# 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:** 56
**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 17, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1101 "2018-09-17T15:51:55Z")
> **[Alumnae of Kavanaugh accuser’s high school express support for her](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/406993-alumnae-of-kavanaugh-accusers-high-school-send-letter-defending-her/)** > > Alumnae of Christine Blasey Ford’s high school, including actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, are circulating a letter to show their support for her, after Ford came forward with sexual misconduct accusat… Over 200 alumnae of Blasey-Ford’s high school sign a letter of support for her. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1102 "2018-09-17T15:56:53Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > who are the 65 women? We know they are not school classmates since he was at an all boys school. Did he know them from church? His neighborhood? Some other group like charity work? They’re all on the Montgomery County Republican Committee? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1103 "2018-09-17T15:59:59Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > [https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/406993-alumnae-of-kavanaugh-accusers-high-school-send-letter-defending-her](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/406993-alumnae-of-kavanaugh-accusers-high-school-send-letter-defending-her) > > Over 200 alumnae of Blasey-Ford’s high school sign a letter of support for her. “200 alumnae from classes 1967 through 2018”. Some of them weren’t even born at the time of the alleged incident. That’s nice dear. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1104 "2018-09-17T16:05:37Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > That’s the whole point of the tweet though. The press didn’t “fabricate a story” - they implied it, hoping that the gullible people would infer that it meant that many of the women had renounced their support. If they get called out for it, they can say “I never said that” (and they’ll be correct, they never did say that). That’s why I called it “spin”. The original tweet doesn’t really help much, does it? “We called many of the 65” - how many? 26? I think the only thing definitive you can read from that statement is that they definitively contacted at least 4 people in total, and 2 of them affirmed their support. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1105 "2018-09-17T16:07:19Z")
is Two humps Donny in a coma? Did his phone break? Can’t believe no tweets on this today. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1106 "2018-09-17T16:11:15Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Why are you assuming his guilt? The same charge could be levied at all men of his age; that doesn’t mean the charge is honest. But this same charge could could not be plausibly leveled by just anyone. Literally anyone who just wanted to disrupt the nomination process on the flimsiest of accusations could have made an anonymous report about any purported misconduct. They could accuse Kavanaugh of rape, or pedophilia, or necrophilia, or kicking puppies. This started as a anonymous report and I believed it even then. There are lots of reasons to want to remain anonymous when leveling such an accusation. Shame, fear of retaliation, getting doxed and harassed by supporters, the likely futility, etc. But, I can understand why reasonable people might disregard an anonymous report as unreliable. Maybe my belief was partisan. I can accept that. But, maybe people who disbelieved the anonymous report are also disbelieving for partisan reasons. In light of new evidence, they should revisit their disbelief. We eventually learned who the accuser was. It wasn’t a Russian troll, a 20-year-old man, or a hermit in the Andes mountains. Kavanaugh’s accuser a woman who grew up in the same area that Kavanaugh grew up in, who is roughly the same age, who knew him, who knew Kavanaugh’s friend by name, who knew that Kavanaugh partied with this friend, and knew their style of partying to know that they basically got black-out drunk together. So now, we’re down to a universe of maybe a few dozens of women who could have accused him of this. And, of those few dozens of women, the one to accuse him had to bear enough of a grudge against Kavanaugh that she would want to tell a story decades later to keep him off the Supreme Court. I believe that his attempting to rape her might be such a motivation. I can’t think of a lot of other reasons for someone to hold such a grudge privately for years. If she were inventing a story, she would also have to believe that an attempted rape accusation is the best way to do this, even though as a woman today, she must recognize that questioning a woman’s credibility and disregarding her evidence is routine in claims of sexual harassment and rape. Kavanaugh’s accuser must look at how Anita Hill was treated and think “I want that for myself.” If she were making up the story she also have had to decide that talking about an attempted rape is going to be as effective for her as a completed rape even though the evidence for either is exactly the same. She would also have to decide that her story is more credible if she also names Kavanaugh’s friend so this turns from a “he said-she-said” story into one where multiple people have reason to attack her credibility and where her liability for defamation is doubled. This seems like a bad strategy move. Then, in a nefarious turn, she would have to go back in time six years and tell this fabricated story to her therapist and her husband. Somewhere along there, I can’t help but believe her story is true and partisan opponents are just willfully disregarding where the weight of the evidence has gone. My hunch is that the core of her story will be corroborated by additional evidence over time or that additional accusers will come forward. Some of the evidence will be circumstantial. My hunch is Kavanaugh’s denial won’t get any more convincing. ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1107 "2018-09-17T16:14:21Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > is Two humps Donny in a coma? Did his phone break? Can’t believe no tweets on this today. Indeed. It’s like the old Tarzan serials: the time to worry is when the drums stop. “It’s quiet tonight. Too quiet.” ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1108 "2018-09-17T16:16:10Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > That’s the whole point of the tweet though. The press didn’t “fabricate a story” - they implied it, hoping that the gullible people would infer that it meant that many of the women had renounced their support. If they get called out for it, they can say “I never said that” (and they’ll be correct, they never did say that). That’s why I called it “spin”. Ok, maybe you prefer the term “manufactured” a story. Is that better? But again, if the press is misrepresenting something, it is trivially easy for the signers to clarify the matter. I’m not saying they are under the obligation to, but one could infer from your posts that the judge’s supporters are simply at the mercy of the lyin’ media. You know, the same media that “lied” about Trump mistreating women, “lied” about Hollywood moguls mistreating women, etc. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1109 "2018-09-17T16:21:00Z")
