Sarah Huckasands says Trump doesn’t hate Ivanka or Jared, so how can he be? The old “one of my best friends are…” defense. But she’s right. Trump has only one “ism”–Trumpism. He believes only in his own personal gain; his is a transactional approach to life. All of his thoughts, reactions, words revolve around him first. His prism on everything begins and ends with Donald J Trump. Without intelligence, empathy, sympathy or emotional engagement, his only metric in every setting is what’s in it for me?

And so, his response to the assault on the PIttsburgh synagogue was swift, unlike in any other domestic terrorist attack. Well, first he said something stupid off the top of his head. He pondered if only the synagogue had had an armed guard, it would have been different. With 4 policemen cut down in a hail of semi-automatic bullets, the likely difference would have been one more dead body. It was the stupid mistake of someone who has consistently resisted circumstances where he would have to return fire in the face of a gun up close and personal.

Later with teleprompter running, someone scripted his condemnation of anti-semitism in oblique ways. The now self designated White Nationalist-in-Chief talked about “no place for hate” as if it was an abstraction. No where did he condemn the people who put hate out into the world, who recruit new members around hate and who commit acts of hate. The statement pointed out it had been around for a long time and by implication could not be attributable to Agent Orange.

Why? Because he’s got a solid base of Jewish people, particularly elderly, who love him for his buddy status with Bibi Netanyahu and the new US embassy in Jerusalem. They’re rich, they don’t like paying taxes and that’s more important than social security. Of course, they want social security because they don’t want to be jilted out of their contribution. But they don’t need it.

On the other hand, Agent Orange is acutely aware of his support among white nationalists, neo-Nazis and various white supremacist groups. Does he agree with their rhetoric? Only as it intersects with his own misgivings about globalism as a zionist plot, again from the vantage of interference with his accumulation of wealth and the thought that someone else is taking advantage of him.  But he does understand the usefulness of anti-semitism in maintaining and expanding his posse of Trumpophants. So he must thread that needle between his Jewish zionist supporters and his anti-semitic ones. He can be “on both sides”; he wobbles in emphasis between the two although the bulk of his support has shaded more white than Jewish. The latter are happy with a few crumbs. In fact, white nationalists converge with supporters of a Jewish state. They want every “race” to have their own place to go, so they can get the hell out the US.

His strategy seems to be working. In south Florida, old Jewish ladies are shouting down 45’s critics as being the true anti-semites because they hate Israel and they support the now defunct Iran nuclear deal. They ganged up on Jonathan Weisman, a Washington editor at the New York Times  who had been targeted since 2016 by white supremacist groups. Jonathan has written the book “(((Semitism))): Being Jewish in America in the Age of Trump. When you’re brainwashed, you’re brainwashed. They don’t ask questions; they can’t think.

It seems mind boggling after the largest massacre of Jewish citizens in US history. Jewish communities are well aware of their long history of torment and yet at times seemed to lack an understanding in real time. Jews in Nazi Germany were saying long after it was too late that they were Germans first even as Hitler was plumbing family trees. As rumors circulated about death camps, some refused to believe in what rightly seemed unbelievable. And when they looked to the US for escape, FDR staunchly refused to allow them to emigrate here where laws severely limited their number. FDR feared anti-Semitism at home is perhaps the most generous thing that can be said about him. And yet, there are Holocaust survivors and their children in the Trump camp, even after he politically supports people who promote genocide in a synagogue while people were praying. Go figure.

Voting is the start to turning this around. We can’t legislate away anti-semitism, racism, xenophobia, white nationalism. But we can drive it underground again. We can enforce laws and take legal action against those who propagate those ideas. The DOJ can return to Obama era policies now abandoned on tracking and prosecuting hate groups and domestic right wing terrorists. They can resume programs to reorient white supremacists. They pose a far bigger threat than any misguided ISIS killer or the unarmed caravan of primarily women and children walking hundreds of miles away in Mexico. We can restore the protections to groups, most recently those in the LGBTQ community that are being threatened.

We can halt the new attacks that coming. While the White-Nationalist-in-Chief is threatening to erase birthright citizenship, we don’t know if its a base building electioneering ploy or as some substance. We do know that Steven Miller is chomping at the bit to implement new ways to whiten America. Perhaps in pushing back, we can begin to break Trump’s spell. VOTE early or on  November 6.

The commercial mainstream television seem trapped in pushing a message that people vote on pocketbook issues. Because, perhaps, it’s what they’ve always said and they haven’t yet jumped into the new realities of encrusted partisan politics sandblasted in place by a would be American oligarch. The fact that the CelebrityPresident has falsely constructed his reputation as a self made billionaire is unsurprisingly ironic. If he is unable to resist a falsehood-a-minute each and every day, it didn’t blossom suddenly; it is the foundation of his whole career. In all likelihood, he isn’t actually a billionaire either, the rationale for hiding his tax returns. He may be hoping to increase his net worth as president so hecanget into the billions, then reveal his returns. He is in every way a pretender to the title and the club. That could be why he so adores the real foreign autocratic oligarchs.

