The Commentariat -- Sept. 23, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The woman who has accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers has committed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, her lawyers said on Sunday. The lawyers said some details -- including whether an outside lawyer will question her -- still needed to be resolved, but that those issues would not impede holding a hearing. The agreement, reached after an hourlong negotiating session Sunday morning between the lawyers and committee aides, is the latest step in a halting process toward a potentially explosive hearing that will pit the woman, Christine Blasey Ford, against Judge Kavanaugh.... On Saturday, the two sides reached a tentative agreement for Dr. Ford to appear on Thursday." ...

Lindsey Graham Is a Sexist Ignoramus. Ian Kullgren of Politico: "Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday the testimony of Brett Kavanaugh's accuser won't change his mind, no matter what she says. 'You can't bring it in a criminal court, you would never sue civilly, you couldn't even get a warrant,' Graham said on 'Fox News Sunday' with Chris Wallace. 'What am I supposed to do? Go ahead and ruin this guy's life based on an accusation? I don't know when it happened, I don't know where it happened, and everybody named in regard to being there said it didn't happen.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: No, the others did not say it didn't happen. They said they don't remember one of the many social events they attended 36 years ago. I don't remember any of the social events I attended 36 years ago, and if Brett Kavanaugh was attacking a young woman nearby at the time, I'm unaware of it. AND not getting a Supreme Court job doesn't "ruin this guy's life." Millions of happy Americans don't sit on the Supreme Court -- including you, Lindsey -- and their lives aren't "ruined." BTW, how come you weren't all upset when you "ruined" Merrick Garland's life? PLUS ...,

... This Is Not a Trial, Lindsey, and You Know It. Caprice Roberts, in a Washington Post op-ed: "All week, as members of both parties jousted over Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school, we've heard calls that Kavanaugh is entitled to due process, with some suggesting that airing Ford's claims in a Senate hearing is potentially unjust.... Unlike for a jury, there's no requirement for unanimity, and the Constitution doesn't set a standard of proof by which senators must offer their advice and consent.... Kavanaugh's public hearings, then, and any inquiry now into the accusations against him, are less like a trial and more like a high-stakes job interview -- and this job comes with life tenure.... Because guilt or innocence isn't the issue, but instead fitness for the Supreme Court, the burden of proof isn't, and shouldn't be, on Ford, the accuser; it remains on Kavanaugh." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: One of the things you have to weigh, Lindsey, is which witness will be more credible. Since you already know Kavanaugh has lied to Senate Judiciary Committees under oath, it would be fair to assume he'll lie again this week. Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus. ...

Phil Mattingly & Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "After ... Donald Trump tweeted criticism of the woman who came forward accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the President on Friday to say his tweets did not help, two people familiar with the call confirmed to CNN." ...

... Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Republican Party's fight to save President Trump's embattled Supreme Court nominee amid allegations of sexual assault has surfaced deep anxieties over the hypermasculine mind-set that has come to define the GOP in the nation's roiling gender debate. The images are striking: The specter of Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee -- all 11 of them men -- questioning U.S. Appeals Court Judge Brett A. Kavanaugh's female accuser. A senior GOP aide working on the confirmation resigning amid his own sexual harassment allegations. A viral photo of 'women for Kavanaugh' featuring more men than women. A South Carolina Republican congressman making a crude joke about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg being groped by Abraham Lincoln. And then there is the party's id, Trump, who as a candidate denied more than a dozen accusations of sexual assault and harassment and sought to silence and retaliate against his accusers -- and who as president has defended one accused man after another.... Trump risks solidifying the Republican Party as the party of men." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Uh, make that the party of white men.

*****

Nicholas Fandos, et al., of the New York Times: "The Senate Judiciary Committee and lawyers for the woman who has accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her decades ago reached a tentative agreement on Saturday for her to publicly testify on Thursday, an apparent breakthrough that could alter the course of a bitter confirmation fight. After a brief call late on Saturday, the woman's lawyers and aides to Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, planned to talk again Sunday morning to continue the halting negotiations over the conditions of the testimony, according to three people familiar with the call. Aides to Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the committee's top Democrat, were also involved.... A woman named Leland Keyser -- who is believed to have been identified by Dr. Blasey as one of the five people at the party -- told the committee through a lawyer that she 'does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.'" ...

