Supreme Court Justice Kennedy to Retire

[Deleted member 365]

Wow. And blatant lies like this don’t give repubs cause for concern?

 

[Red]

Wow. And blatant lies like this don’t give repubs cause for concern?

Funny how the passage of just a little time can settle impressions.

I believe Kavanaugh was acting. Dr. Ford was not.

Kavanaugh acted as another Republican on the committee. I think he energized the Republicans to just yell at the Democrats, culminating in Graham's tirade. It's as if Kavanaugh and the Republicans thought they could just angrily argue and tirade their way into confirmation.

I've gone back and looked at selected sections of his testimony. I focused on Sen. Whitehouse, because he represents my state. At the time, I thought Whitehouse could have done a better job, but I was wrong.

In fact, some of Kavanaugh's most defensive stances occurred under questioning from Whitehouse. "If you want to look at my yearbook, have at it". Then he threw himself back in his chair, with a look of disgust, and to me that's an act that a guilty man might engineer on the spot to look innocent. "What do you like to drink, Senator? Senator, what do you like to drink"? That latter exchange was pretty arrogant and frankly, uttered in contempt. And he's in attack mode there, attack when your adversary is getting too close for comfort. I realize an innocent man has all the right in the world to be pissed, but he then gave fairly ludicrous answers to what the entries in the yearbook signified. All, seemingly, in service to preserving a level of innocence that did not suggest excessive drinking and sex. You could say he was hiding who he was at that time in his life. So, maybe there is worse behavior he was hiding.

I agreed with Whitehouse that he was not credible. Loud, aggressive, belligerant, contemptuous at times, whining, but not credible.

Me thinks he doth protest too much might apply to Kavanaugh's testimony.

Here's that exchange with Whitehouse. Kavanaugh acting defensive, treating a duly elected representative of American citizens with contempt at times. Not a good look for one who would be a Supreme Court Justice. He knew what those yearbook notations signified, but he'd rather not say. He was acting. Dr. Ford was not.

 

[Joe Bagadonuts]

Indeed. Reasonable would have been ordering one a week ago when these allegations first surfaced and an investigation was requested by Dr Ford. The only reason the investigation is happening now is because Kavanaugh doesn't have the votes without one, thanks to Flake and Murkowski.

Reasonable would have been turning this information over to the Senate when it was discovered, not at the 11th hour. Feinstein was clearly more interested in using it as a delay tactic than in finding out the truth.

 

[Red]

And boy, is this chart ever illustrative. It shows how many times Ford answered a question, or did not, and how many times Kavanaugh answered a question and how many times he did not. The difference is striking, to say the least:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli...8/kavanaugh-ford-question-dodge-hearing-chart

 

[Miggs]

Wow. And blatant lies like this don’t give repubs cause for concern?

It’s not a blatant lie really.

 

[Harambe]

Reasonable would have been turning this information over to the Senate when it was discovered, not at the 11th hour. Feinstein was clearly more interested in using it as a delay tactic than in finding out the truth.

Even if we entirely forget the "hide the info" tactic used since before the hearings started, Feinstein was probably asked to keep it under wraps. Your paranoia is running rampant.

 

[Miggs]

“In the summer of 1982, seven months before he turned 18, the state raised the legal drinking age for beer and wine from 18 to 21. (It was already 21 for hard liquor.)

Those who were 18 or older at the time were “grandfathered” in, so they could continue to drink legally. That, however, did not apply to Kavanaugh: He didn’t turn 18 until the following February.”

So did he lie? Maybe, maybe he just misremembered as it was how many decades ago, and he was 17.5 that summer, drinking for a while to his own admission, and likely got beer from those just a year older than him or illegally, which millions of kids probably did so I really don’t see this as some huge indictment on his character. Even if the guy sucks.

 

[Deleted member 365]

“In the summer of 1982, seven months before he turned 18, the state raised the legal drinking age for beer and wine from 18 to 21. (It was already 21 for hard liquor.)

Those who were 18 or older at the time were “grandfathered” in, so they could continue to drink legally. That, however, did not apply to Kavanaugh: He didn’t turn 18 until the following February.”

