SCOTUS Watch

[El Guapo]

Whelan has deleted his entire Zillow theory from Twitter and "apologized".

Needless to say, his apology tweet is getting ratioed.

It's a pretty shitty apology too:

[LawBeefaroni]

Well, this happened:

You can just hear the contempt oozing from him in "loving parents."

I mean seriously, of all the crap that has surrounded this whole thing, his is among the most vile. As usual. But it's undoubtedly a defense that he's used before so I guess not too surprising.

[Skinypupy]

Holy crap. Any woman that votes for him after that beyond my comprehension.

Plenty of women who would vote for Trump will never know he tweeted that out.

I work with quite a few women who are vehement Trump supporters. They are all single-issue abortion voters, and two of them are more than a little racist to boot.

The excuse always boils down to “we don’t approve of his style, but it doesn’t matter because he gets the result we want”. There’s absolutely no changing their minds because as long as there is the possibility to outlaw abortion and he’s making brown people suffer, they are perfectly content to ignore literally everything else.

[El Guapo]

God this Whelan "defense" is so f'ing dumb. Nicholas was right - it looked like Kavanaugh was politically in the clear following Ford saying that she wouldn't testify. But this just made things a million times worse for Kavanaugh. *Especially* if it comes out that he was involved in the planning on this.

[GreenGoo]

In other news, why would the victim of a crime have police filings?

Does he know how normal people operate? Does he think they get a receipt from the cops? Or a written report afterward?

[Paingod]

Trump is now shitting on every single victim of sexual assault ever that was afraid to come forward. And I mean, like, Taco Bell shit. Not "Hey, I had corn last night!" ... We're talking "Oh, god, what did I eat, and why does it BURN!?"

[Blackhawk]

Does he know how normal people operate?

That's a question?

[GreenGoo]

It needs to be continually reiterated. Too bad the people who need to hear it, won't.

[Max Peck]

In other news, why would the victim of a crime have police filings?

Does he know how normal people operate? Does he think they get a receipt from the cops? Or a written report afterward?

Since one of my hobbies is replying to rhetorical questions...

He's implying that if she didn't report the assault to the police immediately after it happened, then it must not have happened at all.

[Kurth]

Former Georgetown Prep classmate calls Kavanaugh accusations ‘story I know was repeated dozens of times’

So it sounds like Kavanaugh only surrounded himself with the best - BEST - people as a kid. The guy he's accused of drinking and assaulting with that night is a real piece of work.

I don't know anything about Judge. All I have to go on is what I've read online since he came into the national spotlight in connection with the Kavanaugh assault allegations. From what I've read, he certainly sounds like a dirtbag.

But, can we please hold on to at least a little rational skepticism about some of the stuff being posted online. That article linked to above from www.rawstory.com is particularly crappy. Like, so crappy, there's really no way anyone should be relying on it for anything.

First off, the FB poster and "former Georgetown Prep classmate" apparently attended Georgetown Prep from . . . 2000 - 2004. So, like, how exactly does this qualify him as a classmate?

Second, he doesn't recount any knowledge of the "Kavanaugh accusations story" in particular, just, you know, stories in general:

“[T]he story that this woman is telling is one that I know was repeated dozens of times in my 4 years at Prep,” he wrote. He added a clarification: “Stories such as hers were rampant at that high school – I was not referring to her story specifically.”

Third, is this statement:

Internet researches combed through Mark Judges’ history online and found an alarming number of photos of young women in sexual positions, which you can see here.

That link is to another world class Raw Story article. Check out the high-quality "internet researchers" it relies on. People like VelvetBlade, who is all over Judge for "throwing shade on a woman who was gang raped for 3 hours" and asks "How many times were Judge & Kavanaugh co-conspirators in sexual assault?!"

The "shade" Judge was throwing was criticism of the explosive 2014 Rolling Stone article about a rape that allegedly took place at a fraternity on the campus of the University of Virginia. That allegation was later debunked, and Rolling Stone paid $1.65M to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by the fraternity.

Sounds like there's plenty from Judge's questionable past. No need to post shitty stories from crap sources.

[LordMortis]

Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a fine man, with an impeccable reputation, who is under assault by radical left wing politicians who don’t want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay. Facts don’t matter. I go through this with them every single day in D.C

-45th President and leader of the GOP, Sept 21, 2018.