... Burgess Everett of Politico: "A woman whom Senate GOP investigators believe may have been at the party where Christine Blasey Ford claimed she was sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh is denying that she knows the Supreme Court nominee. In an email to the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Saturday evening and obtained by Politico, Leland Keyser said she does not know Kavanaugh or remember being at a party with him. The committee believed Keyser was one of the unnamed people referred to in a Washington Post story whom Ford remembered attending the high school party.... 'It's not surprising that Ms. Keyser has no recollection of the evening as they did not discuss it. It's also unremarkable that Ms. Keyser does not remember attending a specific gathering 30 years ago at which nothing of consequence happened to her. Dr. Ford of course will never forget this gathering because of what happened to her there,' [Blasey's attorney Debra] Katz said."

... Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, has agreed to testify before the Senate next week, her lawyer said Saturday. The exact terms and timing of her testimony remain unclear, as negotiations between Ford's lawyers and staff for the Senate Judiciary Committee remain ongoing. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) had given Ford's lawyers until Saturday afternoon to decide on whether she would proceed with testifying next week. Her lawyers said she 'accepts the Committee's request to provide her first-hand knowledge of Brett Kavanaugh's sexual misconduct next week.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Jake Sherman of Politico has the full text of Blasey Ford lawyer Debra Katz's e-mail to the Committee. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Alexander Burns, et al., of the New York Times: "In his first appearance before the nation, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh positioned himself as an ally of social change for women in America. Standing beside President Trump at the White House, Judge Kavanaugh spoke of being a father of daughters and a coach to a girls' basketball team. He hailed his mother's legal career. He boasted that most of his clerks had been women. [Mrs. McC: Sounds even more hilarious now, doesn't it?]... But if Judge Kavanaugh';s nomination was freighted with import for women, the battle over his confirmation has swelled into an event of titanic consequence in the country's evolution on matters of gender and women's equality. A judge who could well overturn Roe v. Wade -- handpicked by a president who has faced allegations of sexual misconduct -- now faces an accusation of sexual assault that has plunged the Senate into chaos less than seven weeks before an election." ...

Murder Boards. Seung Min Kim & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Just as he did several weeks ago to prepare for his confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court, Brett M. Kavanaugh was back inside a room at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building -- again facing questioners readying him for a high-stakes appearance in the Senate. This time..., an array of White House aides, playing the role of various senators on the Judiciary Committee, quizzed Kavanaugh ... about his sex life and other personal matters.... In his answers during the practice runs, aides said, Kavanaugh condemned sexual assault and carefully avoided seeming to discredit Christine Blasey Ford.... But Kavanaugh grew frustrated when it came to questions that dug into his private life, particularly his drinking habits and his sexual proclivities, according to three people familiar with the preparations.... He declined to answer some questions altogether, saying they were too personal, these people said.... A senior White House official ... said that ... he struck the right tone.... [In a phone call,] Kavanaugh told Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) that Ford had the wrong guy in mind, saying he had not attended a party like the one she described to The Washington Post. He and his allies also privately discussed a defense that would raise doubts that the attacker was Kavanaugh, rather than try to dispute that an incident involving Ford had happened." ...

... This brings us to ...

... ** Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "Christine Blasey Ford's attorney did not actually agree to any specific terms, but she and her client got the headlines they wanted: Ford is coming to tell her story. Ford attorney Debra Katz repeatedly has stared down Republican Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), swatting away one artificial deadline after another.... Grassley couldn't very well cut off discussion. He didn't have the votes to confirm the nominee.... In the past 48 hours or so Republicans have made repeated, stupid mistakes that have not helped their position.... The public can conclude Republicans have no problem sitting Kavanaugh even if Ford's claim is true.... [Here Rubin details Ed Whelan's elaborate, crackpot game to frame an innocent man as Blasey's "real" would-be rapist, and Rubin provides strong evidence that someone in the White House or on the Judiciary Committee was working with Whelan.] There are now at least two related scandals : 1.) Whether Kavanaugh attacked Ford and now is lying, and 2.) the identities of those involved in a reprehensible scheme to pin a crime on someone for which there is zero evidence of wrongdoing." ...

... Maureen Dowd: "Dr. Blasey is dealing with some demonic forces not in play with Professor Hill: a vicious partisan internet that drove her out of her house and being discredited not merely by the White House but personally by a president who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault, who has consistently defended predators such as Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly and Roy Moore, and who is advised by the same man who enabled Ailes's loathsome behavior at Fox News. We haven&'t forgotten our history. But we still seem doomed to repeat it." ...

