New SCOTUS Judge

[Skeptic Ginger]

I mean seriously:

Based on extensive interviews by me and @katekelly with Kavanaugh's former Georgetown Prep classmates, what he just said about the meanings of "boofed" and "Devil's Triangle" is not true.​

His comfort with lying is disqualifying on its own.

Yay for social media, everyone is going to soon know what a Bermuda Triangle means.

Did anyone say Devil's Triangle?

What does boofed mean if not farting?

 

[xjx388]

It has been claimed in this thread (I believe by MeadMaker, but I don't want to go looking for the actual post) that it's unbelievable that Julie Swetnick was raped at one of the parties K and Judge attended yet kept attending more of these parties. This is an unfounded assumption. Swetnick says she went to about 10 parties where she saw K and J et. al. spiking the punch in order to get girls incapacitated so they could be sexually abused, including "pulling trains". In her statement, Swetnick said she was drugged and raped at one of these parties but does not indicate which one or that she then continued to attend these parties. It is likely that she was raped at the last party she attended which would be far more logical.

A couple of corrections:

She said she went to “well over 10 parties” where K and J were present, spiking punch, harassing women, etc.. She met them at one such party in 1980 and then attended more parties from 1981-1983. She alleges the rape occurred in 1982, which, given the timeline she attested to, means she continued to attend after being raped herself.

 

[Stacyhs]

That's not the only question he avoided answering. He had a very hard time denying he was a frequent drunk in high school and college. He used the BS claim he barfed easily when it was clear he vomited a lot fro drinking. I don't know anyone who vomits after a couple of beers.

Anyone else?

That was an idiotic and very obvious lie. So were the Renate and devil's triangle explanations. Even if you believe he didn't attack Ford, the fact that he was lying about that (perjury) makes him unfit for the SC.

I'm watching Chris Cuomo right now. A Yale classmate named Lynne Brookes is on via telephone saying that she witnessed herself his excessive drinking and the picture he tried to paint of his drinking was false. She said she drank to excess with Kavanaugh on many occassions and he was falling down drunk on the night he joined his fraternity. She says she doubts he could remember anything of that night he was so drunk. Brookes is a Republican. She says he blatantly lied today.

 

[kellyb]

That's not the only question he avoided answering. He had a very hard time denying he was a frequent drunk in high school and college. He used the BS claim he barfed easily when it was clear he vomited a lot fro drinking. I don't know anyone who vomits after a couple of beers.

Anyone else?

Nope. So:

1. FBI
2. puking
3. blacking out
4. Renalde(sp?) "alumnus" in the yearbook
5. devil's triangle

Those are the ones where he would not answer at all, or was basically definitely lying when he did answer. That's a lot of **** to be lying about, more or less for sure, for me to believe he wasn't also and easily lying about "And I never engaged in anything sexual with her, and she must be remembering someone else." The other lies don't even make sense without him also knowing he had sex with her. He and the Republicans do not want the FBI verifying her therapist's account of mentioning him in 2012.

 

[Babbylonian]

That's not the only question he avoided answering. He had a very hard time denying he was a frequent drunk in high school and college. He used the BS claim he barfed easily when it was clear he vomited a lot fro drinking. I don't know anyone who vomits after a couple of beers.

Anyone else?

Maybe he was on Antabuse?

 

[Belz...]

Gee...what a shock.

You know, Corker and Graham have said things in the past that hinted to them wanting to do the right thing or being moderating voices... but now it's clear, we should trust what people do, not what they say. Graham is forever lost. I'll never believe what he says again.

 

[Stacyhs]

A couple of corrections:

She said she went to “well over 10 parties” where K and J were present, spiking punch, harassing women, etc.. She met them at one such party in 1980 and then attended more parties from 1981-1983. She alleges the rape occurred in 1982, which, given the timeline she attested to, means she continued to attend after being raped herself.

Thank you for bringing that to my attention.
She continued to attend parties but that does not mean the person who raped her was there. She made sure that she did not drink from the punch bowl (as she stated) and was likely vigilant in keeping her drinks with her at all times.

When I was attacked, I did not stop going to discos. I just made sure never to walk to my car alone again. I would always have someone walk me to my car. Life goes on.

 

[Babbylonian]

You know, Corker and Graham have said things in the past that hinted to them wanting to do the right thing or being moderating voices... but now it's clear, we should trust what people do, not what they say. Graham is forever lost. I'll never believe what he says again.

Same thing I said about McCain. Reasonable soundbites do not policy make.

 

[theprestige]

And quite the crybaby which I don't think is the best qualification for a SCOTUS judge.

Heaven forbid we have human on the bench.

 

[Toontown]

Disclaimer: for we the un-anointed, this is just a matter of deciding for ourselves what the truth most likely is and regaling each other with our opinions. We don't have to prove anything, and neither do the senators who will vote tomorrow.

Fact: Ford passed a polygraph. Her testimony was responsive, detailed, and consistent.

Fact: Much of Kavanaugh's testimony was histrionic, evasive, and confrontational in various mixtures. He invoked the Revenge of the Clintons specter in his opening statement, between self-pitying sobs. Also the Rich Leftist Massive Conspiracy.

Advantage: Ford.

What. You admired all that sobbing, heaving, and snarling, punctuated by histrionic outbursts from Kavanaugh's senatorial admirers?

Do you also believe the Clintons are actually space aliens who never sleep, but do nothing but spin smear campaigns and conspiracies 24/7? (there is no other way to account for their immense volume of work)

FYI, that's the Russians who do that. They'll do anything to avoid work. Except they don't go 24/7. They sleep when the vodka renders them unconscious. But there are a lot more of them. When one passes out, another one takes up the slack.

