The Commentariat -- Sept. 30, 2018
Afternoon Update:
It Depends on What the Meaning of "Limits" Is. Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "The White House has not placed any limits on the FBI investigation into claims of sexual assault leveled against ... Brett M. Kavanaugh but is also opposed an open-ended 'fishing expedition' that could take a broader look at Kavanaugh's credibility, two Trump administration officials said Sunday.... [Sarah] Sanders said on 'Fox News Sunday' that the White House is 'not micromanaging this process' but also said an open-ended probe into [Julie] Swetnick's claims and whether Kavanaugh may have misled lawmakers in his Senate Judiciary Committee testimony would not be acceptable.... The order to the FBI was signed by Trump but has not been made public, while the White House has sought to lay responsibility for the details on the Senate." Emphasis added. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: These remarks get this week's Doublespeak Award. Both of these things cannot be true: (1) there are no limits; (2) certain lines of inquiry "would not be acceptable."
Nathan Robinson of Current Affairs does a marvelous job of cataloging the lies Brett Kavanaugh told Thursday. "I can prove quite easily that Kavanaugh's teary-eyed 'good, innocent man indignant at being wrongfully accused' schtick was a facade. What may have looked like a strong defense was in fact a very, very weak and implausible one." This is a long piece, but it's easy to read. Many thanks to Keith H. for the link. ...
... James Comey in a New York Times op-ed: "Although the process is deeply flawed, and apparently designed to thwart the fact-gathering process, the F.B.I. is up for this. It's not as hard as Republicans hope it will be.... Unless limited in some way by the Trump administration, they can speak to scores of people in a few days, if necessary.... Agents have much better nonsense detectors than partisans, because they aren't starting with a conclusion.... They know that obvious lies by the nominee about the meaning of words in a yearbook are a flashing signal to dig deeper."
The Children's Warehouse. Caitlin Dickerson of the New York Times: "In shelters from Kansas to New York, hundreds of migrant children have been roused in the middle of the night in recent weeks and loaded onto buses with backpacks and snacks for a cross-country journey to their new home: a barren tent city on a sprawling patch of desert in West Texas. Until now, most undocumented children being held by federal immigration authorities had been housed in private foster homes or shelters, sleeping two or three to a room. They received formal schooling and regular visits with legal representatives assigned to their immigration cases. But in the rows of sand-colored tents in Tornillo, Tex., children in groups of 20, separated by gender, sleep lined up in bunks. There is no school: The children are given workbooks that they have no obligation to complete. Access to legal services is limited.... The tent city in Tornillo ... is unregulated, except for guidelines created by the Department of Health and Human Services."
*****
Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "The FBI has begun contacting people as part of an additional background investigation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, including a second woman who alleges that the Supreme Court nominee sexually assaulted her. The bureau has contacted Deborah Ramirez, a Yale University classmate of Kavanaugh's who alleges that he shoved his genitals in her face at a party where she had been drinking and become disoriented, her attorney said Saturday.... The FBI also is following up on allegations by Christine Blasey Ford.... But Michael Avenatti, an attorney for Julie Swetnik, who alleged that Kavanaugh and another boy got teenage girls drunk at parties, where the girls were sexually assaulted, sometimes by groups of boys, said Saturday that Swetnik has not been contacted by the bureau.... Each of the people Ford identified as being at the gathering — [Mark] Judge, Leland Keyser and Patrick J. Smyth -- has said they will cooperate with the FBI.... A background investigation is, by its nature, more limited than a criminal probe, and FBI agents will not be able to obtain search warrants or issue subpoenas to compel testimony from potential witnesses." ...
... AND there's this from the WashPo report: "Trump said the FBI is 'all over talking to everybody.... They have free rein, they can do whatever they have to do, whatever it is that they do. They'll be doing things we have never even thought of.'"
