Judge Kavanaugh was angry, combative, and outraged at what he and his supporters called the unsubstantiated allegations against him. His opening statement was as compelling as the testimony of Dr. Ford earlier in the day.
It seemed that Kavanaugh was headed for trouble when he couldn't properly answer and deflect the crafty questions of Senator Durbin (D. Illinois) who asked him if-based on his opening statement in which he said he welcomed any investigation of the allegations-he would join in the Democrats call for the FBI to investigate. Durbin referenced Kavanaugh's time in the White House where he used the FBI to vet other judicial appointments. Durbin then- with some theatrics- asked Kavanaugh to lean over and tell White House Counsel Don McGahn to let the FBI investigate the allegations.
To the rescue of the beleaguered Judge first came committee Chairman Grassley (R. Mars) who bellowed that he was running this confirmation hearing, not the White House and not even Judge Kavanaugh.
Then, in the ultimate display of theatrics on day when high-drama was the norm in the normally staid senate, Senator Graham (R. South Carolina) asked for time and, disdaining the hired-gun prosecutor from Arizona that he and his colleagues had hid behind in the questioning of Dr. Ford earlier in the day, began a diatribe against the political nature of Supreme Court confirmation proceedings (Gasp!) and bellowing about the injustice of the worst thing he had ever seen in politics.
Senator Graham seemed to light a fire under the Republicans, who shuffled out of the first part of the hearings after Dr. Ford testified as if they were the Cleveland Browns playing the Patriots any time in the last decade. All of the sudden the need for the prosecutor from Arizona disappeared and she was never heard from again as Republican Senators took over the questioning of Judge Kavanaugh, asking him such pertinent questions of whether he believed in the almighty, and if so, if he could look his interlocutor in the eyes and tell him he didn't sexually assault anyone.
To the surprise of
Rumpole says: We have a been a voice in the wilderness for years about the unreliability of eyewitnesses. The science proves that memory in inherently unreliable. Dr. Ford's testimony was compelling. And believable. But we know that even if she believes it, it doesn't make it true. Judge Kavanaugh may well be innocent and if this was a criminal trial, there is nothing close to proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Not Guilty; even a JOA.
But this isn't a criminal trial. And that's where this gets hard. Judge Kavanaugh appears to have been a drunken lout in high-school and college. His explanation of the things in his yearbook, especially the Alumni society thing, and FFFFFF do not ring true-indeed we are convinced he outright lied.
And yet, his defense of himself-that he has placed more female clerks on the US Supreme Court than any other judge, and his considerable time spent with female law clerks, female law students, and his coaching of a high-school female basketball team with nary a complaint about his behavior is a powerful defense that he treats all women with respect and dignity. You don't just stop being a sexual predator. If he was trying to rape women in high-school and college, we believe the conduct would have continued throughout his adult career, absent intensive therapy- which could have well occurred.
So in the final analysis, what should happen here?
It is so very hard to say. We are leaning towards the belief that the Judge should not be confirmed. However, we are not sure. It's a very tough call.
34 comments:
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
Rumpole. Here’s my take on today’s hearing: (PART ONE)
First, it was extremely difficult to watch. For many reasons. I felt bad that both of these persons had to testify before the entire country on such a sensitive subject. There were so many better ways this could have been handled. It could and should have been investigated and the time that it would have taken for agents to question Tim Gaudette, Mark Judge, Tom Kaine, P.J. Smyth, Bernie McCarthy, and Chris Garrett. And Leland Ingham, would not have taken agents more than a few days to speak with. Go to Timmy’s home that he lived out and see if it matches the description Dr. Ford provided and could therefore have been the party that Kavanugh calendared on July 1 when he went to “Timmy’s for skis (brewskies) with Judge, Tom, P.J., Bernie and Squi”.
Another reason it was difficult to watch was because of the absolutely horrible lawyering that took place on the left side of the dais. I believe that every single one of the 10 Democratic Senators were at one time an ADA or an AUSA. They should all be embarrassed to call themselves lawyers. My teenage daughter could have conducted a better examination of Kavanaugh.
These ten Dems had a total of 50 minutes to ask pointed tough questions. You would have thought that they likely got together before today and discussed their questions to make sure that each one chose one area to questions on. Instead, most used the time for speeches, at least half asked the exact same question: “Will you agree to submit to an FBI investigation” or a variance of that question - to which Kavanuagh responded, robotically each time, by saying not yes or no, but “whatever the Committee decides they want me to do”.
