# 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:** 207
**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 27, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4121 "2018-09-27T17:59:23Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Some of the gaps in her memory may be explained by alcohol-induced blackouts, but there are other more innocent possible explanations too. Wait? You think your yearbook article is evidence of alcohol induced blackouts? That’s crazy. What part? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4122 "2018-09-27T18:01:26Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > I hope Kavanaugh doesn’t benefit as much as I think he might from the recency effect. If the last thing he leaves us with is the visual of a smug little prick lying his ass off, I don’t think going last is as much of an advantage as he thinks. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4123 "2018-09-27T18:01:32Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Why do you stipulate trial when (for the upteenth time) this is not a trial? Because **monstro** claimed Kavanaugh supported use of polygraphs in trials. Feel free to read for yourself. > [@](#): > > Anyway, here’s Kavanaugh’s ruling in the [court case](https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-dc-circuit/1735693.html) **monstro** cited: Thanks. Do you have a cite for what **monstro** claimed? > [@](#): > > It amuses me that he mentions background investigations as an activity well served by polygraphs. So he certainly should willingly submit to one for himself, right? Actually he says it can be used for law enforcement purposes. Do you aver that this hearing is for law enforcement? Regards, Shodan ---
**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 27, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4124 "2018-09-27T18:09:42Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Because **monstro** claimed Kavanaugh supported use of polygraphs in trials. Feel free to read for yourself. > Thanks. Do you have a cite for what **monstro** claimed? > Actually he says it can be used for law enforcement purposes. Do you aver that this hearing is for law enforcement? > > Regards, > Shodan It’s law enforcement purposes make it more likely to be useful in this instance. This hearing is a job interview. Anything that is useful in a criminal proceeding will have that purpose here. You are confusing yourself on whether kavanaugh and Ford are entitled to “criminal proceeding” rights and privileges and responsibilities. This doesn’t preclude the value of tools used to determine the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4125 "2018-09-27T18:10:59Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Actually he says it can be used for law enforcement purposes. Do you aver that this hearing is for law enforcement? Geez, the quote already put this section in bold text: > [@](#): > > **Those agencies also use polygraphs to “screen applicants for security clearances so that they may be deemed suitable for work in critical law enforcement, defense, and intelligence collection roles."** What does it need to catch your attention? Blink tags? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4126 "2018-09-27T18:13:06Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > If the last thing he leaves us with is the visual of a smug little prick lying his ass off, I don’t think going last is as much of an advantage as he thinks. He didn’t come off particularly well in his Fox interview - very much like an automaton making rote denials. Hopefully Ford’s obvious humanity can make it through to the end. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4127 "2018-09-27T18:13:18Z")
I hope I am not the only one on whom the rich irony of this - > [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > If all you have is snark, keep it to yourself. following this > [@](#): > > This is pretty despicable. Your only basis for claiming that the accusation is false is that you disagree with her politically. Utterly and completely despicable. Just disgusting. And then you have the nerve to ask why victims don’t come forward sooner. > > Disgusting. is not lost. 😃 Regards, Shodan ---
**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, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4128 "2018-09-27T18:13:52Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Wait? You think your yearbook article is evidence of alcohol induced blackouts? That’s crazy. What part? These two parts: One published a photo of Ford and other girls at a Halloween party alongside a caption boasting of “pass[ing] out” after playing “Quarters” and other binge-drinking games. … “The tenth grade taught us how to party,” the girls bragged in another section. And, “Loss of consciousness is often an integral part of the party scene.” ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4129 "2018-09-27T18:16:04Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > It’s law enforcement purposes make it more likely to be useful in this instance. > > This hearing is a job interview. Anything that is useful in a criminal proceeding will have that purpose here. > > You are confusing yourself on whether kavanaugh and Ford are entitled to “criminal proceeding” rights and privileges and responsibilities. This doesn’t preclude the value of tools used to determine the truth. Good grief. Why don’t you advocate for someone to use dowsing rods or crystals…they are similarly valuable ‘tools used to determine the truth’ as a lie detector. It’s hard to believe on a site that is supposedly about fighting ignorance that folks are talking about lie detectors as if they work (let alone using the fact that Kavanaugh THINKS they work as an argument for that)…and no one is pointing at the big elephant in the room. Which are mainly BS. From here ([http://www.apa.org/research/action/polygraph.aspx](http://www.apa.org/research/action/polygraph.aspx)): > [@](#): > > Significance & Practical Application > Polygraph testing has generated considerable scientific and public controversy. Most psychologists and other scientists agree that there is little basis for the validity of polygraph tests. Courts, including the United States Supreme Court (cf. U.S. v. Scheffer, 1998 in which Dr.'s Saxe’s research on polygraph fallibility was cited), have repeatedly rejected the use of polygraph evidence because of its inherent unreliability. Nevertheless, polygraph testing continues to be used in non-judicial settings, often to screen personnel, but sometimes to try to assess the veracity of suspects and witnesses, and to monitor criminal offenders on probation. Polygraph tests are also sometimes used by individuals seeking to convince others of their innocence and, in a narrow range of circumstances, by private agencies and corporations. > > The development of currently used “lie detection” technologies has been based on ideas about physiological functioning but has, for the most part, been independent of systematic psychological research. Early theorists believed that deception required effort and, thus, could be assessed by monitoring physiological changes. But such propositions have not been proven and basic research remains limited on the nature of deceptiveness. Efforts to develop actual tests have always outpaced theory-based basic research. Without a better theoretical understanding of the mechanisms by which deception functions, however, development of a lie detection technology seems highly problematic. > > For now, although the idea of a lie detector may be comforting, the most practical advice is to remain skeptical about any conclusion wrung from a polygraph. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4130 "2018-09-27T18:16:08Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Geez, the quote already put this section in bold text: > > What does it need to catch your attention? Blink tags? :rolleyes: Is it your understanding that Ms. Ford is looking for a job at the CIA or something? Also still looking for a cite that Kavanaugh thinks polygraph evidence should be used at trials. Since that was **monstro** ’s claim. Regards, Shodan ---
**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, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4131 "2018-09-27T18:18:30Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I hope I am not the only one on whom the rich irony of this -following this is not lost. 😃 > > Regards, > Shodan Huh? I thought snark was sarcasm and humorous refutations, not outright revulsion. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4132 "2018-09-27T18:20:06Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > It’s law enforcement purposes make it more likely to be useful in this instance. > > This hearing is a job interview. Anything that is useful in a criminal proceeding will have that purpose here. > > You are confusing yourself on whether kavanaugh and Ford are entitled to “criminal proceeding” rights and privileges and responsibilities. This doesn’t preclude the value of tools used to determine the truth. If it’s a job interview then Kavanaugh can truthfully say that he has no previous convictions or criminal charges pending. :dubious: It’s a public trial and anyone who thinks it’s not is fooling themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4133 "2018-09-27T18:20:49Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Good grief. Why don’t you advocate for someone to use dowsing rods or crystals…they are similarly valuable ‘tools used to determine the truth’ as a lie detector. It’s hard to believe on a site that is supposedly about fighting ignorance that folks are talking about lie detectors as if they work (let alone using the fact that Kavanaugh THINKS they work as an argument for that) The point of this is the delicious irony that Kavanaugh himself wrote that the Gov’t satisfactorily explained that polygraphs serve law enforcement in testing the credibility of witnesses. ---
**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, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4134 "2018-09-27T18:22:34Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > She thought she would be cool if she went to parties where women were drugged and gang-raped at least ten times in two years? As the grizzly bear said to the hunter in the old joke, “You aren’t in this for the hunting, are you?” > > Regards, > Shodan This is a warning for being a jerk. I didn’t get this reference at first, [so I had to look it up.