# 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:** 166
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3301 "2018-09-25T02:43:11Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > That’s not stalling. That’s calling Grassley et. al. out as the cowards they are. They are cowards because of outside counsel? Ford doesn’t get to set the rules. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3302 "2018-09-25T02:43:45Z")
Who watched the Kavenaugh interview? (I know it’s taking one for the team.) ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3303 "2018-09-25T02:44:43Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Who watched the Kavenaugh interview? (I know it’s taking one for the team.) I did. I support him but I thought he came across as stiff and unpersuasive. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3304 "2018-09-25T02:47:24Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > They are cowards because of outside counsel? Ford doesn’t get to set the rules. Serious question, as I don’t normally follow committee hearings all that carefully. When’s the last time a committee used an outside counsel and denied the members a chance to grandstand? This seems like an extremely rare event to me, and that it’s being done because they don’t want the optics of a bunch of old white men questioning a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3305 "2018-09-25T02:49:06Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > he came across as stiff and unpersuasive. Same as he was in high school, then. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3306 "2018-09-25T02:50:44Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Serious question, as I don’t normally follow committee hearings all that carefully. When’s the last time a committee used an outside counsel and denied the members a chance to grandstand? This seems like an extremely rare event to me, and that it’s being done because they don’t want the optics of a bunch of old white men questioning a woman. I don’t recall it ever being done. However, Ford has asked for a chance to tell her story. I know she would like to tell her story and then whine about how her questioners were old white men, but that’s not how it works, and it is pretty smart for the GOP to cut off that accusation from the outset. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3307 "2018-09-25T02:51:46Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Same as he was in high school, then. That actually is very funny. 🙂 ---
**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 25, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3308 "2018-09-25T02:53:24Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > They are cowards because of outside counsel? Ford doesn’t get to set the rules. They’re cowards because they’re afraid to face her. That letter is not an attempt to set the rules. The goal is to shine a light on their cowardice. How in the fuck did you read it and conclude stalling? ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3309 "2018-09-25T02:55:05Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Can someone post the relevant part? I’m past my limit on NYT and now get a paywall. Google isn’t helping me find a source elsewhere. **John Mace** , I think you might also find this section of the article interesting: > [@](#): > > This month, Renate Schroeder Dolphin joined 64 other women who, saying they knew Judge Kavanaugh during their high school years, signed a letter to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is weighing Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination. The letter stated that “he has behaved honorably and treated women with respect.” > > When Ms. Dolphin signed the Sept. 14 letter, she wasn’t aware of the “Renate” yearbook references on the pages of Judge Kavanaugh and his football teammates. > > “I learned about these yearbook pages only a few days ago,” Ms. Dolphin said in a statement to The New York Times. “I don’t know what ‘Renate Alumnus’ actually means. I can’t begin to comprehend what goes through the minds of 17-year-old boys who write such things, but the insinuation is horrible, hurtful and simply untrue. I pray their daughters are never treated this way. I will have no further comment.” To my knowledge, not illegal, but definitely pathetic and disgusting. Lacking character too. Not the sort of person I want in the judiciary. YMMV From [HERE](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/24/business/brett-kavanaugh-yearbook-renate.html) for those who missed it the first time. ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3310 "2018-09-25T02:58:30Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I don’t recall it ever being done. However, Ford has asked for a chance to tell her story. I know she would like to tell her story and then whine about how her questioners were old white men, but that’s not how it works, and it is pretty smart for the GOP to cut off that accusation from the outset. Ford doesn’t want to be cross-examined by a professional in the art of cross examination. It’s not a search for the truth, but to poke holes in her story. That’s the gist of why she’d prefer the Senators do the questioning (they’d not do it as well) and that’s the reason the Senators would prefer it. Not her call, though. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3311 "2018-09-25T03:03:38Z")
They do get to set the rules. But when they do so in a way that has every appearance of hiring a person to serve as the inquisitor of Ford and the defender of Kavanaugh and that attempts to insulate them from embarrassing video clips … well pointing that out, hell mocking their chickenshittedness, is fair game. ---
