The Supreme Court, bastion of conservatism

[Uncle Ted]

It’s embarrassing to be either a Republican or Democrat. But it’s currently less embarrassing to be a democrat.

Sorry Ted.

I agree... It is embarrassing to be either a GOP'er or Dem. I guess that is why I keep finding myself voting for the Libertarian or some other 3rd party candidate*.








*Yes, I once voted for the green party candidate.

[frank ryan]

I agree... It is embarrassing to be either a GOP'er or Dem. I guess that is why I keep finding myself voting for the Libertarian or some other 3rd party candidate*.








*Yes, I once voted for the green party candidate.

Your posts make you seem like an ideal Trump voter.

[Uncle Ted]

Your posts make you seem like an ideal Trump voter.

Come on Frank, you know I voted for Johnson. I haven't been able to bring myself to vote for a GOP'er or Dem for like forever.

[Moliere]

Shrewd, shrewd move by the Dems on the Kavanaugh nomination. Withhold information until the 11th hour and then drop the bombshell in an attempt to halt, or at least delay, the votes. Very dirty political move and, quite frankly, not out of line given what the GOP did with the Merrick Garland nomination. Politics can be dirty.

I have no opinion on whether or not Kavanaugh did what he's being accused of. I think the case is shaky at best and I wouldn't fault the GOP for holding a rushed hearing and if no other evidence comes to light, moving on with a vote before the election. A four decade old accusation with no real specifics other than two of the accused names just doesn't hold water for me. This isn't like Clinton propositioning interns in the White House or Al Franken's accusations which included photos. But of course, I'm a white male so I guess I'm expected to feel this way

I think this is a Hail Mary being put up by the Dems. I'm not saying they fabricated the whole thing, I just think the Dems know the allegations were shaky at best given the lack of evidence and corroboration and they are now appealing to current social movements to try to stop something they don't want. In short, I think I agree with David French here: https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/...but-not-solid/

Since Kavanaugh has denied the story, however, the question of whether the event is so egregious that it should disqualify him is moot. At the very least, if the attack happened, he should be disqualified for lying.

Yet unless all parties start telling the same story, there is no way to know for certain if this event occurred. We don’t need certainty, however, to make a decision on whether a man should sit on the Supreme Court. I have the same standard for Brett Kavanaugh as I did for Roy Moore, for Donald Trump, for Bill Clinton — or for any other politician who’s accused of misconduct. Is it more likely than not that the allegation is true?

Given the totality of the evidence, I believe it is more likely than not that Bill Clinton committed rape and sexual harassment. I believe it is more likely than not that Donald Trump has committed sexual assault. I believe it is more likely than not that Roy Moore engaged in sexual misconduct with underage girls. But the evidence against Kavanaugh falls far short of the evidence arrayed against each of these men. So far at least it falls far short of the evidence against virtually any other politician or celebrity who has faced consequences during this #MeToo moment.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Shrewd, shrewd move by the Dems on the Kavanaugh nomination. Withhold information until the 11th hour and then drop the bombshell in an attempt to halt, or at least delay, the votes. Very dirty political move and, quite frankly, not out of line given what the GOP did with the Merrick Garland nomination. Politics can be dirty.

I have no opinion on whether or not Kavanaugh did what he's being accused of. I think the case is shaky at best and I wouldn't fault the GOP for holding a rushed hearing and if no other evidence comes to light, moving on with a vote before the election. A four decade old accusation with no real specifics other than two of the accused names just doesn't hold water for me. This isn't like Clinton propositioning interns in the White House or Al Franken's accusations which included photos. But of course, I'm a white male so I guess I'm expected to feel this way

I think this is a Hail Mary being put up by the Dems. I'm not saying they fabricated the whole thing, I just think the Dems know the allegations were shaky at best given the lack of evidence and corroboration and they are now appealing to current social movements to try to stop something they don't want. In short, I think I agree with David French here: https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/...but-not-solid/

I think it is quite possible that he did it and does not remember. Either way, it seems crazy to dig up what people did as teenagers.

[Art Vandelay]

That settles it. No way I can ever be a SCOTUS judge. I doubt I could find 65 girls from high school that even knew my name.

This got a legit LOL from me.

[creekster]

I think it is quite possible that he did it and does not remember. Either way, it seems crazy to dig up what people did as teenagers.

I disagree. If he did exactly what she said, then I think it could stand as grounds to disqualify him. There are a host of actions that a teenager might take that I think should be considered in this setting.