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/52rp9a/long_but_worth_it_a_city_boy_decides_he_wants_to/) > [@](#): > > …so he goes to the pawn shop and, not knowing any better, buys a handgun. He goes out into the woods looking for something to shoot at when he comes to a clearing and sees on the other side a bear! Imagining a helluva hunting story, he takes aim, shoots until he’s out of bullets, and then runs across the clearing to claim his prize. He looks around behind the bushes and doesn’t see anything. Then he feels a tap on his shoulder. > > He spins around and there’s the bear! The bear says, “Look, buddy, I don’t really appreciate being shot at. But I can see that you’re new at this whole hunting thing so I’m going to give you a choice. You can let me maul you… Or you can let me fuck you in the ass.” The guy thinks it over and decides he can always come back and kill the bear tomorrow, so he agrees to option 2. The bear does his thing and the guy goes home. > > The next morning, the guy wakes up, sore as hell and pissed off. He limps to the pawn shop and buys himself a hunting rifle. He heads back out into the woods and soon finds himself at the same clearing. Sure enough, there’s the bear on the other side. Again, he shoots every bullet he has and then runs over to make sure he got the bear this time. But once again, he feels a tap on his shoulder and behind him is the bear, looking pretty pissed off himself. “Ok asshole, same deal,” says the bear. Figuring he’ll get the bear tomorrow for sure, the guy agrees to be ass-raped again. So the bear does his thing, and the guy goes home. > > The next day, the guy is fucking determined. He hobbles back to the pawn shop and buys a whole case of grenades. He heads back to the woods and just starts tossing them everywhere. After the smoke clears, he goes back to where the clearing used to be, hoping to find some charred fur or bear chunks to prove he’s killed the bear this time. But he feels a tap on his shoulder again and the bear says, “son, you aren’t in this for the hunting, are you?” To imply that Swetnick went to various parties wanting to get raped is jerkishly offensive. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4135 "2018-09-27T18:24:56Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I hope I am not the only one on whom the rich irony of this -following this is not lost. 😃 > > Regards, > Shodan Nah he’s expressing genuine outrage. Snark implies sarcasm or mocking. Edit: I see now I’m late to the party on that view. ---
**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, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4136 "2018-09-27T18:26:54Z")
… and, speaking of staying classy, Lindsey Graham’s latest comment: “… Let me tell my Democratic friends, if this is the new norm, you better watch out for your nominees.” Democrats are now on notice, because apparently as long as Republicans run things, no Democratic-leaning rapists will be confirmed for the Supreme Court. No failed attempted rapists, either. ---
**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, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4137 "2018-09-27T18:28:11Z")
About 30 minutes after Ford’s lawyers explained that they were the ones who paid for Ford’s polygraph, Lindsey Graham just said “I don’t know who paid for her polygraph, but somebody paid for it”. Senator, maybe you’d like to check the tape of the hearing you just spent the last several hours attending? ---
**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 27, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4138 "2018-09-27T18:29:42Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Actually he says it can be used for law enforcement purposes. Do you aver that this hearing is for law enforcement? > > Regards, > Shodan By what mechanism would a polygraph would be useful for “law enforcement” purposes (which should have a high bar for evidence to meet) but not useful in an appointment hearing? Either the tests are reliable or not. Anyone sympathetic to Kavanaugh who thinks polygraphs are unreliable garbage needs to pay attention to his position on this. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4139 "2018-09-27T18:33:24Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > This is a warning for being a jerk. I didn’t get this reference at first, [so I had to look it up.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/52rp9a/long_but_worth_it_a_city_boy_decides_he_wants_to/) > > To imply that Swetnick went to various parties wanting to get raped is jerkishly offensive. > > [/moderating] It’s a fair cop. I withdraw the joke, and apologize to the SDMB. Regards, Shodan ---
**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 27, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4140 "2018-09-27T18:34:05Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > One published a photo of Ford and other girls at a Halloween party alongside a caption boasting of “pass[ing] out” after playing “Quarters” and other binge-drinking games. Ford is in a photo that references passing out, but without context there’s no indication that Ford passed out. A photo you haven’t seen and excerpts from a caption you haven’t read are evidence, but extremely weak evidence. But I’ll give you partial credit for this. This might indicate that Ford was a binge drinker and it has been esatblished in this thread, with cites, that frequent heavy binge drinkers black out often. > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > “The tenth grade taught us how to party,” the girls bragged in another section. And, “Loss of consciousness is often an integral part of the party scene.” This isn’t a quote of Ford and I don’t think Ford is even on this page. This isn’t evidence of anything concerning Ford. Riddle me this… Based on the evidence you’ve seen so far, who do you think more likely had alcohol induced black outs, Ford or Kavanaugh? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=206) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=208)