Authoritarianism

A disastrous hearing, but the GOP will ‘plow ahead’ with Kavanaugh confirmation (Updated)

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I have been a trial attorney for over 25 years. It is my job to evaluate witnesses and to test their credibility, and to evaluate how testimony is received by a jury.

Christine Blasey Ford testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. I found her testimony genuine, credible and compelling. Moreover, her testimony would be received by a jury as genuine and believable.

In fact, it is reported that thousands of Americans watching Dr. Blasey’s testimony who are themselves victims of sexual assault experienced a cathartic response to her testimony and contacted their elected representatives. She moved the jury. She moved the country.

Dr. Blasey’s testimony was devastating. Dr. Blasey offered to be helpful to the committee more, and volunteered to submit to an FBI background check to test the credibility of her testimony. Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley refused her request.

After a lunch break, it was Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s turn to testify. Brett Kavanaugh is a GOP political operative masquerading as a judge, and he let his mask slip in his opening statement. He delivered an angry jeremiad contemptuous of Democratic Senators whom he asserted were part of a vast left-wing conspiracy trying to destroy him, bent on revenge for the Clintons and their hatred of Donald Trump. It was clearly a political speech delivered for the television audience.

When questioned by senators, Kavanaugh was angry, aggressive and belligerent. He raised new questions about his demeanor and judicial temperament as a judge. Kavanaugh continued to be evasive in his answers, frequently returning to talking points about his innocence that was non-responsive to the question. When given numerous opportunities to request reopening an FBI background check to clear “his good name,” Kavanaugh demurred and would not do so. “I will do whatever the committee decides to do.” President Trump and GOP leadership have refused to reopen the FBI background check. His independence as a jurist is in serious doubt.

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(Update) A sham hearing and a denial of due process

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This. Is. Not. Normal.

This is unprecedented for a confirmation hearing.

The eleven privileged white male Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are going to hide behind the skirts of a hired gun female prosecutor to question Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh because they cannot contain their obvious contempt for a woman who is the victim of a sexual assault and express their view that the real victim here is privileged white male Brett Kavanaugh.

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) concedes that GOP men can’t be trusted to treat Dr. Ford appropriately during hearing:

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) is praising the move by GOP Judiciary Committee members to use outside counsel to question the accuser of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during Thursday’s hearing. It’s pure genius, he said, because, frankly, GOP men simply can’t be trusted to act culturally appropriate toward a woman.

“I think it’s really smart of them to get outside counsel,” Corker told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday. When asked why he thought the all-male Republican members of the panel shouldn’t handle the questioning of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford themselves, Corker responded:

“Somebody will do something that you guys will run 24/7 and inadvertently somebody will do something that’s insensitive.”

Gee, “insensitive” like calling Dr. Blasey Ford “mixed up” such as Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) did or saying her sexual assault claims have been a “drive-by shooting” of Kavanaugh like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) did? Both are members of the Judiciary Committee but, really, how could any man be expected to know that dismissing a PhD and trauma victim as “this woman” or “that lady” is sexist? C’mon, give the fellas a break—people are so touchy touchy these days about basic human decency.

“Gee, what could possibly be more sexist than hiring a woman to do the dirty work while the men ultimately continue to retain all the power?”

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GOP’s privileged white male patriarchy exposed by its bullying of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford

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Over the past week, the GOP has revealed itself as the party of privileged white male patriarchy in its bullying of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. As the New York Times editorializes, G.O.P. Leaders Can’t Even Fake Respect for Christine Blasey Ford. Or for any women.

Senator Orrin Hatch, who so thoroughly disgraced himself during the Anita Hill hearings, suggested Dr. Blasey was “mixed up” (as in “a little bit nutty.”)

