US Politics: Crossing that Ford

[Gertrude]

These judiciary committees are fundamentally unsuited to handle this shit.

[Mexal]

So every male, Republican senator apologized to Kavanaugh and not a single one said a word to Ford. Awesome.

[Martell Spy]

3 minutes ago, Gertrude said:

So Kav would not answer a yes/no on whether he'd like the FBI to investigate. Harris cut him off and said she'd take that as a no and he let it stand. What? Why would he not say yes? He is essentially on record as saying no which would have been super easy to correct. But he does have time to talk about the 65 women who think he's super awesome, so there's that.

He has the privilege of the Repubs protecting him. He intends to enjoy his privilege. Also, he really does not like his drinking questioned.

[fionwe1987]

Just now, Gertrude said:

So Kav would not answer a yes/no on whether he'd like the FBI to investigate. Harris cut him off and said she'd take that as a no and he let it stand. What? Why would he not say yes? He is essentially on record as saying no which would have been super easy to correct. But he does have time to talk about the 65 women who think he's super awesome, so there's that.

Harris and Booker did decently well, but I wish at least one of them had, instead of repeating questions, taken the chance to make the Dem case for this not being a fucking smear job.

[Bonnot OG]

Just now, Gertrude said:

These judiciary committees are fundamentally unsuited to handle this shit.

Shit like this is why I want these old fucks like Schumer, Pelosi, Feinstein, Sanders and even young Beto, the fuck away from the senate.  We need people more focused on winning and protecting people than being civil with a part of scumbags.

[Mexal]

Dems could have cornered him on any number of lies and chose not to. They didn't even ask about Ed Whelen and what he knew. They did a terrible job.

Also, this is apt.

 

[Bonnot OG]

2 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Dems could have cornered him on any number of lies and chose not to. They didn't even ask about Ed Whelen and what he knew. They did a terrible job.

Also, this is apt.

 

Dems just proving what the radical left already knew. They are fucking worthless at fighting this shit. Only two of them, Booker and Harris, two who probably do have presidential aspirations, were the ones to actually go at him a bit. 

What a weak bunch of fuckers they are. 

[Fez]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

Nina Tottenberg says many legal experts and professionals are saying outside the room in conversation that even if he gets voted on to SCOTUS, he would legally have to recuse himself from just about all case brought because everybody is involved in this.  So he couldn't be an effective member of the bench for the rethugs.

Unfortunately, there's no way to compel a SCOTUS justice to recuse themselves. Most usually do so when it seems relevant, even Alito has from time to time, but there's been a lot of cases over the years where Thomas should've recused himself (usually because they relate to work that his wife does) and never has. Although, I suppose Roberts, as the new swing vote, could potentially compel a confirmed-Kavanaugh to recuse in really serious conflicts, if he felt that the image of the court was getting too stained.

Anyway though, Flake gave zero indication of where he stands in that one minute statement, and we haven't heard from Murkowski, Collins, or Corker (or any of the less likely but potential "no" GOP votes) all day, so who knows yet what'll happen. The Senate GOP Caucus is meeting tonight, and that'll presumably decide things.

ETA: And I think the Democrats did fine, considering that their audience was literally just those fellow senators.

[DMC]

23 minutes ago, Mexal said:

So every male, Republican senator apologized to Kavanaugh and not a single one said a word to Ford. Awesome.

That's an excellent message to propagate.

14 minutes ago, Fez said:

Unfortunately, there's no way to compel a SCOTUS justice to recuse themselves. Most usually do so when it seems relevant, even Alito has from time to time, but there's been a lot of cases over the years where Thomas should've recused himself (usually because they relate to work that his wife does) and never has. Although, I suppose Roberts, as the new swing vote, could potentially compel a confirmed-Kavanaugh to recuse in really serious conflicts, if he felt that the image of the court was getting too stained.

Yeah if Kavanaugh is confirmed - which I think is less than a 50/50 chance right now in contradiction to what seems to be the consensus here - recusal will be primarily up to him, unless it's obvious.  The process emanates from the justices' own sense of propriety.

[David Selig]

So no senator asked Kavanaugh whether he was involved in the Ed Whelan idiotic doppelganger theory and smear of a classmate. Any idea why? It seems such an obvious line of attack. Kavanaugh would have denied, but there is plenty of evidence about the close ties between them. 

[Zorral]

59 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

Guess so. Its creation date precedes me.

There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world.

O, excellent!  

