Justice Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearing *DISCUSSION AND LIVE COMMENTARY*

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1044024502718517248

[J. J.]

At least six supposed eyewitnesses have been named between Ford and Ramirez, and zero of them have supported the charges. All have vehemently denied.

Lol.

If you were an eyewitness to either of these and did nothing to stop it, of course you'd deny.

And in this case several people seem to remember hearing about the incident.

In Ford's case, they do not recall that there was ever this party. 

The final one, Leland Ingham Keyser, says that she was never at a party with Kavanaugh, and did not know him.  She is a friend of Ford's. 

[Fuzzy Bear]

At least six supposed eyewitnesses have been named between Ford and Ramirez, and zero of them have supported the charges. All have vehemently denied.

Lol.

If you were an eyewitness to either of these and did nothing to stop it, of course you'd deny.

And in this case several people seem to remember hearing about the incident.

In Ford's case, they do not recall that there was ever this party. 

The final one, Leland Ingham Keyser, says that she was never at a party with Kavanaugh, and did not know him.  She is a friend of Ford's. 

I assure you that these folks know how to say "I don't recall!" in seven different languages.

If they were part of this in any way, they don't want to recall.  And how can you prove they DO recall?

[GeorgiaModerate]

A bit of irony that I didn't know about until just now: the chief judge on Kavanaugh's current court is Merrick Garland.

[SCNCmod]

What is most likely going to sink Kav's nom the quickest- is lying (blanket denials) and the strategy of gross mischaracterization (dishonest) trying to paint him as a tea-totalling choir boy who would never dream of being drunk or being inappropriate around a girl.

Even if one were to look pass the specific allegation from HS & specific acts in the accounts in the New Yorker etc...

A big problem for Kavanaugh will be the (strategy of presenting himself as and) blanket denial of basically anything short of choirboy behavior in High School & College.   Even his best friend (who now basically denies Kavanaugh was ever anything short of perfect and sober) writes in his memoir of wild parties with Kavanaugh being passed out drunk and puking in cars.  Which seems consistent with The New Yorker accounts (who really are not accusing Kavanaugh of any crime... but rather disputing the image that Kavanaugh and his supporters have presented.

Had Kavanaugh at least acknowledge that he had some wild times in school... he would at least not be faced with the Huge Problem of at the very least appearing to clearly lie and make misleading comments about his past behaviour in HS and College. (something that Collins, Flake, and likely Murkowski will have a problem with... especially since Collins happened to have a phone appointment lined up with Kav shortly after the initial allegations from HS were made public... at which time he also issued the blanket denial, etc to Collins)

[J. J.]

I assure you that these folks know how to say "I don't recall!" in seven different languages.

If they were part of this in any way, they don't want to recall.  And how can you prove they DO recall?

So everyone is wrong except Ford?  Kavanaugh and Judge are wrong and/or lying?  So is Smith?  And now, so is Keyser?  All these names came from Ford. 

Keyser is a friend of Ford's, never met Kavanaugh, she actually contributed to a Democratic senator.

This is just looking verification that the party occurred.  We don't even have that.

[Mike Thick]

Michae Avenatti involves himself, again, even more

https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/1044032678951960576

[GeorgiaModerate]

I assure you that these folks know how to say "I don't recall!" in seven different languages.

If they were part of this in any way, they don't want to recall.  And how can you prove they DO recall?

So everyone is wrong except Ford?  Kavanaugh and Judge are wrong and/or lying?  So is Smith?  And now, so is Keyser?  All these names came from Ford. 

Keyser is a friend of Ford's, never met Kavanaugh, she actually contributed to a Democratic senator.

This is just looking verification that the party occurred.  We don't even have that.

If only the government had a law enforcement organization with the resources to investigate something like that!

[Person Man]

If BK isn't fit to be on the highest court, then shouldn't he also not be fit to be on the second highest court?

Agreed, he should be impeached and removed.

I want this bumper sticker.

[new_patomic]

This is sort of a vicious cycle for the GOP I imagine.

The best solution would be to have Kavanaugh simply withdraw his nomination. Someone else, equally as conservative, but without this baggage or the baggage from work in the Bush White House, could be confirmed right before the midterms or in the lame duck period.

But that there is controversy around Kavanaugh is driving the White House and many voters to feel committed to seeing him through.

[Pouring Rain and Blairing Music]

Even if one were to look pass the specific allegation from HS & specific acts in the accounts in the New Yorker etc...

A big problem for Kavanaugh will be the (strategy of presenting himself as and) blanket denial of basically anything short of choirboy behavior in High School & College.   Even his best friend (who now basically denies Kavanaugh was ever anything short of perfect and sober) writes in his memoir of wild parties with Kavanaugh being passed out drunk and puking in cars.  Which seems consistent with The New Yorker accounts (who really are not accusing Kavanaugh of any crime... but rather disputing the image that Kavanaugh and his supporters have presented.

