This is the end game. They will do whatever is necessary to get Kavanaugh confirmed. Their policies are not democratically (little d) supported. They know the wave is coming, but if he gets on it doesn’t matter because impeachment will be nearly impossible. All of the tools used to cement political power will be theirs due to hacks like Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. This is what Trump was elected to do, and as soon as he delivers Kavanaugh, he will be abandoned. And because of his belief in Republican presidential immunity, none of the Congressional complicity (or at best dereliction of duty) will come to light vis a vis Russia.
By standing behind Kavanaugh, the president could well be cementing his own destruction. McConnell couldn’t give two shits about him. Two years is plenty of time for McConnell to turn against the president and attempt to preserve their Senate majority in 2020. It would not surprise me if Pence ratted out Trump as well.
Now, if Kavanaugh gets beaten–it’s doubly bad for both Trump and McConnell. Partisan enthusiasm (on one side) wanes, Trump looks weak (which he cannot stand), and he will go completely off of his rocker. McConnell is stuck as the one who failed to deliver on the president’s agenda. No accomplishments, nothing to deliver to the deep-state-4chan-reading-bible-humpers, and no room to pivot.
(One interesting note: we took a poll: all the guys in our office think that K gets confirmed. All the women think he won’t. I sincerely hope that the men are wrong.).
Perhaps call a press conference? Perhaps speak out more? I don’t get cable, so perhaps they are and I’m not seeing it in the newspapers and/or online. If so, I stand corrected. And Bernie leaves me cold as well, but he certainly likes to think of himself as an influential voice.
Again, that’s good to hear. I don’t get CNN so I can only go by what I read. This story is not on the front page of the WaPo (or anywhere very visible as far as I can see). NYT has a story about class differences between Kav and Ramirez, but nothing about calls not being taken.
“So, feels like there’s a lot of game-playing that’s going on right now by the majority party,” said the lawyer. “Every time we try to set up a phone call, the majority party either changes the rules of the phone call or they want additional information as a condition of even having a phone call with us.”
Want to get to the bottom of the fake, con accusations but change the rules mid stream. Surely tells anyone with a grain of smarts that they have the info already, don’t like what it tells them, so the REPUG Senators just choose to ignore it.
Especially since their op-eds (the print media) are all in favor of FBI investigation, etc., etc. They’re always worried about that “left-wing” bias. Sigh. This is a GREAT statement and it’s on … The Blaze? Kudos to you for finding it!
They should refer the Dr. Ford and Ramirez allegations to the FBI for further background information. Oh, that would require authorization from Trump.
Well, they should subpoena Mark Judge and other relevant witnesses. Oh, they don’t have subpoena power.
Well, they should suspend the confirmation process until they have gathered all pertinent evidence. Oh, they don’t control the calendar.
Well, they should threaten to filibuster the confirmation until the GOP complies with their requests. Oh, McConnell killed the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations.
Well, they should hold their collective breaths until they turn blue. That’s it. Blue, to show they are real Democrats.
There is not trick so low, or evasive maneuver so childish, that the fine upstanding leaders of the nation will not stoop to in their bravery and righteousness.
“A third woman has come forward to accuse Donald Trump’s supreme court pick, Brett Kavanaugh, of sexual misconduct, … a declaration made in the name of Julie Swetnick, a resident of Washington DC, [says] she…met Kavanaugh and his school friend Mark Judge in the early 1980s and attended the same parties.”
Swetnick’s testimony needs to be heard by the Senate’s Judiciary Committee.
The Guardian report refers to: “…abusive and physically aggressive behaviour towards girls…” and identifies both Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge as being “involved in situations that resulted in women being gang raped.”
One thing that consistently frustrates me - in senate campaigns, the Dems usually don’t bring up the national implications of electing the GOP. It’s always about ‘what I can do for the state’ and never about ‘this position is responsible for approving SC nominees who will have an effect on the entire country for generations.’
Same with calling the senators’ offices. They refuse to recognize the national nature of their role.
Perhaps you and I are better informed than most voters, so we can appreciate the big picture more than some others. I think most of these candidates go with what the marketing studies say regarding the constituents.
However, there is a real opportunity here, and the Democrats should exploit it. Also, the news media should now recognize the story that has shifted. Some focus should now fall on Republican Senators and Trump that vetted Kavanaugh and wanted super quick confirmation.
I really think that should be THE focus here. Repubs were slow in filling Scalia’s seat but are trying to fast track Kava-NAW. The question is WHY? What did they know, when did they know it and why are they trying so hard to ram him through?