Despite interview after interview with Trump supporters, the media continues to marvel at people talking about cultural values. They may start with “Trump said he would increase jobs” but they wind up with something about “He is speaking for us” or “He represents our stories”, said with reverence. The media commentary then inserts how Trump has failed to deliver on his promises on economic betterment, except of course for people who already have a lot and only want more. They fail to acknowledge that he has delivered on the big promise on whiteness. Perhaps because they don’t want to admit that the whiteness narrative is firing today’s politics of post-racialism. That admission would say something about the white superiority foundation of the culture.

Their editorial choices about who gets interviewed gives the impression that there are a lot of people out there lassoed with 45’s rope. And then they throw up a lot of statistics to say how limited Trump’s base is. One has to ask, if their numbers are small, then why is the media chasing around Trump voters to monitor if they’ve changed their minds? Then they round it off with interview after interview with administration lackeys spouting their propaganda. Why does anyone talk to Kellyanne? She never uttered a truthful sentence. She’s never provided anything other than misinformation. She’s a fidget spinner, whirling as fast as she can to throw off “alternative facts”. She’s got a ton of other outlets, including Trump/Fox TV; she doesn’t need mainstream media to get her message out because she’s got a direct feed.

Unlike previous administrations who needed their messages amplified through commercial media, nobody listening to TV news needs more of Kellyanne’s crap. Let the comedians handle that. It’s almost like commercial mainstream media, in trying to find its way to preserve revenue, is desperately trying to insert itself into relevance. It does have a relevant role, to investigate and expose the truth. Regurgitation of obfuscation, in the guise of “objectivity” is false equivalency. Yes objective truth is still a real thing.

As Trump tweets suck up all the media air, what are some of the news stories that aren’t being told? The 17% increase in the national debt in just the last year is one. The $779 billion for 2018 is almost double the $439 billion in 2015, when reducing the deficit was an integral part of the GOP message. Because of the tax cut, federal revenues have remained flat but spending shot up, primarily due to a $65 billion increase in defense spending and $62 billion hike in interest on the debt. In an economic boom that normally would increase tax revenue,  business tax revenue has fallen sharply. Revenue from corporate taxes fell a whopping 30%. Here, 45 may be trying to make up lost ground with revenue from tariffs, a move that inserts the federal government into what used to be commercial transactions between businesses.

How many Americans know something about the rest of the world except for acts of violence in random locations? Brexit will be a sentinel event in European history with implications for disrupting global trade and perhaps unsettling the world’s economy. Earthquakes, floods, famines suggest we are living with God’s wrath in Sodom and Gomorrah. We are rapidly approaching a monumental change in the earth’s climate that could signal the end of our way of life. Other countries are instituting carbon tax plans in response. We’re not talking about that. And yet, we’re honing in on horse face, an insult that Agent Orange tweeted @Stormy Daniels.

Mitch McConnell has already started the whisper campaign that was the objective when the tax cuts were passed; gutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They call these “entitlements” as if we haven’t all contributed to Social Security for our whole working lives. They’re more like savings accounts that the federal agency has administered. The politicians are getting the interests on their investments, shouldn’t everyone else? It is true that these programs and the debt service are a large chunk of the budget; both will increase because the population is aging and rising interest rates will grow the debt service which for the most part is owed to foreign entities. Why do Republicans always want to exclude people from their just deserts while their leadership revel in their own fortunes?

But contrary to GOP talking points, our government benefit programs are not the reason for the leap in the national debt. The tax cut sacrificed $165 million in revenue and the deficit increased by a remarkably similar amount of $113 million. The solution is that having made these commitments, our government should raise the revenue to cover them i.e. raise taxes with the bulk coming from those who can most afford it.

Concurrently, we could be curbing the spending excesses of 45’s administration. The misspent dollars by Cabinet members, the cost of security for the travel of the Trump children and grandchildren for business and recreation, expanded security for Cabinet officials and secret service payments to Trump properties are just a few examples. Their sum amounts to a billion or two dollars. There are new allegations against Ryan Zinke, the Secretary of the Interior; this is his second go round. No doubt, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

These practices will continue as long as the administration can obscure what is happening in its agencies with BullyPresident twitter blizzards. Of course, these are small economies. But Agent Orange campaigned on the idea that he would run the government like a well run business and drain the Washington swamp. Contrary to myth, he’s had very little experience with well run businesses. Instead, he brought in a crew of ignorant or partisan loyalists who are running a sloppy undermanned operation that’s picking our pockets. Which is better, paying security for Donald Jr’s trip to shoot big game in Africa or funding children through UNICEF. Oh, I forgot. 45 stopped funding UNICEF.

One thought is that the administration’s policy is to reduce expenditures by emptying out the federal bureaucracy. Their tactics include purges of those deemed unloyal to Trump, politicizing policy, demoralizing personnel until they resign, presidential attacks on agencies, undermining career personnel and leaving positions unfilled from the very beginning. Think of how different the response to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi could have been if we had ambassadors to Turkey and Saudi Arabia who could have been useful in both investigating and establishing communication with Saudi officials. Instead we have frequent Whatsapp chats between Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Jared; a master politician leading the blind, a naive, corrupt real estate mogul. Their missives could have been counterbalanced by a knowledgeable expert in diplomatic relations who understands how to leverage those billions of dollars in military equipment purchases to persuade the Prince to stop eliminating his opponents or at least to do it in less obvious ways. After all, replacement parts are only available in the US. And you can’t strap Chinese bombs to US jets. Where else are they going to go?