Had Kavanaugh at least acknowledge that he had some wild times in school... he would at least not be faced with the Huge Problem of at the very least appearing to clearly lie and make misleading comments about his past behaviour in HS and College. (something that Collins, Flake, and likely Murkowski will have a problem with... especially since Collins happened to have a phone appointment lined up with Kav shortly after the initial allegations from HS were made public... at which time he also issued the blanket denial, etc to Collins)

He didn’t write about Brett Kavanaugh. He wrote about “Bart O’Kavanaugh.” Clearly not the same person whatsoever. No sir!

[SCNCmod]

Even if one were to look pass the specific allegation from HS & specific acts in the accounts in the New Yorker etc...

A big problem for Kavanaugh will be the (strategy of presenting himself as and) blanket denial of basically anything short of choirboy behavior in High School & College.   Even his best friend (who now basically denies Kavanaugh was ever anything short of perfect and sober) writes in his memoir of wild parties with Kavanaugh being passed out drunk and puking in cars.  Which seems consistent with The New Yorker accounts (who really are not accusing Kavanaugh of any crime... but rather disputing the image that Kavanaugh and his supporters have presented.

Had Kavanaugh at least acknowledge that he had some wild times in school... he would at least not be faced with the Huge Problem of at the very least appearing to clearly lie and make misleading comments about his past behaviour in HS and College. (something that Collins, Flake, and likely Murkowski will have a problem with... especially since Collins happened to have a phone appointment lined up with Kav shortly after the initial allegations from HS were made public... at which time he also issued the blanket denial, etc to Collins)

He didn’t write about Brett Kavanaugh. He wrote about “Bart O’Kavanaugh.” Clearly not the same person whatsoever. No sir!

Oh yeah... I forgot... "Brett" is the Choir Boy alter ego of Mark Judge's best friend!

[Gass3268]

Michae Avenatti involves himself, again, even more

https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/1044032678951960576

Did you read the email? If there are witnesses to testify on this:

[Confused Democrat]

Republicans should just pull this nomination and just ram through another right wing judge without the baggage.

Seriously, what's so hard about that?

[Thank you for being a friend...]

This is the worst time for this to happen - we're going into October soon, a month that could feel like a year in politics - there's the potential for plenty of October surprises and bombshells.  The Republicans blocked Merrick Garland because they wanted new election results that would give them the Presidency and the Senate.  This time it's got to be railroaded through because they don't want to wait even one month for a new Senate.  There is such a thing as karma and it's going to come back to bite the Republicans in the ass one day.  Millennial voters are fired up and ready to vote!

If it must be done, push hard for impeachment of both Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas.  Get rid of them both, and replace one of them with Merrick.

[Florida Man for Crime]

If Avenatti's stuff that he is hinting at pans out, that will definitely be the worst of anything that has come up so far.

[libertpaulian]

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1044024502718517248

The GOP "leadership" in the Senate is a complete dumpster fire.  They completely screwed the pooch on this whole thing.

No matter what happens to Judge Kavanaugh, they deserve to lose in November.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Republicans should just pull this nomination and just ram through another right wing judge without the baggage.

Seriously, what's so hard about that?

Their base is full of mouth-breathers who care about nothing more than an instinctual need to win. The idea of having a candidate hand-picked by Trump getting defeated by a sexual assault allegation is unpalatable because it's a sign of weakness. They're buckling in and trying to muscle their way through this just to please the worst instincts of their voters. Incidentally, Brett Kavanaugh apparently was quite fond of this approach when he was in high school.

[Sestak]

If Avenatti's stuff that he is hinting at pans out, that will definitely be the worst of anything that has come up so far.

Agreed - the claims he makes are rather bold.

But again, this is Avenatti.

[Gass3268]

If Avenatti's stuff that he is hinting at pans out, that will definitely be the worst of anything that has come up so far.

It's Avenatti so who knows, but if it is, wow!

[Mike Thick]

Michae Avenatti involves himself, again, even more

https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/1044032678951960576

Did you read the email? If there are witnesses to testify on this:

[snip]

Jesus Christ. That has to be one of the most sickening things I've ever read

[Mr. Morden]

Republicans should just pull this nomination and just ram through another right wing judge without the baggage.

Seriously, what's so hard about that?

"Republicans" isn't just one person.  You have Trump on the one hand, and Senate Republicans on the other.  My guess would be that the many (most?) of the latter are already at the point where they'd like the nomination to be withdrawn, so they can confirm someone else instead.  The problem they have is that if they block his nomination, Trump will attack them for it, and GOP voters will blame them because Trump is blaming them.

So what they really want is for Trump to be the one to cut bait on Kavanaugh.  That's what would probably be happening right now if there was a "normal" Republican president.  Most presidents at this point would cut their losses and ditch Kavanaugh, a la Bush and Harriet Miers.  But Trump never does such things.
 

[Hindsight was 2020]

If Avenatti's stuff that he is hinting at pans out, that will definitely be the worst of anything that has come up so far.

Agreed - the claims he makes are rather bold.

But again, this is Avenatti.

Michael can be annoying but I haven’t seen him make things up

[Sestak]

Agree with this:

https://twitter.com/steventdennis/status/1044040612939517953?s=21

[Gass3268]

Agree with this:

https://twitter.com/steventdennis/status/1044040612939517953?s=21

Totally, like now, if not at least tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/brianbeutler/status/1044045684998107141