When taken as a whole statement, it's a rare moment of truth from him.

Maybe he should close every statement with "Facts don't matter."

[GungHo]

If Kavanagh is still confirmed, given all this other offensive nonsense, is there any kind of theory /polling/idea about what that does RE: women voters going forward?
I think skinypuppy noted earlier his experience with trumpkins who are in so deep that nothing matters(I think we've all experienced that tbh)...is that the general consensus if this plays out with a confirmation? Or too soon to tell?

[Smoove_B]

Even though I hate him with the fury of a thousand suns, I actually know very little as to how the giant pile of whale excrement known as "Mitch McConnell" came into and maintains his power in KY. Is he beholden to the Evangelicals or something? Is that where he gets his power? I have no idea how he's able to get up in front of a group of people and say this:

Speaking to conservatives Friday at the Family Research Council Values Voter Summit, McConnell bashed the former Obama administration, praised Trump and said the “stunningly successful” Kavanaugh would soon be on the Supreme Court.

“You’re all following the current Supreme Court fight, and you will watch it unfold in the course of the next week,” McConnell said. “President Trump has nominated a stunningly successful individual. You’ve watched the fight, you’ve watched the tactics, but here’s what I want to tell you: In the very near future, judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court.”

McConnell was met with a standing ovation.

“So my friends, keep the faith, don’t get rattled by all of this ― we’re gonna plow right through it and do our job,” he added.

Plow right through huh? Maybe just get on top of the process and hold your hand over its mouth? Or is that too much to say?

Family Research Council is an American conservative Christian nonprofit charity and activist group, with an affiliated lobbying organization. Its stated mission is "to advance faith, family and freedom in public policy and the culture from a Christian worldview"

Is that his secret? He's aligned himself with the religious right?

[LordMortis]

https://smartasset.com/taxes/states-mos ... government

Report after report after report will tell you how he stays in power

10. Kentucky

Just under 40% of the Kentucky state revenue comes from the federal government, a top 5 rate. Residents here also get quite a bit of bang for their income tax buck. According to our data, Kentucky gets about $1.25 for every dollar in income tax it sends to the federal government.

One area this state is not dependent on the federal government is in employment. This state ranks below average in both of our federal government employment metrics.

People move there to hate socialism while becoming leeches and he's the king of bringing in the pork and blood for letting while screaming about taxes while spending more more more.

[Unagi]

What's the harm in starting 6 weeks ago?

Aside from the fact that someone would have forced her to come forward against her will at that time?

That's happening now and there was zero chance of it not happening.

Many people, myself included, are pressure prompted.

[Unagi]

In other news, why would the victim of a crime have police filings?

Does he know how normal people operate? Does he think they get a receipt from the cops? Or a written report afterward?

Since one of my hobbies is replying to rhetorical questions...

He's implying that if she didn't report the assault to the police immediately after it happened, then it must not have happened at all.

Or that her parents didn't really love her.

[Max Peck]

In other news, why would the victim of a crime have police filings?

Does he know how normal people operate? Does he think they get a receipt from the cops? Or a written report afterward?

Since one of my hobbies is replying to rhetorical questions...

He's implying that if she didn't report the assault to the police immediately after it happened, then it must not have happened at all.

Or that her parents didn't really love her.

Trump isn't that subtle.

[Smoove_B]

He really is amazing. No matter how low I think he's capable of going, he always manages to somehow go lower.

[Skinypupy]

He really is amazing. No matter how low I think he's capable of going, he always manages to somehow go lower.

Remember last week how we thought Trump couldn't possibly go any lower than claiming 3,000 American deaths didn't happen?

Good times, man. Good times.

[GreenGoo]

He's implying that if she didn't report the assault to the police immediately after it happened, then it must not have happened at all.

Sure, but even that he can't do without sounding like a moron. He's the president of the USofA. If he wants the filings available to the GOP, how hard would it be to get them?

I know, I know, it's for his base. His base isn't going anywhere no MATTER what happens, we've established that. And yes, he's all about the self aggrandizement. Except here his base isn't relevant (not going anywhere) and the tweet doesn't aggrandize himself.

I mean, does this guy even have a 3 digit IQ? He's a freakin' moron and he is constantly telling the world about it. It frustrates me because I didn't think anyone could be this dumb outside of a mental handicap, let alone be president.

