Three of Brett Kavanaugh’s Yale classmates wrote an opinion article for the Washington Post.
Charles Ludington, Lynne Brookes, and Elizabeth Swisher say that they were classmates and “drinking buddies” with Kavanaugh.
Each has spoken to the media about Brett’s drinking habits. They did not object to his drinking. They drank too. They objected to his lying about it to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Apparently, they were not interviewed by the FBI.
“We each asserted that Brett lied to the Senate by stating, under oath, that he never drank to the point of forgetting what he was doing. We said, unequivocally, that each of us, on numerous occasions, had seen Brett stumbling drunk to the point that it would be impossible for him to state with any degree of certainty that he remembered everything that he did when drunk…
“All of us went to Yale, whose motto is “Lux et Veritas” (Light and Truth). Brett also belonged to a Yale senior secret society called Truth and Courage. We believe that Brett neither tells the former nor embodies the latter. For this reason, we believe that Brett Kavanaugh should not sit on the nation’s highest court.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Nathan J. Robinson • How We Know K🤥v🤥n🤥h Is Lying
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/09/how-we-know-kavanaugh-is-lying
Video Version —
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/02/heres-very-smart-and-informative-video-entitled-how-we-know-brett-kavanaugh-lying
Opinion- If Mueller’s report was damning and it had been released by now, K___’s confirmation wouldn’t have gone as easily.
I thought Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp’s statement was excellent. Compare that to Susan Collins and you can see the difference between a very conservative Democrat and a supposedly liberal Republican. The Democrat has a conscience.
Kavanaugh committed perjury in multiple ways during this confirmation process. I’m glad some of his college classmates are coming forward. I hope more of his high school ones do, too.
I was pleasantly surprised by Heitkamp’s decision, NYC. Good for her in this case.
Manchin should NOT be in Congress; he has a real conflict of interest w/Big Pharma; his daughter is CEO of the EpiPen co. that ran up the price. He is on the top 10 list of senators (Booker is another) taking the most in campaign contributions from Big Pharma.
He’s not only a DINO, but truly a scumbag. & WVA, too, has an opiod problem.
Donnelly has totally screwed the people he represents. WVA is a very poor state.
So much of all we’ve seen in the past two decades is rooted in the vast accumulation of wealth by a select few. A phenomen that continues to gain momentum.
Money is power. There are no campaign finance laws (quite the opposite)…so we’re at the mercy and whim of those who hold the purse strings.
We’re uncovering the motives of those who would put such an unqualified person into such a powerful position. It’s not pretty.
This not directly related re: “kravan-gnaw,” however shiws how vast sexual molestation is.
Connie Chung: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/connie-chung-breaks-silence-sexual-assault-doctor-50-years-ago-kept-dirty-little-secret-202747417.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=1_11
This country better a good, hard look at itself.
It seems this guy would do just about anything to get the prize he wants, including destroying the very institution that he hopes to join. His wacky appearance before the Senate judiciary committee last week proves as much.
And, so it goes with so many of Trump’s billionaire boys club enablers and toadies. They want to be the bosses, the alpha males, even if their kingdom turns into a smoldering ruins.
God help the rest of us.
I posted a couple of informative links but they have the name of he who must not be named in their urls so they languish now in limbo. I have no control over the spells others cast.
This FBI ‘investigation’ is a blight on the history of the US. There are people who requested to be interviewed because they had information about what happened. They were not contacted. There are conservative judges who don’t have this baggage. Trump is picking K because he is Trump’s ‘get out of jail’ card. A sitting president can’t be investigated nor indicted. 1,700 law professors who have signed a letter saying K is unfit for the job due to his temperament and biases.
Trump always picks the best and the sycophantic GOP follow like sheep. There is a lot that the US will loose now that the court is stacked for the far right. This is not a ride that any of us will enjoy.
When will the garbage spread by Trump ever end? I worry about his wanting to be dictator for life. Bit by bit he is dismantling our government and our American ideals. “Truth is not truth”.
Mark Judge’s high school memoir “Wasted” is selling for $1,899 on Amazon
By Michael J. CorenOctober 3, 2018
Mark Judge’s memoir, Wasted: Tales of a GenX Drunk, was available for free online for a brief, beautiful moment today (Oct. 3). The Internet Archive posted a scanned copy of the 1997 book, but it was taken down within hours. In a message, the Internet Archive cited “various reasons” for the removal,…
Wasted details years of drinking, football, and sex. While K is not directly described in the book, most characters have thinly disguised pseudonyms, and a “Bart O’K******” appears several times. An editors note in the book describes it as “based on actual experiences. In some cases, the names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.”…
In one passage, “O’K******” is portrayed speaking to a girl named Mary:
“So how do you like Prep?” Mary asked.
“It’s cool.”
“Do you know Bart O’K*******?”
“Yeah. He’s around here somewhere.”
“I heard he puked in someone’s car the other night.”
“Yeah. He passed out on his way back from a party.”
https://qz.com/1412357/mark-judges-memoir-wasted-is-selling-for-1899-on-amazon/
Enough of K and Trump. Let’s get down to something serious. [I’d be up all night eating. This is my idea of luxury.]
…………..
The pros and cons of living in a French cottage made entirely of chocolate
Would it be nice to live in a chocolate house? It’s a question I’ve honestly never considered before. But now the time has come for us all ponder it together, because an all-chocolate cottage in Sèvres, France is available for rent on Booking.com. (At least, it was—other guests appear to have snapped up the two available dates…
And if you get hungry, you can just eat a candlestick or whatever, which is both frugal and possibly even more time-efficient than Soylent. (In this chocolate-house scenario, let’s assume there is an infinite supply of chocolate candlesticks, so you don’t have to worry about eating yourself literally out of house and home.)
https://qz.com/quartzy/1408688/the-pros-and-cons-of-living-in-a-french-cottage-made-entirely-of-chocolate/
😀 , Carol! Not so sure it would work that way, tho… I remember after a long-ago day breathing the chocolate air in Hershey PA, I couldn’t touch the stuff for weeks 😉
bethree5: Unfortunately the chocolate in the house has been varnished. Can’t eat it. The smell of chocolate probably would be overpowering but I could handle it for one or two nights. [I envision all the candles laying around just waiting for me.]
Thank you, bethree!! I will have to go to Hersheytown & get the cure.
I have been devouring Halloween candy like there’s no tomorrow (& won’t be, if I keep it up).
Must.stop.watching.the.news.
(Actually, no–good news in Chicago–finally a policeman charged & held accountable. Solemn celebration here: determined journalist {Jamie Kalven, “16 Shots”}; witnesses; video & a mindful jury, along w/tireless people in the streets for years.)
Life in America these days: a real roller coaster ride (but decidedly not fun). Good news yesterday, bad news today.
Apparently, nothing anyone says will
matter because the majority of Republican senators have made up their mind to
vote the party line “yes” no matter what. They simply do not care about integrity, honesty or an appropriate lack of bias for any sitting judge. They want someone who will do their bidding.
