# 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:** 233
**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 28, 2018, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4641 "2018-09-28T04:26:47Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I think it’s incredibly foolish to think the Dems are going to get a permanent majority. History suggests we will always have a two-party system. But if one of the parties is going to consistently put up people of Trump’s caliber and still win half the time over the long run, democracy has failed. The only two times court packing was successfully used, it did in fact coincide with the collapse of the party on the losing end of the packing: the Federalists and the anti-Reconstructionist Democrats (the Democrats, of course, came back, but not for a generation). In the former case, the Federalists had packed the Court prior to losing their majority, and the Jeffersonians subsequently re-packed it. Nothing new under the sun. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4642 "2018-09-28T04:27:13Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …After watching today’s travesty, I have to ask myself what women in their right mind would ever voluntarily choose to interact with men ever again? You couldn’t find a paintbrush any wider if you tried. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4643 "2018-09-28T04:28:29Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > After watching today’s travesty, I have to ask myself what women in their right mind would ever voluntarily choose to interact with men ever again? Hell, I _am_ a man and I’m asking myself that question. 🙂 ---
**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 28, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4644 "2018-09-28T04:29:50Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > A big enough deal to impact the votes of any of those key senators? Or not? If not then not such a big deal that matters. Conservatives have long accused the ABA of having a liberal bias. This is just consistent with that perspective. Who the hell knows? There are only like four people in the world whose opinions actually matter at this point, and We Have No Idea. I take some hope from Flake’s saying nothing today, but we’ll all find out together. ---
**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 28, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4645 "2018-09-28T04:30:57Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Hell, I _am_ a man and I’m asking myself that question. 🙂 It does seem to be the only appropriate reaction, doesn’t it?☹ ---
**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 28, 2018, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4646 "2018-09-28T04:32:05Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > A big enough deal to impact the votes of any of those key senators? Or not? If not then not such a big deal that matters. Conservatives have long accused the ABA of having a liberal bias. This is just consistent with that perspective. It depends if it’s the start of a snowball or not. It has enough clout to potentially start a snowball. But we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4647 "2018-09-28T04:32:26Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > Speaking as an addiction psychiatrist: Kavanaugh’s behavior today was absolutely stereotypical of an alcoholic in denial. It seemed so obvious to me how his entire demeanor changed when the subject turned to his drinking. He got hyper-defensive and did stuff like responding to a US Senator’s question with “Have YOU?”. Anyone who’s ever known an alcoholic can recognize that aggrieved, psuedo-humorous whine of “Well, I admit I like beer! Beer is not a crime! Lots of people like beer!” I could certainly be wrong, I’m not claiming to have enough information to make a diagnosis…but yeah. He seemed to have a much easier time sticking to the script when the topic was “only” alleged sex crimes. Interesting possibility. I just couldn’t help thinking that a woman who behaved the way he did, getting red-faced, loud, hyper-emotional, talking back, etc. would have elicited comments like “She’s a hysteric, unstable, and needs a few minutes to compose herself.” ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4648 "2018-09-28T04:32:42Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I agree, probably confirmed, though I give 60/40 in favor. The Pubs sacrificed the patient to save his leg as far as the midterms go though. Massive turnout and defections toward the Democrats. They are going to rue the day they gave subpoena power to the Democrats. Care to put some numbers behind these predictions? In 2002, Dems got almost 34 million votes in the HoR. In 2006, it was over 42 million. In 2010, Dems were back down (just) below 39 million. In 2014 they got less than 36 million. What do you think it’s going to be in 2018? 42 million again? more? less? care to put any money into a wager? ---
**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 28, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4649 "2018-09-28T04:34:24Z")
> [@CoolHandCox](#): > > It depends if it’s the start of a snowball or not. It has enough clout to potentially start a snowball. But we’ll see. Who do you think the snow would consist of, that it would impact those key senators? ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4650 "2018-09-28T04:34:27Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > This is insanity, and dangerous as fuck. I very much trust the military to competently maintain order in some hypothetical scenario where the government collapses or the rule of law breaks down due to “economic crisis” (it would have to be the kind that hits you in the stomach, not just in the bank account - i.e. riots over food and water, no electrical power or refrigeration, etc.) For all of America’s faults, I do believe we have people with integrity, a sense of responsibility, and a pragmatic and realistic outlook, leading the military. The “insanity” part is the idea that the Democrats could somehow co-opt the military into a coup, which is what the guy you quoted seems to be implying, or that they’d resort to “extra-constitutional rehabilitation” of some specific group of people. America’s system of representative democracy is an ongoing experiment and there’s no reason to think it will NEVER in the future have to go through some periods of catastrophic failure (or that if it does so, it can’t also be restored at some point.) And temporary oversight by the military is one such way that it could be restored in this hypothetical. But that quoted posted with the “rehabilitation” sounds suspiciously like a Stalinist. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4651 "2018-09-28T04:39:13Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Because the next person on the list would **inevitably** get smeared as badly as Kavanaugh has been. > > And after watching this witch hunt, who in his right mind would want to subject himself and his family to that kind of stress? Inevitably. That’s like saying every Republican nominee would get borked. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4652 "2018-09-28T04:39:46Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Wasn’t you that pointed at guys that used 4chan to claim that Avenatti was punked? If you think that’s what I claimed, I’d encourage you to go back and re-read that portion of this thread. Here, I’ll even be helpful and provide a link: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=21230225#post21230225](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=21230225#post21230225) ---
**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 28, 2018, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4653 "2018-09-28T04:41:42Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Who do you think the snow would consist of, that it would impact those key senators? Other organizations, prominent people agreeing with the organizations, and it all being reported in the news and discussed. I don’t think the ABA is enough, but it’s a good legit start. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4654 "2018-09-28T04:41:45Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’m not saying I want one-party rule. I’m just saying I don’t want the Nazis to be one of the two major parties. Who are the Nazis? And do you honestly think Court packing can only be done by the Dems? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4655 "2018-09-28T04:41:58Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > It won’t be liberal tears conservatives will need to build an ark to survive. > > It will be the fury of millions of women who have silently tolerated decades of sexual harassment and sexual assault that has been dismissed because they just didn’t get the joke, were frigid bitches, were hysterical liars or waited too long to complain. And those are just a few of the ways millions of women have felt dismissed and treated like shit in these situations in the past. If Kavanaugh is confirmed, those days will be over in ways you and your pals don’t even begin to comprehend. > > What is coming isn’t a flood, it will be a tsunami the likes of which have never been seen before or thought possible. > > And your silly ass little ark won’t even begin to survive it. So how many D votes in the HoR in November? 42 million? 52 million? 62 million? Are YOU willing to put any money behind your answer? ---
**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 28, 2018, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4656 "2018-09-28T04:43:07Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Care to put some numbers behind these predictions? > > In 2002, Dems got almost 34 million votes in the HoR. In 2006, it was over 42 million. In 2010, Dems were back down (just) below 39 million. In 2014 they got less than 36 million. What do you think it’s going to be in 2018? 42 million again? more? less? care to put any money into a wager? What terms are you offering? ---
**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 28, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4657 "2018-09-28T04:45:20Z")
I’ll take over 42 million. ---
**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 28, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4658 "2018-09-28T04:45:41Z")
**Thing Fish** , you and I may read this the same way. I was heartened by the Flake/Collins/Murkowski/Manchin private meeting tonight. I expect Flake is going to vote to allow the matter to go to a vote on the floor, but hope the 4 of them together will oppose the nomination. Manchin is pretty safe, and that will give cover to Heitkamp and McCaskill to vote for the wingnut if needed to save their seats in the mid-term. Razor thin, but enough. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4659 "2018-09-28T04:46:14Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > … But that quoted posted with the “rehabilitation” sounds suspiciously like a Stalinist. It sounds _EXACTLY_ like a Stalinist. I’m disappointed so many of his fellow-travelers let it go by without even a comment. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4660 "2018-09-28T04:49:54Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Who do you think the snow would consist of, that it would impact those key senators? Holy water, one would imagine. > [@octopus](#): > > Who are the Nazis? And do you honestly think Court packing can only be done by the Dems? The Republicans are Nazis. Once we can put an end to their antidemocratic practices, they should shrivel away and we can have a _sensible_ party take their place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=232) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=234)