... BUT That Was A Double Whopper with Cheese. Ken Dilanian, et al., of NBC News: "The White House is limiting the scope of the FBI's investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against ... Brett Kavanaugh, multiple people briefed on the matter told NBC News. While the FBI will examine the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, the bureau has not been permitted to investigate the claims of Julie Swetnick, who has accused Kavanaugh of engaging in sexual misconduct at parties while he was a student at Georgetown Preparatory School in the 1980s, those people familiar with the investigation told NBC News. A White House official confirmed that Swetnick's claims will not be pursued as part of the reopened background investigation into Kavanaugh.... The White House counsel's office has given the FBI a list of witnesses they are permitted to interview, according to several people.... They characterized the White House instructions as a significant constraint on the FBI investigation and caution that such a limited scope, while not unusual in normal circumstances, may make it difficult to pursue additional leads in a case in which a Supreme Court nominee has been accused of sexual assault.... White House counsel Don McGahn, who has shepherded Kavanaugh's nomination since President Trump chose him for the high court on July 9, is taking the lead for the White House in dealing with the FBI on the investigation...." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: McGahn knows where the bodies are buried. The fix is in. ...
... UPDATE. Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Saturday that the F.B.I. will have 'free rein' to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, but the emerging contours of the inquiry showed its limited scope. Four witnesses will be questioned.... Left off the list were former classmates who have contradicted Judge Kavanaugh's congressional testimony about his drinking and partying as a student.... Presidential advisers were working in concert with Senate Republicans.... 'I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion,' Mr. Trump wrote [in a tweet]. He denied an NBC News report that he was limiting the inquiry and that investigators were not permitted to examine the claims of Julie Swetnick.... Democrats, left out of the discussions that led to Mr. Trump's order, tried on Saturday to clarify the scope of the F.B.I. investigation...." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: So as I understand it, if a credible person called the FBI tipline & said, "I was at that party in 1982 where I directed Chrissie up to the bathroom, she stayed there a long time, & a while later I saw Brett & Mark come stumbling down the stairs laughing, & when I asked them what was so funny, Brett said, before passing out, 'We just did the Devil's Triangle with Squi's squeeze,'" under the parameters set by McGahn & Trump, the FBI would not be permitted to interview that witness. ...
... bmaz of emptywheel: "This was about the easiest thing in the world to predict. Jeff Flake issues some hollow self indulgent bullshit to make himself look like the last great reasonable man, and it is all garbage being run as cover for a complicit Trump White House and weak Senate Republicans (and at least one faux Democrat) desperately and cowardly seeking any fig leaf possible to allow them to put a craven, partisan, angry and drunkard historical sex offender on the United States Supreme Court for the next three to four decades."
... David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "His hand forced by the demands of Senators Flake, Collins and Murkowksi, President Trump has authorized an FBI investigation into some details of Kavanaugh's past. Unfortunately (but not unpredictably), the White House is so delimiting the investigation as to make it a farce and a sham[.]... Also off limits are Kavanaugh's drinking habits and Mark Judge's employment records at Safeway. Both would be crucial in corroborating the accounts of both Dr. Ford and Ms. Ramirez.... And Flake, Collins and Murkowski have all the power they need to prevent the coverup." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: But they won't exercise that power. The minute the clock stops ticking, Grassley is going to announce he has received the FBI report & there's nothing new in it. The next minute, McConnell will call the vote. ...
... Steve M.: "The supposedly heroic Jeff Flake could be really heroic by threatening a no vote on Kavanaugh unless these restrictions are lifted. But he won't do that. So Democratic senators need to raise hell right now. It has to become widely known at the outset that this is a sham investigation." ...
... Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Say one thing about Donald Trump, the man knows how to obstruct justice[.]... It sure is amazing how Trump does not want any investigations that might implicate assertions made in Brett Kavanaugh's meticulous, highly believable testimony!... To state the obvious none of the actions Republican public officials are taking suggest they think Kavanaugh is credible." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: If you're looking for evidence of Kavanaugh's guilt, it's the cover-up.