Transactional Don keeps thinking he’s gonna lose a sale to other competitors, untethered to US-Saudi historical and political positions and those of the other guys. Without vision further than tomorrow, he’s unable to grasp long term implications. He hasn’t figured out that his words last on video forever. He just tells his followers not to believe what they see or hear. Unfortunately that doesn’t work with other world leaders or those outside his orbit here at home.   

If people vote on economics, why are all the GOP political ads designed to scare people over threats that Democrats will strip them of their guns, their “religious freedom”, the privilege to pack the courts and the voter fraud boogie man? Democrats will fling open the borders to allow horde of terrorists, drug dealers and job thieves to pillage the country. There’s a caravan from Honduras moments away from our border. Well, they have to travel over the 2000 miles of Mexico, but that’s a mere hop, skip and a jump. Wait, isn’t this an election for state and local officials as well as Congressional representatives and Senators? Where are GOP plans for health care, stopping the flood of opioids from pharmaceutical distributors and improving schools, or ensuring that every voter can cast a ballot and it will count? Scratch the last one; the GOP doesn’t do that.

So why has the CelebrityPresident committed to campaigning 6 of the next 7 days, besides the fact that he loves the adulation? He’s said that he’s so important, if he doesn’t make the election about him, Republicans won’t come out to vote. He may be right. In truth, Agent Orange is the conservative’s Hope and Change. They are stubbornly clinging to the rhetoric, hoping that they will see the change around them, where they live. And that requires faith. Not the faith of evangelicals who have cast the amoral Chief Executive as an anointed instrument of their Lord. Wrap anyone in a biblical phrase and they snap to.

Trump voters believe that economic growth is happening somewhere and it will get to them where live eventually.

The other Trump voters are still looking for the evidence in their neighborhood. Most of them don’t know anyone who’s gotten a high paying job. They haven’t seen any new or reopened factories in their area. They haven’t seen any new affordable housing going up. But they believe it’s happening somewhere and it will get to them eventually. They just have to hold on while last year’s bonus after the tax cuts and that tiny increase in their income tax refund was nibbled away by inflation. Wait while their wages stay flat and their purchasing power shrinks. They have their fingers crossed that the tariffs will work out for them; that a minimally revamped NAFTA, now the USMCA(US-Mexico-Canada-Agreement) will bring jobs to their location before the prices go up at their local grocery store and Walmart. Soybean and hog farmers have to believe that they can stockpile their crops and pork until foreign markets open up for them again before their products rot. They have reason to hope because they don’t really understand the machinations of global trade conducted by international corporations that they believe are actually American businesses. Neither Trump nor Trump/Fox News has told them anything about that.

So they have their faith. It hasn’t been long enough, they think. One can’t take the CelebrityPresident literally. They regularly translate his words into what they know he meant. It wasn’t a literal wall, it’s a figurative reinforcement of the existing one. Besides, the Democrats have been fighting him tooth and nail, even as the GOP controls every branch of government and the Democrats are a puny, powerless minority. He’s being undermined by the deep state. The courts haven’t helped, but they will now, once the poisonous Agent Orange permeates the current SCOTUS session. They don’t even realize his penetration of federal judgeships, where the vast majority of cases are heard and the law is forged, I mean interpreted. It is paying dividends in rulings about redistricting and challenges to voter ID laws in realtime as the 2018 elections are upon us. And the immigration court rulings on asylum and deportation are keeping the Homeland and ICE contractors rolling in dough as they literally shovel people back over the southern border.

The faithful live in a fictional landscape, conjured up on Fox & Friends and Facebook newsfeeds. Many don’t have a contrary view of local events because they have no local newspapers or TV. The heavy hitters like Hannity, Ingraham and Judge Jeanine bring it all home. One hits the grand slam after they’ve loaded the bases. But it’s a comfortable home, warm and cozy as winter closes in. Snugly wrapped in a quilt stitched out of squares like an end to abortion, an end to same sex marriage and the sanctity of assault rifles, Faith and Change lingers in the air.

The right has found their new campaign theme for the midterms, even more powerfully anxiety evoking in their rebound from their triumphant packing of the Supreme Court. Agent Orange has found his echo in Trump/Fox News, fear mongers par excellence, who hammer out multiple times a day that the hysterical radical left mob is attacking Republican leadership in their work places and restaurants. These are the same Republican members in Congress that in some previous news cycle they themselves were lambasting. The same Congress that was more unpopular than any other part of the administration. As with all slogans, the mob characterization has rippled across Republican Senators.

Trump/Fox News was inventive enough to offer up a video of Eric Holder saying, “when they go low, we kick em” ripped out of context from a speech where he went onto say what that meant. Holder meant doubling down on efforts to combat the insidious efforts of the GOP to undermine institutions and the standard of living of everyone other than the 1%. He said specifically that he did not mean physical attack. He’s smart enough to know that confrontational  yelling, no matter how much better it makes one feel, is not a substitute for the hard political work needed to take our country back. But Hannity, Laura and Janine couldn’t help teeing off on it in their best rhetoric.