... Emily Witt of the New Yorker: "... Kavanaugh has made his high-school years a very prominent part of his personal narrative.... Some people put high school behind them. Kavanaugh has not.... By all appearances, the kids from these prep schools almost exclusively socialize with one another, and that social network informs their identities for the rest of their lives.... Even for those who take less pride in the institution, what happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep.... During the past week, Georgetown Prep has defended its reputation, publishing a letter from its president, the Reverend James Van Dyke.... Georgetown Prep students are framed not as citizens but as benevolent patriarchs.... In this world, high school doesn't end when you're eighteen; it's a lifelong circle of mutual support, an in-crowd that protects itself...."

Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Advisers to President Trump are counseling him against firing Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein over memos written by the former acting director of the FBI that say Rosenstein proposed secretly recording the president and pushed for his removal from office. The details of the memos written by former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe were revealed Friday, prompting immediate speculation that the information would give Trump the justification to do what he has long desired: dismiss Rosenstein, the Justice Department official overseeing special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. But those close to Trump and some of his allies on Capitol Hill believe that a politically charged firing in advance of the midterm elections will feed a Democratic narrative of chaos in the administration, and that the president should wait until November to make any changes at the Justice Department." Read on. Mrs. McC: Looks as if someone in the White House got to Sean Hannity & advised him on what message to send to der Führer. ...

... Emily Stewart of Vox: "'I have a message for the president tonight,' Hannity said on Friday. 'Under zero circumstances should the president fire anybody.' The host said that he has 'multiple sources' confirming that the president's enemies are 'hoping and praying' that Trump fires someone so they can turn it into a scandal. 'The president needs to know it is all a setup,' Hannity said. 'He needs to know that regardless of whether he steps in or not, and I would argue he should definitely not, the deep state tonight is crumbling from within at this very hour.'"

Michael Shear & Emily Baumgaertner of the New York Times: "Trump administration officials announced Saturday that immigrants who legally use public benefits like food assistance and Section 8 housing vouchers could be denied green cards under new rules aimed at keeping out people the administration deems a drain on the country. The move could force millions of poor immigrants who rely on public assistance for food and shelter to make a difficult choice between accepting financial help and seeking a green card to live and work legally in the United States. Older immigrants, many of whom get low-cost prescription drugs through the Medicare Part D program, could also be forced to stop participating in the popular benefits program or risk being deemed a 'public charge' who is ineligible for legal resident status." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: The majority of immigrants receiving public assistance live in households that include a working adult or adults. A better way to reduce the use of public assistance is to require the companies that employ them to pay these workers a living wage. But that wouldn't suit the sadistic, racist precepts of Donald Trump & Stephen Miller, would it?

Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post: "China has scrapped trade talks with the United States days before President Trump is set to escalate the commercial battle with a new round of tariffs, according to a person familiar with the discussion. Chinese officials canceled the planned negotiations after Trump announced he would impose new levies of up to 10 percent on another $200 billion in Chinese imports, effective Monday. Beijing vowed to strike back, slapping duties of up to 10 percent on an additional $60 billion in American products." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... MEANWHILE, Steve Bannon sez "Donald Trump's strategy is to make the trade war with China 'unprecedentedly large' and 'unbearably painful' for Beijing, and he will not back down before victory." Mrs. McC: That's not a strategy as much as it is sadism. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... AND, as Patrick wrote in yesterday's thread: "Great strategy. A national population that has endured huge losses from wars, famine, revolution, social turmoil, and whacko leadership (China, if you were wondering) will kow-tow to a real estate speculator whose population is probably going to toss him to the sharks within a year? Americans can endure anything but hardship. They get upset when gas prices rise. The Chinese general population knows hardship from birth. Who will outlast who?" (He means "whom" here, but nobody's perfect. We of course are the "whom."

Oh, Oops, I Forgot. Shane Harris & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "A former top White House official has revised her statement to investigators about a key event in the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, after her initial claim was contradicted by the guilty plea of former national security adviser Michael Flynn..... K.T. McFarland, who briefly served as Flynn's deputy, has now said that he may have been referring to sanctions when they spoke in late December 2016 after Flynn's calls with Russia's ambassador to the United States.... When FBI agents first visited her at her Long Island home in the summer of 2017, McFarland denied ever talking to Flynn about any discussion of sanctions between him and the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, in December 2016 during the presidential transition. For a time, investigators saw her answers as 'inconsistent,' putting her in legal peril as the FBI tried to determine if she had lied to them.... Eventually, McFarland and her lawyer Robert Giuffra were able to convince the FBI that she had not intentionally misled the bureau but had rather spoken from memory.... Just days after Flynn talked to Kislyak, however, McFarland said that her memory was clear, and [told a Washington Post reporter] the two had never discussed sanctions.... McFarland withdrew her nomination [as U.S. ambassador to Singapore] in February 2017, after the Republican chairman of the committee made clear that she couldn't be confirmed without explaining the discrepancies between her written statements and the emails that showed McFarland knew Flynn was talking to Kislyak." Mrs. McC: Funny how the threat of jail time refreshes the memory. (Also linked yesterday.)