... Matt Shuham of TPM: "The ACLU doesn't normally endorse or oppose individual candidates or nominees. It made a 'rare exception' Saturday, in its president's words, announcing its opposition to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation. Citing 'credible allegations that Judge Kavanaugh has engaged in serious misconduct that have not been adequately investigated by the Senate,' the ACLU's national board of directors passed a resolution stating that 'Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's credible testimony, subsequent allegations of sexual misconduct, the inadequate investigation, and Judge Kavanaugh's testimony at the hearing lead us to doubt Judge Kavanaugh's fitness to serve as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's great! I'm sure when the ACLU brings its cases before the Supremes, Justice Wood B. Rapist will treat the organization's clients fairly & impartially. Because that's the kind of guy he is.
... More realistic than the original! Thanks, P.D.:
... Adam Liptak of the New York Times: At Thursday's Judiciary Committee hearing, "Judge Kavanaugh was angry and emotional, embracing the language of slashing partisanship. His demeanor raised questions about his neutrality and temperament and whether the already fragile reputation of the Supreme Court as an institution devoted to law rather than politics would be threatened if he is confirmed.... The charged language recalled Judge Kavanaugh's years as a partisan Republican, working for Ken Starr.... There was reason to fear that Judge Kavanaugh's searing reaction to the recent accusations could affect his work should he be confirmed to the Supreme Court." ...
... Jamelle Bouie: "With his furious partisanship and snarling anger, Kavanaugh is now an extraordinarily toxic nominee. And the raw exercise of power behind his confirmation is itself a powerful blow to the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.... Given the already unprecedented blockade of Merrick Garland, the presence of a Justice Kavanaugh would, for millions of voters, cement the Supreme Court as a narrow, factional power, meant to enhance one political party at the expense of another. In response, liberals may push for radical solutions that alter or dilute the power of the court, from impeaching Kavanaugh to expanding and 'packing' the court with new members. Either move would bring about an institutional arms race, as parties responded with ever-escalating reforms." ...
... Mike McIntire, et al., of the New York Times refute some of the tall tales Kavanaugh told during his confirmation hearings. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Charles Pierce: "In plain terms, for all his spleen and outrage, Judge avanaugh lies about everything. In his earlier hearings, he lied about his judicial philosophy, and he lied about his days as a Republican operative, both in and out of the White House. On Monday, he lied to Martha McCallum of Fox News. On Thursday, he lied about his entire adolescence and his college days. He lied even when he didn't have to lie. He lied in preposterous ways easily disproven by common sense. (The 'Devil's Triangle'? 'Renate Alumnius'?) He lied like a toddler, like a guilty adolescent, and like a privileged scion of the white ruling class, which is a continuum with which we all are far too familiar.... And now, he is a couple of easy steps away from having lied his way into a lifetime seat on the United States Supreme Court. This guy is going to be deciding constitutional issues for the next four decades, and the truth is not in him." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Shamus Khan, in a Washington Post op-ed: "How could a man brought up in some of our nation's most storied institutions -- Georgetown Prep, Yale College, Yale Law School -- dissemble with such ease? The answer lies in the privilege such institutions instill in their members, a privilege that suggests the rules that govern American society are for the common man, not the exceptional one.... Schools often quite openly affirm the idea that, because you are better, you are not governed by the same dynamics as everyone else.... Children whose parents are in the top 1 percent of earners are 77 times more likely to attend an Ivy League school than are the children of poorer parents.... Privilege casts inherited advantages as 'exceptional' qualities that justify special treatment.... His peers from the party of personal responsibility have largely rallied around him, seeking to protect his privilege." ...
