You gotta be kidding. Tell the Donald and he'll yank the nomination. Can't do anything Obama did, ya know.

I think Garland will be smart enough to appoint a panel to investigate the charge. There would seem to be a pretty obvious conflict of interest in him doing it himself. Even if he was not legally in conflict, it would appear to be there and would taint any findings he made. It would be like Jeff Sessions not recusing himself from the Mueller investigation.

I agree, jim ~ I'm 99.9% convinced Garland will appoint a panel to avoid any taint ~

Sooz

Has anyone else been following the explosive news of a woman claiming Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while in high school? ~ apparently this started to unfold when Sen Dianne Feinstein turned over a letter her office received from the woman to the FBI while respecting the woman's plea for anonymity ~ the woman has now "outed" herself in a long/detailed WaPo article [California professor, writer of confidential Brett Kavanaugh letter, speaks out about her allegation of sexual assault], which Kavanaugh naturally denied ~ the woman is VERY credible, even submitting a recent lie detector test that says she's telling the truth ~

The story gets more convoluted when Sen Grassley quickly released letters from 65 women who [allegedly] knew Kavanaugh in high school and defended him ... which tells me the GOP knew about this sexual assault charge but were hiding it ~

While the GOP is pushing to get Kavanaugh confirmed ASAP, Sens Corker and Flake [both Rs retiring from the Senate this election] have called to hear testimony from the woman ~ seems to me what had been a sure-thing is now facing very strong head winds ~

Stay tuned ~

Sooz

From my Facebook feed ~ TRUTH!!! ~ Sooz

Simple answer: That was then and this is now. That was them and this is us. And Dems can't play a fast game of find your ass with both hands in the political game.

I find very strange how, no matter which party and whether the person is a candidate or nominee for something, the opposition party is always able to trot out some woman from decades ago who claims the guy sexually assaulted her and she stayed silent about it for lo those many years except for conveniently telling one person in order to corroborate her tale. It's like there's a script everyone follows.

jim, did you read the long WaPo article I live-linked above? ~ if not, I suggest you do ~ she is VERY credible ~

It also frosts me no end that obviously the GOP knew this info but decided to hide it from not only the public but the Dems on the Judiciary Committee as well ~

Sooz

Sooz! These guys elected and support Grabem with his history of sexual offences. Do you really think they're going to let something from 40 years ago derail their having an ultra conservative court for the next 30 years? Kavanaugh is a shoo-in. He'll be attending the Supreme Court's Christmas Party this year and it will be a "Christmas" Party. To hell with all that inclusivity nonsense.

Still, it's amazing how often these people come out of the woodwork and it doesn't seem to matter which party it is. Obama even had a gay guy claiming a long term affair.

While I'm pleased there will be a hearing on this on Monday, I'm old enough to remember the Anita Hill episode ~ another classic case of she said/he said ~ personally, having had a somewhat similar experience in high school, I understand a woman wanting to bury the memories of a totally frightening and demeaning experience ~ but I also understand a woman putting aside her personal comfort years later when debating whether or not to share her demeaning experience by someone being considered for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the US ~

I'm trying to keep an open mind on this, knowing we ALL do stupid things occasionally, especially as teens ~ but I'm beyond rabidly furious that the GOP intentionally hid this information [and much more!] from not only the public but from the Dem Judiciary Committee members as well ~

More to come when I can organize my thoughts ~

Sooz

Have I mentioned recently just how rabidly angry and disgusted I am with GOP/TP sleaziness? ~ ~ Sooz

EDBLOG Kavanaugh SCOTUS Nomination
Grassley’s Shameless Lies, Edition 57
By Josh Marshall / September 19, 2018 6:35 pm

Let’s begin with a simple point. Senate Republicans left a Supreme Court seat vacant for more than a year for simple politics. Any argument that there’s a rush to fill Anthony Kennedy’s seat, on this view, is plainly ridiculous. But I confess I’m still taken aback by the mammoth bad faith and dishonesty of Republican Chairman Chuck Grassley’s argument in this new letter defending the majority’s conduct.

