No matter the corroborating evidence the FBI finds or doesn’t find on Brett Kavanaugh he, in his testimony in front of the Senate and a world wide audience the other day, proved himself to not only be unqualified for the Supreme Court, but, additionally, in my view, he shouldn’t be sitting on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. This man appears to be a bit unstable. I haven’t been able to get my mind off what it’s likely “like” living in his home. I really truly hope the guy has stopped drinking – because with a “fuse” that short, well, to me he was scary.
I don’t know anyone – with the exception of Lindsay Graham (the biggest disappointment in all of this to me), Chuck Grassley, Orin Hatch, and most of the other WHITE males sitting on the republican side of the Senate Judiciary committee – who found Kavanaugh more credible than Ms. Ford. And, I’m not one to be giving advice to republicans, but my suggestion is to “cut and run.” Pull this guy’s nomination and move on. Yes, you have a two vote advantage in the Senate, but if you confirm this guy the damage done to America will be extreme and the damage done to the republican party will last maybe a generation.
Yes, republicans are the masters at manipulating the media, they’re the masters at manipulating the voting districts, they’re the masters at voter suppression tactics, they’re the masters at funneling MONEY to the greedy people who are funding them, and they’re the masters at looking into the camera (or people’s faces) and LYING! Their entire propaganda scheme is based on LYING – they’ve adopted “The Big Lie Theory” as I’ve said over and over again on this site. (I really wish members of the “liberal media” would point out the “Big Lie Theory” as the work of the Germans of the Third Reich and adopted by the republican party of present day America. Sad!) As much as republicans are committed to what they call the “permanent republican ‘majority,'” they always screw it up – despite their commitment to “the end justifies the means” or “win at all costs.”
This is why they’ve jumped on the Trump “band wagon” – because they believe it’s a “winning strategy” – where MANY of them were “never Trumpers” just a year or two ago. The aforementioned Graham is a great example. Two years ago I actually believed he’d be one of the principled republicans (I’m beginning to think that doesn’t exist) who would stand up to Trump. Well, fast forward to today and Graham might as well be wearing the MAGA hat to work each day. His outburst at the Kavanaugh hearing – where he apparently “fired” the lady republicans hired to “grill” Ms Ford and put on a show nearly comparable to the embarrassment which was Kavanaugh’s opening remarks – shows he’s more than just one of Trump’s “golfing buddies.” Not only did Graham disrespect Ms Ford with his remarks, he TOTALLY disrespected the lady they flew out from Arizona. Yikes!
These republicans – and, by the way, make no mistake – Kavanaugh IS a republican and will act as a REPUBLICAN if he’s somehow confirmed – not only appear to disrespect women it looks to me as if many of them despise women. These are your classic “good ole boys” acting as if you challenge their authority and they’ll start throwing things. Honestly, how you could expect 51 of them to band together and support what EVERYONE in the world who was watching yesterday saw is beyond me. That shows how arrogant they are and how they believe they’ll be able to use all the money their wealthy benefactors are SHOVELING to them to keep control of Congress. And, sadly, they might be right – at least in the Senate.
I wrote the other day about a couple who stopped by our house to visit – friends of my wife from 39+ years ago – who are Trump supporters. These were two really nice GOOD people. They are inundated by “conservative” media – mostly Fox “news” AND they HATE politics. They pay attention to only what they feel they have to and they believe what they see and hear on Fox. There are MILLIONS of good Americans just like them. These two people were certain of beliefs that were simply factually incorrect. For example, someone has convinced them that the crash of 2008 was caused by things which happened during LBJ’s time in office. Both appeared to believe the ballooning deficits (and, those over the years) were/have been caused by democrats. When I pointed out this was wrong, they questioned whether the Congressional Budget Office (or any other government agency keeping track of these things) could be trusted. There’s Fox and other “conservative” websites where they get whatever information they end up with. And, that’s what they believe. They believe Trump tells them the truth!
So, the debacle which happened this past week with Kavanaugh giving what I can only describe as an odd, bizarre, and partisan opening speech to the Judiciary Committee and then following that up with a bizarre performance when being asked questions by the democrats on the Committee likely won’t “move the needle” on the two people I mentioned above or millions of other Americans who rely on Fox for their “news.” Yes, in about 5 weeks there’s going to be an election, but the damage of Kavanaugh on the highest court in the land will be ongoing for the lives of my children. My prayers are that the FBI does a thorough investigation and checks into ALL of the allegations against Kavanaugh. My feelings have evolved to – “if he doesn’t withdraw, then he deserves to lose his seat on the court of appeals as well.”
