# 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:** 92
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1821 "2018-09-19T21:20:18Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Smyth and Judge didn’t say “it didn’t happen”, only that they did not remember any such incident. … False. **Mark Judge** : “[I never saw anything like what was described](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/14/us/politics/kavanaugh-assault-allegation-letter.html)” **PJ Smyth** : “[I have never witnessed any improper conduct by Brett Kavanaugh towards women](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/18/politics/pj-smyth-brett-kavanaugh/index.html)” ---
**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 19, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1822 "2018-09-19T21:20:23Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Or else her allegation is dropped. She doesn’t get to make an accusation and then run and hide. DEMANDING is not a form of assault. Courts subpoena sexual assault alleged victims all of the time. She did make a reasonable request that the Senate prioritize gathering facts over political timing concerns, but the Senate seems to have refused. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1823 "2018-09-19T21:21:19Z")
As things stand, either she shows up and be called a liar (because there’s no evidence to back up her claim, because there hasn’t been an investigation) - or she doesn’t and get called a liar. Why would she show up?? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1824 "2018-09-19T21:21:35Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > …It’s on for Monday. I might cancel my appointments and start drinking at 8am. 🙂 Maybe wait for the first Republican to ask her if she was a virgin when it happened? Won’t be that long. ---
**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 19, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1825 "2018-09-19T21:22:07Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > **Mark Judge** : “[I never saw anything like what was described](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/14/us/politics/kavanaugh-assault-allegation-letter.html)” > **PJ Smyth** : “[I have never witnessed any improper conduct by Brett Kavanaugh towards women](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/18/politics/pj-smyth-brett-kavanaugh/index.html)” Glad to see you no longer claim they said “it didn’t happen”. Good for you. Next step for you – value fighting sexual assault and rape in our culture and society over partisan political concerns. Why not just try it? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1826 "2018-09-19T21:22:28Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Also have the details of the incident been stated by Ford, such as to what happened as to why Kavanaugh stopped the attack? Did she say no and he stopped, or was he semi-conscious during his attack? I’ve seen her comment that if he wasn’t so drunk, she feels that he would have raped her, but are there more details of what explicitly caused him to stop? Someone else walked into the room (I assume he didn’t know what was going on) and jumped on the bed with them. That was all the distraction she needed to get away ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1827 "2018-09-19T21:27:47Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Or else her allegation is dropped. She doesn’t get to make an accusation and then run and hide. DEMANDING is not a form of assault. Courts subpoena sexual assault alleged victims all of the time. So are you gonna tell us about that protection, or what? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1828 "2018-09-19T21:31:20Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > No I didnt do anything near rape. Although I admit I was pushing alot but I always stopped at “NO”. > > I agree he should have been punished for this back when he was 17. However since then he’s been a productive member of society. Bringing this up now by democrats just makes them look bad. Forgiveness and becoming a productive member of society happen _after_ admission and repentance, not before. Being a productive member of society doesn’t forgive your crimes, only actual admission of guilt and submitting to society’s judgement does that. You cannot just make up your own penance and go with that. If he had been caught, or even if he came clean about it in his early adult life, then sure, he could have said that, since that time that he did something reprehensible, he has made amends and learned the error of his ways. However, if someone does not admit their mistakes, then they cannot make amends or learn from them. You cannot receive forgiveness for a sin you deny. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1829 "2018-09-19T21:36:34Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Glad to see you no longer claim they said “it didn’t happen”. Good for you. Next step for you – value fighting sexual assault and rape in our culture and society over partisan political concerns. Why not just try it? We don’t know that there has been a sexual assault to fight!!! That’s what you keep ignoring. If we were saying, “Sure he was playing grabass with her, but its no big deal. Boys being boys,” then you can say that we have wool over our eyes and that is sexual assault we should be fighting. Throughout this thread, you have assumed the truth of her allegations in proposing a procedure to determine the truth of her allegations. That is a problem not only in this process, but in the criminal justice system. ---
**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 19, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1830 "2018-09-19T21:38:30Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > We don’t know that there has been a sexual assault to fight!!! That’s what you keep ignoring. Not fully investigating credible allegations hurts the fight against sexual assault and rape in society. Fully investigating credible allegations helps that fight. It really is that simple. > [@](#): > > Throughout this thread, you have assumed the truth of her allegations in proposing a procedure to determine the truth of her allegations. That is a problem not only in this process, but in the criminal justice system. I haven’t assumed the truth of anything, only that it’s a credible allegation that should be investigated. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1831 "2018-09-19T21:39:36Z")
BOOM! 🙂 Classmate’s post deleted. Contained several inconsistencies: > **[Ford Classmate Cristina King: Kavanaugh Incident Happened](https://www.mediaite.com/online/ford-classmate-claims-kavanaugh-incident-happened-then-deletes-facebook-post/)** > > "The incident was spoken about for days afterwords in school." ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1832 "2018-09-19T21:44:31Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Glad to see you no longer claim they said “it didn’t happen”. Good for you. Next step for you – value fighting sexual assault and rape in our culture and society over partisan political concerns. Why not just try it? I’m delighted to continue reminding you (and others) that their denials were stronger than “they did not remember”. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1833 "2018-09-19T21:45:22Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Not fully investigating credible allegations hurts the fight against sexual assault and rape in society. Fully investigating credible allegations helps that fight. > > It really is that simple. > > I haven’t assumed the truth of anything, only that it’s a credible allegation that should be investigated. The Judiciary Committee is investigating. Does “fighting” against sexual assault require an FBI investigation to the exclusion of everything else? Are the thousands of investigations ongoing right now in the states deficient because they do not involve the FBI? Ford has half of the country on her side, with powerful people right now trying to dig up dirt or anything to help her. I would venture to say that possibly aside from Anita Hill, her accusations are being vetted more than any sexual assault accusation in the history of the world. How is society failing her? By not conducting the one particular investigation that everyone knows is not going to happen? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1834 "2018-09-19T21:45:33Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > BOOM! 🙂 > > Classmate’s post deleted. Contained several inconsistencies: > > [Ford Classmate Cristina King: Kavanaugh Incident Happened](https://www.mediaite.com/online/ford-classmate-claims-kavanaugh-incident-happened-then-deletes-facebook-post/) I’m guessing King talked to a lawyer who told her to STFU. Instead she wrote: “I do not have first hand knowledge of the incident that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford mentions” ---
**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 19, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1835 "2018-09-19T22:00:59Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > BOOM! 🙂 > > Classmate’s post deleted. Contained several inconsistencies: > > [Ford Classmate Cristina King: Kavanaugh Incident Happened](https://www.mediaite.com/online/ford-classmate-claims-kavanaugh-incident-happened-then-deletes-facebook-post/) Your link didn’t have any actual inconsistencies (just questions that the link dishonestly described as “inconsistencies”), but I’m happy you got the chance to drop a boom! I hope it was fun. ---
**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 19, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1836 "2018-09-19T22:02:45Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > The Judiciary Committee is investigating. Does “fighting” against sexual assault require an FBI investigation to the exclusion of everything else? Are the thousands of investigations ongoing right now in the states deficient because they do not involve the FBI? Fighting against sexual assault requires a full and objective investigation of credible allegations by professionals, including finding additional witnesses and questioning everyone involved in the allegation (including Mark Judge), which is not being conducted by the Senate at this moment. > [@](#): > > Ford has half of the country on her side, with powerful people right now trying to dig up dirt or anything to help her. I would venture to say that possibly aside from Anita Hill, her accusations are being vetted more than any sexual assault accusation in the history of the world. > > How is society failing her? By not conducting the one particular investigation that everyone knows is not going to happen? It could happen with a single order by the President. Of course, the President has an active interest in preventing scrutiny into credible allegations of sexual assault, so it’s a shame that he’s the one with the power to actually do good on this. ---
**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 19, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1837 "2018-09-19T22:04:09Z")
Why isn’t the state of Maryland investigating? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1838 "2018-09-19T22:04:21Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I think the democrats are making themselves look like total fools by bringing up stuff he did 32 years ago when he was 17 and the girl 15. Look, teens do STUPID THINGS! If the accusation is true, the issue is not what he did 32 years ago. It’s what he’s doing now, i.e. denying the event and refusing to apologize. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1839 "2018-09-19T22:16:44Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Why isn’t the state of Maryland investigating? According to [What Are Maryland's Statute of Limitations on Sexual Assault and Sexual Abuse? | LegalMatch](https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/maryland-statutes-of-limitations-for-sexual-abuse.html) > [@](#): > > In Maryland, the criminal statute of limitations varies depending on the severity of the offense. The criminal statutes of limitations include: > > Felony sexual offenses: no statute of limitations, and > Misdemeanor offenses: one year from the event. I don’t know how they distinguish felony from misdemeanor-level offenses. It certainly seems possible to me that this only qualifies as a misdemeanor offense and the statute of limitations has already been exceeded. There’s also this bit though: > [@](#): > > Criminal cases are filed by the State of Maryland on behalf of a victim. **In order to file criminal charges, you must notify law enforcement of the sexual abuse**. The authorities will investigate your claims and a prosecutor may file charges against your abuser. AFAIK, Christine Ford never took the step highlighted here. ---
**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 19, 2018, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/1840 "2018-09-19T22:21:04Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > AFAIK, Christine Ford never took the step highlighted here. Sounds like that should be her next step if she really wants an investigation to occur. That could even happen after Kavanaugh is confirmed. Which may result in his ultimate impeachment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=91) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=93)