suffragette
suffragette's JournalMarcy Wheeler analyzes the language Kavanaugh used in Fox interview
and notes how he reframed the charge from sexual assault to sexual intercourse.
It’s a very interesting catch by her. All that blather from him about being a virgin and not having intercourse was part of his attempt to reframe the accusation and couch his denial in terms that were different from the accusations.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/09/25/brett-kavanaugh-it-depends-on-what-the-meaning-of-the-phrase-sexual-assault-is/
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That is, the man who helped impeach Bill Clinton for a blowjob says he couldn’t have sexually assaulted any of the now-four women who allege he did because he remained a virgin through that entire period.
And having defined vaginal intercourse to be necessary in any sexual assault, Kavanaugh kept repeating the term, sexual assault sexual assault sexual assault sexual assault sexual assault sexual assault sexual assault sexual assault, eight times in the interview.
Rosenstein: The Gist of it
Let me see if I have this right.
So, Trump’s Admin Trolls concocted a story about Rosenstein that was designed to pressure him to resign. They then fed it to a news organization detested by Trump, probably figuring ‘hey, bonus’ if the story was questioned and the NYT was called out for printing ‘fake news.’
The right wing press dutifully amplified the noise from the story in the attempt to up the pressure on Rosenstein to leave.
Rosenstein calmly denied the report.
Trump’s Admin Trolls then made up a follow-up story that Rosenstein succumbed to the pressure and, resigned because he feared being fired (with an inference of feeling guilty about actions accused of in NYT story).
Again, Rosenstein calmly denied the report.
Except, Rosenstein is clearly not fearful and quite strong and none of the above actions ascribed to him actually took place, except in the fevered imagination of the Trump Admin Trolls.
Do I have this right?
If Republicans didn't know about 2nd accustion, then why did Kavanagh say this in his denial?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/24/brett-kavanaugh-second-allegation-sexual-misconduct-deborah-ramirez
The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so.
To whom would they have “said so” if not the Republicans?
Jane Mayer tweet. Senate Democrats Investigate a New Allegation of Sexual Misconduct,
Jane Mayer
@JaneMayerNYer
·
3m
Senate Democrats Investigate a New Allegation of Sexual Misconduct, from the Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s College Years
https://mobile.twitter.com/JaneMayerNYer/status/1044011607687352320
Remember when Republicans tried to say Sotomayor wasn't qualified because she brought empathy
into her decisions.
I do.
What a contrast between then and now.
It’s clear why Republicans focused on the positive quality of empathy as a negative. They simply do not have any. And they want Supreme Justices who are bereft of that ability to care about others or to see from others’ point of view as well.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/07/how-key-republicans-have-performed-at-sotomayors-hearing/21174/
As a group, Republican senators blasted President Obama's professed standard of "empathy" as a desirable quality in judicial nominees (which a senior administration official has since modified) above all . Almost across the board, they questioned Obama's judicial philosophy before delving into Sotomayor's previous decisions and statements--which they did discuss heavily. They called it a dangerous precedent for judicial appointments.
The "wise Latina" quote figured prominently in Republicans' opening remarks; they roundly questioned her impartiality, and, tying her to Obama's "empathy" preference through some of her statements outside the courtroom, they raised concerns that she's a subjectivist who doesn't think judges should keep their "heart" or "gut" feelings separate from their decisions.
Here’s a post I made back in the day about her process incorporating empathy and detailed why I thought she was a great choice:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5733426
Today was the day Republicans had planned a slam dunk confirmation of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court
They likely also viewed this as an action which could energize Republican voters shortly before these critical midterms.
It’s clearly not working out the way they planned.
Be on the watch for Judicial Crisis Network and those affiliated with them.
They are an organization funded by dark money whose purpose is to get conservative Republicans into judicial positions and block appointments by Democrats.
They already were pushing Kavanaugh. They were the ones who created the pro-Kavanaugh letter signed by 65 women. They also launched a ‘confirm Kavanaugh’ website and ads for him. It’s looking more and more like they knew there was a chance of something like this coming out and had prepared for countering it.
Now they are sending out their top guns to defend him on news programs.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211148540
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/17/brett-kavanaugh-accuser-testify-senate-committee
The letter appears to have been orchestrated by confirmkavanaugh.com, a website funded by the Judicial Crisis Network, a group that relies upon undisclosed donations and backs conservatives for judgeships.
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Judicial_Crisis_Network
JCN is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit. JCN does not disclose its funders, but all of its reported revenue in 2012 and 2013 came from large contributions of more than $10,000, and contributions of more than $1 million providing more than 80 percent of JCN's total revenue in both years.
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"Seven Figure" Campaign to Obstruct Appointing Justice Scalia's Replacement
"Let the People Decide" ad highlighting Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
In February 2016 JCN launched "a seven figure television, radio and digital advertising campaign" that would support seven Republican U.S. Senators who were trying to block hearings on any candidate President Obama nominated to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant after Justice Antonin Scalia's death. Titled "Let the People Decide," the campaign asserts that the seat should only be filled by the next President. The ads were to run in Washington, DC and the media markets covering Senators "Kelly Ayotte (NH), Chuck Grassley (IA), Ron Johnson (WI), John McCain (AZ), Mitch McConnell (KY), Rob Portman (OH), and Pat Toomey (PA)."[15] All but McConnell were up for re-election; McConnell was still serving as the Senate Majority Leader
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Severino
Add Kavanaugh to the list of the hypocrites who worked to impeach Clinton
It’s quite the collection of sexual crimes and misconduct.
Reminder about Gingrich, Livingston and Hastert.
https://thinkprogress.org/what-we-now-know-about-the-men-who-led-the-impeachment-of-clinton-8b5557723bc9/
Gingrich later admitted that, while he was pushing for Clinton’s impeachment, he was engaged in an affair with a Congressional aide.
On the day of the impeachment vote, Livingston announced he was resigning following revelations that he had engaged in an extramarital affair
On April 27, Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for improperly structuring payments to cover up the abuse. In open court, a federal judge repeatedly called him a “serial child molester.”
Kavanaugh: Derailed off the fast track? Here's hoping so.
Concern over endangered orcas blows up approval of Trans Mountain pipeline in Canada
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/concern-over-endangered-orcas-blows-up-approval-for-trans-mountain-pipeline-in-canada/Approval for the expansion was revoked by a federal court in Canada, which ruled Thursday that the effects of the pipeline on orca whales were not addressed and the concerns of First Nations were not adequately considered. The Federal Court of Appeals is requiring the government to redo its consultation with First Nations and assess the impacts of the project on the whales.
The ruling comes after more than a dozen First Nations, the B.C. cities of Vancouver and Burnaby and several environmental groups petitioned the Court of Appeals after the pipeline’s expansion was approved in 2016.
~~~
The decision was a major victory for Canadian First Nations, environmental groups and U.S. tribes that opposed the pipeline expansion. Critically endangered southern-resident killer whales face a sevenfold increase in oil-tanker traffic through their critical habitat if the project is built. Many First Nations also have adamantly opposed construction of the project through their territories.
The Trans Mountain expansion is projected to balloon tanker traffic from about 60 to more than 400 vessels annually as the pipeline flow increases from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day. The tar-sands oil carried by the tankers would be especially disastrous in the event of a spill in the bays and coves and swift currents in the transboundary waters of the Salish Sea because the oil sinks, and comprises an ever-changing mix of chemicals added to the thick oil to make it flow.
Very glad to see this. Resistance can work.
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