You know? Thursday was such a god-awful day, so full, beginning to end, with the worst this country has on offer, that I think the best thing to do today is declare an open thread and say go ahead and get it out.
Happy weekend, everyone. At least a tolerable one.
Deborah said on September 27, 2018 at 9:29 pm
This is exactly what it seemed to me https://www.newyorker.com/news/current/brett-kavanaughs-adolescent-temper-tantrum-before-the-senate-judiciary-committe
But how did it play in Peoria?
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LAMary said on September 27, 2018 at 9:30 pm
Horrible. What a shit that guy is.
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alex said on September 27, 2018 at 9:55 pm
I have the new Murphy Brown on and I’m washing the sink full of dishes I’d been procrastinating on, that’s how bad it is, even more cringeworthy than Kavanaugh I’m sorry to report. Dialogue’s too cutesy by half and the timing just doesn’t seem right with any of it. I want to like it but just not feelin’ it.
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Peter said on September 27, 2018 at 9:57 pm
I can be very dense and naive most of the time, but the one comment I hear that I can’t understand is that this fiasco is going to cause a lot of women to not vote for the GOP in the midterms. Like the women who marched the day after the inauguration were going to vote Republican until this happened? Like they needed another example?
Seriously, what I’ll never understand about the 2016 election is why any woman, Hispanic, Black, or anyone in the construction or real estate industry would ever vote for Trump. People were stunned that 4% of blacks voted for Trump; I was stunned too – how could it be so high?
I seriously have a lot of respect for Amy Klobuchar – if Kavanaugh had said that to me I would have come off of the dais and slapped him. She’s hasn’t been accused of raping someone nor of drinking to excess, and she’s not up for a lifetime appointment, you douche.
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Dexter Friend said on September 27, 2018 at 11:13 pm
I watched the show from morning ’til past 6:30 PM. Dr. Ford was so credible, all the post-morning session commentators were amazed and most declared she had just put B.K. into the jackpot…the bad jackpot. Then the ass-kissing manipulative republicans spun their web of deceit, especially Kennedy of Louisiana and old Ted Cruz and then there was the biggest ass of all, Lindsey Graham SC, who promised he would make sure the Democrats would never get a soul confirmed nor even ever get a cross-aisle vote on any damn thang, that fucking weasel.
Vanessa had stage I cancer surgery today, one breast removed, first indications indicated no lymph node cancer cells present. She’s just now signed off social media, feeling in good spirits in Columbus at Grant Hospital surgical center. She also is clear of carrying that awful cancer gene, and with limited family history of any cancer, she will not be having the radical surgery which removes the other breast and all the nodes. ~
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Sherri said on September 27, 2018 at 11:22 pm
The statements are coming out. Kavanaugh will be confirmed. We knew this would happen. Inexcusable will be that Manchin will probably vote for him.
I just have to say this: there is no fucking presumption of innocence for a confirmation.
I want the GOP to be destroyed. Elect women. Pack the Court.
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ROGirl said on September 28, 2018 at 4:28 am
Couldn’t watch this one, I remember the Anita Hill hearings. When this nomination was announced my initial thought was, “The fix is in,” and I’m afraid I was right. That was well before any accusations of sexual impropriety, it was based on the political leanings of whoever they got the person playing the president on our nightmare reality show to nominate to the Supreme Court.
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Dorothy said on September 28, 2018 at 5:20 am
I thought the day after the election in November 2016 was the day I would feel the most despair about our country. And then I woke up today and my despair knows new depths. When is Mueller going to release his report and restore our faith in this democracy?!
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David C. said on September 28, 2018 at 6:22 am
I can’t think about what happened yesterday and in the past couple of years without going into a huge four and seven-letter rage. It barely worked before and now it’s completely broken down. This says what I think without the four-letter rage.
https://twitter.com/djrothkopf/status/1045609470703927296
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 28, 2018 at 6:45 am
The Rothkopf tweet is actually the start of a thread:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1045609470703927296.html
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Deborah said on September 28, 2018 at 6:58 am
I don’t know about you but yesterday energized me, my anger is palpable and I’m going to put it to work. I’m going to start knocking on doors, which I hate to do by the way because I’m basically a shy introvert. I’m going to give more money, I’m going to march and call, mostly I’m going to vote. I will not give up in despair.
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Deborah said on September 28, 2018 at 7:34 am
Thread, please read the whole thing https://mobile.twitter.com/ElieNYC/status/1045556295988842496
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Connie said on September 28, 2018 at 8:43 am
Yes, despair. I am going to follow Sherri’s example and while I don’t lift weights, I am still going to let this make me strong.