The politics in this country is sickening. I’m tired of the “will they or won’t they” media circus. It’s going to take brave human beings like John McCain to swing this vote to the “nay” column. Sadly, the GOP has run out of this type of senator.
Drinking beer is hazardous to your life, as is demonstrated by how it affected K.
………………………………………….
Check out “Beer Warning Alert” from MarkFiore on Vimeo.
The video is available for your viewing pleasure at https://vimeo.com/293276929
‘Grow up’: Orrin Hatch waves off female protesters demanding to speak with him
Eli Rosenberg, The Washington Post Published 9:48 pm CDT, Thursday, October 4, 2018
…Beynette said that if she had been able to speak more to the senator, she would have liked to ask him to recuse himself from the proceedings over K’s nomination given his conduct during the Anita Hill hearing more than 20 years ago, when Hatch famously questioned whether Hill’s story had originated in “The Exorcist.”
“I know there’s no chance of him ever voting on K the way we would have him vote, but I would want him to see me and understand in this century that we live in women are entitled to respect. There are no laws regulating your body and I don’t want any laws regulating anybody’s body,” she said. “Instead he just flicks us off like we were dirt on his shoe.”
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Grow-up-Orrin-Hatch-waves-off-female-13283170.php?utm_campaign=email-desktop&utm_source=CMS%20Sharing%20Button&utm_medium=social
I find it interesting that Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona seem willing to depart from Trump but confirm K. Both are stepping down rather than risk a nasty campaign that would tear up their party. Both are likely victims of the move toward the right of the Republicans. Instead of speaking out against this move toward nativism, fascism, and oligarchy, they choose to step away. Meanwhile Heidicamp (North Dakota senator who announced she would vote against K I bet I got that name wrong) is probably sacrificing her seat to the controversy as her constituents swallow the Republican fantasy that all the ills of America can be laid at the door of those who are out of power.
It’s looking more and more like Kavanaugh’s going to be a Get Out of Jail Free card for Trump and others.
Pretty sick state of affairs; Trump assigning two Supreme Court justices for life terms.
On the lighter side of Trump-hating:
https://www.nbcnews.com/video/trump-boards-air-force-one-appears-to-have-toilet-paper-stuck-to-heel-1337410115583?v=raila&
FLERP!: It’s the best toilet paper ever. Great toilet paper. Best ever made. It follows Trump.
Loved it.
Always suspected he didn’t know shit from Shinola
Unfortunately the Whitehouse and Trump have perfected the art of lying… First saying that the the FBI investigation should be thorough but in fact putting severe limits on who could be interviewed and in what period of time. The FBI is again being undermined, along with the entire system of checks and balances among the branches of government. Mitch McConnel tweaks the voting schedule for this fiasco. Trump is on the campaign trail calling democrats un-American and treasonous us for failing to applaud his State of the Union address. And he continues to demean women, including Dr. Ford with latent lies about her testimony, to the applause of his loyalists. Now his loyalists in Congress will proceed to vote for Kavenaugh as if all is well. Trump’s lies are ignored along with Kavenaugh’s belated effort to redeem himself with a Wall Street oped…sort of apology for being the mouthpiece for Trumpsters and Fox News.
TPM reports that Facebook’s global policy head was seen publicly supporting K_____. This week, Z-berg and Sandberg have been attempting damage control with employees who are outraged at Facebook’s management.
Paint me surprised Facebook executives are Republican.
“Paint me surprised Facebook executives are Republican.”
Not “Republicans”.
“$$$ans”
Trump represents more money and power for the wealthy. Less distribution of the wealth. Less representation for the general public.
The poster child for less representation- the DINOS of the Center for American Progress.
WaPo: … there’s only one Democrat left who might vote for K: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. He said last night that he was reviewing the FBI report.
Heitkamp is now looking for brownie points for voting against Kavanaugh. She has “truly put country before politics”. OMG. It reminds me of my kids wanting brownie points for doing the dishes without being told. No, you’re supposed to do the dishes without being told. Talk to me when you’ve done something truly notable like clean up the whole kitchen (most of which mess is theirs to begin with).
Voting against Kavanaugh is the very bare minimum it should take to even consider oneself a Democrat. Democrats don’t get kudos for voting against a perjuring rapist. But then, Heitkamp voted to confirm Trump’s torturer-in-chief Gina Haspel, so maybe voting against Kavanaugh is a minor miracle.
Dienne, I disagree. Heitkamp is running for re-election in a month in a state that Trump won overwhelmingly. It took incredible courage for her to stand against Trump’s nominee when her political future is on the line.
Why is so hard for you to say that what she did took courage? No, it is not akin to expecting your kids to do the dishes. Nothing is on the line for them. Her political career is at risk, and she did the right thing.
I sent her $100 for her campaign fund.
Senate votes 51-49 to advance Kavanaugh confirmation to full Senate vote.
Murkowski votes no.
Flake and Collins vote yes.
Interesting on Murkowski. Safe to assume she votes no in the full senate vote? Would be odd to take the position that the Senate should not be voting on Kavanaugh, and then vote to confirm Kavanaugh in the actual vote, no?
Seems likely that Murkowski is a NO.
The crowdsourcing campaign to raise money for Collins’ Democratic opponent in 2020 has raised nearly $2 million, if she votes yes.
And that $2 million would go to Collins if she votes no, I believe. Which she has criticized as an attempt at bribery.
No, FLERP, the offer was this.
Give money to support the Democrat who runs against Collins if she votes YES.
If she votes NO, the money is returned to the donors. Not to Susan Collins.
How is this bribery?
I gave $200 towards the campaign of Collins’ Democratic opponent. Whoever it may be.
If the money doesn’t go to her if she votes no, then it wouldn’t be within the realm of “bribery.” I may have read something inaccurate in that point about how the crowdfunding works.
If the money only goes to her opponent on a yes vote, and doesn’t go to her on a no vote, and Collins wanted to complain about this arrangement on principle, then she probably should have used the word “extortion” rather than bribery.
I don’t see how fundraising for a hypothetical candidate is any different from fundraising for a real candidate. The anti-Collins Fund is now over $2 million.
No, I reject that. That’s saying that the first duty of an elected official is to get re-elected. No. The first duty of an elected official should be doing the right thing. If that means they don’t get re-elected, well, it’s not like they’re going to be unemployed. Former senators are in very high demand.
Many people in history have taken real risks and shown real courage. MLK, for instance, didn’t just risk a senate seat. He risked his freedom and safety, his family’s freedom and safety and, ultimately, his life.
Incidentally, Dr. Blasey Ford (along with Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, whom the country seems to have forgotten about) has also risked her and her familly’s safety, reputation and career – now that was courage. The very least Heitkamp can do is show a small fraction of that courage by backing her up and voting against a perjuring rapist. At worst, Heitkamp ends up working for some corporation whose back she’s already been scratching. Dr. Blasey Ford, on the other hand, is in hiding, living in fear.
“Flake and Collins vote yes.”
As did Manchin, thereby canceling out Murkowski’s no vote. Wonder if that was intentional….