... Michael Kranish, et al., of the Washington Post: Those calendar pages Kavanaugh provided to exonerate himself may be of interest to the FBI this week. Several entries tend to corroborate Blasey Ford's account. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
The Poor Dear Is Just Confused. Irin Carmon of New York: "The script was set ten days earlier.... Orrin Hatch called Christine Blasey Ford 'mistaken' and 'mixed up' in her belief that ... [Brett Kavanaugh] tried to rape her when they were teenagers. When the hearing came, Kavanaugh ... said, 'I am not questioning that Dr. Ford may have been sexually assaulted by some person in some place at some time.' It was the pseudo-empathic version of, 'Bitch set me up.' The Republicans held fast to their mendacious dodge: The poor dear meant well. She was just confused -- and the true perps were the Democrats who were using her.... The insult to injury of this position is that it elides its cruelty with infantilizing faux-compassion: It's okay, little lady, you just don't know your own mind. Brett knows best." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Men who write laws designed to subjugate women have long claimed they're doing so to "protect" women. When I started working, many states had laws "protecting" women from having to lift more than 25 pounds. Coincidentally, it turned out that most job descriptions (and this includes office jobs) had a requirement that the job-holder lift more than 25 pounds even when that was not remotely true. For some reason, none of the he-men were around to help secretaries lug around boxes full of copy paper or files. ...
... Maureen Dowd: "... Kavanaugh simply adapted Clarence Thomas's playbook of raging against the machine.... 'This is a circus,' Thomas seethed in 1991. 'This is a circus,' Kavanaugh seethed on Thursday. Kavanaugh echoed Thomas's martyrdom, claiming he was being 'destroyed' by partisans conspiring to dig up dirt. He charged that Democrats were conducting a 'grotesque and coordinated character assassination' because of their anger about President Trump's ascent and their desire for revenge after his own seamy work helping Ken Starr in his pervy pursuit of Bill Clinton. It was a cri de coeur custom-made for the age of Trump -- and custom-designed to please Trump himself: entitled white men acting like the new minority, howling about things that are being taken away from them, aggrieved at anything that diminishes them or saps their power.... The nominee whom Ted Cruz defended as 'a boring Boy Scout' became a sneering portrait of privilege denied. As The Atlantic noted, Kavanaugh brandished Yale as 'a magic wand, something that could be waved to dispel questions of his conduct.'... The hope that the F.B.I. will save the day may be misplaced. In the case of Anita Hill, agents were deployed by Republicans to help smear her.&" ...
... Angry White Men think Kavanaugh Was "Too Timid." Jeremy Peters & Susan Chira of the New York Times: "For many conservatives, especially white men who share Mr. Trump's contempt for the left and his use of divisive remarks, the clash over Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation has become a rallying cry against a liberal order that, they argue, is hostile to their individual rights, political power and social status.... Judge Kavanaugh's furious denials of the allegation and his tirade before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday also underscore how Mr. Trump's own angry rhetorical defenses of himself ... have become such an effective playbook with the Republican base. Republican politicians now regularly portray critics, Democrats, the news media and even people making allegations of sexual misconduct as liars or fakes, and strike aggrieved tones as they present themselves as victims of conspiracies or leftist cabals."
... Susan Svrluga of the Washington Post: "Catholic University's president suspended a dean whose comments on social media this week questioned allegations of sexual assault against ... Brett M. Kavanaugh. John Garvey, the president of the university, said Friday evening in an email to the campus that the remarks 'demonstrated a lack of sensitivity to the victim.' Will Rainford, the dean, had issued a written apology Thursday evening for a remark he made on his university Twitter account that he said 'unfortunately degraded' one of the women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.... 'Swetnick is 55 y/o,' Rainford posted Wednesday on his @NCSSSDean Twitter account. 'Kavanaugh is 52 y/o. Since when do senior girls hang with freshmen boys? If it happened when Kavanaugh was a senior, Swetnick was an adult drinking with&by her admission, having sex with underage boys. In another universe, he would be victim & she the perp!'... Scores of graduates of the National Catholic School of Social Service signed a letter to the university's president, provost and board of trustees objecting to Rainford';s comment and calling for his resignation." Rainford is dean of the School of Social Service. Huh. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
... I was really being tough. And so was he. And we were going back-and-forth. And then we fell in love, OK? No really. He wrote me beautiful letters. And they're great letters. We fell in love. But you know what, now they'll say: "Donald Trump said they fell in love. How horrible! How horrible is that? So unpresidential." I always tell you it's so easy to be presidential, but instead of having 10,000 people outside trying to get into this packed arena, we'd have about 200 people standing right there. -- Donald Trump, speaking of his relationship with brutal dictator & U.S. nemesis Kim Jong-un, at a rally in West Virginia yesterday ...