Actually I do lift a set of 3 lb weights regularly. Between my wheelchair time and my little weights I now have little biceps. And I am now walking with just a cane, no more walker, and sometimes no cane at all.
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Julie Robinson said on September 28, 2018 at 9:39 am
Yesterday we were on the road and Mom didn’t want to listen to the hearings, but I put on the radio when I got home, so heard from about 4 pm on. Kavanaugh sounded petulant, belligerent; like a toddler who had his favorite toy taken away and cannot get over how UNFAIR it is to him.
Then I watched a little and wanted to smack him in the face. Filibustering the five-minute time limit, asking questions back to the senators, especially Amy Klobuchar, asking if she was ever black-out drunk. I recognized the time-tested techniques of someone used to arguing their way out of situations. Again, it seemed childish. I’d bet this was his pattern of interactions with his parents from a young age. This is a man with serious mommy and daddy issues.
How can anyone not be filled with rage about this man? It’s maybe a good thing my hubby is taking his IU basketball trip this weekend because I am not going to be fit company to be around.
Edited to add: Flake just announced his support of Kavanaugh. It’s over.
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Deborah said on September 28, 2018 at 9:56 am
It’s not over. Yes, the confirmation of Kavanaugh is over but there is much more that needs to be done to right these wrongs. There are things we can do, there have to be.
Convince your white women friends who maybe voted for Trump to vote blue.
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Bitter Scribe said on September 28, 2018 at 10:00 am
I’m not getting too mad about Kavanaugh because if he goes down, they’ll just ram through another Federalist Society fascist. Probably that woman judge, Aunt Lydia or whatever her name is.
The only good thing that can come from Kavanaugh IMO is that maybe one of today’s teenage rapey-douchebags-in-training will think twice.
FYI, Deborah @#1, your link goes to “page not found.”
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susan said on September 28, 2018 at 10:47 am
Bitter Scribe, here’s his diatribe on one page.
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beb said on September 28, 2018 at 10:54 am
susan, your link does not work.
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susan said on September 28, 2018 at 11:01 am
Hmmm, try this again: https://deepstateradionetwork.com/flashback-yesterday-we-again-witnessed-an-attempted-rape/
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Sherri said on September 28, 2018 at 11:04 am
It may not be entirely rational, but I am more angry about Kavanaugh than about Gorsuch, and than about a replacement FedSoc judge like Amy Barrett, even though she might be even worse from an ideological stance.
Imagine had Barrett been nominated. Does anyone believe the Republicans would have gone to the wall like this for her, had so many problems come up? Would she have been presumed to be entitled to the position unless definitive proof the the contrary had been found? I just don’t believe that to be true.
Imagine a woman nominee putting on a performance like Kavanaugh did yesterday. Imagine a woman nominee treating a Senator the way Kavanaugh did Klobuchar yesterday. Hell, remember what happened when Elizabeth Warren questioned Jeff Sessions! “Nevertheless, she persisted.”
That the son of a judge and a lobbyist who went to an expensive prep school and Yale could claim in a Senate hearing that he worked his butt off to get into Yale Law Schoo, and had no connections just makes me crazy. It’s the same goddamn meritocratic crap I’ve been listening to men around me spout my whole life, and I’m beyond fed up at it.
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Deborah said on September 28, 2018 at 11:10 am
Bitter Scribe, I have no idea why my link doesn’t work? Can’t seem to find the New Yorker piece now? Did they take it down?
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Jeff Borden said on September 28, 2018 at 11:13 am
Sherri, you took the words out of my mouth. If a female nominee had acted like Kavano, we’d be hearing the flying monkeys shrieking about how she was too emotional, too dramatic, too angry to be a justice. But for nice little wealthy white prep school playboys, no biggie. Here, judge, let me help you into that chair.
The only hope for a sane SCOTUS may well be Chief Justice John Roberts, who reportedly cares what people think of the court. Will he edge to the left, however slightly? Will he take on the role of the unlamented Anthony Stevens? It’s a pretty grim future if he doesn’t. We can kiss goodbye for a generation any hope of enacting reasonable campaign finance reform, reasonable gun laws, etc. Kavano is waaaaaaaaaaaay to the right on those issues. And, of course, he views the presidency as a royal throne. The king cannot be forced to deal with such petty issues as rule of law.
BTW, while everyone worries about Roe v. Wade, don’t forget Griswold v. Connecticut, which decriminalized the use of contraceptives. Hard right legal scholars have always hated Griswold, too.