From the start, whether you or agree with her decision or not, it has been crystal clear that Sen. Feinstein kept Blasey Ford’s letter confidential because that was Blasey Ford’s request. The entirety of Grassley’s argument is based on pretending this undisputed fact simply doesn’t exist, as though Feinstein had never even made this clear when she has repeatedly.

Grassley’s argument is that there could have been an investigation if Feinstein had shared Blasey Ford’s letter in July. But now there’s simply no time. Too bad. But look at these two paragraphs specifically.


As you can see, Grassley is arguing that the committee is now essentially out of time because Feinstein respected the accuser’s desire not to have her accusation become public. He is also purportedly concerned that not respecting whistleblowers’ and victims’ desire to have their claims remain confidential will deter future whistleblowers and victims from coming forward. In other words, Grassley is arguing two contradictory sides of the same argument with the aim of saying that time for this particular alleged victim has simply run out and it’s too bad.

Again, this is as brazen and transparent as Senate Republicans’ corrupt decision to steal a Supreme Court seat two and a half years ago. The simple truth is this. Even by the most cynical standard, there’s plenty of time for a simple review of the facts. The problem with time is this: Grassley and his colleagues are worried that any investigation won’t go well for them or for Kavanaugh. If it doesn’t, they may not have time to push through a second nominee before the election. That’s the rush.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/grassley-s-shameless-lies-edition-57

Can't we simply invoke the "lame duck congress" rule so shortly before an election?

Silly you, jabra! ~ that's only available to the sleazy GOP/TPers to use on Dems/libs ~

Sooz

No need to. After all, it seems that attempted rape is not a crime. Fact is Kavanaugh "respected" his victim by not finishing.

Franklin Graham is just another "up is down", "hot is cold, "day is night" true believer, who sees morality as a moving target ~

Sooz

Frank Graham is one of these media preachers who guarantees to his followers that he's got God under his thumb. Send Graham enough money and he'll have God jump through whatever hoops you want. The amazing thing is that anybody at all listens to him.

The only good thing that can be said about Franklin Graham is that he's not as crazy as his sister.

Another example of exactly why Max Boot is one of my very few favorite conservative writers ... he tells the unvarnished TRUTH ~ ~ more "live links" in original ~ Sooz

Conservative destroys latest Kavanaugh defense that shows the GOP is off the deep end: They have ‘descended into madness’
Cody Fenwick, AlterNet / 22 Sep 2018 at 08:38 ET

On Thursday night, a highly regarded conservative lawyer — and friend of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — spun an unhinged defense of the judge against the accusations of sexual assault that have thrown his nomination into doubt.

Ed Whelan, the president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, posted a widely panned tweet storm on Twitter using the thinnest possible evidence to try and claim it’s more likely Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh’s accuser, was attacked by another friend of theirs in high school who supposedly looked like Kavanaugh. Whelan presented no solid evidence for this and faced major blowback for insinuating that someone might be guilty of sexual assault with so little basis.

Conservative writer Max Boot, who has previously been favorable to Kavanaugh’s nomination, viewed this defense/meltdown as a devastating sign for the conservative movement.

“It tells you how far the right has descended into madness that this vile accusation did not come from an anonymous blogger on some online bulletin board or from professional conspiracy theorist Alex Jones,” he wrote in a new Washington Post column. “It came from someone with sterling establishment credentials: Whelan is a Harvard Law School graduate who has served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a Senate Judiciary Committee staffer, and a deputy assistant attorney general in the George W. Bush administration.”

Boot also came to Ford’s defense, dismissing other smears against her that imply she somehow made up the story about Kavanaugh:


Since the rise of President Donald Trump, Boot has been increasingly demoralized by and distanced from the Republican Party. This latest disaster only shows how deep the moral rot of the GOP has spread.

“There are a lot of people who will believe his conspiracy theory, despite the recantation, because they are predisposed to believe it,” he wrote. “Much of the right has taken leave of its senses. They are willing, even eager, to believe in ‘alternative facts,’ to quote Kellyanne Conway’s infamous phrase, if by doing so it will advance their agenda. Any sin, no matter how grave — even maligning an innocent man on sexual-assault charges — is justified in the name of political expediency.”