It is typical of the GOP memory lapse, which they hope is shared by everyone, that when their tactics come roaring back at them from the dreaded progressive mob, they are suddenly way out of bounds. They have conveniently forgotten the loss of civility of 2010 Tea Party devotees, capped by one Congressional Representative calling out to Barack Obama “you lie” in the middle of a Congressional address. The disruptions, the lies and shouts against Obamacare and the federal deficit came in both small and large demonstrations. The public efforts were accompanied by social media bullying and death threats against Obama administration officials.

Ironically, Agent Orange is yelling about left wing mobs in front of a real MAGA capped mob, frequently on the edge of real violence but certainly churning out social media and email malice by the bucket loads.

There is no mistaking that the Kavanaugh farce did what McConnell could not do; energize the GOP base. It was a key factor in nationalizing the midterm elections. 45 has said it; “this election is about me”, as he thinks everything is. This has undermined the Democrats fairly successful strategy to make elections local, particularly in GOP dominated areas. We don’t really know how Democrats are pushing back, because the commercial media isn’t telling us. Here the loss of local papers is acute. Those were the source of local news that detailed candidates and political positions.

Most ironically, Agent Orange is yelling about left wing mobs in front of a real MAGA capped mob, frequently on the edge of real violence but certainly churning out social media and email malice by the bucket loads. Let’s not forget that the ultraconservative, raving lunatic Alex Jones encourages his audience to in person physical violence, like the attack on the pizza shop against a mythical sex slave ring run by Hillary Clinton.

Liberals and progressives have been loath to take up the tactics of the conservative right, following Michelle Obama’s advice to go high when they go low. Conservatives have long been about devouring government to tear down institutions. Progressives support institutions because the government plays an integral role in the country’s well being.  But people have been fuming more and more loudly, exploding in anger over the Brett Kavanaugh farce. It came as a surprise that the #MeToo Movement had come to a screeching halt, because it was finally too inconvenient for the misogynists in control to countenance. Hollywood is okay because that industry is crazily liberal, they think, but the business of the country could not be disrupted. The anguish emerged as a full throated wail, fueled by its urgency at the sight of any of the conservative conspirators, in a restaurant or on the sidewalk. We were literally on the verge of losing our minds. It is less concerning that the privileged like Ted Cruz or Sarah H Sanders can’t eat in an expensive restaurant when there are many children across the country who are going to bed without dinner at all.

As for Congressional grounds and members, those are our buildings. Those people work for us; they represent us and we have every right to express our opinions to them in the offices that we’ve provided to them. For that matter when we encounter them wherever they are. That’s what representative democracy is. The increased presence of the Capital police standing in between the citizenry and its representatives being paid to listen to them is reminiscent of a police state. Such limited access is in contrast to the lobbyists, PACs, and business executives who have open access at any time. People are there to talk, not to harm.

Are nonTrumpophants angry? Hell ya and we’re not going to take it anymore. We’re making our way to the ballot box to kick out the bastards who have betrayed us. Granted, we’ve got a mountain to climb because we have to turn out huge numbers to overcome the GOP’s successful efforts to craft the electorate in their image. They’ve used voter roll purges If You Worry About Election Integrity, Look At Your Secretary of State , manipulation of opportunities to vote through poll hours, reductions in precinct numbers, low staffing applied selectively to make voting harder for minorities, youths and poor people. Their most effective tool has been gerrymandering. Our work sits at every level of the ballot, from governor to local school boards.

Agent Orange fouls everything he touches. We recoil at the mention that he will visit the site of a natural disaster. We hold our breaths in anticipation of some action or comment that exposes his lack of empathy on his way to further divide us. Does an African American living in a flood zone believe that the administration has his interest at heart, in contrast to the boat found on a lawn that Trump wanted to claim for the property owner?

Trump has intensified his efforts on the campaign trail to gin up his mob of Trumpophants. At an Ohio rally, 45, surrounded by a sea of white faces, appealed to Black voters. This was in the abstract, of course, since few people of color can survive the security screening process. Frankly, they would be taking their life in their hands to attend. “Get away from the Democrats,” he bellowed, “we have the best numbers in history.” Without batting an eye, this was moments after he praised General Robert E Lee, as a “true great fighter” and “great general” in a fantastical anecdote about the Civil War. This is the President of the United States praising a traitor who made war on the nation in defense of slavery. This is not merely a tale of insincerity but a lesson in tone deafness.

And yet the mainstream media continues to cover these misadventures verbatim, obedient to the revenue generating model that brings us news as entertainment, not as information. It’s a goddamn campaign rally of one party which would have gotten a mention and a small sound bite before the CelebrityPresident burst on the scene. When did commercial media ever cover the arc of an Obama campaign speech? Moreover, the media only highlights GOP rallies cover to cover since they deem Democratic ones inherently less entertaining. They don’t devote reams of articles to KKK or white supremacists rally speeches that quote their propaganda ad nauseum, although they have much in common. Their articles don’t even call the GOP propaganda out as such, instead of presenting it as objective information. Bullshit!