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Sherri said on September 28, 2018 at 11:29 am
Jeff, you forgot the asterisk.
The king cannot be forced to deal with such petty issues as rule of law.*
*Unless he’s a Democrat.
Yes, Griswold, as well as a return to a pre-Lochner era, are big risks. Anything that makes sure that we remember we must stay in our place and not make our betters uncomfortable.
I don’t have a shocking #MeToo story, just the usual nonsense that all women have had to put up with and learn to navigate as part of existing. The last couple of years have been like PTSD for me, however, for bringing up all the feelings of being an intelligent female who could not fit in the mold her environment expected of her. I cannot believe that the men who promulgate the theology of complementarianism really understand the spiritual and psychic damage it does to young women.
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Sherri said on September 28, 2018 at 11:52 am
This thread is so powerful.
https://twitter.com/IBJIYONGI/status/1045635940784517122
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Jakash said on September 28, 2018 at 12:16 pm
Let’s see if this works — Deborah’s link @ 1. Just noticed that there’s an “e” left off at the end of your link, Deborah.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/current/brett-kavanaughs-adolescent-temper-tantrum-before-the-senate-judiciary-committee
And from her link @ 12, right on cue one of the first comments is a “not all white women” reply. Uh, yeah, we realize that. But, as with white men, the fact that there are *any* who are willing to put up with this criminal administration and its Congressional enablers is such a depressing situation for the future of the nation.
I’m really depressed by what I’ve seen, but how can one be surprised, at this point? And relying on Jeff Flake to have a spine was never a very realistic hope. What a dick! Talk is cheap, pal. You’ll be looked down on forever by actual patriotic Americans for not stepping up when you had the chance.
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Sherri said on September 28, 2018 at 12:22 pm
I’m an alcoholic and suffer from depression and anxiety. If my best friend were being unjustly and incorrectly accused of attempted rape, and I had firsthand knowledge that exonerated him, nothing would stop me from testifying.
The reasonable conclusion is that Judge has firsthand knowledge that implicates Kavanaugh and/or himself.
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Sherri said on September 28, 2018 at 12:47 pm
Dahlia: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/christine-blasey-ford-hearing-fear-a-justice-brett-kavanaugh.html
Rebecca Traister: https://www.thecut.com/2018/09/kavanaugh-confirmation-hearing-republicans-ford-testimony-trump.html
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Scout said on September 28, 2018 at 1:02 pm
I have been in tears all morning and feel nauseous. This is as big a gut punch as the day we realized a sex criminal had been elected POTUS. I feel so powerless, angry and triggered it is hard for me to be at work. Jeff Flake is more disgusting than Trump, Kavanaugh, Cruz, Graham, Grassley, Hatch combined because I knew they were going to ram this through, but Flake? He gave us hope and then he took it away. I am gutted.
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Sherri said on September 28, 2018 at 1:10 pm
I’m headed to the gym. I think Bulgarian split squats are called for today, Nancy.
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Mark P said on September 28, 2018 at 1:50 pm
The country is broken and it has always been broken, from the very beginning. We have told ourselves for years that the US is a good and great country, but we were fooling ourselves. The country was founded on plunder and murder, from the very beginning. The first Europeans stole land from the Indians, and when they wanted more land, they told the Indians to move. If they didn’t move, they killed them. And then they killed them even if they did move. The entire country, from sea to shining sea, came about through plunder and murder. And that’s not even considering that we fought the bloodiest war we have ever fought over the question of whether white men should own black men.
In my lifetime — in my lifetime! — blacks were legally denied the right to attend the same schools that whites attended. They couldn’t use the same restaurants or motels, or drink from white water fountains or swim in the white public swimming pool. They couldn’t live in the same neighborhoods, and they couldn’t vote. Here we are a half a century after discrimination was made illegal, and it’s still going on. The Republican Party obstructed Barack Obama because they are racists. It was pure racism, from start to finish and from top to bottom. They finally decided to take off the hoods and show themselves in public.
And now they don’t care, as long as they can stay in power and plunder as much as they can, they don’t care whether the next SC justice is a sexual assaulter. The hearing was purely for show. They are going to confirm that whiny, privileged, pasty bitch to the Supreme Court. They were always going to do it.
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Jakash said on September 28, 2018 at 2:13 pm
So, Jeff Flake, apparently not satisfied with what a weasel he’s been up to this point, just said there should be an FBI investigation before the full Senate vote. I’m sure Mitch McConnell was taking notes, and is very concerned about Sen. Flake’s reservations! But, of course, the one thing Flake could actually *do* rather than *say* about this nominee’s elevation — vote no — he didn’t. Too bad I already called him a dick — it would be redundant to say it again…
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Michael said on September 28, 2018 at 3:09 pm
A couple of thoughts.
