Tuesday
Sep252018
The Commentariat -- Sept. 26, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump has grown increasingly dissatisfied with the way Brett Kavanaugh has defended himself in wake of sexual assault allegations that have threatened to derail his Supreme Court nomination, multiple sources tell CNN. It has led the President to believe that he must personally take charge of defending his embattled nominee ahead of Thursday's critical appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Trump made the decision to hold a news conference on the eve of the hearing, making it the fourth he has held as president.... 'The Democrats are playing this game that's disgraceful,' Trump said alongside his Japanese counterpart in New York. 'It's disgraceful to this country.' He said voters would punish Democrats in the midterm elections for their actions and trashed lawyer [Michael] Avenatti." ...
** Jessica Estepa of USA Today: "Julie Swetnick, a client of attorney Michael Avenatti, alleged in a signed statement released Wednesday that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would drink to excess and 'engage in abusive behavior' toward teenage girls while he was in high school. In an explosive statement released by Avenatti, Swetnick said in the 1980s, she witnessed efforts by Kavanaugh and Mark Judge to get teenage girls 'inebriated and disoriented so they could then be 'gang raped' in a side room or bedroom by a 'train' of numerous boys.' 'I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their "turn" with a girl inside the room,' she said in the statement. 'These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh.' Swetnick alleged she became one of the victims of 'one of these "gang" or "train" rapes.' She did not allege that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her." ...
... Here's a slightly easier-to-read copy of Swetnick's declaration. ...
... John Wagner of the Washington Post covers Swetnick's allegations & other developments today in the Kavanaugh case. ...
... Axios publishes about a page-and-a-half of Kavanaugh's prepared testimony for Thursday hearing, ending with a note, "Additional Testimony to Follow." ...
... The POTUS* has responded with his usual careful consideration:
Avenatti is a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations, like he did on me and like he is now doing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He is just looking for attention and doesn't want people to look at his past record and relationships - a total low-life! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this afternoon
... Worth noting: Trump doesn't deny Swetnick's accusations, only Avenatti's.
Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday said President Trump has told him he will sign a spending bill to avert a government shutdown. The House is prepared to pass the legislation later Wednesday and send it to Trump's desk."
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley suggested Wednesday that world leaders laughed at President Trump's speech the day before because they respect and enjoy his honesty, arguing that negative media coverage of the president has hurt America's standing in the world. Haley, in an appearance on 'Fox & Friends,' blamed the media for misinterpreting why U.N. General Assembly members chuckled when Trump boasted that his administration's accomplishments outdid those of nearly any other in American history." Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. Mrs. McC: In another studio, Haley would have been struck on the spot by lightning, but Fox "News" studios, of necessity, have built-in elaborate anti-lightning protection. However, Haley's nose did grow noticeably during the course of the brief interview.
Ashley Parker & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "When Rod J. Rosenstein reports to the Oval Office on Thursday to be fired, resign or continue tenuously in his post, the deputy attorney general will also be cementing his status as a player in one of President Trump's favorite parlor games: White House Survivor. Though the outcomes often differ -- fired by tweet (former secretary of state Rex Tillerson), permitted to faux-amicably resign (former national security adviser H.R. McMaster) or flayed but never quite offed (Attorney General Jeff Sessions )-- one near-certainty for those navigating their departures from Trump's orbit is a prolonged and capricious public humiliation. Trump's penchant for allowing his underlings to dangle and stew in Washington's fickle swamp often seems to be a form of psychological cruelty -- and also the way he prefers to conduct business, according to the president's advisers and associates."