Is there a radical left mob? We’ll leave the mob to your#not my president, who has committed tax fraud, conducted fraudulent businesses like Trump University, engaged in money laundering, traffics in rumors, drops a falsehood an hour, sometimes more and is a serial adulterer. This orange snake has the audacity to stand on a stage and call Democrats “bad guys” and accuse them of doing “bad things”. “We learned how to live with them [Democrats]. We don’t like it, but we’ve learned,” the BullyPresident crooned to his chanting mob, throwing the implied threat out over the arena. At another Ohio rally, he said of Richard Cordray, the Democratic candidate for Ohio governor and former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “He was hurting people and I think he enjoyed it.” That’s the pot calling the kettle black.

Our current predicament is reminiscent of antebellum politics when slavery spread over every political and social discussion of the day. Politics became the battleground of good and evil and thus uncompromisable. Slaveholders were sinners because the immoral institution violates God’s love for all of his children. To enslavers, abolitionists were evil in their desire to destroy God’s mandate to care for nigras incapable of taking care of themselves. They were loyal shepherds of the Lord’s black flock. The battle lines were drawn. The result: over 600,000 dead Americans. If there’s any violence to come, it is from the relentless conservative right wing. They’ve already got their storm troopers: militias, white supremacists, the KKK. And they are armed to the teeth.

 

As expected, the Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh as the 9th Supreme Court Justice, by a vote of 50-48. Interestingly, according to the Washington Post, the senators who voted for the golden boy represent 44.2% of the population while the naysayers represent 55.8%. Similarly, polls show that over 50% opposed the nominee. In sum, Kavanaugh assumes his seat on the bench despite being viewed unfavorably by the majority of Americans, being nominated by a president who has the disapproval of the majority of Americans after being elected by losing the popular vote in an election where less than 50% of the electorate voted. The tyranny of the minority persists.

“The play’s the thing” said Hamlet. We have had the play and it has ended badly. Hamlet was trying to expose his uncle’s conscience over the murder of his father. Here, the play served to obscure the fact that Brett Kavanaugh and the GOP Senate leaders are bereft of conscience. Theirs is an outcome-based sense of ethical conduct. They will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. Lie, cheat, steal, trample on established traditions, etc. Their eyes have been blinded by cataracts of partisanship. Their ears have been stoppered with power hungry wax. Their minds have been poisoned by Agent Orange.

You can’t find what you’re not looking for. Jeff Flake can be proud of one of perhaps the best constructed ruses in history: a week for an FBI investigation. (We have borrowed here from one of 45’s favorite descriptors.) First, the public was under the illusion that this would be the kind of FBI inquiry they see on TV to solve crimes. It was not. It was a background check, used to vet federal employees. A background check is not meant to examine a life span; they are always limited in scope. There are no crime scenes, no fingerprint or DNA analysis; there are only document diving and interviews.

Second, background checks are always classified. There was no chance that the public would learn the results in real time. Maybe when it’s declassified after Justice Kavanaugh is dead. But in this case, even the Senators couldn’t access it. There was one copy which could only be viewed in a vault by a single Senator from each party for one hour at a time. There were not even a hundred hours between the report’s release and the scheduled vote. Of course, core 45 blow jobbers, led by Lindsey Graham, didn’t want to see it. They knew there was nothing in it because there wasn’t supposed to be because that’s what the investigation was designed to deliver.

Third, under direction from whomever, the FBI’s investigation was limited to only 9 individuals. The New York Times reported that the report was 41 pages long. Nine of those pages were devoted to Mark Judge, a self confessed alcoholic who spent his high school years blackout drunk without implanting any memories in his amygdala. Republican Senators felt no need for new interviews of Christine Ford or Kavanaugh because they already had their own in-depth information and had extensively (their words, not mine) interviewed them in their hearings. Is There A Third or Fourth Allegation Out There? , In This Corner-Brett, the Manhandler; His Opponent-Dr Chris. No need to cover old ground when you’re in a rush to confirm your golden boy and you don’t want any contradictory information to surface. They saw no reason to pursue her lie detector test or evidence from her husband or psychologist. Agents had no interest in the scores of others who contacted them with what they thought was relevant information. Republicans dismissed it as hearsay fomented by the Democratic conspiracy that Kavanaugh had exposed as a plot to revenge Hillary and Bill Clinton, as payback for his role in Clinton’s impeachment. The GOP Lock-stepped Away From The Kavanaugh Hearings. The FBI was not  tasked with disproving Ford’s narrative. Their mission was to misrepresent Kavanaugh as truthful. You can’t find what you’re not looking for.

There was nothing new in the report because there wasn’t supposed to be.

So it was not surprising that Grassley could state confidently that there was nothing new in the report. More accurately, the report was only notable for what wasn’t there.

Apparently, Senators are completely removed from the world outside their chamber. They don’t read newspapers or listen to the news. Carried away with their access to classified information, they seem to believe that the only information relevant to their mission to represent the American people is what they themselves generate. This is particularly convenient for Republicans who pass through the world with blinders on, having long ago lost interest in the truth or the residents in their state who didn’t vote for them. So despite the fact that the media was swarming with people who knew the future jurist, it failed to penetrate the Senate fortress. The press was doing its best to inform the public, to reveal the orchestrated Republican cover-up and they did, presenting their sources and work process.