So did he lie? Maybe, maybe he just misremembered as it was how many decades ago, and he was 17.5 that summer, drinking for a while to his own admission, and likely got beer from those just a year older than him or illegally, which millions of kids probably did so I really don’t see this as some huge indictment on his character. Even if the guy sucks.

Misremembering under oath is typically known as lying. A lie that helps bolster his claim that he wasn’t an entitled drunk who sexually assaulted women. So he has all the incentives in the world to lie.

If you want to go with the faulty memory excuse, cool. But I don’t think Supreme Court justices should be dishonest or have ****** memories.

 

[Red]

Reasonable would have been turning this information over to the Senate when it was discovered, not at the 11th hour. Feinstein was clearly more interested in using it as a delay tactic than in finding out the truth.

Well, maybe, or maybe not, the FBI investigation will shed more light on the allegations. And they started last night, investigating the second woman, I believe. They are assigning field agents to every allegation that is presently in the public arena, not just Ford's. Supposing, just for the sake of argument, that the FBI investigation develops information that truly makes it impossible to place Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. Surely, at that point, it would be the case that later was better then not at all?

I'm sure the women who confronted Flake in the elevator represented the feelings of many victims of sexual abuse. I think that one powerful example of citizens confronting an elected official in a democracy made the FBI investigation inevitable, once Flake stated his case. And that was not a bad thing, since Flake consulted Democrat Coons, in a rare, rare, rare act of bipartisanship in our otherwise poisonous tribal politics.

Sure, the Democrats would love to delay right past the midterms, if they could win both houses, and delay until the results of the 2020 election is known. And maybe regain the choice the Republicans delayed until Obama was out of office. But, once the cat was out of the bag, a chance encounter at an elevator may have changed the course of our history. We'll see. At this point, better for all not to have this cloud over Kavanaugh if it can be lifted.

Although I'm on the record as believing his opening statement reveals a man unfit for the highest court in the land.

 

[Miggs]

Misremembering under oath is typically known as lying. A lie that helps bolster his claim that he wasn’t an entitled drunk who sexually assaulted women. So he has all the incentives in the world to lie.

If you want to go with the faulty memory excuse, cool. But I don’t think Supreme Court justices should be dishonest or have ****** memories.

I can’t even recall if I got my driver’s permit at 16 or 16.5. Not every little detail of our lives is tucked away neatly in our brains, ready for recall. That’s all.

Has he denied that he drank back then?

 

[Red]

Judge Kavanaugh was acting. Gave his best attack mode performance. Acted like another Republican member of the Judiciary Committee. Just watch the contempt he displayed toward a senator elected by our fellow citizens in the exchange I posted with Sheldon Whitehouse. Contempt toward an elected member of Congress. Was that designed to make him seem like an appropriate choice for our highest court? Really?

A victim of Clinton revenge? Really, Judge Kavanaugh? You're going to go conspiracy theory? Is that an example of your rational mind at work, Judge Kavanaugh?

Judge Kavanaugh was an actor, trying to save his dream job.

Dr. Ford was real. Look at the chart I posted showing who answered every question, and who did not, who evaded. I have no problem at all deducing which of the two was credible, and which was far from credible.

 

[Deleted member 365]

I can’t even recall if I got my driver’s permit at 16 or 16.5. Not every little detail of our lives is tucked away neatly in our brains, ready for recall. That’s all.

Has he denied that he drank back then?

Yes, I can remember when I got my permit. Why can’t you? And I can recall when football season started, who I dated, and dances I went to. It’s not hard. Unless... you’re either drunk off your *** all the time during high school or intentionally lying to deceive others about your image.

If you’re interviewing for a SC justice position and are being accused by multiple women of sexual assault, you either better recall these details... or have well researched notes. It wouldn’t have been hard for him to research when he turned 18 and what the drinking laws were back then.

If you can’t do these things, then you probably shouldn’t be 1 of 9 justices in this country.

Can we stop pretending that his opening partisan rant against the Clintons and “the left” shouldn’t already be a disqualifier too? Parties, faulty memory/integrity, and sexual assault aside, someone so obviously partisan has no business being a justice.