Breaking News: Akhilleus has "come across a secretly recorded video of Grassley and company, and what they were doing while Deborah Ramirez and her lawyer were waiting for them on the phone. They were bringing in three crack researchers to give them a better idea of how to help them and their boy Brett deal with this woman problem":
Here's a good summary of Trump's speech before the U.N. General Assembly:
*****
Trump Attacks Kavanaugh's (Alleged) Victim. Mark Landler & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump accused Democrats on Tuesday of orchestrating 'a con game' against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh in hopes of stopping his confirmation to the Supreme Court and said that one of two women who have accused him of sexual misconduct as a student was 'messed up' and 'drunk' at the time. Dispensing again with the restraint that advisers have urged him to exercise, Mr. Trump went beyond defending Judge Kavanaugh into attack mode, saying that Democrats were 'making him into something he's not' as part of a strategy to 'delay and obstruct' his confirmation.... He went on to call it a con game a couple more times, and then spelled it out, 'C-O-N.' Mr. Trump singled out the latest accuser, Deborah Ramirez, who said in an interview with The New Yorker that Judge Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drinking party while they were students at Yale University." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Gang of Powerful Old Men Don't Have the Guts of One Woman. Elana Schor, et al., of Politico: "Senate Republicans have hired an attorney to use as a questioner of Christine Blasey Ford at Thursday's high-stakes hearing on a sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh but are declining to name her. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told Politico on Tuesday as he entered the Capitol for a weekly GOP meeting that 'we aren't announcing the name for her safety.' Asked if Republicans have received any indication of threats to the attorney they're preparing to use, Grassley said: 'I don't know, but I guess we're just being cautious.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... New Lede Plus: "The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court on Friday morning, fewer than 24 hours after Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford appear before the panel to discuss Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than 30 years ago. According to committee rules, Judiciary must schedule a committee vote three days in advance. But the committee said the vote will only proceed if a 'majority of the members' of the 21-member committee are ready to vote on Friday. 'For Republicans to schedule a Friday vote on Brett Kavanaugh today, two days before Dr. Blasey Ford has had a chance to tell her story, is outrageous," said Sen Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the committee's ranking member. 'First Republicans demanded Dr. Blasey Ford testify immediately. Now Republicans don't even need to hear her before they move ahead with a vote.'"
... Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Republican Party leaders may be insisting that they will install Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, but Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is offering a blunt warning of her own: Do not prejudge sexual assault allegations against the nominee that will be aired at an extraordinary public hearing on Thursday. 'We are now in a place where it's not about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified,' Ms. Murkowski, a key swing Republican vote, said in an extended interview in the Capitol Monday night. 'It is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed.' One of two Republican women in the Senate who supports abortion rights -- Susan Collins of Maine is the other -- Ms. Murkowski was always expected to be a critical vote in Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation process. But she is making clear that, beyond matters of abortion, she is deeply troubled by Christine Blasey Ford's story of a sexual assault by Judge Kavanaugh when she was 15 and he was 17." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: Here's an uplifting thought: if Mitch McConnell had the votes to confirm Kavanaugh, Chuck Grassley would not be doing any of this stuff. The downer: once the committee has pulled off its little show trial, the few GOP holdouts likely will get in line as they usually do, satisfied that Kavanaugh deserves to spend the rest of his natural life judging the rest of us.
... Rebecca Shabad, et al., of NBC News: "In a letter to a lawyer for Ford on Monday, Mike Davis, who handles nominations for Republicans on the committee -- all of whom are men -- said that the GOP had hired a woman whom he described as 'an experienced sex-crimes prosecutor to serve as an investigative staff counsel for the hearing.'... Asked by NBC's Kasie Hunt Tuesday what message it sends to the nation that the entire GOP side of the panel lacks women, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said, "... we have hired a female assistant to go on staff and to ask these questions in a respectful and professional way...." Emphasis added. ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Sure, this mystery woman is "an experienced prosecutor," but to the Boys in the Chamber, she a female assistant. I wonder if Chuck will ask her to get coffee during the hearing. As Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) "said Tuesday it would not be wise for Republican senators to ask questions themselves during the hearing. 'Somebody will do something that you guys will run 24/7 and inadvertently somebody will do something that's insensitive,' he told reporters." Is calling a professional woman a "female assistant" insensitive enough for you, Bob? ...
... Update. Mystery Female Assistant ID'd. Sean Sullivan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell has emerged as Senate Republicans' choice to question Brett M. Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, according to two people familiar with the decision. Mitchell, the sex crimes bureau chief for the Maricopa County Attorney's office in Phoenix, is the leading candidate to query the two at Thursday's highly anticipated hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to the individuals. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it on the record. A registered Republican, Mitchell has worked for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for 26 years." ...
... Rachel Maddow was wondering out loud how come Judiciary Committee Republicans think they don't need the FBI to help them "investigate" claims of violent sexual attacks yet they don't have the chops to even question a witness, something that apparently an "assistant" must do for them. Maybe it's kinda like when the boss has to get his assistant to run the copy machine. MEANWHILE, Maddow interviewed John Clune, Deborah Ramirez' attorney, who said staff Republicans failed to show up for several scheduled phone appointments Tuesday. ...
... Here's a Denver Post story, by Elise Schmelzer, on the Grassley crew's failures to pick up the phone. ...