[GreenGoo]

Or that her parents didn't really love her.

Trump isn't that subtle.

Drumpf absolutely disparaged the parents by implying that if they loved her, there would have been a police report, but they didn't care that their daughter was sexually assaulted, so why bother reporting it.

I'm back to really hoping he dies in office.

[Kurth]

Well, this happened:

You can just hear the contempt oozing from him in "loving parents."

I mean seriously, of all the crap that has surrounded this whole thing, his is among the most vile. As usual. But it's undoubtedly a defense that he's used before so I guess not too surprising.

I'm sure I will be proven wrong and there's something even worse out there, but, given the moment, this strikes me as his most offensive tweet ever.

[Defiant]

I'm sure I will be proven wrong and there's something even worse out there, but, given the moment, this strikes me as his most offensive tweet ever.

The one denying the deaths of 3000 from Hurricane Maria is the one I find the most offensive. But this one is up there.

[noxiousdog]

What's the harm in starting 6 weeks ago?

Aside from the fact that someone would have forced her to come forward against her will at that time?

That's happening now and there was zero chance of it not happening.

Many people, myself included, are pressure prompted.

Diane Feinstein? I'm not blaming Ford.

[El Guapo]

What's the harm in starting 6 weeks ago?

Aside from the fact that someone would have forced her to come forward against her will at that time?

That's happening now and there was zero chance of it not happening.

Many people, myself included, are pressure prompted.

Diane Feinstein? I'm not blaming Ford.

If Ford requested confidentiality, and (this is the more significant caveat) if Feinstein's people had nothing to do with the information leaking out when it did, then I don't blame her.

I guess the question is who leaked the info about there being an accuser.

[noxiousdog]

What's the harm in starting 6 weeks ago?

Aside from the fact that someone would have forced her to come forward against her will at that time?

That's happening now and there was zero chance of it not happening.

Many people, myself included, are pressure prompted.

Diane Feinstein? I'm not blaming Ford.

If Ford requested confidentiality, and (this is the more significant caveat) if Feinstein's people had nothing to do with the information leaking out when it did, then I don't blame her.

I guess the question is who leaked the info about there being an accuser.

I understand what Ford requested and I deeply sympathize with her.

I also understand Feinstein had a responsibility to get this story out early to keep a rapist sexual assaulter off the Supreme Court. Instead, she (and any other Democrats that knew about it) turned it into political theater.

[Defiant]

Well, this happened:

Completely coincidentally, #WhyIDidntReport is now trending on Twitter

[GreenGoo]

If anyone knows that not all sexual assault victims report the crime, it's the president.

[LordMortis]

That's just russian bots and fake news.

Everyone knows we have no history of unreported sexual assaults. Lord knows if you need to get it out of your system, you can just grab 'em by the pussy and get all over them like a bitch.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nat ... -/3648197/

[El Guapo]

What's the harm in starting 6 weeks ago?

Aside from the fact that someone would have forced her to come forward against her will at that time?

That's happening now and there was zero chance of it not happening.

Many people, myself included, are pressure prompted.

Diane Feinstein? I'm not blaming Ford.

If Ford requested confidentiality, and (this is the more significant caveat) if Feinstein's people had nothing to do with the information leaking out when it did, then I don't blame her.

I guess the question is who leaked the info about there being an accuser.

I understand what Ford requested and I deeply sympathize with her.

I also understand Feinstein had a responsibility to get this story out early to keep a rapist sexual assaulter off the Supreme Court. Instead, she (and any other Democrats that knew about it) turned it into political theater.

If she wanted to raise it earlier, but felt that she could not do so in good faith because of the confidentiality commitment to Ford...like, I understand how important it would be to get it out earlier, but at the same time I can't say that declining to share it because of the confidentiality commitment was the wrong thing to do.

Also, to be more cynical, if she wanted to blast it earlier, but (because of the confidentiality commitment) she couldn't count on Ford if she did so, I could see that also being a reason to not raise it in July. Raising an explosive allegation followed by the witness not wanting to be any part of it would not be a good look.

[Unagi]

If anyone knows that not all sexual assault victims report the crime, it's the president.

Of course you are totally right, and it's the one thing he has also depended on and, as a result, shows as proof of his or any other's innocence.

[Unagi]

Police Report or It Didn't Happen.


This is our president. omg.