You would have thought that, given the evidence by Dr. Ford and her allegations, that someone might have thought to point out that Kavanaugh’s own calendar shows him attending a party on 7/1 with most of the exact same persons that are listed on the 7/1 entry. But nobody asked.
You might have thought that, given the evidence by Dr. Ford and her statement that she ran into Mark Judge a few weeks after the incident at a Safeway, that someone might have confronted Kavanaugh with the fact that, in Mark Judge’s book, he describes: “working at a grocery store in the summer before his senior year”. He goes on to describe in the book that ... “Going a week without getting drunk was unthinkable. I was spending between four and seven nights with the gang, either at a party or at O’Rourke’s.”. But nobody asked about that.
You might have thought that, after Kavanaugh said for at least the tenth time that his best friend Mark Judge had provided sworn testimony “under penalty of felony” that none of this happened, that someone would have questioned him: “Judge, you must know as a lawyer and a judge that, submitting a signed letter from a lawyer representing Mark Judge is not the same as sworn testimony from him, and that that letter would not subject Mark Judge to possibly being arrested for a felony”? But nobody asked that question. 1/2
Cap Out ....
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS: (PART TWO)
When one senator DID ask about polygraphs, and stated that, “Judge, you are aware of the fact that Dr. Ford took and passed a polygraph - would you be willing to take one?”. And Kavanaugh responded, again robotically “whatever the Committee wants, and then added, “but you must know that polygraphs are not admissible in court” - you would have thought that just one of those ten Dems would have followed up by stating, yes Judge, but you have been in the justice department and in the White House and you have been part of FBI investigations and you clearly know that they all use polygraphs regularly to examine the credibility and backgrounds of people? But nobody asked that question.
I could go on - but you get the point.
Dr. Ford appeared painfully honest and answered every question without filibustering or being evasive. She said she welcomed an FBI investigation even agreeing that it might prove or disprove her allegations.
Kavanaugh on the other hand, was constantly filibustering, avoiding answering questions, and instead constantly reminding us that he studied a lot and played sports a lot, and he finished number one in his class. When asked about the entry in the Judge book about the person named
Bart O'Kavanaugh getting drunk and vomiting in the backseat of a car, instead of answering the question, he took the opportunity to tell America about Mark Judge’s lifetime of addiction. Kavanaugh, on multiple occasions, simply refused to answer questions or ignored the questions and provided everything but an answer to the question asked. You might have thought that, at some point, a Dem Senator might have said, Judge, you would never permit an attorney or a witness being questioned to evade the questions like you have been doing; you would strike their answers as non-responsive and order the witness to answer the question. But, sadly, none of the Senators did.
Kavanuagh reminded me of the dozens upon dozens of times that we listen to the police officer testify for the State, answering each and every question directly asked of them, but when it came time for Cross, the same witness couldn’t make it through a single question without doing everything but answer the question.
I predict Kavanaugh will be confirmed next week.
At the end of the day, as has been said many times, “elections have consequences” and the consequence of this election will be a dramatic shift in the philosophy of SCOTUS for many, many decades. 2/2
CAP OUT .....
If you think he lied during his hearing, how is it a close call. He lied repeatedly. I'm a NO.
I don't know who "won" the hearing but I do know I'm going to have a long talk with my 12 year-old daughter about staying away from Catholic School boys and Catholic School boy parties.
30 people go on a chartered but to see a baseball game and no drinking was done! as a recovering alcoholic, sober over 20 years whose career was destroyed by it-all my goals and dreams squandered- I can say with almost certainty that this judge was an alcoholic, is lying, probably did this attempted rape. the woman has almost no evidence that would lead to charges being filed even though the statute of limitations has not expired, unless the friend in the room get pushed into a corner and corroborates her story this thing is dead in the water. the witness victim seemed a little too emotional for me for something 36 years old which she has previously discussed in therapy, but Kavanaugh"s reaction to some of the questions was too defensive. he should have said he had no objection to the fbi questioning witnesses, they don't need permission, he should have said to feinstein you could have requested that 2 months ago. he is afraid and has guilty conscience. it probably happened. rich boys being boys and powerful friends who have their back. trump should have nominated 3rd conservative woman in history at the start and now he will and they will make lesser fools of themselves and confirm. don't pick the woman with 7 children because the whole thing will be about overturning roe. Finally, FOR THOSE IN THE GOVERNMENT WHO MONITOR BLOGS LIKE THIS, DO YOU THINK THE FAMILIES OF ALL THE PEOPLE KILLED IN SCHOOL SHOOTINGS AND PLACES LIKE CHICAGO GIVE A SHIT ABOUT A FEDERAL JUDGE NOMINATION PROCESS WHEN OUR COUNTRY STILL HAS NOT MADE PROPER AMENDS FOR THE GENOCIDE OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN AND SLAVERY.