... Steve Kiggins & Richard Wolf of USA Today: "The attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford have sworn and signed declarations from four people who corroborate her claims of sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. In documents sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee..., Ford's attorneys present declarations from Ford's husband, Russell, and three friends who support the California college professor's accusation that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, groped her and attempted to pull off her clothes while both were high school students in 1982.... Kavanaugh has flatly denied all accusations, including during a national television interview on Fox News Monday night. In her declaration, Adela Gildo-Mazzon said Ford told her about the alleged assault during a June 2013 meal at a restaurant in Mountain View, California, and contacted Ford's attorneys on Sept. 16 to tell them Ford had confided in her five years ago.... In another declaration, Keith Koegler said Ford revealed the alleged assault to him in 2016, when the two parents were watching their children play in a public place and discussing the 'light' sentencing of Stanford University student Brock Turner. In another declaration, Rebecca White, a neighbor and friend of more than six years, said Ford revealed the alleged assault against her in 2017." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Wow! Blasey has been planning to "smear" Kavanaugh for a long time. Very clever the way she started laying the groundwork way back in 2013. ...
... Axios has copies of the sworn declarations here. ...
... Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "Three former Yale Law School classmates who endorsed Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh called Tuesday for an investigation into allegations by two women that he engaged in sexual misconduct in the 1980s. Kent Sinclair, Douglas Rutzen and Mark Osler were among roughly two dozen of Kavanaugh's law school classmates who
... Maya Salam & Niraj Chokshi of the New York Times: "Survivors of sexual assault and their supporters stood shoulder to shoulder on the steps of New York's City Hall on Monday, holding signs that read 'I believe Christine,' 'Misogyny bores me' and 'Block InJustice Kavanaugh.' In Washington, over 100 protesters were arrested after gathering in front of the Supreme Court and inside Senate office buildings. They were part of a series of protests across the country to show solidarity with Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, women who have publicly accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, of sexual assault and misconduct." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Lara Bazelon in a New York Times op-ed: "Republican senators have no problem trying Dr. Blasey in the court of public opinion. Senator [Orrin] Hatch has already made up his mind: Judge Kavanaugh is telling the truth and Dr. Blasey is simply 'mixed up.' Lindsey Graham, another Republican committee member, told The Washington Post, 'I'll listen to the lady,' then immediately implied the opposite. 'We're going to bring this to a close,' he said and called the accusation 'a drive-by shooting.' And yet, they are apparently too afraid to speak to her face to face.... Come on, gentlemen. Man up." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
Brett was a sloppy drunk, and I know because I drank with him. I watched him drink more than a lot of people. He'd end up slurring his words, stumbling. There's no medical way I can say that he was blacked out.... But it's not credible for him to say that he has had no memory lapses in the nights that he drank to excess. -- Liz Swisher, friend of Kavanaugh at Yale & a medical doctor
He's trying to paint himself as some kind of choir boy. You can't lie your way onto the Supreme Court, and with that statement out, he's gone too far. It's about the integrity of that institution. -- Lynne Brookes, former pharma executive who remembered "a drunken Kavanaugh" at a Yale fraternity event
Nearly a dozen people who knew him well or socialized with him said Judge Kavanaugh was a heavy drinker in college. -- New York Times, yesterday
... Aaron Rupar of ThinkProgress: "During his interview on Fox News that aired Monday evening..., Brett Kavanaugh cited his college reputation as evidence he's been falsely accused by former Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez, who told the New Yorker Kavanaugh once thrust his genitals into her face at a party. 'The women I knew in college and the men I knew in college say it's inconceivable that I could have done such a thing,' he said.... But around the same time Kavanaugh was making that claim on Fox News, his former Yale roommate, James Roche, told the Bay Area ABC affiliate that he believes Ramirez. 'I concluded that although Brett was normally reserved, he was a notably heavy drinker, even by the standards of the time, and that he became aggressive and belligerent when he was very drunk,' Roche told ABC 7. 'I did not observe the specific incident in question, but I do remember Brett frequently drinking excessively and becoming incoherently drunk.'" ...
Perhaps Brett Kavanaugh was a virgin for many years after high school. But he claimed otherwise in a conversation with me during our freshman year in Lawrance Hall at Yale, in the living room of my suite.... [I remember it] because it was the first time I had had such a conversation with an acquaintance who was not a friend. -- Stephen Kantrowitz, dormmate of Kavanaugh in their freshman year at Yale
... John Harwood of CNBC: It's hard to believe Kavanaugh's denials about sexual attacks because he has lied a lot about other things. ...