Ugh, forgot the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named rule. Same comment without the name:
Heitkamp is now looking for brownie points for voting against BK. She has “truly put country before politics”. OMG. It reminds me of my kids wanting brownie points for doing the dishes without being told. No, you’re supposed to do the dishes without being told. Talk to me when you’ve done something truly notable like clean up the whole kitchen (most of which mess is theirs to begin with).
Voting against BK is the very bare minimum it should take to even consider oneself a Democrat. Democrats don’t get kudos for voting against a perjuring rapist. But then, Heitkamp voted to confirm Trump’s torturer-in-chief Gina Haspel, so maybe voting against BK is a minor miracle.
You seem to be missing the point, dienne77
What was impressive about Heitkamp is that she didn’t just vote NO, she voted NO early and with a strong statement about why she did it.
Compare that to a typical Republican like Murkowski who can barely stand to vote no, or even worse, a typical Republican like Susan Collins who will only vote no if the Republicans give her permission because her vote is not needed. Collins will NEVER vote for anything unless she has Mitch McConnell’s permission to do so because her voyte is not needed. Collins was ordered by McConnel to advance the vote and she did. She can’t say her stance because if Manchin agrees to vote for K, then Collins will be given “permission” to pretend she is independent. If the Republicans need her vote, she will be there as she has always been.
Collins is a fake. Heitkamp is a real Democrat because she votes her conscience and not what Mitch McConnell orders her to do. Manchin is not, but it is clear tt anyone who is paying attention that the Democrats are vastly different than the Republicans.
And Heidi Heitkamp is vastly different from the Republicans even if she is more conservative than I like. Manchin is not and he might as well be a Republican.
“Heitkamp is a real Democrat because she votes her conscience and not what Mitch McConnell orders her to do.”
Then I guess her conscience is okay with having a known torturer lead the CIA.
In any case, Heitkamp (and every other Democrat) shouldn’t even be considering her vote. The only credible vote, certainly from the time Blasey Ford testified, if not before, is no. In fact, an emphatic no. “I don’t vote for perjuring rapists (in addition to the zillions of problems I have with Kavanaugh’s voting record)”. It does not reflect courage to say no. In fact, it reflects badly on her that she has even considered voting yes just because she thinks she has to in order to get re-elected. If the cost of re-election is confirming a perjuring rapist, then she should happily accept defeat.
I recall your demand for 100% purity. That’s why you rejected Hillary because she did not meet your standards. Politics is about choices. Not necessarily between angels but between flawed individuals. I sent money to Heitkamp and may do so again to help save her seat and thank her for her courage in opposing Kavanaugh. Manchin lacked her courage
I’m w/Dienne on this one. In light of Reps’ unprecedented refusal to advise/ consent on Dem SCOTUS candidate, voting no en bloc on all Trump nominees is a low-bar, minimal reqt for Dem Senators.
When the Senator from North Dakota takes a stand against a Trump nominee, I applaud her. Her state is overwhelmingly pro-Trump. She is likely to lose her seat next month.
“I’m w/Dienne on this one. In light of Reps’ unprecedented refusal to advise/ consent on Dem SCOTUS candidate, voting no en bloc on all Trump nominees is a low-bar, minimal reqt for Dem Senators.”
Don’t understand your point. Heidi Heitkamp met that “low bar” even though she is up for re-eleciton. That puts her FAR to the left of Senator Susan Collins who spent an hour saying Kavanaugh was one of the most honest and trustworthy candidates she had ever met.
Maybe that is a low bar, but what does that say about Susan Collins that she not only is voting for Kavanaugh, but spent an hour praising him to the high heaven for being the greatest guy in the world.
And remember, Susan Collins is considered a far lefty by Trump and 99% of the Republicans.
If Susan Collins is a lefty compared to the rest of the republican party, and Heidi Heitkamp is far to the left of Collins because she came out strongly against Kavanaugh, then there is a vast difference between even the most liberal and left wing Republicans and the most right wing Democrats. So anyone who believes there is no difference between the two parties should stop saying it.
Oh FFS, this is probably going to get me thrown back into moderation, but I am really sick of your blatant mischaracterization of what I’ve said. So asking a Democrat – the party that claims to support women – to vote against confirming a known perjuror who is also likely a rapist is demanding 100% purity??? Expecting Democrats (yes, all of them) to vote against a known torturer is demanding 100% purity???
What exactly do you expect of Democrats, Diane? Where, if anywhere, is your line? Democrats like Heitkamp, Manchin, Donnelly, etc. have repeatedly and loyally supported nearly all of the worst of Trump’s policies – military aggression, torture and now, apparently, rape (Manchin, anyway, and Heitkamp nearly). Is it enough for you that they have a D behind their name? Would it be accurate to describe you as demanding 0% purity?
If Democrats have to be Republicans to get re-elected, what’s the point of Democrats? As I’ve said consistently, I prefer to know my enemy. I prefer enemies who strike from the front to friends who strike from behind.
Sorry, but I am not going to celebrate anyone for doing the bare minimum that any human should do. Yes, I’m aware that the Republicans are almost all voting for Bratt K. When have I ever accused Republicans of being human? The point is, the Democrats are the ones who claim to be better. I don’t care about claims. I care about actions. It doesn’t matter what Democrats say when they repeatedly do the same things as Republicans.
I hate to beat a dead horse, but Maya Angelou said it best – when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
Dienne,
I will say it again, although my words will be lost on you.
Elections are about choices. You can choose the better of the two, or the less bad or least bad, by your light.
When you set up a standard of perfection, every Democrat will fall short. I assume Bernie is your saint. Who else in any party meets your standard of perfection?
If Bernie is not the candidate in 2020, will you attack the Democrat because he or she is not your ideal?
People are flawed and fallible. That’s life.
dienne77: Donnelly isn’t the best Democrat but he does vote with what is right some of the time. If you want a real problem, wait until Mike Braun gets elected. He bragged about how he was the strongest Trump supporter and won the R primary on that thought. Do you really want Trump’s strongest supporter to be a Senator from Indiana? Todd Young is a sycophantic GOP follower without any bucking of the party line.
I’d rather have Donnelly than Braun. Young gets emails and calls from me all the time and it doesn’t make a twit of difference on what he does.
Carol,
Some of the readers would prefer to see rightwing Republicans defeat timid Democrats like Donnelly. They assume that something better will arise from the ashes. In the real world, that doesn’t happen. Letting the Trump people own every branch of government and almost every state encourages authoritarianism. Soft fascism.
“As I’ve said consistently, I prefer to know my enemy. I prefer enemies who strike from the front to friends who strike from behind.”
Well you got exactly what you wanted dienne77. At least you are finally admitting what you prefer. You got an enemy that is striking right from the front. In total power. Able to do exactly what they want. At least you are admitting that you got exactly what you prefer and that having even 2 more Democrats who could have stopped Kavanaugh or a Hillary Clinton who would have turned the Supreme Court to the left was NOT what you preferred if you could have an enemy who struck from the front like the right wing Republican Party.