In the end, Boot argued the party has put its soul up for sale in the search for power. Any of those with any qualms left have already abandoned the GOP.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/09/conservative-destroys-latest-kavanaugh-defense-shows-gop-off-deep-end-descended-madness/

As ridiculous as Whelan's doppelganger claim was it did contain one kernel that puts the GOP in a very precarious position. Contrary to the GOP's initial positions, Whelan's scenario contains an admission that Dr. Ford was sexually assaulted. After all, it wouldn't make much sense for them to claim she wasn't assaulted by someone who looked just like Kavanaugh.

The other problem for them is that the claim was so dull witted it was pretty much an admission that Kavanaugh was the attacker.

From my Facebook feed ~ ~ Sooz

I'm also curious about his spending habits ~ he ran up [and allegedly paid off] massive debts fairly quickly ~ something just seems "off" ~ take a look at The Many Mysteries of Brett Kavanaugh’s Finances ~ ~ Sooz

Inside Kavanaugh's prep
By Mike Allen / Sun, Sep 23

"In a preparation session on Tuesday, [Brett] Kavanaugh faced more than a dozen White House aides in the Eisenhower building, during which aides played different senators for more than two hours," the WashPost's Seung Min Kim and Josh Dawsey report:

"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."

"He declined to answer some questions altogether, saying they were too personal ... 'I’m not going to answer that,' Kavanaugh said at one point according to a senior White House official, who said that the questions were designed to go over the line and that he struck the right tone."

The bottom line: "Kavanaugh has complained about the stories focusing on his family and has grown 'incredibly frustrated' at times, in the words of one associate, but he has not sought to drop out of the running ... He has said privately and publicly that he is eager to testify."

Be smart, from Jonathan Swan: This leak from the (until now) closely guarded Kavanaugh prep room is extraordinary and damaging. It provides a big, sensitive target for Democratic questioning at Thursday’s hearing.

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am-7a4327cd-c5ee-4c98-9ade-f072c8a1fa6d.html

I'm guessing the GOP/TPers are frantic ~ or, if they are not, they should be ~ ~ Sooz

New Sexual Assault Accusation Rocks Kavanaugh Nomination
By LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK / September 24, 2018 6:43 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — A second allegation of sexual misconduct has emerged against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a development that has further imperiled his nomination to the Supreme Court, forced the White House and Senate Republicans onto the defensive and fueled calls from Democrats to postpone further action on his confirmation.

The new accusation landed late Sunday in a report from The New Yorker, just a few hours after negotiators had reached an agreement to hold an extraordinary public hearing Thursday for Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who accuses him of sexually assaulting her at a party when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh denies the claim.

The second claim against Kavanaugh dates to the 1983-84 academic year, which was his first at Yale University. Deborah Ramirez described the incident after being contacted by The New Yorker magazine. She recalled that Kavanaugh exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party, thrust his penis in her face, and caused her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away.

In a statement provided by the White House, Kavanaugh said the event “did not happen” and that the allegation was “a smear, plain and simple.” A White House spokeswoman added in a second statement that the allegation was “designed to tear down a good man.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, called for the “immediate postponement” of any further action on Kavanaugh’s nomination.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said they would investigate Ramirez’s accusation. Taylor Foy, a Judiciary spokesman, complained that Democrats “actively withheld information” from the Republicans. He said they appear “more interested in a political takedown” than a bipartisan process.

The New Yorker said it contacted Ramirez after learning of a possible involvement in an incident with Kavanaugh. It said that the allegation came to the attention of Democratic senators through a civil rights lawyer. The Democrats then began investigating.

Ramirez was reluctant at first to speak publicly “partly because her memories contained gaps because she had been drinking at the time of the alleged incident,” The New Yorker reported. After “six days of carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney, Ramirez said that she felt confident enough of her recollections” to speak publicly, the report said.

The Associated Press tried reaching Ramirez at her home in Boulder, Colorado. She posted a sign on her front door, indicating she has no comment.