... ** "Toxic Homosociality." Lili Loofbourow in Slate: "... I believe Brett Kavanaugh's claim that he was a virgin through his teens. I believe it in part because it squares with some of the oddities I've had a hard time understanding about his alleged behavior: namely, that both allegations are strikingly different from other high-profile stories the past year, most of which feature a man and a woman alone. And yet both the Kavanaugh accusations share certain features: There is no penetrative sex, there are always male onlookers, and, most importantly, there's laughter. In each case the other men -- not the woman -- seem to be Kavanaugh's true intended audience. In each story, the cruel and bizarre act the woman describes ... seems to have been done in the clumsy and even manic pursuit of male approval. Even Kavanaugh's now-notorious yearbook page ... seems less like an honest reflection of a fun guy than a representation of a try-hard willing to say or do anything as long as his bros think he's cool. In other words: The awful things Kavanaugh allegedly ... appear to .. fit into a ... category -- a toxic homosociality -- that involves males wooing other males over the comedy of being cruel to women." Read on. Mrs. McC: This is the smartest piece I've read by way of an explanation of who Kavanaugh was -- and is. ...
... Caitlin Flanagan of the Atlantic on Georgetown Prep, circa 1982. "There was ... -- as there always is in top Catholic schools that wish to be considered on the same intellectual and social plane as the great Protestant schools -- a constant, grinding, and not misplaced sense of inferiority among many of the students.... In a boys' school in the '80s, sexual frustration was combined with a casual misogyny -- if not of deed then of word -- that the authorities were in no way concerned about.... In the midst of it all (the Georgetown Prep way, the frat-boy tradition, the Irish problem -- who knows) seems to lie an ocean of alcohol." (Also linked yesterday.)
Alabama Evangelicals Counting on Kavanaugh to Oppose Separation of Church & State. Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "More than a decade after Roy S. Moore was ousted as Alabama's chief justice for defying federal court orders to remove a 5,280-pound stone slab of the commandments from the state judicial building, voters [in Alabama] will consider a constitutional amendment in November that would allow the Ten Commandments to be displayed in schools and other public property across Alabama.... Those campaigning for it now say their goal is to get a case before Supreme Court, where they hope -- if a Justice Kavanaugh is on the bench -- a conservative majority will rule in favor of such displays." ...
... Aaron Rupar: "Minutes after Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in a state prison for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, his publicist read a statement to reporters linking Cosby with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.... Ignoring the difference between consensual sex and sexual assault, publicist Andrew Wyatt claimed that both Cosby and Kavanaugh are victims of America's 'sex war.' 'What is going on in Washington today with Judge Kavanaugh is part of that sex war that Judge O'Neill is a part of,' Wyatt said, referring to the judge who presided over Cosby's case."
Trump Gets Laughed off World Stage. John Bennett of Roll Call: "Other world leaders laughed Tuesday when ... Donald Trump began his UN General Assembly address by saying his administration has accomplished more than perhaps any in U.S. history. Trump smiled wide and looked around the hall as the laughter continued. 'Didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK,' he said. The laughter returned later when Trump turned to global energy prices. 'The United States stands ready to export our abundant, affordable supply of oil, clean coal and natural gas. OPEC -- and OPEC nations -- are, as usual, ripping off the rest of the world,' Trump said. 'And I don't like it. Nobody should like it.'" Mrs. McC: That's what happens when your audience isn't larded with handpicked nincompoops. Thanks to forrest m. for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Trump has long argued that the United States has been taken advantage of by other nations -- a 'laughing stock to the entire World' he said on Twitter in 2014.... But at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump got a comeuppance on the world's biggest stage. Delivering a speech that aimed to establish U.S. 'sovereignty' over the whims and needs of other nations, the president's triumphant moment was marred in the first minute when he was met by laughter -- at his expense. The embarrassing exchange came when Trump boasted that his administration had accomplished more over two years than 'almost any administration' in American history, eliciting audible guffaws in the cavernous chamber hall.... At the United Nations, Trump's claim to have done more in less than two years than most of the 44 previous administrations defied any bounds of reality -- or hubris. The difference was that he was not talking to a room full of excited, red-hat-wearing 'MAGA' supporters who cheer him on." ...
... David Nakamura & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump declared Tuesday that his administration will reject attempts from other nations to impose constraints on the United States, vowing to take action in world affairs based on his judgment over how it would benefit Americans. In a speech before world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, Trump issued sharp warning to the leaders Iran, Syria, Venezuela and China over what he described as their rogue behavior. But the president also made clear that the United States under his leadership would not be bound in its affairs by the consensus among traditional allies and partners." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Vox publishes a transcript of the full speech, as delivered, which the White House provided.
Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "Rod J. Rosenstein's departure seemed so certain this week that his boss's chief of staff told colleagues that he had been tapped by the White House to take over as second-in-command of the Justice Department, while another official would supervise the special counsel probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, people familiar with the matter said. But by Monday afternoon, the succession plan had been scrapped. Rosenstein, who told the White House he was willing to quit if President Trump wouldn't disparage him, would remain the deputy attorney general in advance of a high-stakes meeting on Thursday to discuss the future of his employment. The other officials, too, would go back to work, facing the prospect that in just days they could be leading the department through a historic crisis. Inside the Justice Department on Tuesday, officials still struggled to understand the events that nearly produced a seismic upheaval in their leadership ranks -- until it didn't -- and they braced for a potential repeat of that chaos later in the week.... While it remained possible that Rosenstein could still resign or be fired imminently, people inside and outside the department said it seemed increasingly more likely that Rosenstein would stay in the job until after November's elections and then depart, probably along with the attorney general. Two White House officials said Tuesday that Trump is unlikely to fire Rosenstein until after the midterms."
Hunter Walker of Yahoo! News: "Raj Shah, a deputy press secretary who has stepped behind the podium for numerous daily briefings, has told multiple people he plans to leave the West Wing following the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Shah has been leading the communications efforts in support of the confirmation process since Kavanaugh's nomination in July. Two sources familiar with Shah's thinking said he thought that helping to shepherd the successful confirmation would allow him to end his White House tenure on a high note." Mrs. McC: Ha ha. The best laid plan of Mister Shah gang aft a-gley.
Adolfo Flores of BuzzFeed News: "A memo signed by Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen contradicts statements she made at the height of the family separation crisis last spring that the administration did not have a policy of separating children from parents. Nielsen signed off on the option to prosecute all adults who crossed the border illegally, including those with kids, knowing it would lead to family separations.... 'DHS could also permissibly direct the separation of parents or legal guardians and minors held in immigration detention so that the parent or legal guardian can be prosecuted,' the memo said. When the administration was under fire for the family separations Nielsen told reporters 'This administration did not create a policy of separating families at the border.' Yet, the memo she signed states the effect of attempting to prosecute every adult at the border would result in children being separated from their parents." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: We knew she was lying then; we have proof now.
Khorri Atkinson of Axios: "An internal investigation has found that the head of FEMA, Brock Long, used unauthorized government vehicles and employees to drive him to his home in North Carolina and his family around Hawaii during a business trip that coincided with his family's spring break last year, costing taxpayers $151,000, per the WSJ."
About Those $52,000 Curtains. Brett Bruen in a Politico Magazine opinion piece: The New York Times, in a correction to its original story, blamed the Obama administration for the purchase of curtains for the United Nations ambassador's residence in New York City. But the contract was let in April 2017. Nikki "Haley was responsible for the purchase." More importantly, the contract was signed while the Trump administration was cutting off "many other essential services," like security for embassies in dangerous areas of the world. "What kind of public leader pursues costly upgrades to their residence even as their employees lack basic support?"
AP: "His Hollywood career and good-guy image in ruins, an 81-year-old Bill Cosby was sentenced Tuesday to three to 10 years behind bars for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman, becoming the first celebrity of the #MeToo era to be sent to prison." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... The New York Times story, by Graham Bowley & Jon Hurdle, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
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Reader Comments (19)
Here is a link to the Loufbourow piece in Slate:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/brett-kavanaugh-allegations-yearbook-male-bonding.html?
When Mrs. McC. says something is a smart piece, one can't not read it. In the back of my head I hear "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman."
@NiskyGuy: Oops! Thanks. I was so impressed by Loofbourow's theory that I plumb forgot to do my main job. I also misspelled Loofbourow's last name (it's so haaard!), so I'm two for two. I had figured out on my own some of what-all was behind Kavanaugh's assholery, but I'd never put it together the way Loofbourow has. Loofbourow's piece, with a boost from Caitlin Flanagan's Atlantic essay on Catholic prep school boys' inferiority complex, just analyzes that little prick right down to his little prick.
I'm curious to know what Michael Avenatti will reveal tomorrow. The questions he says he posed to Judiciary Committee members suggest (but don't necessarily ensure) that Kavanaugh was not a teenaged celibate. So far no women have come out & said they had sex with Kavanaugh when they were high school kids. But that would be a sad thing to admit to the country.
Also, thanks for "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman." I'm not a sciency person, so I hadda look it up. Sounds interesting. I'll bet Akhilleus tells us all about it!
Burning questions for the round file:
Do you think Robert Mueller is the kind of special prosecutor that would delay the conclusion of his investigation so as to not influence the November elections, and if so, is Rod Rosenstein's real reason for threatening to resign a way to force Mueller to make haste?
Does everyone remember the big pop hit song of 1982? I'm
thinking this was Brett and Company's theme song of that year
in school:
"Let's Get Physical" by Olivia Newton John.
Or maybe "we guys are going to get physical whether you like it
or not".
It's becoming more and more obvious that Mr. Kavanuagh fancies himself some sort of sneaky social chameleon, shedding skins when necessary and adapting his actions to best take advantage of the situation for purely personal gain.
