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Brett Kavanaugh’s High School Friend Isn’t Helping the Nominee’s Case
The alleged witness in the Kavanaugh case wrote a memoir about his own schoolboy days as black-out drunk

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/09/brett-kavanaugh-mark-judge-high-school-drunk-allegation-alcohol/

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That book chronicles Judge’s time as a teenage alcoholic. Like many works of the genre, it devotes a lot of ink to the kinds of debauchery that leads to AA and recovery. While there’s nothing in the book that resembles the incident reportedly described in the private letter given to the FBI, Judge says his own black-out drinking while he and Kavanaugh were Georgetown Prep students “reached the point where once I had the first beer, I found it impossible to stop until I was completely annihilated.”

He describes, for instance, what happened after a night of heavy drinking with friends at a Georgetown bar. “The next thing I knew, I was lying on a bathroom floor. I was curled up in the fetal position with saliva running out of the side of my mouth,” Judge writes, explaining that he had inexplicably woken up inside a nearby Four Seasons Hotel. He writes that he called his mom for help getting home. “I must have come over here and passed out,” he tells her. 

The amount of drinking Judge describes himself undertaking might suggest that his memory of those days may not be entirely reliable. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

Um, I thought Nike sales were up, so I don't really know what you are actually trying to get at here.

I came here to inquire about the consequences of the Nike move rather than do my own internet searching. Lazy? Yep. Questions answered? Also yep. Thanks folks.

The only reason I even bothered to ask was because of the Mississippi Dept of Safety headline that got pushed to my phone's newsfeed. Interesting that's the news that got pushed to my phone, rather than the good news that sales are up and share price is up. Begs the question: What's the narrative that the newsfeed bots are programmed to push? I don't think the newsfeed bots are pushing the rightwing perspective based on my browsing / searching history, I don't self-select any rightwing media as my main or even secondary sources of news.

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Jack Ass Versus Jack Ass

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/16/17866670/jamie-dimon-comments-trump-tweet-jpmorgan

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It’s been a real journey for President Donald Trump and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon in recent years, and this week, the billionaires’ back-and-forth continued, with the bank executive initially declaring he thinks he could beat the president in the 2020 election and then later backing off. Trump, of course, responded on Twitter.

It all began when Dimon at an event in New York this week said he thinks he could defeat Trump. “Because I’m as tough as he is, I’m smarter than he is,” he said on Wednesday. “I would be fine. He could punch me all he wants, it wouldn’t work with me. I’d fight right back.”

Well I guess in a jack ass throw down Trump wins.

But, in the jack ass department, Dimon is no slouch.

Dimon, much like Trump, has pretty much the attitude of "I'm rich and your not, so sit down and shut the fuck up". And like Trump, he has often been simply wrong about several public policy issues, yet that hasn't put even the slightest dint in his over inflated ego.

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He wasn’t so confident about his abilities against potential progressive opponents. “I can’t beat the liberal side of the Democratic Party,” he said.

Dimon should just be told to get the fuck out of the Democratic Party and go and join the Republican Party.

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I just started paying attention to the Governor races, and FL and GA are turning out to be real interesting. Looks like Gillum is slightly ahead in Florida, while Abrams (from the 3 polls so far) is even in GA.

For the former, apparently nearly everyone in Florida has made up their minds, so if the turnout assumptions are close to accurate the Dems might win one. For the latter, to be honest, it surprises me that the race is so close. If turnout among African Americans mimics that in Alabama for Roy Moore, could it be a Dem pickup as well?

Either way, two African American candidates doing so well gives hope. In my opinion at least one of them will get through.

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23 minutes ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

For the latter, to be honest, it surprises me that the race is so close. If turnout among African Americans mimics that in Alabama for Roy Moore, could it be a Dem pickup as well?

If the turnout disparity is similar to what was seen in Alabama, then Georgia is in the bag.  But recreating that kind of enthusiasm gap is extremely unlikely, Moore was a uniquely terrible candidate.  Polling I've seen has had Abrams within the margin of error, usually down a point or two, but most everyone considers her the underdog.  I'm optimistic about Gillum, he's been (slightly) ahead or tied in every poll I've seen.  Gillum, Abrams and O'Rourke will all be "Rising Stars" in the democratic party if they win their respective elections.  Which is exciting, the Dems need new blood.  

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9 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

MS-13 ARE BUYING ALL THE SHOES AND KILLING ALL THE JOBS!!!

Did they escape Nike's sweatshops? Ah, no, those are in Asia.

11 hours ago, Suttree said:

+31% and stock prices are hitting record highs. We see this time and again with companies leveraging sustainability and corporate responsibility to boost sales.

One of the cases, where the corporate image is better than it actually deserves (not nearly as drastic as it is with likesay Starbucks, but still...)

It's one of those moments where it'S good to remember (at least imo), we are still talking about Nike. The company with the shitty tax avoidance behaviour (like any multi) and with the rich history of using sweatshops in their prodcution (like almost any company that deals in clothing).