First, this is a job interview for a lifetime appointment to one of the most important jobs in the country. It’s not a criminal trial. When I’ve interviewed candidates for a job the burden of proof is always on the candidate to prove that he or she has the necessary qualifications. It’s not the other way around. No job candidate who yelled at me, cut me off in my question or made sarcastic comments would ever be hired.
Second, we are entitled to expect that all Judges and especially Supreme Court Justices to be strictly non-partisan. His work prosecuting the Clintons and flipping the Florida election results don’t really bother me – most Federal Judges have political backgrounds. But the fierce partisan attack against the Democratic Senators during the confirmation process creates doubt that he can be an impartial Justice calling balls and strikes.
Finally, we are also entitled to expect that all Judges and especially Supreme Court Justices possess the requisite Judicial temperament. All of my fellow attorneys who spend much time in a court room have seen a judge loose their temper or fail to treat someone with ordinary dignity. It’s one of the most unbecoming sights one can witness in a courtroom.
We can do better.
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Heather said on September 28, 2018 at 3:27 pm
I’m so disgusted I don’t even know what to say. At least they’re doing an investigation, but since the most of the male members of the GOP have already made up their minds that they don’t give a shit about whether he lies or not, whether he assaulted women or not, I don’t know that it will matter.
Watching the hearings yesterday, Kavanaugh was every entitled white guy I’ve ever encountered in my family, in college, among my peers, in the airport, at work, on my condo board, shouting anyone down who dares to disagree with him or stand in his way. I’m beyond over it. Who the hell feels like they get to mouth off to elected senators in their job interview??? I want to see women take over this government, take over businesses, take over everything. If they aren’t going to allow us to participate in life as full human beings, they’re done. And I’m done with women who support these guys too. Having been someone who has made excuses for shitty men at times, I understand it, but it’s way past time to stop hiding your head in the sand and time to face reality that way too many men are either actively supporting the continuation of the status quo or comfortable with passively benefiting from it.
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Sherri said on September 28, 2018 at 3:35 pm
There was an FBI investigation of Anita Hill’s claims, and Clarence Thomas sits on the Court.
Brett Kavanaugh has lied repeatedly in his confirmation hearings, about matters large and small. That should be disqualifying on its own.
And let me say, I just don’t want to hear any more about polarization and how neither side is listening to the other. Believe me, I hear the other side loud and clear. They don’t think I’m fully human, deserving of the same respect and rights and freedom as white men. I’m supposed to be civil and compromise with that!?!
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Jakash said on September 28, 2018 at 4:35 pm
I suppose what Flake did passes for “courage” in today’s political climate.
But, while an FBI investigation has been an appropriate idea all along, the circus yesterday was sufficient to demonstrate whether this nomination should be confirmed.
There were several significant questions to be answered, which, while trying to dodge and weave the whole time, Kavanaugh still definitively resolved. Among them:
Is this guy a partisan hack or somebody who can be counted on to be objective?
Was he more likely the choir-boy he tried to portray in the Fox News interview, or was he the kind of hot-headed drinker who might have been abusive to women in high school and since?
Is he a calm, deliberative jurist or does he seem irrational, over-emotional and bad-tempered?
Is he truthful?
He’s clearly, bitterly partisan, was disrespectful to U. S. Senators and seemed the opposite of calm. He has repeatedly lied to suit his purposes.
If the question was “Should this guy go to jail?” that would be whole different matter. But the question is “Should this guy be a Supreme Court justice?” That question was answered about as clearly as it could have been, given the nature of the proceedings.
Based on all that, someone with Flake’s evident misgivings had plenty of justifiable reasons to vote NO today, rather than come up with his face-saving delay tactic.
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beb said on September 28, 2018 at 5:13 pm
https://thinkprogress.org/brett-kavanaughs-gender-allows-him-to-be-celebrated-for-belligerence-and-cruelty-to-senators-d7200ac08ab3/
It was obvious from the moment that Ralphin’ Brett was nominated that he was a partisan hack. His life has been in the service of partisan warfare — with the Starr investigation and in the Bush administration. There’s no question that he would be a partisan hack on the court. That’s why so much of his papers were never released to the committee. That’s why Grassley, the biggest traitor to the Constitution after McConnell, rushed his nomination through committee. There is no impartial bone in his body/ He’s a movement Conservative through and through.
Maybe it’s the testosterone speaking, but if I were going to the gym I’d probably want to give the punching bag a work-out.
