DonViejo
DonViejo's JournalIn the Kavanaugh hearing, Republican rage overrides the desire to seek the truth - Max Boot
By Max Boot
Columnist
September 28 at 1:30 PM
In the 1976 movie “Network,” Howard Beale is a dyspeptic TV anchorman with a high-decibel mantra: “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore.” If Beale were alive today, he would feel right at home in the Republican Party. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday on Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court showed that, among Republicans, rage has triumphed over reason.
As John Harwood of CNBC noted, Republicans don’t care what the science says about climate change. They don’t care what the economic models say about the fiscal impact of tax cuts. And they don’t care what the evidence says about the possibility that Kavanaugh may be guilty of sexual assault charges. All that matters is sticking it to the “libtards.”
Kavanaugh channeled this vibe perfectly in the most acerbic and abusive appearance of any nominee I have ever seen before any Senate committee. His face contorted in anger, he blasted Senate Democrats for replacing “advise and consent with search and destroy,” and turning the confirmation process into “a national disgrace.”
He reflected a conspiratorial mindset — another hallmark of the modern GOP — when he charged that he was the victim of “pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election” and even of Democrats seeking “revenge on behalf of the Clintons.” If that’s what this was about, why didn’t the previous Trump nominee to the Supreme Court, Neil M. Gorsuch, face any accusations of sexual assault?
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), showing that he is bereft of the adult supervision once provided by former Senate colleague John McCain, matched Kavanaugh outburst-for-outburst. He snarled that “this is the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics.” He had a point about the failure of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to investigate the charges promptly. Yet he and the rest of the Republicans showed little interest in investigating them, either. Instead of seriously questioning Kavanaugh, he sarcastically asked, “Are you a gang rapist?” eliciting a perfunctory “No.”
more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2018/09/28/in-the-kavanaugh-hearing-republican-rage-overrides-the-desire-to-seek-the-truth/
She Confronted Flake. Hours Later, He Flipped on Kavanaugh
Sen. Jeff Flake Asked for Kavanaugh Vote Delay After Assault Survivor Confronted Him in Elevator
“I was sexually assaulted and nobody believed me,” Maria Gallagher, 23, told the senator in an elevator hours before his surprise call for a vote delay.
Sam Stein
09.28.18 2:33 PM ET
It was all so spontaneous.
Maria Gallagher, 23, had come to the Hart Senate office building on Friday morning to protest the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. And as part of her responsibilities, she’d been tasked with camping out outside of Sen. Jeff Flake’s office to somehow, someway, persuade him to vote no.
She never imagined she’d actually see the senator walk down the hall to make his way to the Judiciary Committee where he would cast a vote. Nor did she expect that news would emerge, at that moment, that he would vote yes on the nomination after having wavered for days about what to do. And yet, there Flake was, tall and slender, dressed in a sharp suit and white shirt, making his way to the elevator.
“It was all kind of a blur,” Gallagher recalled in an interview with The Daily Beast. “We all ran after him. We held open the elevator and I just started telling him why it was important and what had happened to me and why he should not let Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court.”
What followed was an excruciating exchange that lasted only five minutes in time but could, just maybe, change the course of history. After another woman, Ana Maria Archila, admonished Flake for supporting Kavanaugh, Gallagher jumped in.
“I was sexually assaulted and nobody believed me,” she said. “I didn’t tell anyone, and you’re telling all women that they don’t matter.”
more
https://www.thedailybeast.com/sen-jeff-flake-asked-for-kavanaugh-vote-delay-after-assault-survivor-confronted-him-in-elevator?ref=home
Kremlin critic says he was poisoned for investigating colleagues' killings
Source: Reuters
SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 / 1:15 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
BERLIN (Reuters) - Russian and German doctors treating anti-Kremlin activist Pyotr Verzilov agree that he was poisoned ahead of being taken ill two weeks ago, Verzilov said.
He said it was likely Russian “special services” were behind the attack, which he believed had been meant to warn him off investigating the killing of three Russian journalists in the Central African Republic.
Verzilov, who runs an online news portal with close ties to punk protest group Pussy Riot, was flown to Germany for urgent treatment after falling ill two weeks ago in Moscow.
“They agree that it was a specially projected poison,” Verzilov told Reuters in an interview in a central Berlin flat.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-pussy-riot-germany/kremlin-critic-says-he-was-poisoned-for-investigating-colleagues-killings-idUSKCN1M82CT
We're Watching a Clumsy Cover Up In Real Time - by Josh Marshall
This is critical to understanding what is going on here with the Kavanaugh accusations. Just critical.
You know about the Whelan debacle. A far-fetched series of conjectures all leading to pointing the finger of blame at a classmate at Kavanaugh’s school. That was crazy for all the reasons we thought it was crazy – not least a highly trained lawyer brazenly libeling an innocent person. Remember too that Whelan worked with the Federalist Society’s PR firm. There’s also good reason, though not hard proof, to believe Leonard Leo, Federalist Society chief was also involved. Whelan blamed a then-boy named Christ Garrett.
Garrett happened to be a good friend of Kavanaugh’s at the time and was Blasey Ford’s boyfriend at the time of the alleged attack.
Think about this. If you are working from records of where people lived at the time, what are the odds that of all Kavanaugh’s classmates you’d come up with one of Kavanaugh’s friends and the friend who was actually going out with Blasey Ford at the time? Whelan just happened upon the connection which actually brought Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh together? Not likely.
I would suggest that there’s virtually no chance that is a coincidence.