I’m sure you will accuse me of misquoting you but I know that you meant exactly what you posted. You have an enemy you prefer in power, so your votes and attempt to undermine Democrats makes absolute sense. I do hope you are happy that you have exactly what you prefer.
Just to make my position clear: I am glad Heitkamp had the courage to speak her conscience in the face of squads of Trumpsters back home just waiting to vote her out. If I were her Dem constituent, I wouldn’t be cheering, but simply breathing a sigh of relief that she represented me appropriately instead of caving under pressure, & I would work to re-elect her.
It is frustrating that the political climate between the coasts converts a common-sense no-brainer like a no-K vote into political hari-kari. And yet… tho the natl political climate was benign by comparison in ’91, excerpts from the Hill-Thomas hearing show the political debate on the floor of the Senate to be nearly identical. And that Senate was 58% majority Democrat. So is this particular skirmish about party politics or culture? Waters are muddy.
None of that relates to Collins. Surely everyone is onto her by now. Like Lucy, she sets up the kick to convince the Charlie Brown centrists among her constituency that she represents them too. I suspect her Rep colleagues never worry what she’ll do when Charlie Brown goes for the kick; they call her ‘left-leaning’ just to make points w/ rwnjs back home
bethree5,
Again, I do not understand your point because you seem to be saying that the Kavanaugh hearings were no different than the Anita Hill hearings in terms of the Democrats’ position.
I hope you can see that the Democrats of 2018 were nothing like the 1991 Democrats of the Anita Hill hearings. The Democrats of 1991 were not “woke”. And if anything, the Republicans were much better in 1991 than today. Two Republicans voted against Clarence Thomas. Today’s Democratic Senate is far superior to that of the party in 1991.
You might recall that when the Democrats controlled the Senate, they did NOT confirm Kavanaugh the first time Bush nominated him.
The Republicans are far more right wing than ever and the Democrats are far more liberal than 1991. But we still have certain people insisting that they want the Republicans to have full power because they see the Democrats as a silent enemy and they are much happier to see the right wing Republicans in power because they make no bones about their willingness to destroy democracy to win.
I don’t get it, and I sure hope the people who are enabling the Republicans by saying that they prefer the right wing having full power than the Democrats realize that they are as much responsible for this situation as any right wing voter.
Whew, nycpsp, 1st time I’m on the recvg end of your counterpoints: you’re dazzling & confusing me. But forcing me to be more precise, which is a good thing.
I wasn’t intending to compare the Dem/ Rep Senators of ’91& ’18, but that’s a worthwhile exercise. Both groups are further to right generally, but Dems are more lib now than then on social issues. Rep Sen seem more cons on social issues/ “family values” than they were, i.e., pandering to the noisy jumped-up TP/Evang crowd. For both, the lens thro which sexual harrassment/ assault is viewed has changed. Tho Hill had supporters among Dems, most ’91 Sens had an “old-boys” lens, perceiving the issue as exaggerated if not invented. Today, Dem Sens view the issue thro a feminist lens. Rep Sen: some of them are still the same “old boys.” But most are playing to the pernicious “family values” of the [economically insecure] mid/wkg-class segment of their constituency.
So, much has changed. The identical element of the floor debate: Rep Sen claiming a late-sprung Dem con job to smear a good man w/ lies [undertone: not playing by rules! Bringing up private/ irrelevant/ exaggerated/ etc, i.e., sex, nobody’s biz!] – when we all know their actual problem is w/his cons jud record!
What I was originally trying to say was that the intra-coastal political climate has drastically changed. That has much to do w/the diff in Senate makeup: ’91 58% Dem; ’18 49% Dem. And yet the outcomes were very similar: 52%-48% for Thomas [when Dems had 58%]; 50%-48% for Kavapoop [when Dems had 49%]. And how to pick apart whether the fight is over culture or politics? We can posit that Dems are more culturally evolved now, but facts are they had every political reason to deny Trump his pick. The sexual-assault allegations (naturally) dominated the debate. I am happy my party voted all but 1 against K-poop. I wish I could have heard a debate on the guy’s jud record (which is atrocious). But I’m happy for the issue that forced this ahole to show his true colors – so the public could see Reps nakedly confirming an injudicious “piggy frat boy” to the highest court in the land.
bethree5, thank you for clarifying and making very cogent points.
I hope the one thing we agree on is that we now have 2 very right wing new Supreme Court justices thanks to a Republican President, when we would have had two new moderate to liberal justices had Hillary Clinton won. Let’s put the fault right where it belongs — with the Republicans who voted for Kavanaugh — including Susan Collins, the supposed “liberal” one whose over the top praise of the very right wing Brett Kavanaugh made Heidi Heitkamp look like a left wing progressive in comparison. That’s how bad the Republican party is — Susan Collins right wing stances make Heidi Heitkamp look like a progressive.
Which is why at this point the only people who are to blame for the situation is the Republican Party itself and those who are working hard to enable them by trying to convince voters not to vote for any Democrats because the entire Democratic party is just as bad.
If the 48th LEAST progressive Democrat is far more progressive than the #1 MOST progressive Republican, then anyone who says there is no difference so don’t vote Democrat is simply trying to help the right wing win more power.
Soon, dirtier air will be coming to us, thanks to K. I have to wonder whether or not wealthy people breath air. They never seem to care about how bad the environment gets.
…………………………….
BY DINO GRANDONI [WaPo]
with Paulina Firozi
…As recently as last year, for example, K ruled against an Obama-era effort at the EPA to rein in emissions of some of the most potent climate-warming gases, called hydrofluorocarbons.
A number of similar cases probably will come before the high court during the 53-year-old’s long tenure there, if he is approved by the Senate. Attorney generals from blue states have challenged the Trump administration’s rollback of the Clean Power Plan, Obama’s linchpin effort to curb carbon emissions from the electricity sector. And more than a dozen states have also sued the Trump administration over the rollback of clean-car rules meant to reduce the transportation sector’s climate impact.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 4, 2018
THE COUNCIL FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN ADVANCEMENT STRONGLY OPPOSES THE CONFIRMATION OF BRETT KAVANAUGH TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
HONOLULU, HI – On the heels of its 17th Annual Native Hawaiian Convention, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) joins with the Alaska Federation of Natives and Native peoples across the nation to strongly oppose the confirmation of Brett M. Cavanaugh by the U.S. Senate to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
A review of Kavanaugh’s public opinions on whether the Native Hawaiian people are indigenous suggests a dangerous willingness to advance partisan agendas and through judicial activism. The 1999 Op-Ed published in the Wall Street Journal illustrates Kavanaugh’s willingness to arrive at legal conclusions that impact the lives of real people on the basis of misinformation, false-equivalencies and without due consideration of actual facts, legal precedence or the full meaning of Constitutional terms. CNHA has sent a position statement to the United States Senate detailing its concerns with Judge Kavanaugh’s views, and what they could mean for Indigenous peoples across the U.S.
