# 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:** 203
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4041 "2018-09-27T15:57:09Z")
I’d love to see Dr Ford gracing the cover of Time magazine as Woman of the Year. This is a great thing she is doing for ‘womanhood’, and what a difference its likely to make. ---
**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 27, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4042 "2018-09-27T15:58:06Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > … > Except for PBS, which is showing their usual children’s programming. Maybe they didn’t want the kiddos to accidentally stumble onto testimony about sexual assault. > [@wolfpup](#): > > Wow, surprising about PBS! Maybe they figure if everyone else is carrying it live, they may as well provide an alternative for the kiddies. > … My local PBS station (which I get over the air) has four stations, and only one of them is the kids channel. Maybe it’s different if you have cable/satellite. > [@DSeid](#): > > …No question that sexual abuse against males is real, even if less frequent than against females. … Unless, of course, you’re talking about priests abusing boys. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4043 "2018-09-27T16:02:32Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > … but using false accusations as political ammunition is going to set that back a long way. Asserting that a claim is false without any basis sets back progress on the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4044 "2018-09-27T16:05:41Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Asserting that a claim is false without any basis sets back progress on the truth. However, asserting that a claim is false when all the alleged witnessess say that it never happened does not. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4045 "2018-09-27T16:08:43Z")
My take-aways so far: [ul] [li]Christine Ford is not just sympathetic and credible but emotionally moving[/li] [li]Quoting Jeff Toobin on CNN, anyone who at this point still thinks she’s lying must be insane[/li] [li]Chuck Grassley is a reprehensible partisan bumbling octogenarian with absolutely zero principles. His opening statement was basically 20 minutes of Democrat-bashing while everyone waited for the hearing to get started.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4046 "2018-09-27T16:10:11Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > However, asserting that a claim is false when all the alleged witnessess say that it never happened does not. None of them have testified under threat of perjury for lying, because the Senate Republicans chose not to subpoena them. Ford and Kavanaugh are the only ones who have for this allegation. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4047 "2018-09-27T16:10:32Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > However, asserting that a claim is false when all the alleged witnessess say that it never happened does not. Oh, got it. If the perpetrators deny it, then it’s false. I am sure you apply that standard to people other than women accusing men of sexual assault. Or perhaps you are referring to the people who cannot recall a particular high school party at which nothing eventful happened to them? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4048 "2018-09-27T16:11:04Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Asserting that a claim is false without any basis sets back progress on the truth. > [@Steophan](#): > > However, asserting that a claim is false when all the alleged witnessess say that it never happened does not. I don’t think “without any basis” is accurate, but I also don’t believe there’s enough evidence one way or the other to definitively label her accusations as either “false” or “true”. They are, in my eyes, of uncertain veracity, and likely to remain so even after today’s hearing. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4049 "2018-09-27T16:13:57Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > During the break right now Jeff Toobin is saying essentially that at this point anyone who thinks Ford is lying must be insane. Don’t worry I’m sure that Fox can figure out a way to edit it selectively. "Ms Ford, shed crocodile tears as the laid out her smear of the Honorable Judge, but wasn’t so distraught that she couldn’t end the reading of her written testimony with an order for a Latte. " ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4050 "2018-09-27T16:15:35Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > … Or perhaps you are referring to the people who cannot recall a particular high school party at which nothing eventful happened to them? Keyser’s statement went a bit beyond “cannot recall a particular high school party”. The statement was “… she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.” ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4051 "2018-09-27T16:19:47Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Keyser’s statement went a bit beyond “cannot recall a particular high school party”. The statement was “… she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.” And I am saying that the decision to construe that as a denial is part of the problem here. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4052 "2018-09-27T16:21:05Z")
Grassley is hemming and hawing over admitting the results of the polygraph test into the record – the test that proves Ford is telling the truth. Priceless! Grassley is forced to agree but demands all the supplementary polygraph material (presumably so the results can be challenged). He is reminded that he would have had all the supplementary material if he had allowed the expert who administered the polygraph to testify, but he refused to allow it (evidence that Ford is telling the truth is apparently not much to Chuck’s liking!). What a reprehensible excuse for a human being! ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4053 "2018-09-27T16:23:17Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > … the test that proves Ford is telling the truth. … That’s not how polygraphs work. ---
**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 27, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4054 "2018-09-27T16:25:26Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > That’s not how polygraphs work. I wonder if you’d have had the same opinion if it’d shown that she’d lied… ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4055 "2018-09-27T16:27:05Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I wonder if you’d have had the same opinion if it’d shown that she’d lied… Wonder all you like. It’s not “proof”, it’s a gimmick for the gullible. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4056 "2018-09-27T16:29:11Z")
I can’t read Ditka’s mind to discern his motives in saying that, but he is factually correct on this point. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4057 "2018-09-27T16:30:11Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I wonder if you’d have had the same opinion if it’d shown that she’d lied… I wonder the same thing. But I’m happy to substitute the words “provides evidence that” for “proves”. The comment about the wretched partisan octogenarian hemming and hawing remains the same. > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > … it’s a gimmick for the gullible. Are “gimmicks” frequently entered as evidence in the Congressional record? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4058 "2018-09-27T16:33:36Z")
Apparently Kav is on record expressing support for the validity of polygraph results. Thinks they should be used as evidence in trials and everything. So it is funny that he hasn’t released his polygraph results to the public. Either he really doesn’t have a lot of trust in those thingamabobs after all (which would make him a liar) or he knows he wouldn’t pass one (because he is a liar). Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4059 "2018-09-27T16:34:06Z")
The part of the questioning about how Ford recalls running into Mark Judge at the supermarket where he worked, about 6-8 weeks after the incident, shows that a real investigation, including sworn statements from Judge and his employment history, might have discovered more facts about the alleged incident, including when it might have taken place. But the GOP Senators (and President) chose not to pursue that. ---
**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 27, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4060 "2018-09-27T16:35:46Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > The part of the questioning about how Ford recalls running into Mark Judge at the supermarket where he worked, about 6-8 weeks after the incident, shows that a real investigation, including sworn statements from Judge and his employment history, might have discovered more facts about the alleged incident, including when it might have taken place. But the GOP Senators chose not to do that. Facts? Don’t need no stinkin’ facts. (Unless they prove what we already believe.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=202) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=204)