... Reuters: "North Korea's foreign minister told the United Nations on Saturday continued sanctions were deepening its mistrust in the United States and there was no way the country would give up its nuclear weapons unilaterally under such circumstances. Ri Yong-ho told the world body's annual General Assembly that North Korea had taken 'significant goodwill measures' in the past year, such as stopping nuclear and missiles tests, dismantling the nuclear test site, and pledging not to proliferate nuclear weapons and nuclear technology. 'However, we do not see any corresponding response from the U.S.,' he said."
Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "An F-35 fighter jet crashed in South Carolina, the US Marine Corps said, in the first such incident to affect the most expensive defence programme in the world.... 'The US Marine pilot ejected safely,' the statement [by the Corps] said, adding that there were no civilian injuries and both the health of the pilot and the cause of the crash were being evaluated. The F-35 Lightning II is built by Lockheed-Martin. Reuters reported earlier on Friday that the Pentagon announced an $11.5bn contract for 141 planes, which 'lowered the price for the most common version of the stealthy jet by 5.4% to $89.2m'."
Election 2020. Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts declared on Saturday that she would 'take a hard look' at running for the White House in 2020 once the midterm elections are over, and called on the country to elect a female president to fix the 'broken government' in Washington. Ms. Warren made the announcement during a town-hall meeting in Holyoke, Mass., where she was decrying President Trump and Senate Republicans for digging in behind Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, the embattled Supreme Court nominee who has been accused of sexual assault. She described the hearings as a spectacle of 'powerful men helping a powerful man make it to an even more powerful position.'"
Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive, under pressure from his lawyers and investors, reached a deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Saturday to resolve a securities fraud case. The settlement will force Mr. Musk to step aside as chairman for three years and pay a $20 million fine. The S.E.C. announced the deal two days after it sued Mr. Musk in federal court for fraud and misleading investors over his post on Twitter last month that he had 'funding secured' for a buyout of the electric-car company at $420 a share. The deal with the S.E.C. will allow him to remain as chief executive, something he could have jeopardized if he had gone to battle with the agency."
News Lede
AP: "Rescue officials feared the full scale of Indonesia's earthquake and tsunami could climb far past the more than 800 already confirmed dead, as several large coastal towns remained cut off Sunday by damaged roads and downed communication lines. The country's disaster agency said the death toll more than doubled to 832, and nearly all of those were from the hard-hit city of Palu on the island of Sulawesi. The regencies of Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Moutong -- with a combined population of 1.2 million -- had yet to be fully assessed."
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Reader Comments (11)
Now it’s clear why president pussy grabber wasn’t blowing a gasket over an FBI investigation. It’s because he was going to make sure that there would never be a real investigation. Telling the investigators where to look, where they can’t look, limiting the subjects they can interview and placing others off limits, and even ordering them to ignore everything except two things that are almost impossible to prove is not an investigation. It’s a direct order to give Kavanaugh a clean bill of health. This whole thing is such a farce, right from the start. This is authoritarianism pure and simple.
Just imagine the apoplexy on the right if this was Clinton telling the FBI to turn in a report that gave her what she wanted.
There would be hundreds of threats of assassination. The entire Fox “newsroom” would have a collective stroke. The MSM would be up in arms.
But Marie was right when she said that the FBI knows that heads will roll if Saddam Trump doesn’t get the result he’s looking for.
This is a sick joke, and he’ll get away with it. Right after the midterms he’ll fire Rosenstein and replace him with a potted plant. The Mueller investigation will be shut down and he’ll get away with that too.
Could this be a reason for all the rush to get BK on the Supreme Court?
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/09/trump-pardon-orrin-hatch-supreme-court/571285/
Pat
The Intercept has a great rundown of the multiple lies he gave during his testimony. And another interesting fact: despite Kavanaugh's bluffing about "busting his butt" to get into Yale with "no connections", he's a legacy baby. Gramps opened the door.