If Kavanaugh was plausibly accused of murdering someone when he was 17, I wonder how many of his supporters would be okay with his being named to the Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1110 "2018-09-17T16:23:30Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > “200 alumnae from classes 1967 through 2018”. Some of them weren’t even born at the time of the alleged incident. That’s nice dear. That’s enough with the personalization. Keep the debate to the debate. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1111 "2018-09-17T16:25:08Z")
upon review of the moderator’s instructions, it’s probably best to remove this post. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1112 "2018-09-17T16:28:27Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > You’re quite right that they’re under no obligation to. My posts meant to imply that **BPC** was simply at the mercy of [the lyin’ media](https://4k4oijnpiu3l4c3h-zippykid.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CNN-florence-cooper-flood1-720x540.jpg), not the women. Certainly, if some of them have renounced their support, that would be interesting and newsworthy. “I tried to call them and most didn’t answer their phone. None of the few that did renounced their support” doesn’t strike my as particularly interesting or newsworthy. But yes, I suspect there will be more follow-up with the women this week and we’ll see some additional clarification on where they stand on Kavanaugh. You realize, of course, that you are applying your own spin to the story about the story? Right? So it seems you aren’t really advocating a “no-spin” zone, you’re just advocating a “my spin” zone. ETA: are you suggesting with that photo that the report is on his knees in the water, or suggesting that water does not often get deeper the more you wade into it? ---
**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 17, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1113 "2018-09-17T16:29:53Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Had Ford been drinking at the party? In one interview she claims that Kavanaugh was too inebriated to complete the rape, and in another interview she claims that Kavanaugh only had one beer. I don’t think this accurate. Can you point me to a source for this information? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1114 "2018-09-17T16:31:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If Kavanaugh was plausibly accused of murdering someone when he was 17, I wonder how many of his supporters would be okay with his being named to the Supreme Court. I suspect the difference in opinions on the matter revolves around the word “plausibly” not the particular crime. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1115 "2018-09-17T16:33:07Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > … ETA: are you suggesting with that photo that the report is on his knees in the water, or suggesting that water does not often get deeper the more you wade into it? I think he was standing in a ditch alongside the road to exaggerate the severity of the flooding. I’m suggesting that he was attempting to deceive his viewers. ETA: It’s not really the topic of this thread though, so let’s drop the subject for purposes of this thread at least. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1116 "2018-09-17T16:38:34Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > There was only one interview, given to the Washington Post, and cited here a few times. In it, she claimed she had one beer and that Kavanaugh was “heavily intoxicated”. No, she did the rounds with the Today show and CBS this morning. ---
**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 17, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1117 "2018-09-17T16:52:55Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I think he was standing in a ditch alongside the road to exaggerate the severity of the flooding. I’m suggesting that he was attempting to deceive his viewers. ETA: It’s not really the topic of this thread though, so let’s drop the subject for purposes of this thread at least. It is a strange way to find “objections” to some “other” but OK let’s drop it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1118 "2018-09-17T16:52:58Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > No, she did the rounds with the Today show and CBS this morning. Are you sure? If I go to CBS’s web site, it only has the WaPo story on it about her. Nothing about an interview on that network today. If she is going to testify in front of Congress, I hope she isn’t doing a media blitz beforehand. ---
**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 17, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1119 "2018-09-17T16:54:44Z")
Kavanaugh’s categorical denial (“no, I did not do that and I have never done anything like that”) leads him pretty much zero room to back off and say something like “sometimes I drank too much as a student and it’s possible I blacked out and behaved inappropriately” if the evidence becomes overwhelming that Ford is being truthful. If Kavanaugh had started from “when I was in high school, I occasionally drank too much and behaved boisterously; I don’t remember every incident of misbehavior, but I very much regret my youthful misbehavior and I would like to sincerely apologize to Dr. Ford and anyone else who witnessed or experience my inebriated misbehavior; I have since changed profoundly – I no longer drink more than 1 or 2 drinks per week, and have sought to ensure my family and those children I interact with have the tools to make better decisions than I did” etc etc., then I would expect he’d have an excellent chance at a successful vote going forward. But he chose categorical denial, which means that if Ford’s story is backed up by others, and/or if anyone else comes forward credibly, then he’s got pretty much zero room to be seen as anything but a dishonest and dishonorable attempted rapist. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1120 "2018-09-17T16:59:31Z")
Galling. There are entirely sensible questions about the man and his honesty. Or at the very least, an entirely convenient memory. At the very top of that list would be Sen. Leahy’s questions. The Republicans had a splendid opportunity to show their principled concern for good government, Instead, they chose to try and roll over the opposition by sheer force. Now, they are hooked on the horns of an admittedly flimsy allegation (as of this moment, flimsy). They bulled their way through refusing to investigate entirely legitimate concerns, and now the best means to thwart a nomination that never should have happened is this. Galling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=55) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=57)