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Peter said on September 28, 2018 at 5:18 pm
I think we could all use a good drink after this week’s antics.
May I suggest you try a Flaming Kavanaugh? It’s Everclear, Hawaiian Punch, and a dash of schadenfreude tears and bitters
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susan said on September 28, 2018 at 5:24 pm
Well, thanks to the fu¢king Republicans, I did my 4.22 mile walk this morning in 69 minutes. That was as fast as I can walk in a sustained way. I’m 5-foot nuthin. Short legs and stride. So for me, that was sumthin. Thanks ‘Thugs! You’re getting me in shape to punch the crap out of you. Heart. Lungs. Stamina. Focus. Well, I can’t do beeg weights as Sherri does—to really punch the crap out of you—, because of all the fake body parts, but I can do five-lb ones in repetitions, so…biceps and shoulders. And my fists are at balls level for the average Republican male.
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susan said on September 28, 2018 at 5:26 pm
Oh, and Alexandra Petri.
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Sherri said on September 28, 2018 at 5:51 pm
Watch out, men, we’re building a monstrous regiment of women right here at this blog!
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David C. said on September 28, 2018 at 6:03 pm
Top notch day for me. In addition to Kavanope, I went to lunch with a bunch at work and slipped and fell hard on the restaurant’s tile floor. Nothing is broken, but they think I may have a mild concussion. I’ll find out in a half hour or so when they finish reading the CAT scan. The sumbitches at the restaurant didn’t even comp me my lunch.
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David C. said on September 28, 2018 at 6:28 pm
They checked my brain and found nothing. The nurse actually said that. Now the fun of getting the restaurant to pay the bill.
https://www.ajc.com/blog/luckovich/mike-luckovich-supreme-tantrum/OapJZ88RanQ74bn5XYfhPP/
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Deborah said on September 28, 2018 at 7:05 pm
David C, good luck getting the restaurant to pay. Ouch. Did you hit your head on the floor or on something on the way down?
I actually keep wondering if Kavanaugh is actually going to pull out to keep the FBI investigation from going forward. There may be some deep dark secrets lurking.
If I was a reporter for the NYT or the WaPo it doesn’t seem that difficult to find the house in question in Maryland. We know the name of the girl who lived there then (Leland Kaiser), the year and that it was in the summer. Seems like you could get a pretty good idea of the layout from the exterior if not be invited in by the current owners. If it’s still standing of course. Plus there are a lot of other strands to the story Dr. Ford described that seem pursuable. Am I wrong about that?
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David C. said on September 28, 2018 at 7:18 pm
Deborah, I’m lucky. I didn’t hit my head. I don’t actually remember how I actually landed, but I know I went down hard. I sort of remember slipping and the next thing I remember was trying to pull myself up. It was probably just a matter of seconds, but I have absolutely no memory of it. That freaked me out.
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Suzanne said on September 28, 2018 at 8:00 pm
I knew Flake would cave. He’ll cave again. It’s what he does. Sasse, who had clutched his pearl a time or two over the whole mess, suddenly became Silent Ben at the hearing.
My friends and acquaintances are about equally devided on his guilt but the one who don’t think he did anything arenalso the type who believe that Obama was born in Kenya and that Hillary has brain damage. Those who believe Dr Ford or were on the fence were all appalled at Kavanaugh’s belligerence and condescension and all agreed that, yes, they knew that type all too well; entitled, smarmy, rich pricks.
I don’t doubt he’ll sit on the bench.
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susan said on September 28, 2018 at 8:34 pm
Brett’s big braim
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Suzanne said on September 28, 2018 at 8:42 pm
Susan, I just watched that video. Epic!
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Sherri said on September 28, 2018 at 9:50 pm
I’m not sure it’s possible anymore to be a Democrat and an white evangelical Christian. They hate you almost as much as they hate women and non-white people.
https://twitter.com/jackmjenkins/status/1045755537487523840
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basset said on September 28, 2018 at 11:57 pm
Change of topic, we need one: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/us/army-pizza-mre-field-rations.html?emc=edit_ck_20180928&nl=cooking&nlid=7332978920180928&te=1
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Jakash said on September 29, 2018 at 1:23 am
Swell article, Basset.
“They all wanted pizza and beer” Can’t argue with that choice.
“There is a philosophy that no pizza is bad pizza” Now, that goes a *bit* too far, but a lot of run-of-the-mill pizzas are still fine by me.