Flake’s compromise was designed for 3 or 4 Senators, a dodge to take their assertions to their electorate that they are “voting their conscience” to pack the Court. In that, it was wholly successful. Susan Collins, addressed the CelebrityPresident directly as she spun out in her speech her rationale for capitulating to the supremacy of staying in office over any principles. “Hey man, I’m on your side, so Maine Trumpophants vote for me”. And it will be 5 more years before Democrats can generate a viable opposition candidate. God knows what will happen between now and then. On the other hand, hopefully Collins, now 65, may concede that she can abandon Senate privileges for a cozy and lucrative consulting fee.

Joe Manchin fell dutifully in line, thankful for the assist in his race although he was 90% there without it. Democrats in West Virginia have no choice. His opponent is the typical Trump doppelganger endorsed by the man he’s modeled himself on. Manchin is clearly the lesser of two evils.

Flake, who was in the Kavanaugh column from the beginning, was reacting emotionally to the sympathetic appeal of sexual assault survivors and their contrast to Lindsey Graham’s ugly call to other Senators in the Trump cartel to lay on the hyperpartisan rhetoric. After all, Flake wants to represent himself as an ethical man of conscience. How could he appear so callus? He needed to establish his bipartisan cred for his next book.

They didn’t quite rope in Lisa Murkowski, the lone vote against closure on the Kavanaugh confirmation. Of course, that was a throw away. It was only about moving to the counting of confirmation votes. It may have been a compromise to establish her cred as a naysayer before she voted to confirm. She wants us to believe that she is a thoughtful independent, who contemplates before she caves to the wishes of majority party. By the time the vote came around she’d contemplated her way into abstaining; her vote was recorded as present. Maybe Sarah Palin’s tweet that she would see Murkowski in 2022 spooked her. In any case, she worked a compromise to balance her no vote with a yes of a colleague who would miss the vote. That way she wouldn’t have to say it out loud, a political coup. Some would call that dereliction of duty, to leave Alaska’s residents unrepresented in a momentous decision that will impact their lives for generations to come.      

Speaker McConnell is always generous at grafting his own political tactics and rhetoric on to Democrats and then calling them despicable. In that, he acknowledges that he’s far better at it than they are. He is smug and extraordinarily proud that his maneuvers alone have bought the nation to this place. He concocted the tactic of sitting on SCOTUS seats with the brilliant stroke of refusing to engage in the process of advise and consent of Merritt Garland on the off chance that the GOP would capture the White House. Who could stop them? Then when Justice Kennedy retired specifically to open a conservative spot to finally pack the Court, McConnell restructured the Senate’s process to create a breakneck time schedule to deliver a Justice by the beginning of the new Court term October 1. In his outcome-based ethics, these shenanigans are despicable only when used by others. They are despicable unless they are used in service of his own objectives.  

 “It is the most important contribution we [GOP] have made to the country that will last the longest.”

McConnell couldn’t help patting himself on the back. “It is the most important contribution we [GOP] have made to the country that will last the longest.” It will rain down on us all. If, as McConnell says, Kavanaugh represents “the best this country has to offer”, the country’s future is in real jeopardy.

This is a sad day for the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh has demonstrated that he is not only biased by partisan conservative politics, but an angry drunk who stays angry when he isn’t. He is also clearly a vengeful person with a lifetime ahead in which to seek his revenge. He’s going to be making legal pretzels, twisting the law in ways to accomplish that…for decades. It is the men and women of this country, among them the most vulnerable and oppressed, who will do the suffering.

Women of America, cherish your pelvic organs for they will be under assault for generations to come. Our bedrooms will be invaded. Workers beware that businesses can ramp up the systematic removal of your defenses from profit hungry businesses. Minorities, prepare for a bumpy ride that will strip us of hard won rights and send us back to the back of the bus, or into the closet or tossed out of the country to a place where you haven’t lived before. And Agent Orange can rest comfortably that his growling bulldog bulwark on SCOTUS will protect his flank. We’ll be teleported back to the completely charted waters that once again confirm white supremacist capitalism as the ruling principle of this country. Capitalism is unforgiving because it is all about profit. It’s the supremacist part that gives it its special American race based spin.

This is the saddest day for the country since December 20, 1860, when South Carolina seceded from the Union. We feel alienated from our government, unheard and unheeded. We have no branches of government in which to trust.  Much like the side of a glacier crumbling and careening into the sea, the nation is fractured. Will we reach the point when the nation simply crumbles?

 

Inevitably, people unaffected by Trump Neurologic Rearrangement Syndrome must realize that Kavanagh has strained credibility. His statements have changed, as more evidence has surfaced. In the original Senate hearings, he answered  absolutely no to a question about sexual misconduct in his past. In subsequent statements, his description of his angelic behavior in high school and college has broadened. His only interests were in being first in his class, captain of a couple of sports team and church. He should have realized those pronouncements rang false, for typical high school boys, especially athletes.

But the press has been full of stories from witnesses who attended those schools that substantiate the environment and confirm much of Dr Christine Ford’s allegations.

As more evidence of the general social environment at both Georgetown Prep and Yale, he has backtracked to position himself more plausibly, but not too extreme to be seen as a bad actor and sexual predator.