**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 25, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3312 "2018-09-25T03:09:15Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Same as he was in high school, then. This must be why he drank so much back then. ---
**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 25, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3313 "2018-09-25T03:10:34Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > They do get to set the rules. But when they do so in a way that has every appearance of hiring a person to serve as the inquisitor of Ford and the defender of Kavanaugh and that attempts to insulate them from embarrassing video clips … well pointing that out, hell mocking their chickenshittedness, is fair game. Right on. ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3314 "2018-09-25T03:11:48Z")
The cross-examiner has no constituents, either. That allows the attorney to go the extreme with the questioning, if needed. And you can already imagine the Republican Senators giving quotes afterwards, “Personally, I wouldn’t have gone that far with the questioning, but the fact remains Ford’s story is missing too many key details…” ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3315 "2018-09-25T03:15:03Z")
> [@CoolHandCox](#): > > Generally, the witnesses were named by the accusers. The witnesses stated they have no memory of these incidents. Meaning, they have no memory of the incident or the party where the incident occurred. (\*If there is a specific denial, let me know.) It’s just been too long to remember. > > I have no memory of being born. I was there, it happened, but I have no memory of that. There are many things in life that I was present at, that happened, that I have no memory of - I went to dozens of parties in high school and college that I have no memory of - definitely not specific things that may have occurred in another room. A really easy follow-up question to these witnesses would be, “To be clear, are you stating you have no memory of the alleged incident, one way or the other?” (You don’t know whether it happened or not, whether there was a party or not). I do not think they are stating they remember the party and are denying the incident occurred (an affirmative denial). > > FBI investigating, witness testimony at hearing…all would be helpful. Hell, I’ve been told by an eyewitness that maybe 15 years ago, when I was in my middle 50s, I rushed into an arena to rescue a woman from being trampled and injured or killed by the horse she’d abused into a murderous rage – and I have only vague wisps of memories of the event, though I definitely recall the person and the horse. On the other hand I have painfully clear memories of the times I was groped on the street by a couple of passing, laughing guys, ordered to “Smile, honey!” by a disgusting slimeball in my neighborhood, had an erect naked dick stuck in my back as I stood in the stairwell of a streetcar. Could I give you precise dates when each of these things happened? Hell, no. Could I describe the episode itself? Yes, including location and precisely what happened and how I felt about it. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3316 "2018-09-25T03:17:46Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Same as he was in high school, then. Bravo, sir. ---
**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 25, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3317 "2018-09-25T03:29:59Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I don’t recall it ever being done. However, Ford has asked for a chance to tell her story. I know she would like to tell her story and then whine about how her questioners were old white men, but that’s not how it works, and it is pretty smart for the GOP to cut off that accusation from the outset. So instead of taking on the risk of looking like a bunch of sexist troglodytes, their preference is to look like cowards who have to hide behind an outsider because they are too politically incompetent to do their jobs without appearing like sexist troglodytes. ---
**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 25, 2018, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3318 "2018-09-25T03:34:32Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > So instead of taking on the risk of looking like a bunch of sexist troglodytes, their preference is to look like cowards who have to hide behind an outsider because they are too politically incompetent to do their jobs without appearing like sexist troglodytes. Exactly. They want to call her a slut, but that would look bad. Somehow they came to the conclusion that hiring someone to call her a slut is better optics. It isn’t. ---
**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 25, 2018, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3319 "2018-09-25T03:55:06Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Can someone post the relevant part? I’m past my limit on NYT and now get a paywall. Google isn’t helping me find a source elsewhere. You can right click on the link and tell it to open in an incognito window. That’s what I did because I had the same problem. ---
**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 25, 2018, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/3320 "2018-09-25T04:26:46Z")
Kavanaugh writes [whiney letter](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/24/politics/read-brett-kavanaugh-letter-senate-judiciary-committee/index.html) to Senate judiciary committee. Suck it up buttercup. You don’t get to make the rules. That’s the proper response when someone tries to communicate with the judiciary committee, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=165) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=167)