“To qualify for M.R.E. duty, a food item has to be able to survive years of storage in a dank ship’s hold or a sun-baked shipping container, withstand Arctic freezes and tropical monsoons, stave off assaults by insects, and remain intact through a parachute airdrop or even a free fall from 100 feet.
Forget 30-minute delivery — Army regulations say it has to stay fresh for 36 months. And after all that, the pizza still has to be tasty enough to eat.
It’s a tall order…” Uh, yeah.
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Suzanne said on September 29, 2018 at 8:52 am
So I have been pondering since Thursday. I guess the term “sober as a judge” will soon disappear from the lexicon.
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Deborah said on September 29, 2018 at 9:17 am
Susan, my husband and I had a good laugh over your Pulp Fiction link. Hilarious.
And Suzanne #51, so true.
I think I was wrong about something in my comment #43, I said that the place where Dr. Ford’s assault took place is known, she said Leland Kaiser or Keyser was there but doesn’t remember whose house it was. I think? I’ve read so many different articles about it I’m confused now.
Edit: https://mobile.twitter.com/Comey/status/1045486374273658880
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alex said on September 29, 2018 at 10:28 am
LMAO Suzanne. And Ben Carson took the irony out of “brain surgeon” as an epithet. But, hey, it’s only natural that people who interpret the Bible literally would understand Orwell’s 1984 as an instruction manual and not a warning.
Today getting ready for big neighborhood bonfire party (and dreading the prospect of getting chatted up by people who want to know if I’m “on board” with Trump, or worse, expect me to agree that Kavanaugh’s getting shafted by a leftist conspiracy). To take my mind off my worries, I’m making massive amounts of jalapeño poppers from the 50 or so peppers my hubby just brought up from the garden, and I’ll be taking them to the party. So off to the store for massive amounts of cream cheese and other fixings. There are so many internet recipes that I’m not going to follow any one of them but just wing it and hope I have enough ingredients to fill 100 halves. And these are some honking big peppers this year.
Today’s bounty also included three honking big eggplants and a heap of other peppers that aren’t identifiable due to their tags fading over the summer. At least I can tell some of them are Anaheims and Serranos.
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Sherri said on September 29, 2018 at 12:26 pm
Civility is meant to protect the status quo. Civility is important to Jeff Flake. He called for an FBI investigation because the confirmation was tearing us apart, and his hope is that by having the investigation, the other side will play their part and go away satisfied, and he can cast his vote confirming Kavanaugh without being confronted by angry women.
Kavanaugh’s incivility towards Flake’s fellow Senators doesn’t seem to bother him at all, nor does he seem disturbed by Kavanaugh’s lies, or the financial questions, or his obvious partisan stance, or anything else. Kavanaugh’s a conservative. Flake’s a conservative. Had things not gotten so messy this week, that would have been sufficient for Flake to vote yes.
So, here’s what will happen. The FBI will do its investigation. Judge will stall, avoid cooperating, run out the clock as long as he can, then plead the Fifth. We’ll howl, conservatives will say, doesn’t mean Kavanaugh had anything to do with anything, we gave you your investigation, you’re just trying to tear down a good man, and all the good little Republicans will fall in line and vote for him. Not because of pressure from their leaders or caucus, but because this is who they are, all of them.
And they will blame it all on us, even the so-called moderates.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/09/flake-kavanaugh-interview/571735/
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Deborah said on September 29, 2018 at 12:55 pm
Yep Sherri, that about sums it up. I’d put money on it.
I’ve been reading various things online about taking a second look at videos of Kavanaugh turning away from the father of the student murdered at Parkland HS. In light of everything that has come out about the privileged, preppy asshole frat boy that BK was, it can be interpreted in a whole new light. BK was snubbing the father, seen as his lesser.
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Suzanne said on September 29, 2018 at 1:49 pm
Yes, Sherri, I agree with your assessment. No way Flake will vote no. Just no way.
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Sherri said on September 29, 2018 at 1:50 pm
The ACLU, which very rarely takes a position on candidates or nominations, is opposing Kavanaugh.
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Jakash said on September 29, 2018 at 3:57 pm
From the Atlantic interview Sherri posted:
“Coppins: As of now, are you planning to vote to confirm Kavanaugh unless the FBI finds something in the next week that changes your mind?
Flake: Yes. I’m a conservative. He’s a conservative. I plan to support him unless they turn up something—and they might.”
Nothing to see here, folks, just business as usual in the U.S.A. Move along, move along. Sure, he’s clearly lied under oath. Sure he displayed the temperament of a 5-year-old Trump, which is far from “judicial.” Sure, he’s evidently a conspiracy theorist. Sure, he’s got a huge grudge against more than half the country, which he was more than willing to openly demonstrate in his “job interview.”