I'm guessing his "innocent virgin" plot is the rotten fruit of a melted skin. Like every other instance in his creepy life, he likely told the Missus his virgin fables long ago to rope her in, convinced none of his frat bros would out him.
And like his benefactor Drumpf, he'll lie, deny and won't cede an inch. A perfect candidate for today's Supreme Court.
"Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman" is the title of his memoir, a book that has had a strong influence in our household. The phrase comes from the first department "tea" that Feynman attends, I think at Princeton, where the woman who ran the events, taught the smart men how to be human beings, and poured the tea asked Feynman if he would like milk or lemon in his tea. He said "Both!" thus eliciting the phrase. He learned that the phrase, along with a gentle laugh, indicated that he was making a monumental social or life mistake and he was being gently re-directed. He was smart enough to recognize an authority on life, heed her direction, and figure out where he screwed up later on his own time.
The book greatly helped my mathematician wife (and all of us) that it is right and a good and joyful thing for smart people to feel stupid. A person who is striving to know more will begin to comprehend how much he or she doesn't know. Bringing this back to politics, we are experiencing a "leader" who cannot begin to grasp that he doesn't already know everything. You know: A moron.
@Nisky: enjoyed reading your take on Feynman. I came across this extraordinary man while reading books on Oppenheimer. There was a film with Mathew Broderick as Feynman, but don't recall the name.
Re: Lili Loofbourow's (now that's a name to remember!) piece on Kavanaugh and agree that her theory on his behavior is right on target. Didn't we see this when he was presented to us? The gushing lie praising Trump for something Trump never did? Brett's "go along to get along" persona makes all the sense in the world. Here's something Lili mentions that stands out for me:
"A man who runs on external approval runs into problems quickly."
This seems to me to someone not suited for the S.C. for exactly this reason.
Back in 1998 Christopher Dicky wrote a scathing portrait of his father, James Dicky–- poet, author of "Deliverance", womanizer, alcoholic and a prize grandstander. I happened to come across this yesterday while cleaning out my files; here's a tidbit that corresponds to our very own grandstander in chief: Chris is on the site of the film "Deliverance":
"One night at the buffet...I was talking with Ned Beatty's wife, Belinda and we were watching Jim Dicky do his thing. He was acting out one of the scenes he'd written but was having trouble keeping his balance. He was drunk––obviously drunk––but everyone seemed to be enjoying the show. Belinda knew that I was upset. 'When you're a star, you can do anything," she said."
Perhaps not any more.
@NiskyGuy:
"Before I got through, I tested no fewer than 6,000 vegetable growths, and ransacked the world for the most suitable filament material." -- Thomas Edison, on developing an electric lightbulb for household use
It may be that the great difference between genius & moron is that the genius recognizes his mistakes, learns from them & builds on what he's learned. I don't mean in a social setting so much -- tho as Feynman demonstrated there is crossover -- but in the lab or wherever he works. Morons like Trump just go on repeating their mistaken beliefs (you might call them lies) & they're surprised (UN speech) when their mistakes don't work.
The other dictators are going to be so jealous of trump.
Our tax money at work. The new state-of-the-art presidential
limo cost us $1.5 million.
The car carries an array of medical devices, including a fridge
full of the president's* blood type.
Walls 8 inches thick, 5-inch thick bulletproof windows.
https://www.wisn.com/article/a-fridge-stocked-full-of-blood-
and-other-things-you-might-not-know-about-the-presidents-
limo/23457893
NPD: The so-called POTUS tells the world he is wonderful and the world laughs. I saw it on the news and the laugh was large. So accomplishment number one, we are no longer the world leader.
Kavanuaghs problem is not just bad sex behavior. It looks like he was a pathetic drunken asshole. But when it comes to the vote for his new job, the problem is that he lied under oath repeatedly.
Not sure what I can add about Feynman except the recollection that my introduction to his writing came from a group of friends of mine who were, at that time, all doing post-doc work at MIT. These people were hardcore scientists and not easily impressed, but they were all diehard Feynman fans. A couple got to meet him at some colloquy or other. It's been a long time since I read "Surely You're Joking", but I was amazed that he was so good at so many things, and interested in a lot of other things he wasn't so good at.
Years later I worked with a guy who had a bit of that Feynman polymath capacity. His primary job was as Director of Emergency Medicine at a big Boston hospital, but he also wrote computer programs on the side, several of which were adopted by other ER attendants. He played the violin, wrote a novel, and in his spare time, owned a vineyard where he made his own wine which he marketed commercially. I had no idea how he found time for all of this, but, like Feynman, he seemed insatiably curious about everything. And, like Feynman, he was eminently approachable. During a meeting, I made a fairly obscure historical/literary comparison to a problem we were working on. After the meeting, he grabbed me and sat me down so that I could give him the background on my little reference. He was completely engaged. And engaging.
