Kennedy to retire - USSC will swing even further right

You do know that what is good for the goose is good for the gander?

If Trump and his supporters believe that the FBI is so compromised, and partisan against Trump..... why should anyone believe that their report on Kavanaugh is accurate?

That is why I have a real issue with President's or high ranking senators undermining institutions like the FBI or Supreme Court....... it costs us a lot as a country. Interestingly, lets see if Trump heralds the FBI report as fair and believable, because that could come back to bit him on the Muller investigations integrity.

At the end of the day, the Republicans control all levels of the federal government and the Democrats cannot do much except curry the support of the people (which they have on this issue).

At some point I hope that there is some common ground reached on something....... because if by chance the Democrats get control of the Senate and win the White House in 2020; it is going to get REALLY ugly..... they are going to be looking for a pound of flesh and that isn't good for the country either.

 

it's not a bug, it's a feature

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/10/the-last-angry-man.php

 

According to https://www.predictit.org/Market/46...augh-receive-in-a-confirmation-vote-by-Oct-31

We are up to 90% that Kavanaugh gets elected.

 

it's really ugly already

 

The FBI wasn't even allowed to do its job. They even said they were very limited in scope.

 

When you think about it, its completely obvious why. Perjuring himself in front of the Senate.... meh... in front of the FBI who can state actual facts against his statements.... that's a whole other ball game & creates a document trail of perjury.

No doubt this was Don McGahn's idea to make sure Kavanaugh & Ford were not questioned & make up the excuse about their testimony last week being the basis for not interviewing them. Even Trump wouldn't have though to exclude them from the interviews.

 

what Trump said / tweeted:

the F.B.I. can Interview Anyone Necessary for Kavanaugh Inquiry​

the FBI had not contacted more than 40 witnesses with information regarding the allegations. More than 20 of people that are waiting to hear from the FBI have information related to the accusations against Kavanaugh for exposing himself to Debra Ramirez at a Yale party.

The FBI has not contacted Kavanaugh’s former roommate at Yale. Friends of Ramirez, who have corroborating testimony have not spoken to the FBI.

one can infer that Trump spoke w forked tougne, the WH had limited the scope of the FBI investigation

 

Not like it will be.

If the Democrats take control of the Senate and White House, you are going to see them go extremely hard for payback.

Both parties are attracting extremists, and many of them are winning elections.

A Democratic controlled government will be more unified than in the past..... at some point I just hope that it all becomes more moderate.

 

David Gergen........ Republican Presidential advisor for Presidents and political commentator put it best last night..... he said what is happening now, is exactly what would happen..... the interesting part, is that he said that the American people will "feel had by the investigation" and helpless about the whole process.

 

It's going to happen, all the Democrats did was make it hurt if it does happen, or at least that's the idea behind it. I don't think you win by putting unpopular judges on the court. It's like playing Corey Brewer, no matter how much the coach and staff likes him we can all see how terrible of a player he had become...

Kavanaugh won't be a very favorable judge and he better hope his past is as clean as he says it is because I could see another investigation coming when the Democrats get power to do it.

 

'limited in scope' and 'not being allowed to do your job' are not the same thing. Every investigation/background check is limited in scope.

 

Just from a general curiosity stand point I had so many questions. Like it was never truly established how they met or how well they knew each other or if they even hung out after the alleged assault. I think she said she was kind of seeing his friend that was named by that lawyer Ed Whelan. Then she said she had been at I think 5 other parties with Kav and he didn't do anything inappropriate. Did anyone even ask Kav how well he knew Blasey Ford? Or if any of the people she named knew Leland Keyser? I know Keyser said she didn't know Kav, but that's the only thing I think I've heard relating to how well these people knew each other. Ford also threw Keyser under the bus pretty quick.

As a former prosecutor whats your opinion of all this?

 

I'm not going to sit here, and act shocked that the scope was limited.

The "let the FBI open an investigation" point from last week was clearly a reason to point to what the hell Kavanaugh and the White House were trying to hide & how insane it was they wouldn't welcome re-opening the FBI investigation to clear Kavanaugh's name if he's innocent.

I think most reasonable people knew that the White House wouldn't allow a full investigation, and would just give Ford the "Anita Hill Treatment" in regards to the supplemental FBI investigation.

......

The week delay allowed us to learn more from the media, groups like the ABA, and witnesses than from the FBI limited report. I think it was still well worth the time to allow tempers to cool down from last week, and settle down with the facts that we know.