Those promoting Brett Kavanaugh concocted a doppelgänger theory to defame a classmate of Brett Kavauagh by accusing him of a criminal sexual assault. Conservative Pundit Points Finger at Another Man to Deflect from Kavanaugh (Ed Whelan has been involved in helping to advise Kavanaugh’s confirmation effort and is close friends with Kavanaugh and Leonard Leo, the head of the Federalist Society, who has been helping to spearhead the nomination); Kavanaugh ally says he did not communicate with White House or Supreme Court nominee about theory of another attacker. (In the wake of Ford’s allegation, Kavanaugh told White House officials and Republicans on Capitol Hill that it was potentially a case of mistaken identity, according to people who heard his comments or were familiar with the discussions.) Nothing suspicious there.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Chuck Grassley, who also thoroughly disgraced himself during the Anita Hill hearings, has feigned that he wants Dr. Blasey to testify while doing everything in his power to make certain that she does not, or that she testifies under terms that are neither fair nor impartial. Grassley has issued threats and arbitrary deadlines to intimidate Dr.Blasey. His “take it or leave it” approach is dismissive of Dr.Blasey’s credible claim. “Let’s hear what the little lady has to say – blah, blah, blah – then let’s vote to confirm.”

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The FOX News presidency is a threat to U.S. national security

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I previously posted about how the intelligence agencies and the Department of Justice believe that President Trump has “crossed a red line” in ordering the declassification of the Carter Page FISA warrant applications and emails of FBI and Department of Justice personnel in pursuit of his “deep state” conspiracy theory concocted by his co-conspirators in obstruction of justice in the GOP House Freedom Caucus and House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes. Abuse of power and obstruction of justice in plain sight.

It turns out that Trump has not even read these documents, and is ordering them released on the advice of his “FOX News cabinet” of advisors who want the materials to further their “deep state” conspiracy theory effort to discredit federal law enforcement agencies and the Special Counsel’s Russia investigation. Trump ordered the government to declassify information he apparently hasn’t read:

It wasn’t a surprise when the White House announced Monday that it was ordering the Justice Department to declassify a set of material related to the genesis of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. For weeks, President Trump’s allies on Fox News and in the House had been echoing one another’s calls to do precisely that.

So on Monday, that very specific order from Trump: Declassify precisely those pages of the application for a warrant to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page that were mentioned in a news conference held by 12 staunchly Trump-loyal members of the House in September. What’s more, Trump ordered the department to declassify text messages involving a number of names familiar to the Fox News audience. Former FBI agent Peter Strzok, Justice Department official Bruce Ohr and so on.

Those elected officials and the Fox News hosts who echoed their demand insisted that the declassifications would demonstrate anti-Trump rot in the Justice Department. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) promised that revelation would help Republicans win in November.

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GOP continues to hide the ball on Brett Kavanaugh and rush his confirmation (Updated)

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The confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh last week raised more questions than were answered. Democrats want the confirmation slowed down so there is time to receive documents not yet produced by the National Archives — only 10 percent of documents have been made available so far — But Republican leaders continue to reject their reasonable requests by labeling documents that have been produced “committee confidential” and rushing to a Judiciary Committee vote next week.

This is not normal. This is what GOP authoritarianism looks like. Joan McCarter at Daily Kos sounds the alarm, Grassley and fellow Republicans continue slow murder of democracy in Kavanaugh hearing:

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee tried and failed to slow down the confirmation process on Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in Thursday morning’s meeting. At the outset, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) moved to adjourn, pointing out the total farce this nomination and committee process has been. “There’s no way to seek justice. I am hear under protest. There is fundamental injustice here.” Grassley proceeded with the meeting, setting a vote on the nomination for next week.

Sen. Feinstein then moved to subpoena the hundreds of thousands of documents from Kavanaugh’s Bush White House service that have been withheld, and was voted down by 11-10, all Republicans voting to keep the nation in the dark. A second motion “to subpoena 100,000 documents denied to the committee through a bogus assertion of ‘constitutional privilege'” followed, also defeated 11-10. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) moved to subpoena documents from Kavanaugh’s Bush White House service related native Hawaiians and indigenous people, and was defeated 11-10.

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