“The consequential results of Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court could adversely effect all indigenous peoples—Alaska Natives, Native Americans and Native Hawaiians—both small and big Ns,” says CNHA Board Chair Hanalei Aipoalani. “Kavanaugh’s unfavorable record on indigenous rights is clear and leads me to believe that, regardless of the facts, he will be biased and partial on all indigenous-rights related cases that go before our Nation’s highest court.”
“If Kavanaugh ascends to the Supreme Court, we know what we can expect. He will roll back the rights of indigenous peoples. He will roll back the rights of women. And now it appears he, like Trump, will signal to our children that sexual harassment is no big deal,” says CEO Joe Kuhio Lewis. “CNHA stands with Senator Hirono and her pursuit of the whole truth.”
###
The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement is a member-based Native Hawaiian nonprofit organization. Its mission is to enhance the cultural, economic, political and community development of Native Hawaiians through self-determination. CNHA coordinates the annual Native Hawaiian Conventionand operates several initiatives, including the Policy Center, designed to increase the Native Hawaiian community’s ability to effectively engage policy-makers at the state and federal level.
On the lighter side (mostly), a friend of mine sent this to me:
https://www.katykatikate.com/the-blog/2018/10/1/kavanaugh-avoidance-theory
Suberb link. LMAO.
I was against this nominee due to ideological differences, but when the allegations came up I was open minded about the results, until after hearing his testimony (hers was definitely compelling) when I was aghast at his rudeness and horrified by his commentary. Now I don’t feel he should be nominated due to his temperament.
Others obviously saw something different, but I’m glad there are some who admit to being just as appalled as I was. While I try to respect differing points of view, I can only wonder if the cheering crowd in the peanut gallery truly believe that his blustering response was Supreme Court worthy.
Former Supreme Court Justice Stevens came out against K after he watched his testimony. Stevens is a Republican. He said K was intemperate.
MEDIOCRE CHARACTER
It was already clear before last Thurs that in adolescence/ early adulthood K regularly engaged in lewd and aggressive debauchery, and sexually objectified/ denigrated women, occasionally even violating their persons to a degree that would get him bounced off campus and perhaps legally sanctioned today. This, compounded by his failure to address it in any meaningful way, betrays a man of mediocre character. If all that is wanted is a “strict Constitutionalist,” there are doubtless many others on ‘the list’ of stronger character.
WEAK PERSONALITY
The above actions were conducted entirely under cover of mob behavior, w/approval & exhortations of his clique. A cravenly approval-seeking personality is vulnerable to outside pressures. Add overweening ambition, & you have someone who needs to appear dominant, but is always in thrall to those he perceives as more dominant. In SCOTUS this translates to partisanship or worse.
LACK OF INTEGRITY
K’s testimony was sprinkled with venal lies betraying total denial of behavior inconsistent with the persona he wishes to project. I suspect alcoholic blackouts, the functional-alcoholic theory etc are irrelevant: susceptibility to drink was [may still be] simply his chosen tool for tamping down the inner turmoil caused by subconscious conviction that he does not measure up to his own implacable standards. (We used to call this an ‘inferiority complex’). This sort of personality thinks in rigid, black/ white, sinner/ saint terms – little nuance, little tolerance for coloring outside the lines. It is why they deny their own bad behavior and simultaneously loathe themselves for it, why their lives often end up a punishing exercise in self-constraint while throwing off aggression and blame toward others. It is dangerous in a judge – people who judge themselves harshly judge others the same way.
Susan Collins got 93% of her campaign money from large individual contributors and PAC’s. Her top 5 donors were Cohen Group who launched an office in Saudi Arabia last month, DLA Piper, a global law firm headquartered in London, Elliott Management headquartered in NYC, affiliated with hedge funds, General Dynamics and New Balance.
(I’ll never buy another pair of New Balance shoes.)
The people of Maine are stupid if they think Collins votes for their interests.
Elliott Management is the hedge fund created by vulture capitalist Paul Singer, a billionaire many times over and a big fan of Trump and charter schools
Sen. Flake got 97% of his campaign funds from large contributors and PAC’s. Manchin’s top donors were Capital Group, Goldman Sachs, Wexford Capital, and his daughter’s company, Mylan that raised the price of Epipens by 600%. If the people of W.V. think Manchin or his Republican colleagues vote in their interests, they are morons.
Information about donors is from Opens Secrets. In a reply to my question, New Balance wrote (paraphrasing) that contributions from its executives are their personal prerogative. As a company, it hasn’t endorsed nor funded a candidate.
The L.L. Bean Company wrote a similar defense about Linda Bean’s support for Trump.
In explaining Maine’s Governor and Sen. Colins, one need look no further than their source of campaign funds.
New Balance has a feedback form at its site.
Not sure why you single out these 3 disappointing K-approvers by their donors lists, which presumably are similar to nearly every member of Senate, including Dems, given our campaign-funding laws. Backing by big corporate money is the no-fault ‘given’ of our current electoral process.
Yes, corporate donors are going to be happy w/K, given his anti-fed-reg-on-corporations judicial record & legal writings. I’m guessing members of the ‘short list’ were all vetted w/that in mind.
Are you saying that both Republicans and Democrats have the same donors but the big difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans vote exactly the way their donors tell them to and (obviously from the k vote) the Democrats do not?
I certainly hope the people who claim that there is no difference between the parties take note of what you posted.
Now that you have pointed out that the donors didn’t make Dems vote for K, it seems outrageous that anyone would refuse to vote for Democrats because they’d rather have Republicans in power to make sure we have more judges like K instead of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
I realize that some people prefer K because he is up front about being right wing and Ruth Bader Ginsburg just secretly plans to do all sorts of evil things but most sentient people do see a very big difference and would never insist that having K is much better than Ginsburg.
No, nycpsp. I am just reciting my mantra — which I do at every possible opening– that the first political priority for any thinking voter needs to be campaign reform, repealing/ legislating around Cit-United decision, & reforming 501(c)3&4 laws. Your post was an “opening” because you suggest that supposedly-wavering Senators caved to Kavapoop due to pressure from their donor list. Wanted to remind that every single Senator and Congressman has such a list — all of them replete w/corporate donors who no doubt adore Kavapoop for his anti-fed-regs-on-corps jud record.
That all but 1 Dem Sen voted against K-poop should make me trust them? When I know they depend on corp funds as much as the next guy? I trust that their particular donors support their re-election (for whatever reason), so they vote w/their constituents. But I always know that when chips are down & their backs are to the wall, they will go w/their donors. That’s how I know, e.g., that my Sen Cory Booker will do a damned good job pressing the progressive viewpoint in many arenas, but he will never support a bill that would hurt NJ pharmaceuticals.
Show me a candidate w/neither corporate nor individual billionaire campaign funding– just small donations from individual supporters– & I’ll show you someone I can trust to vote his platform. Meanwhile, I vote Democrat regardless of funding, cuz it beats the alternative
bethree5,
I agree with you but that’s why it is so frustrating that anyone who called themselves a progressive would not have voted for Clinton because they insisted that there was absolutely no reason to do so.