I'm guessing Feynman, who was a sort of Zelig-like figure in 20th century physics, was the same sort.
But my friend's interest in so many things, including off-hand, weird-ass, tangential references from out of the blue, reminded me of the story about Feynman's Nobel Prize, which he relates in the book. According to Feynman (and this is from a long ago memory so it may not be entirely accurate), he was watching someone throw a spinning plate up in the air at a school cafeteria (I think) when something clicked. He then went to work on the problem of orbiting electrons which led, after a few years, to his Nobel Prize.
I won't bore you all with obvious comparisons of Trump with people like Feynman and my friend. It's enough to recognize that a small, incurious mind which references every outside bit of information and stimuli into a closed system which inevitably spits out the answer "You Are the Best" to every problem encountered, is not the road to a Nobel. Or nobility.
Feynman's ability to look at a random event (the spinning plate) and make interesting and important connections is the result of an active, fully functioning mind that can absorb information, turn it around and see if something new and useful can be obtained. This is the sort of curiosity that made the human race the dominant species on the planet.
The last two R presidents are the worst in history not because they are stupid (although evidence suggests this too), but because they are incurious. They don't care to know anything that challenges their preconceived views of the world. This leads to ignorance, dim-wittedness, wildly incorrect conclusions (because problems have not been worked through critically), and a pinched, closed-off sense of the necessary moral underpinnings attendant to decision making processes.
In your next door neighbor, these faults make him pretty much an ass, to be avoided except for a quick wave hello. In the president of the United States? A disaster of astounding proportions.
Had Trump been around when humans were beginning to leave the Serengeti and finding ways to conquer the planet, he'd have been left sitting on a rock telling everyone how wonderful he was, wondering why the other hominids were laughing at him.
...and just in case you don't believe me about the problem of evolution of humans and Trump...check it out.
Kavanaugh Sham, Part 234
So there is another entirely credible claim against choirboy Brett. What does Grassley and Hatch and the other members of the R Women Haters club do? Refuse to even talk to her on the phone.
Ho-hum. We've already made up our mind. No facts necessary, no investigation. Nope.
If there are any of those so-called Independent Voters out there watching this, I hope they're able to interpret these not very obscure clues.
Oh, but wait. I've come across a secretly recorded video of Grassley and company, and what they were doing while Deborah Ramirez and her lawyer were waiting for them on the phone.
They were bringing in three crack researchers
to give them a better idea of how to help them and their boy Brett deal with this woman problem.
I've got a question.
So, McConnell and Grassley have this new "female assistant" (someone must have told them they shouldn't refer to as "the new girl") who is, by reports, an experienced prosecutor of sex crimes. As such, I'm sure she has interviewed many subjects, the abusers and the abused, and, if she's any good, which I have no reason to think otherwise, must have a pretty decent radar for bullshit and an ability to assess the validity of a party claiming sexual abuse.
What if she concludes that Ford's story is entirely believable and that Kavanaugh's is complete crap?
What then?
Does Grassley send her out to get coffee and lock the door so she can't get back in?
Or is this all in the bag from the get-go?
I was about to say that there's no way the R's will leave something to chance at this juncture, that like any decent trial lawyers, they are not going to be asking questions, the answers to which they don't already know. But then I look at the evidence. This thing has been a clusterfuck from the start. There was a half-assed investigation and a foregone conclusion on all their parts that Kavanaugh was a shoo-in.
Then, of course, I found that video (linked above).
Nothing will change. Kavanaugh will be voted in on Friday. As Marie suggests, any R thinking of not voting for this liar will goosestep back in line, at which point the red state D's will go right along with the rest of the women haters.
My disgust is nausea inducing.
And one more thing...
Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona prosecutor (aka the Female Assistant) is without something she has always had in a court of law when prosecuting a sex crimes (or any other) case:
An investigation.
And yes, this isn't a trial, but R's have made it appear that way. All this talk from "experts" like fucking Judge Judy about "looking at all the evidence" before making snap judgments (of course this advice doesn't work on President Sexual Abuser), and bringing in a prosecutor makes that intent even more obvious.
The idea is to make it like a trial wherein the burden of proof is on the side of the accusers (Ford, Ramirez, et al.). This means that there must be absolute proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Kavanaugh is a lying piece of shit.
But it's not a trial. If anything, it's more like a civil proceeding in which the evidentiary requirements are not the same as in a criminal trial.