Grassley Hires Accused Sexual Harasser to Shepherd Accused Sexual Abuser through Confirmation. Heidi Przybyla of NBC News: "A press adviser helping lead the Senate Judiciary Committee's response to a sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has stepped down amid evidence he was fired from a previous political job in part because of a sexual harassment allegation against him. Garrett Ventry, 29, who served as a communications aide to the committee chaired by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, had been helping coordinate the majority party's messaging in the wake of Christine Blasey Ford's claim that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her 36 years ago.... In a response to NBC News, Ventry denied any past 'allegations of misconduct.' After NBC News raised questions about Ventry's employment history and the sexual harassment allegation against him, Judiciary Committee Spokesman Taylor Foy replied in a statement: 'While (Ventry) strongly denies allegations of wrongdoing, he decided to resign to avoid causing any distraction from the work of the committee.'... While doing work for the Judiciary Committee, Ventry was employed by CRC Public Relations, a prominent GOP firm helping to promote Kavanaugh's nomination to the high court.... Politico reported Friday that CRC was behind conservative activist Ed Whelan's suggestion that he had evidence that a classmate of Kavanaugh had been the perpetrator of the attack on Blasey Ford.... On Twitter, Ventry said the Judiciary Committee had 'no knowledge or involvement' in the incident involving CRC." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Uh-huh. We're talking about three generations of sexist pigs here: Ventry, Kavanaugh & Grassley. Here's the chicken-and-egg question: are these guys Republicans because they're sexist pigs or are they sexist pigs because they're Republicans? And, as Patrick points out in today's thread, CRC's claim to fame infamy is the Swiftboating of decorated Vietnam war veteran John Kerry.

Election 2018

Missouri Senate Race. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times looks at how Brett Kavanaugh is playing in Missouri's tight Senate race between Claire McCaskill (D) & Josh Hawley (R). "A constitutional lawyer and former law professor who was in the Federalist Society at Yale, Mr. Hawley said in an interview at a barbecue joint before the rally with Mr. Trump that he is 'a true believer in the judicial conservative moment.' He said he thinks Roe v. Wade was 'wrongly decided' and that 'getting that decision overturned would be the right thing.'" Kavanaugh, who was supposed to be a boon to Hawley (and other GOP candidates), has turned out to be a bust in a state where the governor, Eric Greitens (R), resigned before the Republican-controlled state legislature impeached him because of a sex scandal.

Texas Senate Race. Ted Cruz Plays His Racist Dogwhistle on a Low Frequency. Jonathan Chait: A Dallas policewoman murdered Botham Shem Jean in his own apartment, which she entered without cause (she said she mistook it for her apartment). "Dallas police subsequently leaked the claim that Jean possessed a small amount of marijuana in his home.... Texas Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke has denounced this incident as an example of racial injustice in policing.... Ted Cruz ... tweeted a short clip of O&'Rourke denouncing Jean's murder during a town hall at the Good Street Baptist Church in Dallas[.]... It is not clear precisely what part of O'Rourke's argument he disagrees with.... Cruz ... has tended to dissolve the issue into a broader question of respect for the police, which he displays with his characteristic smarm. Nowhere in this clip does O'Rourke attack the police in general, dispute the need for effective policing, or insist that all or most officers are racist. The element that Cruz considers damning is O'Rourke campaigning against police injustice ... before a heavily-black audience.... This is ... old-fashioned conservative wink-and-nod Willie Horton racism, leading the audience toward the desired conclusion without shouting it out for them like Trump does." (Also linked yesterday.) Here's Ted's tweet:

In Beto O'Rourke's own words #TXSenateDebate pic.twitter.com/uUzW7DSqgo

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 21, 2018

... AND Even Wingers Agree Cruz's "Exposé" of O'Rourke Is Despicable. Allahpundit of Hot Air: "A 'constitutional conservative' who's naturally skeptical of state power, which is how Cruz sold himself throughout the tea-party era and beyond, shouldn't naturally gravitate to white identity politics and mindless respect for armed authority in analyzing a case in which an agent of the state killed an innocent man for no good reason. But this is how Republican politics operates in the Trump era, or at least how Cruz thinks it operates.... Why take an innocent dead man and use O'Rourke's justifiable outrage on his behalf and use it as some lowest-common-denominator Trumpian play on race and authority...?" Mrs. McC: Cruz's argument here seems to be, "Cops killing black people is always a good thing." But what he probably means to convey is, "Look! Look! Black people like Beto so nice white people should not."

Meg James of the Los Angeles Times: "Comcast Corp. triumphed over 21st Century Fox and the Walt Disney Co. in a hard-fought battle for Sky television by offering nearly $40 billion for the satellite-TV service that boasts 23 million customers in five European countries. The Philadelphia cable company captured the prize during a rare auction conducted Saturday by British regulators. Britain's Takeover Panel announced the results a little after 7 p.m. in London after three rounds of sealed bids. It marked the first time in a decade that the London-based regulatory body presided over a corporate auction. Sky's independent board members quickly approved Comcast's winning bid of $22.75 a share."

Beyond the Beltway

Sandra Garcia of the New York Times: "Twelve more potential victims came forward this week after a couple in Southern California were charged with drugging and sexually assaulting two women they met on social outings, the authorities said. Investigators in Orange County, Calif., believe there could be many additional victims, based on finding hundreds of videos of women who appear to be highly intoxicated on a phone belonging to one of the suspects, Grant Robicheaux."

Comments

[MAG]

In the ’80s, boys’ prep schools like Kavanaugh’s could be bastions of misogyny sez Greg Jaffe in a WAPO piece : "I went to an elite high school down the road from his. Here’s what I saw. " "...introspection abounds"

"“I loved Landon but looking at it retrospectively through the lens of the father of two daughters, I would not consider sending my son there,” wrote Steve Pokorny, a classmate of mine, thinking back to the sexism that clouded our minds. It’s a widespread sentiment among my peers.."

Hey, Steve...what if you had two daughters instead of two sons?

Brett Kavanaugh has two daughters. What would he say to them?

[Bobby Lee]

Reading on the drive to deny green cards to immigrants who use safety net programs that while we may still be the (tenuously) United States, we have lost the spirit that made us America.

[carlyle]

Dr. Ford has my sympathy. The lady has put herself in a position to be casually defamed and the situation has no upside as she has already told her story.
Dr. Ford should have provided a written statement to the committee and the media and agreed to cooperate with any proper investigation. Leaving the ball in the Republican's court puts the pressure on them when they quickly vote this judge with an announced right wing agenda to the Supreme Court

[PD Pepe]

As Lindsey Graham has announced he will vote for Kavanaugh no matter what Dr. Ford reports and so will probably all Republicans. The boycott against him in the two female's districts, Maine and Alaska, the ones who say they are pro=choice and might not vote yea, is in the end nothing but wishful thinking (and I wish I weren't so cynical and if I'm wrong I'll enjoy my meal of crow).

A forced attempt at rape 36 years ago––hey, we can live with that, they say––was it Lindsey again that said "what guy back in high school didn't try and have his way?" Ok then, we'll just go ahead and vote yea and pretend we have scruples and a sense of fairness and...

And since it's Sunday just a reminder that Trump hasn't really galvanized evangelicals as much as evangelicals have found a figure willing to to grant their wishes, especially in terms of appointing judges who oppose abortion and gay marriage.

Always ask cui Bono–-to whom does it benefit?

Here is an exchange between a son and his father–-two characters in a short story by Jonathan Foer----again because it's Sunday:

Father: You're never going to believe who I just peed beside.

Son: Jesus, Dad!

F: Close–-Spielberg!

S: Who's that?

F: You're serious???

S: What?

F: Spielberg––! Steven Spielberg.

S: Never heard of him.

Smile.....

[Patrick]

PD: Must be a Bohemian Grove joke, no? Where else does celebrity micturation occur?

[Marie Burns]

@Patrick: Ha ha. Nice try. Much less toney venue, actually. The "micturation" scene, as you so demurely put it, is from Foer's novel "Here I Am" & takes place "in a restroom at an airport Panda Express." Mr. Googles knows almost everything.