In the meantime, for the first time in history, a Supreme Court nominee has taken to the airwaves to lay out his defense and generate sympathy. This is no doubt the brainchild of Martin Shine, ex-Fox news executive now White House communications director, who enabled the multiple sexual harassers at that network. The judge has been comfortably ensconced on Trump-Fox TV, admitting he was a virgin, disputing the stories beginning to circulate about the school’s party atmosphere. But in doing so, he’s continued to undermine earlier statements, demonstrating his central character flaw, dishonesty.

The GOP septua- and octogenarians of the Senate are from an era when women were even more denigrated and ignored in society than now. Their remarks show that their attitudes haven’t changed, they just don’t want the public to know. They have been carefully briefed on the right words to say and not to say in order not to offend women in the electorate. They want to give the impression that they acknowledge a woman’s right to be heard in charges of sexual misconduct and believe they should be heard. The problem is, they’re not listening. They already have their minds made up: the charges are usually false, they have some ulterior motive, it’s too long ago; why didn’t they report it then. A man’s career should not be derailed by gossip. Agent Orange gave his perspective: because he’s had so many false accusations from gold diggers, he knows exactly what‘s happening to his golden boy. That and the Democrats are still trying to undermine him. Because everything is always about him after all. Kavanaugh is just roadkill.

They know perfectly well why it wasn’t reported in the 1980s. It would have gotten even less acknowledgement then with more slander hurled at the accuser. Most Republicans have been clear. It doesn’t matter if an FBI investigation had taken place. It doesn’t matter what Dr Ford’s testimony is. It doesn’t matter how many other people come forward. Lindsay Graham and other Trump defenders can’t think of anything that would change their mind. Not that they don’t see through the judge. They understand this circle of elites, they and their children are part of it. They just don’t believe it should be disqualifying because, these people are above the rules. They are supposed to rule the world.

The drama is almost over. Senate Judiciary Republicans voted to recommend their Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for confirmation. They are so close to a final victory after 30 years. One tiny hiccup, a slight delay before the final vote.

“Brett Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him” Agent Orange tweeted. That he did. He is a partisan political hack complete with conspiracy theories involving the Left and both the Clintons. During his portion of the Senate hearings, he threw off his impartial jurist mask to reveal an aggressively angry, arrogant, entitled elitist who fits in comfortably with a misogynist, corrupt, dishonest administration. They spout the rhetoric of the rule of law, but only for those who are not them.  

Kavanaugh threw off his impartial jurist mask to reveal an aggressively angry, arrogant, entitled elitist who fits in comfortably with a misogynist, corrupt, dishonest administration.

By the end of the Senate hearing, the tale of the two witnesses was clear. One was honest and forthright. The other gave an honestly effective performance. One was open and helpful. The other stonewalled and avoided answers. One was polite; the other was disrespectful and disdainful attacked Democratic committee members, literally throwing their questions back at them. You can imagine him being an angry drunk, entitled adolescent grabbing pussy whenever he could. One, Christine Ford, told the truth; the other, Brett Kavanaugh told a  series of apparent lie. His lies were complicated and multilayered, carefully aligned with other falsehoods he has told in other hearings and other forums.

In his opening statement, Brett looked angry, almost rabid. His face was distastefully  contorted; his cheeks glowed red hot. He looked like a bull snorting breath from his nostrils before charging. And charge he did. He called the hearings “a national disgrace.” “You have replaced advice and consent with search and destroy.” He reeled off a series of quotes from Democrats that characterized him as a monster, a disgrace, evil. Then, the supposedly impartial, apolitical judge launched into a tirade against a Democratic conspiracy, originating with Clintons, that spawned a reign of violence and terror on him. In fact, he accused them of encouraging or creating subsequent allegations. He called it a process that will have a damaging effect on the country for “decades to come”, much like he intends to do from the bench.

Then suddenly, he flipped masks, from raging bull to weeping willow, a wronged son and father. He tried to shame the Republicans into confirming him, in the tradition of Justice Clarence Thomas’s “high tech lynching” remarks. He hoisted a verbal banner screaming I AM THE VICTIM HERE!

He proved a consummate thespian as he became tearful several times. These moments came as he talked about his daughter praying for Dr Ford, the mention of his father and his friends during his exposition on his diary. His speech was impeded for several seconds, during which he was unable to continue and furiously gulped water in order to go on.

The judge literally screamed his full throated denials: he had never sexually assaulted anyone at any time. He was never there. Then he launched into his record of service to Republican administrations and his judgeship, saying “I have been a good judge.” His was a lifetime of public service without a single accusation of sexual assault. He had promoted women in law professionally, to improve the number of women law clerks. In fact he’s prepared to hire 4 female law clerks when he takes his seat, for the first time in the history of the court. He tried to balance his great accomplishments against  the sexual assault of a 15 year old. After all, she got over it. He asked us to believe that she is inconsequential compared to what he has and will do for the country.

He spoke of his suffering under the destruction of his reputation. He would never again be able to coach his daughters’ sports teams. He would never be able to teach law; he loved teaching law and mentoring new professionals. He is probably disappointed that it would cut into his ability to recruit and persuade women in conservative political philosophy beginning at an early age. That is grossly exaggerated. He still has a lifetime appointment on the appellate court from which he can do all those things. Americans have notoriously short memories, particular for what they consider lesser transgressions, like sexual assaults that haven’t been proven.