Joining the maelstrom, Michael Avenatti, the attorney representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in her legal fight with President Donald Trump, claimed to represent a woman with information about high school-era parties attended by Kavanaugh and urged the Senate to investigate. Avenatti told The Associated Press that he will disclose his client’s identity in the coming days and that she is prepared to testify before the committee, as well as provide names of corroborating witnesses.

The accusation from Ramirez raise the stakes further for a dramatic showdown Thursday, as Kavanaugh and Ford testify in public about an incident she characterizes as attempted rape — and that he says simply never happened.

Kavanaugh’s nomination hangs precariously. A handful of senators in both parties remain undecided on his nomination. Defections among Republicans would likely block his path to the Supreme Court.

The White House is approaching Ford’s potential testimony with trepidation, nervous that an emotional performance might not just damage Kavanaugh’s chances but could further energize female voters to turn out against Republicans in November.

Still, the White House and Republicans have cast doubt on Ford’s allegations. The Judiciary panel said it had talked to three other people who Ford has told The Washington Post were at the party where the alleged assault took place — Mark Judge, Patrick J. Smyth and Leland Ingham Keyser. All three told investigators that they had no recollection of the evening in question, the committee said.

The Post reported Sunday that Keyser said in a brief interview at her home that she still believes Ford, even if she doesn’t remember the party.

As he builds a case for his innocence, Kavanaugh plans to turn over to the committee calendars from the summer of 1982. Those calendars, he says, don’t show a party consistent with Ford’s description of the gathering in which she says he attacked her, The New York Times reported Sunday. The calendars list basketball games, movie outings, football workouts, college interviews, and a few parties with names of friends other than those identified by Ford, according to the Times.

A person working on Kavanaugh’s confirmation backed up the Times account of the calendars to The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.

Even before the latest turns, the carefully negotiated hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee with Kavanaugh and Ford carried echoes of the Anita Hill hearings in 1991. Then, like now, another Republican president had selected a Supreme Court nominee, now-Justice Clarence Thomas, facing accusations of sexual harassment.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wrangled with Ford’s lawyers for the last week over the exact terms of her appearance. A breakthrough came over the weekend as Ford agreed to testify.

Ford’s lawyers said it was still unclear as of Sunday who will ask questions, as Republicans were trying to hire an outside female counsel for the role. The 11 senators on the GOP side of the dais are all men, creating dangerous optics for a hearing that will be carried on live television.

Democratic senators are expected to ask their own questions. They have protested the panel’s treatment of Ford, comparing it to bullying.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/new-sexual-assault-allegation-rocks-kavanaugh-confirmation

Here's more ~ what I'm finding ridiculous is Grassley's 100% adamant resistance to an FBI investigation ~ ~ Sooz

Grassley’s team faces new controversy at an inopportune time
09/24/18 09:30 AM
By Steve Benen

After Christine Blasey Ford came forward publicly with a sexual assault allegation against Brett Kavanaugh, the obvious move would’ve been for the FBI to re-open its background check of the Supreme Court nominee. Republicans, for reasons that still haven’t been fully explained, rejected such an approach.

In fact, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) specifically argued that his committee’s staff is capable of examining the controversy, writing on Twitter, “No other OUTSIDE investigation is necessary.”

It’s never been altogether clear exactly which investigatory tasks the Judiciary Committee’s staff would tackle, but relying exclusively on Grassley’s team has become a much tougher sell. Last week, for example, Mike Davis, the committee’s chief staffer for nominations, announced publicly that he was “unfazed and determined” to “confirm Judge Kavanaugh,” making clear that the investigation wouldn’t be fair and impartial.

Over the weekend, an NBC News report raised new questions about Grassley’s team.


I’m sure the Iowa Republican has many capable aides, but these developments hardly bolster the case that Grassley’s staff can be counted on to do the FBI’s job.

This story, however, includes a curious twist. Politico reported on Friday:


And what makes this notable? Garrett Ventry joined Grassley’s staff while on temporary leave from CRC Public Relations.

It’s not too late for officials to reach out to the FBI, asking the bureau to do exactly what it’s always done under circumstances like these.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/grassleys-team-faces-new-controversy-inopportune-time#break