That said I am in the moliere camp (I think). There is just such little evidence here. It was almost 40 years ago. The first time she tells anyone else is in 2012? and it was a therapist who writes down that she says four boys attacked her? She now claims the therapist just made a mistake and there were only two boys. She doesn't recall the date, or the house, or how she got there, etc. Apart from the second boy, who denies the act, there is simply no available evidence that bears on this event other than her claim and Kavanaugh's denial.

[Moliere]

I think it is quite possible that he did it and does not remember. Either way, it seems crazy to dig up what people did as teenagers.

It seems crazy, but if he did do it I'd have an issue with him being on the Supreme Court even if he did it as a 17 year old. It's also very suspect that it comes out now.

I also think it's just as likely that someone else did it to her and she thinks it was BK. Four decades is a long, long time for a memory to forget details and mix up facts. It's already been shown that she told her therapist there were four boys and now she's claiming two boys. I'm no lawyer, but that seems like a big difference when trying to prove the veracity of the account based solely on her memory with no other evidence or corroboration.

[Art Vandelay]

It seems crazy, but if he did do it I'd have an issue with him being on the Supreme Court even if he did it as a 17 year old. It's also very suspect that it comes out now.

I also think it's just as likely that someone else did it to her and she thinks it was BK. Four decades is a long, long time for a memory to forget details and mix up facts. It's already been shown that she told her therapist there were four boys and now she's claiming two boys. I'm no lawyer, but that seems like a big difference when trying to prove the veracity of the account based solely on her memory with no other evidence or corroboration.

My initial though would be, how could anyone forget the details of something like that (if it did happen). After listening to the Gladwell podcast on memories a few months ago, he would likely say - how could anyone correctly remember something like that.

[Jeff Lebowski]

It seems crazy, but if he did do it I'd have an issue with him being on the Supreme Court even if he did it as a 17 year old. It's also very suspect that it comes out now.

I also think it's just as likely that someone else did it to her and she thinks it was BK. Four decades is a long, long time for a memory to forget details and mix up facts. It's already been shown that she told her therapist there were four boys and now she's claiming two boys. I'm no lawyer, but that seems like a big difference when trying to prove the veracity of the account based solely on her memory with no other evidence or corroboration.

That is part of my point. Look at any study on how memory works.

[Goatnapper'96]

Shrewd, shrewd move by the Dems on the Kavanaugh nomination. Withhold information until the 11th hour and then drop the bombshell in an attempt to halt, or at least delay, the votes. Very dirty political move and, quite frankly, not out of line given what the GOP did with the Merrick Garland nomination. Politics can be dirty.

I have no opinion on whether or not Kavanaugh did what he's being accused of. I think the case is shaky at best and I wouldn't fault the GOP for holding a rushed hearing and if no other evidence comes to light, moving on with a vote before the election. A four decade old accusation with no real specifics other than two of the accused names just doesn't hold water for me. This isn't like Clinton propositioning interns in the White House or Al Franken's accusations which included photos. But of course, I'm a white male so I guess I'm expected to feel this way

I think this is a Hail Mary being put up by the Dems. I'm not saying they fabricated the whole thing, I just think the Dems know the allegations were shaky at best given the lack of evidence and corroboration and they are now appealing to current social movements to try to stop something they don't want. In short, I think I agree with David French here: https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/...but-not-solid/

I agree it is a brilliant political move. I doubt it works but I was convinced that the Merrick Garland move wouldn't work either. It doesn't fare well for our democratic institutions but we are on a slow slide to gomorrah or civil war or both.

[Northwestcoug]

My initial though would be, how could anyone forget the details of something like that (if it did happen). After listening to the Gladwell podcast on memories a few months ago, he would likely say - how could anyone correctly remember something like that.

That podcast is scary. It's crazy how something we think as indelible as 9/11 or other disaster is remembered so differently, even amongst people who shared it together.

[frank ryan]

The accuser is going to receive death threats galore from the deplorables. I have to admire her not hiding behind anonomynity. Whatever the details I believe something traumatic happened to her in high school.

[wapiti]

If Ford really thinks her experience with BK at a party 40 years should disqualify him from the Supreme Court (and if she's right, it probably should), why didn't she come forward when Trump put his name on the list of potential supreme court nominees before the election? Or after Trump was elected? She has had 2+ years to get this story on his record and she did nothing. Too late now. The story has too many holes to derail the nomination at this point.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Did they say that this was brought up in 2012 as a repressed memory with a couple's therapist? Repressed memories are pure bullshit.

There has also been a conflating of rape, groping and unwanted kissing/advances. I said this in the other thread but it was ridiculous to group Al Franken with the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. There is a spectrum of things that could have happened when both parties were drunk (if they were ever at the same place at the same time while in that condition) that would be something other than attempted rape but is now being grouped with it. And there are shit ton of teenage boys that are guilty of it.