Gotta love (R Mars). I am old, Rump, and I know the origins of this one. Back in the mid 70's, the Raiders were on MNF. The camera panned Otis Sistrunk, a very large bald defensive lineman for the Raiders or just plain "Oakland" for those of you who hated them. Back then it was considered eccentric for any man to shave his head. As the camera closed in, Alex Karras said "Otis Sistrunk from the University of Mars." And you can look it up.
735. YOUR INSTINCTS ARE VERY GOOD.I went to catholic school 1-2 grades. begged to be transferred. nun hits me on head with ring for making math mistake. when i was a senior in high school some catholic boys threw rocks from a moving car at me as i was running to get in shape for upcoming season. recognized one of them. i could tell you many stories. bottom line: your child would be safer with a boy coming to pick up your little girl for a date with purple hair, tatoos, a nose ring, black boots and a motorcycle and of a different race then to go out with a nice looking boy from a fine catholic school who looks like kavanaugh. they will use grain alcohol, qualudes etc. to try to get a train, especially if they are at an all boys school away from home. p.s. this shit goes on at every college campus with fraternities and football programs.
Ford seemed honest. But recollections are not always accurate.
Kavanaugh probably doesn't remember assaulting her and is being honest about that too. But he probably lied about the drinking/blacking out/shenanigans of his youth. But those shenanigans aren't enough to vote no (although, lying might be if you listen to Kavanaugh's own positions during the Clinton impeachment).
But I would vote NO because his opening to the committee, although very good, was also extremely political. He left little doubt in my mind that he is far too partisan (perhaps has been made this way by the very nature of this confirmation) to be an unbiased neutral.
Take the sexual assaults out of the equation and pretend they never happened. Kavanaugh has perjured himself at least six times regarding his time in the Bush administration. That alone is disqualifying.
Rumpole,
I disagree with two things you said. First, you mentioned how it's possible that Ford genuinely believes that K was her attacker but that problems with memory lead us to question whether she's right. Why is this not being said for K? I think it's equally (if not more) likely that K's drunkenness, coupled with a genuine lack of empathy for his victim, led him to forget the incident as few as two hours later. Why are we not attacking his memory?
Second, I cautiously question your claim that he could not have changed. Is it unreasonable to think that he was a despicable date rapist into his 20s and then got his act together as adulthood and his ambitions came into sight? I say this cautiously because I don't want to use the wrong words or imply that his conduct is less horrible than that of others. But, I think it's possible that he realized during or after law school that he had to change his behavior if he wanted to achieve his professional goals.
All this in play, I think the most likely story is that he did as Ford claims, forgot it shortly thereafter, and thus came across as credible in his denial. This credibility stems no doubt from his internalization of his "new self" -- the one fashioned around the image of a "family man" and public servant and not that of his former self.
If kavanaugh is confirmed the onion has the following prediction: he will be hounded while at dacourt, more accusers will surface, investigations will commence, corroboration will occur-i hate that world always wonder if i am spelling it write like intubbadably, anyway within 2 years he will resign. in the meantime he will complain privately of the odor emitting from ruthie's depends.
If kavanaugh is confirmed the onion has the following prediction: he will be hounded while at dacourt, more accusers will surface, investigations will commence, corroboration will occur-i hate that world always wonder if i am spelling it write like intubbadably, anyway within 2 years he will resign. in the meantime he will complain privately of the odor emitting from ruthie's depends.
Thank you Senator Sheldon Whitehouse for reading my Comment. I couldn’t have said it better myself, because I did.
Is there anybody who make a worse witness, particularly when under cross examination, than lawyers, especially litigators.?
Shouldn't the country deserve someone better than this as a Justice?
Agreed that in criminal trial this would probably be a JOA.
But, as one of the Senator's pointed out - there is no entitlement to this position. Simply because he was nominated doesn't mean we need to accept him. This is a job interview. There may be better candidates.
If there's even an issue as to questionable judgment - for someone who wants a position as a judge - why should we have to accept that?
Sorry, you don't get the job; time to interview the next candidate.
7:35 a.m.--you'd better keep your daughter away from the United States Supreme Court, because the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society--with the help of President Dinosaur Brain--are filling it up with Catholic School Boys.