We would now have two new moderate to progressives on the Supreme Court and there might be a fair chance that Citizens United could be repealed. Instead we are facing decades more with tens or hundreds of millions in dark money flowing in to help elect the most right wing Republicans.
We are facing an unprecedented time where the John Birch Society is basically the mainstream Republican Party. And this party has unlimited money and a court willing to do anything to keep them in power. Very scary times — it still boggles my mind that anyone prefers this to having a Democratic check on their power.
Seeing the Times now reporting that Manchin and Collins are voting yes on Kavs. Which would close the matter: Kavs confirmed this weekend.
I watched Collins announce her full support of Kavanaugh at 3 pm.
She thinks he is one of the best judges ever. She sees nothing wrong in his record, his demeanor, or even his arrogant, insulting behavior toeards her colleagues last week.
I have contributed to a crowdsourcing fund that has raised over $2 million for her Democratic opponent in 2020. Their server crashed today, but it’s working now. The goal is $4 million. Last election, Collins received over $5 million from corporations, hedge fund managers, and PACs. To give money to beat Collins, go to BeAHero.com
Thank you for this info, Diane! Democracy in action.
I just read this:
How much rage is there at Susan Collins? Ady Barkan launched a novel fundraising campaign against her several weeks ago. First reported by The Intercept, it raised small dollar donations that would only be triggered if Collins voted yes. By Friday afternoon, when she hit the Senate floor, it was approaching $2 million. The site crashed as she spoke, and it’s now approaching $3 million, all of which will be given to whomever is her Democratic opponent in 2020. By the time you read this, it might have hit $4 million. (I just noticed the total number of donors is 99,998. That’s a ton of people.)
Actually …
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320917.php
My rough estimate would be
(196 + 168)/2 = 182 lbs
(182 × 100,000)/2000 = 9100 tons
If there had been a protest in my area I would have made signs. I don’t make them with or “from love”. I have to be upset to make posters. Trump really doesn’t get the anger that people are feeling towards him and the big K. “Elevator screamers…there aren’t words to describe how horrible Trump is. He lives to put people down with insults. [Dang, there’s a K****** in the link.]
………………………….
Trump tweet labels anti-K protesters as ‘paid professionals’…The Guardian
President claims protests signs were ‘paid for by Soros’
Trump dismisses ‘elevator screamers’ as insincere
Donald Trump condemned protesters who have turned out in droves to oppose the nomination of Brett K to the supreme court, calling them “elevator screamers” funded by professional interest groups.
The thousands of protesters descending on the Capitol have included sexual assault survivors pleading with senators by highlighting their own past traumas, but the president dismissed them on Friday as insincere.
“The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Don’t fall for it!” he said on Twitter.
“Also, look at all of the professionally made identical signs. Paid for by Soros and others. These are not signs made in the basement from love!” Trump wrote, adding the hashtag #Troublemakers…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/05/trump-anti-kavanaugh-protesters-paid-professionals-tweet?CMP=share_btn_link
Kudos, Carol, what a great way to contribute.
You may need to add a “capcha” line at the bottom – [check mark] I am not a Soros robot
Do you truly believe that all these women are being paid? Use your common sense.
There are many of us who believe that Dr Ford was sexually mauled by K and are appalled that the good old boys network, supported by only one woman in the Senate, are going to appoint this man to the SC. Some are so angry they want their voices to be heard. That someone printed up signs does not mean they were paid to march.
Murkowski says she opposes K’s nomination, but will vote ‘present’
BY JORDAIN CARNEY – 10/05/18 08:14 PM EDT
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Friday evening that she opposed Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, becoming the only Republican senator to come out against President Trump’s nominee.
“I will be a no tomorrow,” Murkowski said in a speech on the Senate floor after describing how she had come to lean against voting to confirm Trump’s second nominee to the high court in a final vote on Saturday.
But Murkowski said that in the final tally she would ask that her vote be recorded as “present,” saying she was doing it as a courtesy to Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who is slated to attend his daughter’s wedding back home on Saturday…
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/409887-murkowski-to-vote-no-on-kavanaugh
Senators showing courtesy to their colleagues while the American people are screwed.
Several things we know from the last week or so:
Jeff Flake is no “hero.” He’s a pretentious ass.
Susan Collins is no “moderate.” She’s reprehensible.
Mitch McConnell is what he is. And what he is, according to an eminent Holocaust historian, is “the gravedigger of American democracy.”
The current Republican party is a clear and present danger to the Constitution and to the Republic.
democracy: Well said.
Exactly right
An accurate synopsis, democracy.
These are people I admire. They both are working to actively help others. I wonder if Trump is concerned about the fact that he didn’t get the Peace Prize after all of his work in meeting with Kim in Singapore. He also has to wonder why a 25 year old woman would win this prize considering all that he has done to make the world safer and better. The man who won probably comes from a sh**hole country. [sarcasm] Sexual abuse isn’t something that bothers Trump or the Big K. It also doesn’t bother GOP Senate members if K is the best they can find.
…………………………….
Congolese doctor and Yazidi activist awarded for their work to end sexual violence against women in global conflict zones
By TUCKER REALS CBS NEWS October 5, 2018
The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege and Yazidi activist Nadia Murad for their work to end sexual violence against women as a weapon of war.
Murad, a member of Iraq’s minority Yazidi community, was herself a victim of sexual violence after Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants stormed through her hometown and took her captive. She has fought since then to bring attention to such violence and help other victims of it. At 25, she is the second youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize, after Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai…
During decades of conflict in Congo, hundreds of thousands of women have been raped and abused, and thousands of them have sought treatment for their injuries — both physical and psychological — at Panzi Hospital. Mukwege still runs the hospital he founded in Congo’s Bukavu region…
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nobel-peace-prize-2018-winner-denis-mukwege-nadia-murad-today-2018-10-05/
It’s True: Misogyny Is at the Heart of Right-Wing Politics @alternet
Republicans really do hate women
By Amanda Marcotte / SalonOctober 6, 2018, 2:03 AM
…”I want to make it clear to these people who are chasing my members around the hall here or harassing them at the airports or going to their homes, we’re not going to be intimidated by these people,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said of the protesters.
“When you grow up, I’ll be glad to [speak to you],” Sen. Orrin Hatch snapped at a group of protesters, equating grown women with children who need a scolding.
“You needed to go to the cops,” Sen. Lindsey Graham told another protester when she confronted him about her own history of rape, implying that he — with no information about her situation — understood her options better than she did.
Sen. Ben Sasse dismissed the protests by women against K as “hysteria” three times during the original confirmation hearing, when the focus was primarily on reproductive rights and before sexual assault became an issue.
Donald Trump, of course, is screeching on Twitter about how the protesters are “paid” and funded by “Soros,” because it is impossible for him imagine that women might actually have minds of their own.
