Are they offering up their daughters?
Sure, because everybody knows that rape and Satanic ritual abuse are about equally common occurrences. Consequently, bringing up Satanic ritual abuse in a thread about rape is not at all a disingenuous rhetorical tactic intended to make rape accusations seem less credible. Of course not.
About that CNN panel: CNN focus group of conservative women turns out to be comprised of GOP operatives. Gina Sosa, whom you quoted, ran in a GOP primary for a congressional seat this summer. “In other words, these were not GOP voters plucked off the street. They were, in large part, members of the GOP establishment in Miami-Dade.”
seems like Brett Kavanaugh really had more in common with Bill Cosby.
I think in their mind, those boys are innocent because what they have done is normal.
Even if we take that to be the case (I do not, but obviously many do), there remains the problematic issue that if the allegations are even remotely true, Kavanaugh has—as a mature adult nominated for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the nation—lied under oath about it. That speaks to poor character and a lack of integrity in owning up to mistakes and correcting his own behavior. Of course, he has already lied under oath which should disqualify him, so dissembling about his behavior as a teenager (does anybody really believe that he sat around twittling his thumbs and knitting in high school and college while classmates report partying, drinking, and aggressively pursuing women for sex?) should just be icing on the shit cake the judiciary committee should be boxing up to send home with him as they escort him out of the hearings. That they aren’t speaks volumes about the extreme partisanship of this confirmation.
Stranger
From 1990…
Now 3 women and counting. You guys never learn, do you?
I’m getting pretty pissed off that all the right wing idiots keep referring to Michael Avenatti as the lawyer to a porn star. As if that is some sort of disgusting and disqualifying thing. Yeah, that’s right, he’s the lawyer to the porn star your president fucked and paid off to keep quiet. Goddam hypocritical assholes.
Trump’s first presser in about a year contained the usual intentional falsehoods. https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1045055217585270789
But he also seemed to leave open the possibility of slipping the shiv in Kavanaugh. [INDENT]After all this, Trump says it’s “possible” he’ll hear Blasey Ford’s testimony and “say hey, I’m changing my mind.” He adds: “You know what, I could be persuaded also.” https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1045059423658561536
Asked again if he thinks all three women are liars, Trump says, “I can’t tell you, I have to watch tomorrow.” He adds of Avenatti, “Her lawyer is a low-life.”[/INDENT] So basically it comes down to how telegenic Dr. Ford and Justice Kavanaugh are, relatively speaking. We know the latter isn’t a particularly convincing liar. But then again, neither is Trump.
Go fuck yourself, shitbag.
Your only function is to rubber stamp anti-abortion laws and protect Trump from impeachment. You have been a Republican partisan shill for decades, and your fate was sealed the moment you aligned yourself with the Orange Fuckstain.
You want to cry about your tattered reputation and unfair Senate hearings? You can eat shit and die.
Kavanaugh tries to act like he is outraged at the accusations, but he doesn’t want an FBI investigation.
The 3 witnesses against him want an FBI investigation, though it would involve legal consequences if they were shown to be lying.
Kavanaugh also doesn’t want he former drinking buddy, Mark Judge, to testify. He continues to lie.
We passed the point of ridiculousness long ago. 51 Senators, the head of the FBI, or Donald Trump could clear this up by permitting the FBI to continue with their background check of Kavanaugh. For Anita Hill, the process took 2 days. Admittedly given the multitude of witnesses lining up against him, the process would probably take longer now.
Trump’s approval ratings average 41.4% at 538. The above situation has a lot of tacit and explicit support in this country.
And that is really what this is all about. What consequences should be faced for harming others.
If Kavanaugh is confirmed without fairly definitive proof that all of his accusers are lying, then that sends the message to a boy looking at a girl and wondering if he should rape her that he should go ahead, as it’s not like it’ll keep him off the supreme court or anything.
Flake’s move is pretty genius. The odds the FBI probe will turn up anything conclusive at this point are somewhere between slim and none.