Really, the point here is, can a rational, fair minded person, in possession of this information, and the other information of Kavanaugh's serial lying under oath to congress, conclude that he should be handed a lifetime appointment to, as Marie puts it, judge the rest of us?
The only answer so far, even before this sham hearing, is "Hell, no".
But back to Mitchell.
Grassley wants to make this a trial. But he wants the "prosecutor" to go into court without the benefit of any investigatory information. No witnesses interviewed, no stories assessed, no background inquiries.
I'm reminded of those courtroom scenes in movies where the defendant and his lawyers have successfully ratfucked the proceedings, where witnesses have been threatened or bought off, where other planned witnesses don't show up and where all exhibits in evidence have been dismissed by the judge, and where, finally, the judge looks down at the prosecutor and says "Well? Got anything?"
"Sorry, your honor, I don't"
"Then, barring any evidence on the part of the state, I find the defendant Not Guilty." At which point the defendant (Kavanaugh), gives the other side the finger and laughs his way out of court.
That's the plan.
(Sorry to be so prolix about all this, I am just so fucking angry by this shameful exhibition. No wonder the rest of the world is laughing at us.)
Um, no.
Nikki Haley helpfully explained, on Fox (natch), that those world leaders at the UN weren't laughing AT the dictator Trump as he bragged about himself. No...not a bit of it. They were mightily impressed by his honesty and his truthfulness. They were so thrilled and awed to be in his company, their joy was so unrestrained their happiness caused them to laugh out loud.
Jesus, where do they come up with this baloney?
Yeah, because truthfulness and honesty are the first things the rest of the world thinks of when they see Trump's smirking, orange puss.
In fact, truthfulness and honesty aren't even the last things you think of when you think of Trump. They're not on any list of things you think of when you think of Trump.
Liar? Sure. Braggart, bully, jerk? Self-promoter? Sexual abuser? Crook? Traitor? Yes to all.
But truthful? Honest?
Um, no. As in never. Ever.
I'd like to give a big shout out and thank you to Anthony Kennedy! By many accounts the fact that Brett Kavanaugh was waiting in the wings was one of the factors for Kennedy to stepping down. Not only did Kennedy's final days shown him to be mostly a right wing hack, but he may also have helped destroy the credibility of the Supreme Court. Truly a jackass of supreme judgement.
The View From Space
I may have mentioned this before, but for Trump and Grassley and the League of Extraordinary Assholes to present prêt-à-porter declarations by 60, 70, 80 people who supposedly were all good friends of Rape Boy Kavvy back in the day, is ridiculous at best and disgustingly mendacious at worst.
First, let's all think about high school. I can only speak for myself, but there were fewer than 10 kids who knew me well enough to vouch for my character (really, only four or five, including my girlfriend). Maybe another 20 knew me well enough to guess that I could have done thus or such or not have done such things (and I went to a small Catholic high school as well--not a toney prep school like Kavanaugh, though, but an urban high school whose students came mostly from poor to lower middle class families with only a handful from upper middle class backgrounds--you could tell those kids, they were the very few who had cars, the rest of us went shanks mare or public transport).
So to declare that 60 or 70 contemporaries knew Kavanaugh well enough to swear on a stack of Bibles as to his choirboy bona fides is insulting, and an out and out canard.
And here's an example of why. In my high school, we had some pretty hardcore nuns. Some, including the principal, were downright misanthropic. One morning, we came into school and saw that someone had decorated the back parking lot with giant declarations contra the school's administrative in-crowd, noting the principal was "sick" and her confederates "spies".
The principal and her coterie were outraged. They immediately called in the kids they thought had the balls to do such a thing (I was one). But we were all just as in the dark as they were.
Finally, it came out that the painter was a quiet, unassuming kid, a great student, nice guy, member of the track team, who had just had enough. I knew him pretty well too, but not, obviously, well enough. Everyone was amazed at the identity of the author of those sentiments.
The point is, you never know anyone well enough to assert that they are categorically incapable of doing something.
After all, think of all the people you know who voted for Trump.
This is Humanity 101. Something probably all Confederates in Congress failed miserably.
By the way, that famous "J'Accuse" from over forty years ago in my high school parking lot can still be seen from space (HA!). Google earth satellite imagery sez so. Sick and spies. Forever!
You know whom I'm thinking about? Al Franken. About a year ago he was accused of what I considered pretty silly touchie feelies and the main one by Miss Hooters ( for which he apologized) and that I still think was orchestrated by Roger Stone which pales in comparison to the kinds of allegations we have now on Kavanaugh and yet Frankin had to resign.
I find this deplorable.