Let’s be clear that the women clogging up the halls of Congress are not paid or idiots or children or harpies. These protests are being led by women who are speaking out about their own experiences with sexual abuse…
https://www.alternet.org/its-true-misogyny-heart-right-wing-politics#.W7iy5w9osAE.gmail
Terrific article, worth quoting the closing as well:
“…we heard so much about how Kavanaugh loved the silent, smiling women and girls who were brought out to flank him at every public appearance. A great deal of attention was paid to letting us know exactly how much Kavanaugh adores the women who populate his world and take orders from him, such as his law clerks and the girls on the basketball team he coaches.
“But when women started saying no to him and started speaking up, he got red-faced, screaming and self-pitying. Republicans in Congress were so deeply moved by his performance because they, too, cannot believe these women who think they have a right to speak out. That was why it had to be Brett Kavanaugh, rather than substituting in some other right-wing judge with equivalent qualifications and fewer allegations of drunken sexual assault. Because Republican misogyny is not an act, and the party and its followers eagerly seized this opportunity to put women in their place.”
Sorry, re-posting, Kexpletives replaced:
Terrific article, worth quoting the closing as well:
“…we heard so much about how Kavapoop loved the silent, smiling women and girls who were brought out to flank him at every public appearance. A great deal of attention was paid to letting us know exactly how much Kavapoop adores the women who populate his world and take orders from him, such as his law clerks and the girls on the basketball team he coaches.
“But when women started saying no to him and started speaking up, he got red-faced, screaming and self-pitying. Republicans in Congress were so deeply moved by his performance because they, too, cannot believe these women who think they have a right to speak out. That was why it had to be Bratt Kavapoop, rather than substituting in some other right-wing judge with equivalent qualifications and fewer allegations of drunken sexual assault. Because Republican misogyny is not an act, and the party and its followers eagerly seized this opportunity to put women in their place.”
bethree5: I’m laughing. “Bratt Kavapoop”.
I also sometimes forget and send something with the full name. I usually notice my mistake just after clinking on the “Post Comment”.
Hee hee, thanks, Carol. Have you seen my sobriquet for Mitch McConnell — Mutch McConYou? It’s good to stay light about these jackasses 😉
bethree5: Mutch McConYou…much more of an accurate description than his widely known name.
There is no longer a Republican Party
💀
There is only the Democratic Party and the Antidemocratic Party
Senators representing less than half the US are about to confirm a nominee opposed by most Americans
Philip Bump, The Washington Post Published 10:39 am EDT, Saturday, October 6, 2018
…But K, Trump’s nominee, is himself not very popular. Only a bit more than a third of the country views him favorably, according to that Marist poll. That’s certainly in part because of the allegations of sexual assault that were leveled against him last month. A majority of women disapprove of him.
What’s more, that same poll found that most Americans didn’t want to see him confirmed. More than half, 52 percent, said the Senate should not advance him to the Supreme Court…
K’s confirmation will come with support from senators representing only 44.2 percent of country.
(For the purposes of our count, we included Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who aren’t planning to cast votes for or against Kavanaugh.)…
https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Senators-representing-less-than-half-the-US-are-13286699.php?utm_campaign=email-desktop&utm_source=CMS%20Sharing%20Button&utm_medium=social
Yes, & this is the most heartening aspect of the situation. In 2018, post-hearing poll shows 48%-41% of public against the nominee. In 1991, post-hearing poll showed Americans believed Thomas 2-1 over Hill, w/58% pro confirmation. So the culture has changed. As it says in this article, Reps are simply gambling that they won’t be sanctioned by this unpopular confirmation because their supporters will show up at the polls in larger numbers.
VOTE
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/03/654054108/poll-more-believe-ford-than-kavanaugh-a-cultural-shift-from-1991
bethree5: Looks like K has also energized the Trump voters.
We are ‘the mob’? Thanks McConnell for believing in the majority of voters who didn’t want K on the Supreme Court. McConnell is much worse than a turtle. He’s a sneaky snake.
………………
McConnell says he never considered urging Trump to withdraw K nomination, calls opposition a ‘great political gift’ for GOP
In an interview with The Washington Post, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that “we were in the fight to the finish” on Brett M. K’s nomination to the Supreme Court. The GOP leader added, “I never considering asking him or asking the president to withdraw the nomination.”
McConnell made his comments hours before the Senate was poised to confirm K and a month before the midterm elections. He said the GOP is already seeing improvement in polling on Senate races due to the opposition to Kavanaugh combined with the protests.
“I want to thank the mob, because they’ve done the one thing we were having trouble doing, which was energizing our base,” McConnell said
14 alums, including Lindsey Graham, of ALEC (Charles and David Koch’s organization), will be confirming the most despised jurist in American history.
James Pindell
✔
@JamesPindell
Brett Kavanuagh is watching Susan Collins and is cracking open a beer.
2:40 PM – Oct 5, 2018
277
135 people are talking about this
Presumption of Innocence Is for Privileged Men Like Brett K, Not Laquan McDonald or the Central Park Five
Briahna Gray
October 4 2018, 8:00 a.m
…REPUBLICANS DON’T WANT to see the K hearing as having to do with race, and in some ways I agree. It’s about more than just race. It’s about that fact that K is a member of a particular class in this country, overwhelmingly white, for whom the presumption of innocence is a birthright. This week, for once, Americans are asking that a member of this class be held responsible for his actions and denied a promotion — not that he be sent to jail, like the innocent teenagers of the Central Park Five, and not that he be murdered, like McDonald, who was sentenced to death for the crime of wielding a knife without judge, jury, or sentencing — without due process.
All that is being asked of the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee is that K be treated the same as ordinary Americans — the same as the middle- and working-class whites who cheered Trump on at Tuesday night’s rally would be treated. All that’s being asked is that K be judged like most Americans who didn’t go to Yale; whose lives aren’t so charmed as his; who aren’t considered “destined” to ascend to a lifetime appointment on the highest court of the land.
All that is being asked of the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee is to not treat a seat on the Supreme Court like an entitlement. Due process is important. But this is not a trial. And a Supreme Court nomination is a privilege to be earned, not bestowed.
https://interc.pt/2DZdw4m
Take a breath. The inevitable has happened. Goodbye to our civil liberties and welcome the long road downward. Trump has his ‘get out of jail’ card so all is well.
…….
K Confirmed To Supreme Court
The Senate voted to confirm Judge Brett K to the Supreme Court following a tense and divisive battle over replacing retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, who had been the swing vote on the high court in recent years. With the addition of K, the court is expected to shift to a 5-4 conservative majority.
I had noticed the irony in an anti-rape activist getting the Nobel Peace Prize while the GOP puts an alleged rapist on the highest court in the land.
…………………………………
Irony: Nobel Peace Prize for anti-Rape Activist, as US Senate puts Alleged Abuser on Highest Court
JUAN COLE
10/06/2018
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – If the allegations of Professor Christine Blasey Ford against Brett K are true, then he was a juvenile criminal. He and a friend plotted out how to get girls inebriated, force them into an upstairs side room, turn up the music to drown out screams, jump on top of them, and have their way with them. If they did this once, they almost certainly did it more than once. There is not any difference between this criminal repertoire and what Cosby did except that he knocked his victims all the way out…
Compelling a young woman to have sex is rape. What K is alleged to have attempted to do is criminal. What a young ISIL guerrilla did to Nadia Murad differs in quantity and severity, not in kind, from what K is accused of trying to do.