I wonder if Kavenaugh has ever taken a depo, or tried a case to a jury. Was he ever a district court Judge?
Even forgetting the fact that he MAY BE a SEX OFFENDER, Judge Kavanaugh is a liar, does not have the judicial temperment to be on the Supreme Court, will NOT be impartial, is partisan, and has vowed to get even with his "what goes around comes around" comment. The DUDE is SCARY. It is a NO BRAINER -he should NOT be confirmed.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse made some excellent points today and so did the Captain!
Rump shame on you for posting 735s comment.
In my opinion - Judge Mike Hanzman - should be appointed to the Supreme Court by President Trump. This academic jurist is so intelligent and logical that he would be a great addition.
I have practiced for decades now and have seen all of the greats - not that there were more than a handful. This judge is like a Maestro conducting spectacular motion calendars, calendar calls and jury trials.
I hope he comes back to criminal where he is universally loved and appreciated.
Thank you sir for your public service and your kind professionalism. It is obvious that you love the law.
If Kavanaugh's opening statement is any indication of his normal behavior when juiced up for a formal hearing, imagine what he's like with a few drinks in him. Take this from somebody who knows--he's a mean Irish drunk, and we really don't need somebody like that on the Supreme Court.
We can do so much better than this. If we take the sex out of the equation, Kavanaugh lied repeatedly, is a political operative and has no judicial temperament. His mask slipped at the second hearing and out poured venom and vindictiveness. A clear"no" vote.
confirming Kavanaugh is the single most important accomplishment in Trump's presidency and assures him of being re-elected in 2020. The FBI investigation will reveal nothing more than that which was aired at last Thursday's hearing. Sadly, Kavanaugh will be confirmed as the Republicans on the fence do not want to risk political suicide. When the Democrats retake the House and possibly the Senate in November, they will undoubtedly subpoena the records that the Republicans refused to disclose, related to Kavanaugh's service in the Bush administration, which will reveal Kavanaugh's untruthfulness at his confirmation hearing. Hopefully, impeachment will follow.
The audacity+ the embarrassing display of self-pity+ his rude evasiveness+ his sense of entitlement+ his nasty partisan vindictiveness= HELL NO!
$20 says that next some anonymous source will claim kavanaugh is racist and used the n word.
This is all about roe v Wade. Just as it was for thomas. And are we a better country bc of thomas? Yes we are. Abortion is a legislative thing not a legal thing. The court made terrible law and bad law should be overruled just as the Jim crow laws were. Evolve people.
It’s called freedom of speech, jag off.
If what she testified to was a sexual assault, all boys should limit their contacts during puberty to prostitutes. Give me a break!
It looks like the only prejudice that is still ok is the anti-Catholic prejudice.
cecilia altonaga for the supreme court
I hope 8:09 AM is dead wrong especially about the 2020 election [God Help Us], but he very well may be right.
Kavanaugh will NOT be confirmed. Too much pressure from women will lead to Collins, and either Flake or Murkowski voting no. This country has dealt with President's losing control of one chamber of the House before. Obama blew it and we had 6 years of little done to fight the nation's domestic social problems-even with out of control Congressional spending plunging us into 20 trillion debt. Thank you Ryan and Obama.
The amount of WOMEN running for office and the fact that the public is absolutely fed up with partisan bickering ( you think the Parkland people) give a shit about Washington politicians doing nothing. So the ONYA predicts the following: many incumbents will be voted out (over 100 once were over the spending scandal) and Trump will lose control of Congress. Other than tax reform what did he do with it, and Obama with both houses took 14 months to pass a mediocre health reform bill. So Trump will have to work with Democrats on issues which have bipartisan agreement for the good of the whole country. Oh no, Americans working together. Shameful!
re 2:25AM, Only when the anti-Catholic prejudice relates to one fighting Irishman named Kavenaugh, a beer swilling, and beer throwing, mean drunk, who still doesn’t know why he was/is attracted to male sports figures, an alleged Renate Alumni, who may have enjoyed, boofing, FFFFFFriday, and the Devil’s Triangle, but is a self-confessed virgin until age 35 or so, and who attends mass regularly to avoid going to hell. But mass won’t help your ass when hell has your name and bar card number, and a special section for young men who male-bond over a woman’s humiliation.
Any idiot that is saying that this Judge if confirmed should be impeached and that Trump should be impeached, doesn't realize that then the only alternative will be for the Right to get very very violent. And most cops and military personnel aren't leftist.
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