But, “he’s a conservative.” If that’s all you needed to know, what was the point of this whole process, Flakey? Obviously you want a conservative, and you getting to choose who *you* want is the price we pay because of the third-party voters and stay-at-homers who have essentially given us this nightmare Republican administration. But there’s a boatload of other conservative choices who have not demonstrated how unfit they are. Sheesh!
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1045850635743236098
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David C. said on September 29, 2018 at 4:14 pm
They aren’t conservatives. They don’t want to conserve a god-damned thing. They’re reactionaries. They want to go back to that perfect past where women, minorities, the poor, and pretty much everyone who isn’t them knew their places. Where the air was a lovely brown. Where the wealthy weren’t bothered by any progressive income tax, or probably any income tax at all.
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Jim said on September 29, 2018 at 5:25 pm
Just saw this link on the AAUP forums:
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/09/how-we-know-kavanaugh-is-lying
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Deborah said on September 29, 2018 at 5:49 pm
David C, the irony of going back to the way it was before is that under say Eisenhower the tax rates for the wealthy were very high. I don’t know what they were before FDR, so maybe they have to go back before that. Pre depression? I should look that up but I’m too lazy right now.
Edit: ok I looked it up, but I’m too lazy to read it now http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2017/08/07/the_history_of_tax_rates_for_the_rich.html
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David C. said on September 29, 2018 at 6:01 pm
Before the sixteenth amendment in 1913 allowed a direct income tax there was no income tax other than during the Civil War. Taxes before then were mostly tariffs on imported goods and excise (sales) taxes. In those days, if you were rich, your taxes were pretty much a rounding error. That’s the world they dream of.
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basset said on September 29, 2018 at 8:46 pm
Jakash, just by coincidence I went to a World War II re-enactment today and ran up on a display of soldiers’ rations from back then, including crackers packed in 1943 with one can freshly opened. Of course I asked if they had eaten any and they told me go ahead but don’t try the cheese, it’s nasty.
So Mrs. B and I shared one… obviously stale but not that bad, I have had worse.
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basset said on September 29, 2018 at 11:14 pm
And they had some really interesting homefront displays, including a period kitchen where women in housedresses and aprons wrangled children, cooked, and canned… and a bunch of publications, handout size mostly, on how to stretch and save on family meals.
“Variety meats,” it turns out, means mostly organs… for example, thin slices of cooked beef tongue rolled up around a dab of spinach, secured with a toothpick and baked in a sauce of milk and horseradish.
I am not making this up. I have pictures.
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Sherri said on September 30, 2018 at 1:20 am
But the notion—which is attractive to people in the respectable center—that there was some calm, polite, collegial way to arbitrate her charges is a myth. They could have been buried calmly and politely. But they could not have been arbitrated calmly and politely because Ford’s charges are dangerous. They’re dangerous to conservative hopes of achieving a majority on the Supreme Court and they’re dangerous to the many powerful men whose careers would be ruined were they accountable for their abuse of women. Kavanaugh and the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee know that. And they have learned from President Trump that when women or people of color endanger your status, it doesn’t work to play nice.
Lord keep me from ever being a member of the respectable center.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/kavanaugh-hearings-show-nation-crisis-not-decline/571732/
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Julie Robinson said on September 30, 2018 at 9:14 am
The positive take away for me is that the Republicans have showed their true colors. There can no longer be any doubt about how they feel about women. That should waken anger in some and stoke it in others. Now we have to translate it into contributions and votes.
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basset said on September 30, 2018 at 9:17 am
Determined not to be angry this morning, need a break from frustration and outrage so here’s an excerpt from “Bridget Jones Rereads her Diaries”:
“Just Googled “Feminist Clothing” and got 24m results: sweatshirts, jewellery, hats, mugs, badges, with every tone — angry, witty, playful, self-mocking and, yes, it’s finally acceptable, multi-layeredly ironic: “Pro Choice, Pro Feminism, Pro Unicorns.” “My Marxist feminist dialectic brings all the boys to the yard.” “‘I really want to marry the guy that whistled at me from his car.’ — No One, Ever.” “Eve was framed.” “F*** your patriarchal bullshit.” “Has anyone tried turning the US on and off again?”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/magazine/style/bridget-jones-rereads-her-diaries-how-would-she-deal-with-mr-tits-pervert-in-2018-post-metoo-7n9xfmd0k
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beb said on September 30, 2018 at 10:15 am
I started reading blogs during the run up to W’s war. One of the meme’s coming together during that time was “Everything’s High School” meaning that all the journalists, pundits and bloggers arguing with each other were no different from all the feuds and squabbles in high school. There were the elite, the wannabe elites, former elites and everyone else (who didn’t count) and all the squabbles was about getting into the Elite or defending the Elite and had nothing to do with real life.