The lot of them, Kavanaugh and Russians, should stop spinning Clinton conspiracy theories, stop trying to take over the world, and find honest work.

 

[Stacyhs]

K claimed he was a virgin. He could be telling the truth. However....this could be
a technicality that I know all too well from some of my Mormon relatives. They define being a virgin as not having engaged in vaginal intercourse. Anything and everything outside vaginal intercourse is engaged in prior to marriage but they can go to their wedding nights "virgins".

 

[Stacyhs]

Heaven forbid we have human on the bench.

I think his emotions were real. I have no doubt this has been traumatic for him and his family. But I think he still lied today.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Why would anyone want that terrible man to be a supreme court judge?

Ignoring the attempted rape accusation he comes across as shifty, arrogant, and dishonest.

Even ignoring that and all his avoiding and dodging, from another forum:

It’s a job interview, and he failed miserably. Ignoring all else, he lacks the temperament and impartiality a judge ought to have or, at the very least, ought to exhibit.

He came across as incompetent.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Nate Silver's take on why he was lying about seems pretty on the nose.

Nate: Well, Kavanaugh and the GOP really went with a three-pronged strategy on Thursday:

Show a lot of emotion and indignation;
Just openly lie — let’s call it what it is — in response to questions about your drinking habits;Complain a lot about the process.

Yep.

 

[Toontown]

Until I saw Kavanaugh in action, I would have bet a federal judge would know to remain calm, responsive, keep his conspiracy theories to himself, and simply deny any knowledge of the alleged misconduct.

But Kavanaugh's histrionic performance reminded me that this is Trump's pick. The guy even dangled the bait of presidential immunity from investigation before Trump to secure the nod, knowing full well (I presume) that the constitutional power to impeach implies, even requires the ability to investigate the president.

 

[Minoosh]

Bias confirmed!!!!

Yes, your bias certainly is confirmed.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Nate Silver's take on why he was lying about seems pretty on the nose.

Also:

Matlin: One thing to remember for our readers (and us) who have been watching all day — most Americans will not encounter all eight-plus hours of this hearing. Instead, they’ll get it in their Facebook bubbles, talk radio and in stray snippets in their local media (among other spots). I wonder if either side of today’s events play better once today’s hearing gets cut down and made bite-size.

Sad.

Roeder: Not to step on my boss’s prediction-market toes, but PredictIt’s chances of Kavanaugh not getting confirmed are down to around 44 percent — the lowest I’ve seen all day.

Hopeful.

THOMSON-DEVEAUX: I do wonder if Chief Justice John Roberts is watching this, and if he’s concerned about what will happen if Kavanaugh is confirmed. Having Kavanaugh on the court will not make his job easier, if his goal is to keep the court out of the partisan fray.

How far things have fallen since GW's partisan appointments.

Silver: Republicans are definitely taking advantage of this principle, using the weakest accusations against Kavanaugh to undermine the strongest ones.

And that my friends is how propaganda works.

Bacon: 3. In terms of Judge, Kavanaugh’s friend, I assume Judge would already be speaking more publicly if he could completely reject what Ford said. So I assume that having Judge talk more will not be helpful for Republicans.

Worth consideration.

And here is the key takeaway:

Silver: This is a liveblog, so I’m just going to tell you what I’m thinking: I think it seems pretty damned obvious that Kavanaugh is lying about questions surrounding his drinking habits. I think he’s concluded that he has to lie about them because if it can be established that he drinks to the point of blacking out or at least “getting fuzzy,” then his denial isn’t worth very much when Ford said the incident occurred when Kavanaugh was very drunk. He might undertake the strategy of lying about his drinking habits whether he was guilty of the assault, innocent of the assault, or was too drunk to know either way. But if you’ve been following the details about this case, it’s very, very likely that he’s knowingly lying about his drinking habits.

 

[Stacyhs]

I agree that it's very telling that Mark Judge has gone into hiding. Neither he nor the Republicans want him talking any more than he has. The fact that he was not called to appear before the SJC shows blatant hypocrisy and bad faith by the Repubs. Yet they scream about poor K and how unfairly he's being "smeared".

 

[dadbodhisattva]

That's not the only question he avoided answering. He had a very hard time denying he was a frequent drunk in high school and college. He used the BS claim he barfed easily when it was clear he vomited a lot fro drinking. I don't know anyone who vomits after a couple of beers.

Anyone else?

Or spicy food? Who barfs after eating spicy food?

 

[quadraginta]

Disclaimer: for we the un-anointed, this is just a matter of deciding for ourselves what the truth most likely is and regaling each other with our opinions. We don't have to prove anything, and neither do the senators who will vote tomorrow.

Fact: Ford passed a polygraph. Her testimony was responsive, detailed, and consistent.

Fact: Much of Kavanaugh's testimony was histrionic, evasive, and confrontational in various mixtures. He invoked the Revenge of the Clintons specter in his opening statement, between self-pitying sobs. Also the Rich Leftist Massive Conspiracy.

Advantage: Ford.

I was willing to extend to Kavanaugh some (admittedly not much) benefit of the doubt until I watched his performance today.

Not only is he not fit to be a Supreme Court Justice, if he was a used car salesman I would walk off the lot even if he offered me a free car.

It's pretty apparent that perjury is not much of a concern to today's Republicans, as long as it is being done by GOP apparatchiks.