[Bonnot OG]

How did none of Dems pick up on this?

He kept saying "The witnesses who were there" about an event he says never happened and wasn't even at.

[fionwe1987]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/27/politics/senators-meet-brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court/

 

Murkowski, Flake, Collins and Manchin are huddled in private, apparently. They're either planning a coordinated opposition to the nominee, or deciding which two will vote no and cover for the other two. 

[lokisnow]

I'd say kavanaugh is about 98% likely to be confirmed, which is probably an improvement from the 100% confirmation he was at before the Ford hearing.

[Fez]

1 minute ago, fionwe1987 said:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/27/politics/senators-meet-brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court/

 

Murkowski, Flake, Collins and Manchin are huddled in private, apparently. They're either planning a coordinated opposition to the nominee, or deciding which two will vote no and cover for the other two. 

That'd be the hope, but its not as certain as that. It could be that Manchin, as the most conservative Democrat in the senate (and therefore the least likely to be perceived as making a bad faith argument by those Republicans) is trying to convince them to vote no and none of them are actually at that point yet.

[lokisnow]

2 minutes ago, Bonnot OG said:

How did none of Dems pick up on this?

He kept saying "The witnesses who were there" about an event he says never happened and wasn't even at.

as I said earlier, everyone in the senate is already, always Brett Kavanaugh. They don't care because they ARE him. Did no one else note that Kavanaugh seemed more like a senator than a judge today? because of course he is. The ruling caste protects their own, and the democrat senators are merely performing their partisanship for their voters, but they will never actually endanger a fellow caste member.

[Zorral]

35 minutes ago, Fez said:

Unfortunately, there's no way to compel a SCOTUS justice to recuse themselves. Most usually do so when it seems relevant, even Alito has from time to time, but there's been a lot of cases over the years where Thomas should've recused himself (usually because they relate to work that his wife does) and never has. Although, I suppose Roberts, as the new swing vote, could potentially compel a confirmed-Kavanaugh to recuse in really serious conflicts, if he felt that the image of the court was getting too stained.

Anyway though, Flake gave zero indication of where he stands in that one minute statement, and we haven't heard from Murkowski, Collins, or Corker (or any of the less likely but potential "no" GOP votes) all day, so who knows yet what'll happen. The Senate GOP Caucus is meeting tonight, and that'll presumably decide things.

ETA: And I think the Democrats did fine, considering that their audience was literally just those fellow senators.

That's what I'd feared, of course.  It's not as if things are functioning by law, precedent, even votes, the way it used to, despite the back room deals and so on.  Everything's outta the window now.

Another reason people are fighting so hard against BK.

BTW, They Say that the SCOTUS wasn't political -- excuse me!  Look at Buchanan's dog whistles in his inaugural address, after he spent the months canvassing judges to get what he wanted.  Just among some -- and especially Tawney.

I'm going away for the rest of the night.  No friends, no restaurants, only a long hot shower, book that deals withe the long ago, under my excellent bed lamp.  NO COMPUTER. Shutting off the phone.

 

[Martell Spy]

3 minutes ago, Zorral said:

That's what I'd feared, of course.  It's not as if things are functioning by law, precedent, even votes, the way it used to, despite the back room deals and so on.  Everything's outta the window now.

Another reason people are fighting so hard against BK.

BTW, They Say that the SCOTUS wasn't political -- excuse me!  Look at Buchanan's dog whistles in his inaugural address, after he spent the months canvassing judges to get what he wanted.  Just among some -- and especially Tawney.

I'm going away for the rest of the night.  No friends, no restaurants, only a long hot shower, book that deals withe the long ago, under my excellent bed lamp.  NO COMPUTER. Shutting off the phone.

 

What century are you from? No, sounds fun, actually. I wish I could unplug until this is over.

[DMC]

3 minutes ago, Fez said:

That'd be the hope, but its not as certain as that. It could be that Manchin, as the most conservative Democrat in the senate (and therefore the least likely to be perceived as making a bad faith argument by those Republicans) is trying to convince them to vote no and none of them are actually at that point yet.

Manchin really doesn't have much to worry about in terms of the vote.  He's actually pretty safe.  I don't know what that means for this meeting, just wanted to point that out.

 

[David Selig]

Btw, I had no idea the Senate is such a geronthocracy, there are currently 18 members 75 years old or older, and they are in charge of nearly all committees, this is almost like the Brezhnev era Politburo.