This comes to mind because I’m sure there are people arguing that what BK did 36 years ago in high school doesn’t matter. But the point of Everythnig’s High School is that the patterns of behavior formed in high school still infuse people’s behavior 30-40-60 years later. If Kavanaugh was a mean drunk and a harasser of women then it’s almost assured that he’s a mean drunk and harasser of women today.
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Deborah said on September 30, 2018 at 12:08 pm
Long but worth the read https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/09/how-we-know-kavanaugh-is-lying
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The Garden Fairy said on September 30, 2018 at 12:12 pm
There’s something to the “everything’s high school” notion. It’s where, amid all the awkwardness and discomfort, we find a comfort zone or two, some enduring, others that we leave and circle back to later. And certainly, some more adult than others.
For me, one early comfort zone was in political action — leafleting, canvassing, phone-banking, wrangling volunteers, getting out the vote.
In 2016 I returned to that zone. I no longer seek the face-to-face cold-contact work, but contribute via data management, volunteer wrangling and administrative tasks.
It’s shoulder to the wheel for the next 5 weeks.
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Jakash said on September 30, 2018 at 2:10 pm
Sounds interesting, Basset @ 63, 64. I guess, between sampling the newfangled pizza MRE, a 75-year-old cracker, or a platter of “variety meats,” that’d be a pretty easy choice for me. ; )
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Deborah said on September 30, 2018 at 3:39 pm
This has nothing to do with anything we’ve been discussing, but have any of you seen the Volvo ad with the opera singer singing the Queen of the Night aria? Here’s a link if you haven’t https://www.tvadvertmusic.com/2018/09/video-volvo-suv/. The thing that’s weird to me is that is a very violent scene in the opera The Magic Flute, the queen is swearing an oath of vengeance to her own daughter. Here’s a link to a performance by one of the best opera singers that has performed it https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YuBeBjqKSGQ. It is my favorite aria, I could listen to it over and over, especially the staccato part. It just seems weird to use it for a Volvo ad. But I guess if it exposes more people to the excellence of opera, it’s all good.
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Bitter Scribe said on September 30, 2018 at 4:04 pm
Deborah, I just knew, before clicking that link, that it was going to be that Diana Damrau video. Isn’t she great?
Opera was the great passion of my late brother’s life. The last time I saw him, in the hospital, I played that video for him on my phone. Six hours later he was unexpectedly dead, of complications from surgery. It was a terrible blow, but a tiny part of me was glad that I’d been able to give him that last bit of pleasure.
I also had your reaction to that commercial. Did anyone realize that the singer was ordering her daughter to commit murder? But as you say, it’s all good.
BTW, my first comment along these lines got eaten. If it shows up suddenly over this one, apologies.
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Deborah said on September 30, 2018 at 4:44 pm
Bitter Scribe, love your story about your brother. I had a recording of the Korean opera star Sumi Jo, singing the Queen of the Night aria that I used to play on my way driving to work when I lived in St. Louis, I’d play it over and over again. Maybe it’s a good piece of music to drive to and that’s why Volvo used it? I only played it on my way to work though, for some reason never on the way home.
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Deborah said on September 30, 2018 at 6:17 pm
My husband is at his first ever Cubs game, the last of the regular season which is now 10 to 4 Cubs, playing the Cards, at least that’s what I’ve found online. My husband was invited to the game by one of his clients and they all know he’s not a sports fan, so they’re probably giving him a good ribbing. I went to a Cubs game once in 2003, when some work colleagues from St. Louis came up for a day game between the Cubs and the Cards. I spent the whole time paying attention to my friend’s baby who was with her at the game, I have no idea who won.
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Suzanne said on September 30, 2018 at 6:27 pm
Diana Damrau slays that aria. She does the crazy eyes and all!
I remember reading that Beverly Sills said that singing that role was amazing and terrifying. Sitting backstage, bored and waiting and then you enter and have to nail that beast of an aria. It’s such a great piece of music!
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susan said on September 30, 2018 at 8:08 pm
Here’s another version of Diana Damrau singing Queen of the Night aria, in a studio, without costume. She looks nothing like the evil Queen! Plus, she looks quite pleased, and rightfully so, after winding up those high warbles so clearly and purely. I can’t imagine singing like that. Amazing.
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