Democrats and independents in September as the sexual assault allegations have become public. But what surprises me is his approval ratings among Republicans over the same time period. Kavanaugh’s approval ratings among Republicans not only held steady, they actually went up after he was accused of sexual assault. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2216 "2018-09-21T05:40:43Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > [Ed Whelan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Whelan_(American_lawyer)), a Republican think tank guy and former Justice Department official, lays out [an argument](https://twitter.com/EdWhelanEPPC/status/1042893987747713024) that Ford’s recollection may be a case of mistaken identity. > [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > WAPO: [INDENT] Ford dismissed Whelan’s theory in a statement late Thursday: “I knew them both, and socialized with” them, Ford said, adding that she had once visited the other classmate in the hospital. “There is zero chance that I would confuse them.” [/INDENT] More: Whelan’s potentially libelous comments, essentially accusing a non-public figure of attempted rape, have been in the works for days. One of Senator Hatch’s (R,UT) [top staffers tweeted](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1042982759306850304.html) that folks should keep an eye out at Whelan’s tweets. It seems that the nutty story was shopped around the media as well. Given that Whelan is friends with Kavanaugh, I hope that the nominee is asked whether he knew anything about this plan. It would be supremely stupid if he did. > [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > If Kanavaugh is behind Whelan’s reckless speculation, then he’s worse than I thought. Trying to place suspicion on some other schoolmate—whom for all we know was a perfectly well-behaved kid—to protect your own hide is about the most cravenly thing imaginable. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2217 "2018-09-21T05:47:45Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > More: Whelan’s potentially libelous comments, essentially accusing a non-public figure of attempted rape… I’m pretty certain he was explicitly NOT accusing a non-public figure of attempted rape: > [@](#): > > [To be clear, I have no idea what, if anything, did or did not happen in that bedroom at the top of the stairs, and I therefore do not state, imply or insinuate that Garrett or anyone else committed the sexual assault that Ford alleges.](https://twitter.com/EdWhelanEPPC/status/1042899805507342337) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2218 "2018-09-21T06:01:00Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m pretty certain he was explicitly NOT accusing a non-public figure of attempted rape: Joe is a rapist. P.s., I am not accusing Joe of being a rapist. I suspect he’ll have the opportunity to test that pathetic little disclaimer in court. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2219 "2018-09-21T06:06:16Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > Joe is a rapist. P.s., I am not accusing Joe of being a rapist. > > I suspect he’ll have the opportunity to test that pathetic little disclaimer in court. The part of your analogy that appears to be missing in reality is the “Joe is a rapist” equivalent. Which tweet(s) do you think comes closest to something like that accusation? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/2220 "2018-09-21T06:20:41Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m pretty certain he was explicitly NOT accusing a non-public figure of attempted rape: Whelan is a lawyer. That disclaimer was tacked on. It’s also nonsensical, given the bizarre theorizing that preceded it. I trust a certain middle school teacher has received offers from a few libel lawyers. > [@](#): > > The part of your analogy that appears to be missing in reality is the “Joe is a rapist” equivalent. Which tweet(s) do you think comes closest to something like that accusation? The first one: Dr. Ford may well have been the victim of a severe sexual assault by someone 36 years ago. If you say, something very well may have happened, show zillow pics of a guy’s house, allege physical resemblance… …well IANAL. If you’re careful enough maybe you can imply something without saying it. Highly irresponsible to say the least though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=110) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=112)