The Supreme Court, bastion of conservatism

[Bo Diddley]

Democrats controlled everything when FDR attempted it. And he was arguably one of the most popular presidents in history. Yet he still failed miserably.

This is crazy talk. They won't attempt that.

I hope you're right.

How did we get here?

[BlueK]

Interesting article. Yes, the author leans against, but makes valid non-partisan-based points. I could see many of these type of arguments being what will make Flake, Collins and Murkowski vote against.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...anaugh/571936/

[Babs]

Is there any possible way the GOP can still come out ahead with a confirmation of BK? Is there any way the GOP comes out ahead otherwise? If Republicans force the vote to confirm now, the smurfs will show up by the thousands at the polls in November. If they postpone the vote, they risk losing the majority. And withdrawal of the nomination is an implicit concession of defeat that will piss off the loyalists. The party is really backed into a corner on this one.

[Pelado]

Interesting article. Yes, the author leans against, but makes valid non-partisan-based points. I could see many of these type of arguments being what will make Flake, Collins and Murkowski vote against.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...anaugh/571936/

Thanks. Interesting read.

[Moliere]

Is there any possible way the GOP can still come out ahead with a confirmation of BK? Is there any way the GOP comes out ahead otherwise? If Republicans force the vote to confirm now, the smurfs will show up by the thousands at the polls in November. If they postpone the vote, they risk losing the majority. And withdrawal of the nomination is an implicit concession of defeat that will piss off the loyalists. The party is really backed into a corner on this one.

generic congressional polls are trending in the GOP’s favor over the past week or two, which many are crediting to the insane handling of the situation by the dems. I don’t think confirming Kav will have as big of an impact as delaying the vote.

[frank ryan]

Welp, sounds thorough:

FBI Says It Lacks White House Approval to Talk to Kavanaugh and Ford

The FBI hasn’t interviewed Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford because it doesn’t have clear authority from the White House to do so, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Instead, the White House has indicated to the FBI that testimony from Kavanaugh and Ford, who has accused him of attempting to rape her when they were in high school, before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week is sufficient, said the people, who asked to not be identified discussing the sensitive matter.

The new evidence of constraints on the FBI probe came as Republican Senator Bob Corker told reporters the FBI is likely to give senators a stack of interview reports, probably later on Wednesday. He said senators were told in a GOP meeting that a vote on cutting off debate is likely on Friday to move toward a confirmation vote on Kavanaugh.

A tentative plan for viewing the report is that a single copy will be available in a secure room for senators to view starting Thursday morning, at one-hour intervals alternating between Republicans and Democrats, according to a person briefed on the matter.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation was trying to force the issue and seek explicit approval from the White House to interview Ford and Kavanaugh. And it wasn’t clear why the FBI hasn’t yet talked to other people who have been recommended by lawyers or who have voluntarily come forward — or if the bureau would need explicit approval to talk with them as well.

Confusion beset the investigation, fed by conflicting signals over what constraints have been placed on the bureau despite President Donald Trump’s comment Monday that “the FBI should interview anybody that they want, within reason.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement Wednesday that the lack of interviews with Ford, Kavanaugh and others “raises serious concerns that this is not a credible investigation and begs the question: What other restrictions has the White House placed on the FBI?”

The FBI declined to comment on the investigation or its timing.

http://time.com/5414812/fbi-white-ho...rce=reddit.com

[Jeff Lebowski]

Welp, sounds thorough:

FBI Says It Lacks White House Approval to Talk to Kavanaugh and Ford


http://time.com/5414812/fbi-white-ho...rce=reddit.com

Meh. Who cares? The intent of this brief investigation was to chase down information on the alleged witnesses.

Flake and Coons were on the Today show this morning and Samantha Guthrie was trying to get them worked up about this. Both of them shrugged their shoulders and it wasn't that big of a deal and wasn't the main objective of the investigation since there is already plenty of testimony from them.

You can see the interview here:

https://www.today.com/video/jeff-fla...31626?v=raila&

[Uncle Ted]

White House Finds No Corroboration of Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Kavanaugh in FBI Report

The White House has found no corroboration of the allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after examining interview reports from the FBI’s latest probe into the judge’s background, according to people familiar with the matter.

It was unclear whether the White House, which for weeks has raised doubts about the allegations, had finalized its review of the FBI interview reports. Officials were expected to be sending the FBI report to the Senate Judiciary Committee later Wednesday.

Still, the White House’s conclusions from the report means little at this point in the confirmation process. Senators who will decide Mr. Kavanaugh’s fate are set to review the findings on Thursday, and some of them may draw different conclusions.

The result could leave senators in much the same position as last week—faced with two witnesses providing mutually exclusive accounts and forced to decide between them.
A White House spokesman declined to comment.
[...]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-h...ort-1538625927

Edit: A copy of the report that was leaked... I am guessing from a Dem.

[BlueK]

Kavanaugh and I have something in common. My HS years were pretty much only about family, school, church and basketball also.

[Babs]

generic congressional polls are trending in the GOP’s favor over the past week or two, which many are crediting to the insane handling of the situation by the dems.

Yes, but those polls also predicted Hillary to win by 5+ points. It will come down to voter turnout. The reds annoyed by this circus are less likely to show up than the blues offended by everything else.

[frank ryan]

White House confirms FBI’s Kavanaugh investigation only looked at what Republican senators wanted

The White House announced early Thursday morning that the FBI has completed its “supplemental background investigation” into Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s pick for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. And later that morning, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told CNN that the investigation included just nine comprehensive interviews and no examination into whether the nominee may have lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee when he denied ever getting so drunk that he blacked out and had memory lapses.

Shah claimed that the White House had simply had the FBI investigate what the Senate was “interested in,” but then clarified that by that he only meant Senate Republicans.

Asked why the FBI was not permitted to investigate whether Kavanaugh had memory lapses — as his former Yale roommate and other former classmates have alleged — Shah argued that no Senator who matters wanted to know.

“All the folks that are demanding this type of investigation in the Senate are Democrats who have already pledged to vote no. They don’t want additional information to make a decision. They want to delay this process.”

https://thinkprogress.org/raj-shah-k...-fb5231fb1649/

[BlueK]

Yes, but those polls also predicted Hillary to win by 5+ points. It will come down to voter turnout. The reds annoyed by this circus are less likely to show up than the blues offended by everything else.

According to this it doesn't appear to have changed all that much.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/ep...vote-6185.html

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yes, but those polls also predicted Hillary to win by 5+ points. It will come down to voter turnout. The reds annoyed by this circus are less likely to show up than the blues offended by everything else.

That’s funny. That is not what we learned from the last election.

[smokymountainrain]

Kavanaugh and I have something in common. My HS years were pretty much only about family, school, church and basketball also.

same here!

[BlueK]

same here!

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/03/polit...ntv/index.html