[Zarathud]

Feinstein was a woman elected in response to the Anita Hill hearings. She delayed out of respect to Dr. Ford's wishes. When the story was about to leak, she referred it to the FBI rather than breach that trust.

1. The FBI, not Feinstein, made the letter public.
2. The FBI, not Feinstein, decided not to investigate.
3. Trump decided not to make the FBI investigate.
4. McConnell, not Ford, decided to force a deadline to testify.

McConnell is rushing Kavanaugh's nomination before the election, trying to avoid the consequences of delaying Garland for over a year.

[Unagi]

What's the harm in starting 6 weeks ago?

Aside from the fact that someone would have forced her to come forward against her will at that time?

That's happening now and there was zero chance of it not happening.

Many people, myself included, are pressure prompted.

Diane Feinstein? I'm not blaming Ford.

If Ford requested confidentiality, and (this is the more significant caveat) if Feinstein's people had nothing to do with the information leaking out when it did, then I don't blame her.

I guess the question is who leaked the info about there being an accuser.

I understand what Ford requested and I deeply sympathize with her.

I also understand Feinstein had a responsibility to get this story out early to keep a rapist sexual assaulter off the Supreme Court. Instead, she (and any other Democrats that knew about it) turned it into political theater.

So, I have no idea the detail... like the rest of us. And I know I'm being generous perhaps to all parties (on my side)... But the way I heard it went down was more or less:

A long while back the information was given to congress person, who then sent that information to senator. They all "sat on it" because she wanted to remain anonymous. They could talk about it and all that, and share her information - but she didn't want to be dragged into it. They saw little value in this. That was a big "Oh yeah?? so let her tell us - let her drop her anonymousness...."...

Feinstein (and co.) saw that they needed her to come forth, and they waited (too long) to get some pressure behind her, so that she would decide to become non-anonymous

I imagine her world (online profile) was pretty unprotected. She was hacked. The life of her family was threatened, all because she thought she should keep a would-be rapist off the SCOTUS.

"The timing" sucks.
But, Oh Well.... I can't even imagine letting "the timing" be what keeps my focus in a time like this. I think they all botched it... I think they should have just shot this asshole down (collectively: accuser and senator) ASAP, but that didn't happen...
And the price she clearly is/will/has payed for this, was not something she wasn't trying to avoid -- it's something she begrudgingly accepted... and I can't fault her.

Short of: "Feinstein lied, I wanted to go public months ago!" - I can hardly put too much blame on either party. And of course - really my focus is on what a shit SC justice he would be to add right now - ESPECIALLY - given the #metoo movement, etc - it would just be so horrible. So horrible that it absolutely dwarfs the "did the Dems play this far short of nobley" question.

No rules broken. Actual morale question at hand, and we see people's take on that - while they sqirm about brinksman ship and timing... what is the timing, if not entirely political.

[Defiant]

On Sunday, Ford noticed that — even before her name became public — Whelan appeared to be seeking information about her.

That morning, Ford alerted an associate via email that Whelan had looked at her LinkedIn page, according to the email, which was reviewed by The Post. LinkedIn allows some subscribers to see who views their pages. Ford sent the email about 90 minutes after The Post shared her name with a White House spokesman and hours before her identity was revealed in a story posted on its website.

link

[Holman]

The whole question "Why did they wait so long?" has meaning only if you're implying that the accusation is a lie.

"Waiting" and choosing an apparently "inopportune" time to come forward makes perfect sense to everyone who has ever known that they were at a disadvantage in confronting someone with power and status. There is no opportune time. Their defenders make sure of it.

[Smoove_B]

This can't be real. Please tell me this isn't real.

Judge Kavanaugh I just granted another extension to Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w the statement she made last week to testify to the senate She shld decide so we can move on I want to hear her. I hope u understand. It’s not my normal approach to b indecisive

'

WTF is a Senator chatting like a tween?

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Grassley is a just your typical old person on social media; he doesn’t understand that just putting someone’s name in the tweet doesn’t make the tweet a private DM. I had a similar issue when my mom first joined FB and she posted on my wall about a random girl she saw in pictures with me.

[Smoove_B]

So the Senate Judiciary Chairman is trying to send the candidate a DM through Twitter, but her emails. JFC.

[Defiant]

Spokesman for GOP on Kavanaugh nomination resigns; has been accused of harassment in the past