He can legitimately claim to have agreed to a proper investigation, which turned up nothing conclusive, which means [del]Ivehadenough[/del] Kavanaugh can be put up for vote, and Rs can vote for him with a clean conscious.
Well - if they actually had a conscious, they’d dump Kavanaugh and go find a candidate that doesn’t have multiple women accusing him of sexual assault and that don’t act like angry petulant children hell-bent on revenge when being considered for the highest court in the land.
I think a reasonable person would say there is a degree of difference between the allegations of Ford and Ramirez versus the allegations of Swetnick.
But, the sorts of people that they want for this position, that will deny a woman the right to make medical decisions over he own body, will deny people the right to get married due to the prejudice against them sharing a gender, siding with large corporate interests against the american people are the sorts of people who have no respect for the people around them any more than they can be used to their own ends.
This means that they probably are not going to be able to find anyone who hasn’t disrespected women and acted like petulant children when called on it who will also be reliable in voting the party line.
I would also expect that, in the past, such an overly emotional reaction and clearly partisan talk and believe in conspiracy theories about people not even involved in the situation would all be enough to disqualify him. I’m not saying he can’t have emotional moments, but he should have been able to hold himself together for a planned hearing, at the very least.
As for Flake: most I’ve read suggest the FBI is a smokescreen, and the real plan is to do more polling and see how bringing on Kavinaugh would affect the upcoming election. Though, honestly, I see no reason the FBI couldn’t find something–the testimonies already exist, and Kavinaugh is already acting like he’s guilty. The requirement isn’t beyond a reasonable doubt or even probable cause at this point.
Conclusive? Won’t happen. But they could try to interview Mark Judge, and he could plead the fifth. They could subpoena supermarket records to see when Mark Judge worked at a particular store when Dr. Ford allegedly saw him.
They could go through Kavanaugh’s testimony and document the extent to which he told intentional falsehoods.
That could happen. But there would be a paper trail. And the FBI can do certain things that reporters can’t. This sort of stuff belongs in the record.
Flake has talked a good game, but has done absolutely nothing to block Trump’s authoritarian tendencies or even any action to back up his all too empty words. Until now. This is concrete. Savor it.
I don’t think the vote of Flake, Murkowski et al is a slam dunk. I’m pretty sure that one of them won’t be the lone holdout though. Especially Collins. Political courage or simply upholding oaths of office went out of fashion among Washington Republicans a long time ago.
Yes, yes, I read crap like this a lot. (Not attacking you here BigT: I’m just frustrated.)
Kavanaugh was table pounding because he could pound neither law nor facts. He hit a number of talking points repeatedly. It was a goddamn act. (Which, yes, would have been disqualifying a year ago or more. Same for his conspiracy mongering and blatant partisanship. This nomination has become a farce.)
ETA: The fact that someone is elevated into contention for high office, only to find skeletons tumbling out of the closet is nothing new. Happens to both parties. If the system was functioning the dude would just drop out of consideration. It doesn’t because the conspiracy oriented conservative base is sufficiently large.
He’s agreed to be interviewed, but he doesn’t have to and he could change his mind. He would be wise to have his attorney present during the interview. And it’s my understanding that he has asked for his testimony to remain confidential, which I believe they have to honor. It’s possible he’ll trip up, cave, or suddenly remember something, but I doubt it. Still, worth doing due diligence.
I don’t think they could do either of those things based on the limitations Trump placed on the investigation, according to the recent reports. They can only interview the folks Trump approved, and they can only ask about the charges of sexual assault. They won’t “document intentional falsehoods”. They might report conflicting testimony, but they are not going to label anything a falsehood. That’s for the president and the Senate to decide.
I also think it would an incredible stroke of luck if Safeway still had employment records from 1982 filed away somewhere, even if the FBI were allowed to talk to them.
Trump is claiming there are no constraints on the FBI, but I don’t believe him for a second.