The United States has won many Nobel Prizes. But this year an Iraqi woman was honored, for her activism in saving coerced women and advertising their plight.
It is all the more shameful that the Republican Senate chose this moment to be the anti-Nadia Murad, and to put a tainted candidate on the Supreme Court.
One third of laws are now issued as executive orders by the president, with only 2/3s being passed by a legislature. If the executive orders are challenged in court, they go to the Supreme Court. If ambiguous legislation is challenged in court, it goes to the Supreme Court.
Corporations need the court to rule in favor of Capital every time, and Kavanaugh will. He is very young and very conservative. He will serve them for decades…
Read Here: https://www.juancole.com/2018/10/activist-alleged-highest.html
This was put out by Snopes as true. This white, privileged, self-absorbed A-hole is now getting money from GoFundMe accounts. What is this country doing and how will it ever recover? How many people need money to survive economically and get nothing? How many people have lost everything due to medical bills and receive no help? How many people are working 2-3 jobs and still can’t pay rent and eat? How many have children who are sick and get no care? They aren’t privileged and don’t matter.
…………………………………….
Whether or not it addressed an actual financial need on his part (press reports suggest that K, though by no means poor, is less well off as several current members of the Supreme Court), a number of K supporters did launch GoFundMe accounts in his name in late September and early October. The most successful of these had raised more than $600,000 by 5 October. It was opened by John Hawkins of North Carolina, who runs a partisan news and opinion website called Right Wing News.
In an introductory note on the GoFundMe page, Hawkins explained the thinking behind it as follows:
Like many decent people from both parties, I have been disgusted by the unsubstantiated 36 year old smears aimed at Brett K. We live in a country where innocent until proven guilty is supposed to mean something; yet Brett K’s reputation is being dragged through the mud while his family is facing non-stop death threats.
This is a horrible way to treat a good man who has dedicated his life to public service. So many unethical people are giving unprovable 36 year old accusations the same weight as 6 FBI background checks, hundreds of hours of hearings and testimony under oath. It is disgraceful.
What I’d like to do is raise money for Brett K’s family to use for security or however they see fit. All of the money collected will go to Brett K’s family or alternately, if they refuse to accept it, to a charity of their choice. I have already reached out to a contact who should be able to put me in touch with Brett K’s family. If he can’t do it, I have plenty of other contacts who should be able to make it happen. I will update this page after I have talked with his family.
I hope you will show your support for a good man who has been treated very, very badly.
Doesn’t Trump ever shut up? I am SO upset over what happened even though I knew it would go this way.
………………………
Trump says GOP Sen. Murkowski ‘will never recover’ for voting ‘no’ on K
President Trump predicted Saturday that voters in Alaska “will never forgive” Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski for her vote against Supreme Court nominee Brett M. K as he celebrated his nominee’s ascension following an extraordinarily brutal confirmation process.
“I think she will never recover from this,” Trump said in a brief interview with The Washington Post.
ACLU
This moment will prove itself to be indelible. Our politics seem so broken, but we’ve witnessed something remarkable: Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony, full of bravery, integrity, and grace, standing in stark contrast to the cynicism we’re so used to seeing.
We’re deeply disappointed in the outcome of today’s Senate vote – that much is obvious. But this isn’t a moment to despair. I saw in recent days a courage that I’ve never before witnessed on such massive scale. The voices of survivors poured forth in the aftermath of Dr. Ford’s testimony, daring to shake the foundations of a culture and system that seem, time and again, to be unassailable. It stirred a nationwide debate of what it means to be a survivor and a woman in America – from Dr. Blasey Ford’s experience in 1982 all the way through 2018.
We thank Dr. Blasey Ford for her act of civic bravery. She unleashed a collective fearlessness among those of us who have remained silent for too long. She spoke with humanity and honesty of traumas that are difficult for many to imagine, and she did it on the Senate floor, before flashing cameras, and into a microphone that was no match for the deafening truth in her voice.
Dr. Blasey Ford’s bravery represents what and who we can become as individuals. Imagine what change we can create if we all strive to exhibit even an ounce of her courage.
For 100 years, the ACLU has demanded justice and fairness, and as long as there are people like Dr. Blasey Ford out there to rekindle our hope, then we’ll have fuel to fight for 100 years more. Her courage will be indelibly imprinted in our legacy, and we will carry that forward – no matter how difficult the path ahead may seem at times like these.
This process has been hard. It’s been discouraging. And even though we didn’t get the result we wanted – the result we needed – it’s not the end of our fight. Please join us in paying tribute to Dr. Blasey Ford – and for every survivor who, because of her, heard the sound of their own voice this week.
Thanks for raising your voice,
Louise Melling
ACLU Deputy Legal Director
Beautifully said.
Silent no more.
Thanks, I Needed That …
Saving, Sharing …
Jon Awbrey: Glad to help. I was SO sad yesterday. I’m feeling better today. This country can’t continue like this.
Trump is a lying ASS*OLE. K is his ‘get out of jail’ card. Don’t you just love the eloquence of the Orange one’s speaking ability? “It was a horrible attack by the Democrats.’ I want him to have a press conference and have to defend himself against intelligent journalists.
…………………..
Trump: ‘Hundred percent’ Ford named wrong person…The Hill
BY TAL AXELROD – 10/06/18 07:30 PM EDT
“I’m a hundred percent. I’m a hundred percent. I have no doubt. The FBI has done an excellent job. They went through and they went through it seven times. The FBI went through seven investigations and they did a very thorough job, excellent job. And you know the other thing we know about life: if there were any problems it would have happened over the last 25 or 30 years during his professional life,” the president said referencing background checks K has gone through during his judicial career.
“If there was even a scintilla of something wrong – he was a very big judge for years, on what they call the second highest court. That would have come out loud and clear. This is – one of the reasons I chose him is because there is nobody with a squeaky-clean past like Brett K. He is an outstanding person and I’m very honored to have chosen him and he will be there for many years,” the president added….
“We’re very honored that he was able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats. It’s a horrible attack that nobody should have to go through,” Trump echoed today….
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/410253-trump-hundred-percent-ford-named-wrong-person
Mutch McConYou obviously has enough money to not care about the laws that are coming. Don’t the wealthy breath our air, drink our water and eat our food? Watch the environment become more friendly to corporations who pollute. The Chinese Hoax is coming closer.
………….
QUOTATION OF THE DAY…NYT
“It is the most important contribution we have made to the country that will last the longest.”
SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL, the majority leader, after the confirmation of Brett M. K to the Supreme Court, as he mentioned two justices being put on the court and 26 federal appeals court judges confirmed in the last two years.
G O P
🤥 🤥 🤥
Gross Old Perjurists