 

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54 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

If the turnout disparity is similar to what was seen in Alabama, then Georgia is in the bag.  But recreating that kind of enthusiasm gap is extremely unlikely, Moore was a uniquely terrible candidate.  Polling I've seen has had Abrams within the margin of error, usually down a point or two, but most everyone considers her the underdog.  I'm optimistic about Gillum, he's been (slightly) ahead or tied in every poll I've seen.  Gillum, Abrams and O'Rourke will all be "Rising Stars" in the democratic party if they win their respective elections.  Which is exciting, the Dems need new blood.  

Moore was terrible for sure, but part of his loss was attributed to very very strong African American women turnout, which should be a lock in for Georgia. I also believe Georgia is slightly better turf for Democrats and has been slowly inching blue. Not sure why that is the case, could be the suburbs of Atlanta are 'reluctant Republicans' or may be willing to switch over.

I only saw 3 polls that were +2, -2 and a tie, so I am cautiously hopeful for her. And I agree, this new slew of candidates are quite exciting.

Edit - I see that in 08, 12, and 16 the margin of victories were ~ 5, 7 and 5 so maybe there isn't a trend like I was remembering. Nonetheless, those are not super deep red numbers.

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1 minute ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

Moore was terrible for sure, but part of his loss was attributed to very very strong African American women turnout, which should be a lock in for Georgia. I also believe Georgia is slightly better turf for Democrats and has been slowly inching blue. Not sure why that is the case, could be the suburbs of Atlanta are 'reluctant Republicans' or may be willing to switch over.

Yes, strong African American turnout was absolutely essential to Jones win, as was very low Republican enthusiasm for Moore.  If Republicans had just picked a C+ quality candidate in the primary, they would have been able to win by 5-10 points. 

Georgia is a much better state that Alabama for Democrats.  Alabama was R+26 and R+30 in 2012 and 2016 presidential races, where Georgia was R+12 and R+7.  Atlanta is the driving force for the Democratic emergence in Georgia, the city keeps growing and with it college educated workers and minorities are making up a larger percentage of the state population.  It's not purple yet - Florida and North Carolina are both slightly Republican leaning and nonetheless better opportunities for Democrats.  But it's moving in that direction, and a good candidate (which Abrams looks to be) plus a Democratic enthusiasm gap might be enough to break through. 

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Also, some really good polling results have come out for Democrats today in WV and NV.  Sislak +12 in NV governor's race and Rosen +2 in the Senate race to unseat Heller.  Sen. Manchin +12 in WV, plus Ojeda (D)+6 in WV-3, a district Trump won by 50 points! 

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1 hour ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

One of the cases, where the corporate image is better than it actually deserves (not nearly as drastic as it is with likesay Starbucks, but still...)

Indeed. Nike has made gains in recent years, but it certainly is a case of them "leveraging" this type of thing to boost sales. Contrast that with a brand like Levi's whose values truly sit at the core of their business.

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After reading all the attacks that were made by some of you against Senator Dianne Feinstein, about how she obviously wasn't going to take the letter she received from the accuser against Kavanaugh seriously, how she should be castigated and drummed out of her seat, it turns out the accuser asked that her letter be kept confidential.

Prof. Christine Ford was apparently extremely reluctant to go public because she was, reasonably, afraid of what would happen next. Only when reporters started showing up at her door because of, Washington ya know, leaks, did she decide to go public.

Did you all think Feinstein should have said 'fuck you, I'm revealing this anyway'?

And I see that there's an undercurrent of 'boys will be boys' going on. I see Kavanaugh was 17 and Ford was 15. When you're teens, that's a huge age difference. Kavanaugh was a drunken little predator. And we all knew drunken little predators when we were teens, didn't we? And, of course, many states have laws saying that these two couldn't even have a consensual relationship at that age without committing a crime.

All summer I have been watching these damn pro-Kavanaugh ads running on CNN (I don't watch Fox, I might throw something at the tv) and all of them show women saying what a great guy he is. I have always assumed they were being run because of Roe v. Wade, but now I am deeply suspicious that the Republicans had heard rumours about not just Ford but about other women as well, and the ads were a preemptive strike.

eta: Two things, I see that the other guy involved is saying it didn't happen. And that Kavanaugh was basically a teen alcoholic. How did that fact not get revealed before?

And CNN has been quoting Kavanaugh's memos to Ken Starr, about how no leniency should be shown to Bill Clinton in questioning him about his sexual conduct. Man I hope karma bites him in the ass real hard.

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It's odd that some governor's races are polled so much more than others.  For example, FL, MI and AZ all have 8+ polls for governor conducted in the past month, whereas GA, CO and ME have virtually nothing.  I guess you could say that Maine isn't that important a state (politically), but Colorado and Georgia definitely are.