When I heard him BLAME the Clinton’s for what he called the “smear campaign” against him, it almost caused me to fall over. I was sitting watching TV by my self and all of a sudden I felt a “What the …….” moment just come barreling out of my mouth. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard – except that he was already into an angry diatribe suggesting some “liberal” conspiracy to block his nomination. He quickly made it clear to me why democrats were opposing him from the start – aside from the FACT his previous decisions would suggest the reason Trump selected him was out of “self-preservation.” Kavanaugh has extreme views on executive power. For example, the president can NOT be subpoenaed, he/she can’t even be investigated while in office. According to Kavanaugh’s previous writings and decisions, even if a president, for example, CONSPIRED with the Russians to get elected, he couldn’t be investigated.
That should be enough to get his nomination defeated. For heaven’s sake, republicans should NOT want a president to have dictatorial powers. That is an extreme view of the constitution which I can’t even understand how anyone could “go there.” (Republicans BLOCKED any “evidence” of Kavanaugh’s participation in the TORTURE “memos” during his years in GW Bush’s Office of Legal Counsel) On top of Kavanaugh’s known views, he demonstrated he DOESN’T have the temperament to have a seat on the highest court in this nation. We’ve seen with Clarence Thomas that once on the court, no matter what you do that shows you’re a republican hack, it’s almost impossible to get you removed. Thomas, for example, goes to the Koch Brother’s retreats which couldn’t get more “partisan.” Kavanaugh will be in the same mold only worse, in my view.
If Kavanaugh is confirmed, the damage to the court could ring right to the foundation of our republic. Women all across the country are already outraged that he’s made it this far – if republicans “hold their noses” and move on with this the backlash will be even more severe. And, trust me, it’s not just women who are angry at what they’re seeing. I’m 71, I’m white, and I’m disgusted beyond my usual anti-republican feelings watching all of this. I now see Kavanaugh as someone who’s dangerous. His opening remarks will never leave him and I’m certain that people like Michael Avenatti will pursue the charges alleged by his client and those who are corroborating them. Republicans will NOT be able to “sweep this under the rug.”
And, what about Jeff Flake. Every once in a while he gives a speech on the Senate floor which makes people like me think maybe there’s a positive move afloat. Then, he votes with TRUMP on every occasion. Yes, he somewhat “intervened” in the committee vote on Kavanaugh and I’m happy he did so – however, I’m not convinced he’s a “no” on the nomination – even after the “investigation.” To me, he shouldn’t need an investigation. Kavanaugh has LIED on several occasions during this process, according to many observers, not including any LIES regarding his drinking habits and the allegations made against him. His face got so red when he was accusing the democrats of a “smear campaign” and BLAMING the Clinton’s it actually looked to me like the face of a heavy drinker. I guess Flake didn’t notice that – because, reportedly, he was a “yes” vote until just prior to the time of the actual vote to send Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the full Senate.
FOUR women have brought forth allegations of sexual misconduct – some of it very extreme – against Kavanaugh – and, I’ve seen NO evidence these people were recruited by democrats – at least, democrats in the Senate. Clearly, Ms Ford was not “recruited” as Kavanaugh would suggest. And, the ladies and those who corroborate their stories coming from Kavanaugh’s days at Yale, appear to me people acting in support of Ms Ford – that is, not coming forward to “smear” him without proof and urged on by democrats. It appears the democrats simply believe the people should be “heard” – and, republicans, in their HASTE to get this to a final vote, consider anything which slows the process “stalling tactics.” In other words, they believe Kavanaugh will be confirmed no matter what the evidence.
Final Thought: I wrote this several weeks ago and all the “stuff” caused me to “lose my focus” – which, I believe, is Trump’s “plan” – so far as he plans anything. That being said, I’m publishing it regardless i the hopes that anyone who reads this will be reminded of how important it is to VOTE in the November’s election – just a couple weeks away. If I had the time to write today, I’d be writing about the danger – which is building the longer he’s allowed to remain in office – of Trump’s ATTACKS on our free press. There will be more to come in the next few days. Again, please VOTE on November 6 and REMEMBER the Russians are STILL ATTACKING our system of government and don’t believe what you read on Facebook or other social media outlets (which, I must admit, I don’t participate in).