Turns out ol' Brett is another one of the "I built it myself!!!" crowd, perfect Trumpenfraude.
https://theintercept.com/2018/09/29/the-unbearable-dishonesty-of-brett-kavanaugh/
Matt Damon plays Kavanaugh in this SNL sketch–– this is good:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/matt-damon-does-defcon1-kavanaugh-on-snl_us_5bb0448de4b0343b3dc0c275
The news that the FBI will be limited in their investigation is exactly what the W.H. and Republican playbook specified just in case the demand for this probe would be something they couldn't reject. A "circus" is much too good a word to describe the mendacity of this operation––the clowns in a circus make us laugh––what we have here are clowns that are covered with the elephant dung they dig up from their sad tattered tents and intend to fling it on the American public. But laugh we must since it seems the only way to shame these bastards––and Matt Damon does a great job at doing just that.
A useful opinion piece in today's WaPo, by law prof. Katherine Franks, demonstrating that the administration's religious liberty policy is really about supporting religious positions that support conservative policy. When religious people go up against oil companies or anti-immigrant efforts, their freedom of religion is not such a priority for the gov.
Wonder how a Justice Kavanaugh would rule in a future Sonora Desert sustenance issue, where the anti-immigrants assert that it is "obstructing the law" to provide water and food to those crossing the desert. And where food kitchens and shelters are beginning to worry that they can be prosecuted for providing help to undocumented homeless.
WWJKD?
The critical issue with Kavanaugh has nothing to do with stuff like sex abuse or competence. The whole thing is based on can they find an excuse that shows it was not Trump's fault for the mistake.
On Kavanaugh's lies, if you can stand it, here is a devastating close reading:
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/09/how-we-know-kavanaugh-is-lying
The little dictator is in love with another little dictator? Hey, now's Melanie's chance. She can file for divorce and name Kim Jong Un as her correspondent. Oh, but wait. Didn't she just say how thrilled she was at Lindsey Graham's attacks on Christine Blasey Ford's allegations?
Okay, never mind.
She's probably cool then with a mangle a trois with another little creep.
And as for Kim, he better watch out. When they're together, if Trump's tiny hands disappear under the table, he'd better get ready to slide a few seats down.
(And while I'm thinking about it, why does Trump always insist on saying stupid/ridiculous/asinine things then immediately after screaming "Ohhhh....but wait! The Trump haters will now say 'Isn't that kind of a stupid/ridiculous/asinine thing to say?''' Or does he really think that Confederate voters in West Virginia are all thrilled to hear that he's in love with one of the worst people in the world? Just sayin'.)
Ak: Trump is only truly in love with himself. When it comes to
beautiful women, Kim, daughter, etc. it's lust, plain and simple.
Simple, as in Trump.
I know less than nothing about sports, but Bull Durham is a favorite movie of mine. Kavenaugh has had me replaying the scene where Kevin Costner goes belly to belly with the Umpire or coach and says you want me to call you a c*cksucker? OK, you're a c*cksucker!
I'm curious if in the littleleague coaching world, there aren't peer coaches, players on opposing teams who recall a certain person and his even-handed fair temperament. Like the movie "Doubt" where Meryl Streep tells Phillip Seymour Hoffman "I talked to the nuns" and he just about passes out. Talk to the Women.
Thanks Ak: Many, many months ago you led me to the Merriam-Webster Web site for fun with games and words, and today's is a beaut!
Word of the Day: Rodomontade
Rodomontade (which can also be spelled rhodomontade) originated in Italian poetry. Rodomonte was a fierce and boastful king in Orlando Innamorato, Count Matteo M. Boiardo's late 15th century epic, and later in the 1516 sequel Orlando Furioso, written by poet Lodovico Ariosto. In the late 16th century, English speakers began to use rodomont as a noun meaning "braggart." Soon afterwards, rodomontade entered the language as a noun meaning "empty bluster" or "bragging speech," and later as an adjective meaning "boastful" or "ranting."
Lemme see, who does this so aptly describe?