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13 hours ago, DMC said:

Just watched Maher's show from Friday.  Holy shit was Steve Ballmer wasted.  Maher had a good line, something like "it's as if Chris Farley's ghost jumped into you."

I think that’s just who he is. I’ve seen a few videos of him speaking publicly and he’s always bouncing off of the walls.  

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2 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

After reading all the attacks that were made by some of you against Senator Dianne Feinstein, about how she obviously wasn't going to take the letter she received from the accuser against Kavanaugh seriously, how she should be castigated and drummed out of her seat, it turns out the accuser asked that her letter be kept confidential.

Prof. Christine Ford was apparently extremely reluctant to go public because she was, reasonably, afraid of what would happen next. Only when reporters started showing up at her door because of, Washington ya know, leaks, did she decide to go public.

Did you all think Feinstein should have said 'fuck you, I'm revealing this anyway'?

And I see that there's an undercurrent of 'boys will be boys' going on. I see Kavanaugh was 17 and Ford was 15. When you're teens, that's a huge age difference. Kavanaugh was a drunken little predator. And we all knew drunken little predators when we were teens, didn't we? And, of course, many states have laws saying that these two couldn't even have a consensual relationship at that age without committing a crime.

All summer I have been watching these damn pro-Kavanaugh ads running on CNN (I don't watch Fox, I might throw something at the tv) and all of them show women saying what a great guy he is. I have always assumed they were being run because of Roe v. Wade, but now I am deeply suspicious that the Republicans had heard rumours about not just Ford but about other women as well, and the ads were a preemptive strike.

eta: Two things, I see that the other guy involved is saying it didn't happen. And that Kavanaugh was basically a teen alcoholic. How did that fact not get revealed before?

And CNN has been quoting Kavanaugh's memos to Ken Starr, about how no leniency should be shown to Bill Clinton in questioning him about his sexual conduct. Man I hope karma bites him in the ass real hard.

There are inaccuracies here.

 

#1, Christine Blasey Ford sent this letter to her local California rep, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) early July, when Kavanaugh's name came out as on the list for the SCOTUS.  She didn't send it to Feinstein.  It was in July that the letter was moved on to Feinstein. She sat on it, keeping it from the Dem members of the committee.  It was in early August Ford voluntarily took the FBI lie detector test.

Leaks evidently gushed to the rethugs, thus all those h.s. students were contacted back at the last part of August, otherwise how in hell was that letter ready to go the minute Ford's testimony went public?

Since Ford herself went public, with a few exceptions, the women who signed that letter have been contacted, and they no longer support Kavanaugh's version. Evidently they had not been told any of the details.

And there is one detail in particular that makes me, in particular, believe her: when drunk Kavanaugh, with or without the help of drunk Judge, ripped at her clothes, they revealed the swim suit she was wearing under them, because this was evidently a get-together at the home of someone with a pool.  That is such an unlikely detail to make-up, you know? That is a memory detail.

#2, the teen alkie was Kavanaugh's buddy who came in to help him hold Ford down on the bed, Mark Judge.  He wrote the memoir about his teenage black-out alcoholism.  Kavanaugh, like he has with so much, has lied -- denying his drinking.

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1 hour ago, Fragile Bird said:

All summer I have been watching these damn pro-Kavanaugh ads running on CNN (I don't watch Fox, I might throw something at the tv) and all of them show women saying what a great guy he is. I have always assumed they were being run because of Roe v. Wade, but now I am deeply suspicious that the Republicans had heard rumours about not just Ford but about other women as well, and the ads were a preemptive strike.

They’ve been running a lot on MSNBC too, and all the ads revolve around women and how nice and decent he is to them. Given that the Senate Republicans immediately responded in a coordinated fashion, I think it’s fair to suspect that they knew about this too and were priming the public in case it came out.

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If Feinstein gets lassoed into an actual debate with de Leon, I could see her complicity in getting Kavanaugh confirmed by silencing Ford (and leaking the letter to republicans so they could be prepared and build months of preemptive defense such as the tv ads) could be a big part of the debate. This has flipped my wife’s vote already and will probably flip her mom and sisters vote as well.

her sort of do nothing Democrats that fight more for their own status than they fight the evil party have got to go. 

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1 hour ago, Zorral said:

There are inaccuracies here.

 

#1, Christine Blasey Ford sent this letter to her local California rep, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) early July, when Kavanaugh's name came out as on the list for the SCOTUS.  She didn't send it to Feinstein.  It was in July that the letter was moved on to Feinstein. She sat on it, keeping it from the Dem members of the committee.  It was in early August Ford voluntarily took the FBI lie detector test.

I don't see in any story how the letter got to Feinstein, if Eshoo gave it to her or if it was leaked to her. But what part of confidential do you not understand? Sharing it with other Democrats on the committee is not keeping it confidential. While stories have played up the idea it was a unilateral decision made by Feinstein, the truth actually seems to be the letter clearly stated Ford wanted to keep the matter confidential. That's her right. 

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