Of course they’re connected. And the connection almost certainly stems from Kavanaugh’s recollections. Kavanaugh says not only that he doesn’t remember the alleged attack but that he doesn’t have any recollection of Blasey Ford at all. They weren’t even in the same social circles, he claimed. She went to a school that didn’t have a lot of overlap with his. And yet, when his friend and top nomination advisors came up with an alternative theory of the crime they picked her then boyfriend? That is not an accident. This fact needs to be investigated just as much as the alleged assault because it is highly likely that shows Kavanaugh’s knowledge and I suspect, if looked at closely, will show real evidence of Kavanaugh’s consciousness of guilt.
By JOSH MARSHALL
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/prime-beta/were-watching-a-clumsy-cover-up-in-real-time
UPDATED: Facebook Network is Breached, Putting 50 Million Users' Data at Risk
Source: The New York Times
By Mike Isaac and Sheera Frenkel
Sept. 28, 2018
SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook said on Friday that an attack on its computer network had exposed the personal information of nearly 50 million users.
The company said it discovered the breach this week, finding that attackers had exploited a feature in Facebook's code that allowed them to take over user accounts. The company said it fixed the vulnerability and notified law enforcement officials.
"We're taking it really seriously," Mark Zuckerberg, the company's chief executive, said in a conference call with reporters. "We have a major security effort at the company that hardens all of our surfaces." He added: "I'm glad we found this. But it definitely is an issue that this happened in the first place."
More than 90 million Facebook users were forced to log out of their accounts early Friday, a common safety measure taken when accounts have been compromised.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/technology/facebook-hack-data-breach.html
Original Story:
Facebook Security Breach Affects 50 Million Users
By Associated Press
September 28, 2018 12:58 pm
NEW YORK (AP) -- Facebook says it recently discovered a security breach affecting nearly 50 million user accounts.
The company says hackers exploited the "View As" feature on the service. Facebook says it has taken steps to fix the security problem and alerted law enforcement.
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/facebook-security-breach-50-million-accounts
Amy Klobuchar scalds the GOP for rushing Kavanaugh vote before more evidence drops
Patrick Leahy shreds Kavanaugh for lying under oath and blasts GOP senators
Donnelly, A Vulnerable Dem, Will Vote No On Kavanaugh
Source: Talking Points Memo
By Tierney Sneed
September 28, 2018 11:52 am
Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), who is facing a tough reelection battle this year and voted last year to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch, announced his opposition to confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court on Friday.
“While I would gladly welcome the opportunity to work with President Trump on a new nominee for this critically important position, if Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination comes before the full Senate for a vote under these circumstances, I will oppose it,” he said in a statement, in which said the sexual misconduct allegations facing Kavanaugh were “disturbing and credible” and deserved investigation by the FBI.
Donnelly’s opposition puts the attention on Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). If all four of them also oppose Kavanaugh, his confirmation will likely fail on the Senate floor. If just one of them supports him, it will likely succeed.
Correction: This article originally incorrectly stated that Sen. Donnelly’s first name is John. We regret the error.
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Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donnelly-a-vulnerable-dem-will-vote-no-on-kavanaugh
House Intelligence Committee to release transcripts of now-defunct Russia probe
Source: Politico
By KYLE CHENEY 09/28/2018 10:16 AM EDT
The House Intelligence Committee voted Friday to publicly release 53 transcripts of witness interviews in the panel’s now-defunct Russia investigation.
The measure passed unanimously, though not until Republicans swatted down efforts by Democrats to release a handful of additional transcripts — including those of Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)
Republicans intend to release the transcripts in bulk after an intelligence community review to screen for classified information.
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Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/28/house-intelligence-committee-to-release-transcripts-of-now-defunct-russia-probe-851355
Senate GOP forging ahead with Kavanaugh vote today shows why Ford sought to stay silent
By James Hohmann
September 28 at 8:56 AM
THE BIG IDEA: The decision by Senate Republicans to vote this morning to advance Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination validates Christine Blasey Ford’s hesitation to publicly accuse him of sexual assault.
After reaching out to a Washington Post tip line and her representatives in Congress, as well as outlining her story to friends, the Palo Alto University professor said she decided she wanted to stay anonymous for two reasons: She believed her life would be upended if she shared her imperfect memories of what happened at a house party in 1982, and Kavanaugh would ultimately get confirmed to the Supreme Court anyway.
“Once he was selected and it seemed like he was popular and it was a sure vote, I was calculating daily the risk-benefit for me of coming forward and wondering whether I would just be jumping in front of a train that was headed to where it was headed anyway and that I would just be personally annihilated,” she testified yesterday. “I believed that, if I came forward, my voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters.”
Ford’s first fear has undoubtedly materialized: she will be a household name for the rest of her life. She’s received death threats. She’s needed to hire body guards. She’s been staying apart from her children as a security precaution.
Increasingly, it looks like Ford’s second worry may also come true: that it would all be for naught. After a closed-door meeting of the Republican conference late last night following the nearly nine-hour hearing, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.) announced plans to vote Kavanaugh out of the Judiciary Committee at 9:30 a.m. Lawmakers were told that they need to stay in Washington over the weekend for procedural votes on Saturday and Monday. A final confirmation vote on the floor is planned for Tuesday.
more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/09/28/daily-202-senate-gop-forging-ahead-with-kavanaugh-vote-today-shows-why-ford-sought-to-stay-silent/5bad342c1b326b7c8a8d16eb/
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Name: DonGender: Male
Hometown: Massachusetts
Home country: United States
Member since: Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 PM
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