I still think that Republicans Flake, Murkowski, and Collins are likely to vote yes regardless. There are really no true moderates in politics today, and the sooner we figure that out, the easier it is to vote in November. The country needs a Democratic Congress badly for the sake of the consolidation of power by one party that is ruled by hard right fringe neo facist policies with a wannabe dictator as their dear leader.... not to mention a powerful propaganda network to brainwash their voter base.

The country just can't rely on someone like Susan Collins to save the country.

 

Of course the investigation was limited. This whole thing is politics. McConnell doesn't give a ****, he wants a vote so he can lock in the Supreme Court Justice and he is willing to take the political fallout to do it. The FBI has a way to get on the good side of Trump. Feinstein and Schumer can act shocked and irate...... but they ultimately get the issue on the news for an extra week.... which helps them because most Americans don't believe Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh is a pariah, but he gets what he has always wanted........ Ford can have a clean conscious and know that she did what she could.

And last the American people can see just how little control they have over what happens in Washington.

 

and this too shall pass. Assuming he's confirmed, this will all dim into a distant memory with time. What will be left is his record of opinions. Same as with Clarence Thomas. He may be damaged goods, but hard to see how that really affects his performance on the court in the future.

 

This is the scenario that you wish to be true.

That is not unlike when you described Kavanaugh as the un-Trump, until we found out he was a toxic cocktail of rage, rape and entitlement with chaser of lying under oath. In fact, he when under pressure, the mask slipped. He's the same ****, in a slightly less crass box.

What you wished to be true, was not true. Spectacularly so.

Here's an alternative list of things that may be true, very soon.

Kavanaugh will be investigated by the House for perjury.

Kavanaugh may be the first sitting Supreme COurt Justice in memory to face impeachment/removal

Kavanaugh will be moved to recuse himself more so than any other justice.

Do I wish for these things to be true? Not really. But many of them may end up as true, regardless of what I wish.

 

Ahh it is very possible that you are right, given 10 years or so and more....people have gotten away with worse and regained their popularity...Michael Jackson...Kobe Bryant...I wonder if they survive in this climate though...

I think though in the immediate future it's not good for the GOP and I challenge the GOP to overturn or chip away at Roe v Wade, I think they really underestimate how big of an issue this is for women, not just left leaning women but moderate women. Even in deep red states opinion on it is split, and if the GOP SCOTUS delivers in taking away reproductive rights I don't think they will ever live it down.

We will see what kind of judge he'll be.

 

I think that the whole issue was never properly investigated for a number of reasons. I think that Ford's attorney kept a tight leash on her client and what was and was not volunteered. The main reason for that is because they did not want her client exposed. The Judiciary committee never really wanted it investigated because the optics are terrible for the GOP and because they want a conservative on the court before the mid terms.

There was no mechanism that forced everyone to turn over all documents. So Ford never turned over all her records or reports and Grassley and McConnell just selectively turned over what they wanted. Feinstein doesn't disclose the allegations until the 11th hour and that is right on the heels of the Republicans only disclosing the Kavanaugh documents they want, and hours before the hearing.

The whole thing was and is a political **** show.

A lot of the people mentioned by Ford/Ramirez/Kavanaugh wanted NOTHING to do with any of it. Some of that is likely because they didn't want to be in the spotlight and didn't want anything they did wrong 35 years ago scrutinized either.

Having had some dealings with rape cases, I believe that Kavanaugh assaulted Ramirez and Ford. I also think that things were different 35 years ago as far as what men were allowed to get away with. So I don't even know if Kavanaugh thought he was doing anything wrong other than being an *******.

Remember, this wasn't a criminal case.... which is why the comments by the "prosecutor" brought in for GOP are worthless. Of course a prosecutor wouldn't being a case 35 years after the fact without multiple eyewitnesses. The burden is very high for a criminal case.

At the end of the day, I agree with David Gergen that the American people were had. Once there wasn't an eyewitness, Kavanaugh was going to be approved because the Republicans have the majority. Don't me mistaken, the Democratic majority may well do the same (although I think on other issues).

No one knows exactly what happened and never will. The Republicans played with fire, but they will get their Justice and unless someone really credible comes forward, Kavanaugh will stay on the court as a pariah for the next 25 years.

 

Yeah, like I said, take away rights that women are used to having if you dare.

I warned the Democrats and still do about going after gun rights, this is the same thing, it's not going to happen, forget it, concede it, think around it. This is bigger than gun rights since it is a woman's health issue and it's not just about abortion, it really isn't.

Anyways, you are the second republican poster here that thinks it's alright for a judge to act vindictively in his ruling against an entire demographic...scary stuff.