And then he launched into his detailed defense. How does he know that he was never there if he doesn’t know where or when?  On the face of it, it seems doubtful in the wake of his own admission that he might have drunk too heavily at a few parties, although that was rare. His answer, a detailed examination of his calendar/diary entries from the summer of 1981, 1982, 1983. He contended that the entries which detailed his entire social life, had not been altered since the time they were written.

“I never sexually assaulted anyone”  he practically shouted into the mic, because he has a close friend who was assaulted, and he understands the pain. Still, he asserted  that while the assailant had to be supported, due process demands that the other side be listened to. These charges, hidden and sprung on him at the last hour, had been refuted by the sworn testimony of the other 4 witnesses; in fact Ford’s friend said she didn’t know the judge and was never at a gathering with him. He said he had not moved in the same social circles as either of them. Dr Ford had said that her friend did not know about the incident because she was downstairs. He said he had never attended any kind of gathering like that described by Dr Ford.

This was unthinkable, he said, because his mother was subjected to sexual harassment when she went to law school in her rise to a judgeship. She was a saint in his eyes. He could never betray womanhood like that. Instead, he’s sought to advance women in law throughout his career.  

He proceeded to lay out his evidence.  He went methodically covered his calendar, day by day for the 3 summers. He was very precise about who was at the events in his calendar sometimes tearful at the mention of different names. Dr Ford’s allegations are inconsistent with his character and his record. He’s trotted out hundreds of those friends with whom he’s still in contact from highschool of whom many are females. Yes, he drank beer with his friends and sometimes he drank too much but never blacked out, only fell asleep.

In pushing back, he asserted that if all men who drink beer can be accused of sexual assault, the world has turned into an ugly place. That sounds like the ugly place where all women who drink beer find themselves; the one where they are subject to sexual assault. But for a woman, that place is real; for men it is imaginary but appeals to every man in the country. Even as statistics show that false claims are as low as 1%, but may be as high 5-10%. In other words, over 90% of reported sexual assaults actually occurred. And that is why an estimated 1 in 3 women in the country are survivors of sexual violence. And that number is based on the low number that are actually reported.   

He sought to diffuse all the attention on his yearbook. He testified that it was not what it seemed. The editors aspired to recreate “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” or “Animal House.” As he’s looked at it now, it makes him cringe, much like a silly Facebook post that comes back to haunt a new job applicant. In reality, it’s more a dick pic, a window into disturbing behavior. He tried to transform the media interpretation of “Renate alumius”, from a reference to a girl boys had sexual encounters with into a phrase that meant she was ‘one of the guys” not a sexual conquest. He turned on the waterworks again when he offered an apology to this dear friend and his desire to repair their friendship. She, on the other hand, one of the signatory to his gang of girls letter has taken her name off the list. Oops, it seems like he might be getting called on his bullshit.

Other terms the media had focused on were “boofed” which according to Kavanaugh referred to flatulence while Twitter streams were all over the term as a reference to some mix of anal sex and drugs or anal injection of alcohol. A yearbook citation of flatulence is really stretching the imagination for seniors in high school. Michael Avenatti has tweeted that the “FFFFFourth July” meant Find them, French them, Feel them, Finger them, F*ck them; the judge said it referred to a classmate’s stutter before saying f*ck. Beach Week Ralph was explained as vomiting during the traditional annual vacation week, but he refused to say it was related to excessive drinking rather a weak stomach that any acquaintance could testify to. “Devil’s Triangle” is well known to refer to a sexual threesome, not a drinking game.  He seemed pretty comfortable that he could sneak those definitions by aging committee members and his Democratic questioners didn’t even mention social meanings. Perhaps the FBI could contact the editors to clarify their general understanding at the time. In the judge’s hands they sound so undeniably naive that it stretches belief. And he has already displayed his duplicity. It can only be the FBI with the serious penalty for false testimony; anyone else is unlikely to overcome the influence that a friendly association with Cavanaugh’s clout brings.

He was reticent to admit the extent of his drinking. “I like beer; I still like beer” he said. He denied ever blacking out or drinking too much to remember what happened the next day. Later at one point he challenged Democratic questioners about whether they liked beer or had a problem with blackouts. He admits to trying to hide his sexual inexperience to “some groups” but he was proud of it because it was based in his faith and respect for women. That remark was an attempt to counterbalance TV interviews where friends have said he told stories about sexual conquests. Steve Kantrowitz tweeted that he had a freshman year conversation where the future judge claimed he was not a virgin. Is that an innocent boasting from an adolescent or part of a lifelong habit of misrepresentation that has no doubt been reinforced by his ability to get away with it. Again lying or not?

Kavanaugh has emphasized that these behaviors were to confined to adolescence but according to others, these antics were not limited to high school. To be sure, there is  considerable evidence in the press from classmates at the elite private schools in the area that refute the judge’s characterization of his dedication to his studies, church, his service projects and captaining the basketball. One roommate charged that he was often a mean drunk, which the judge dismissed as allegations from an unhappy roommate. That seems a little spurious from a man who contends often that what happened in high school is long forgotten. Why would the man still harbor the kind of grudge that would lead him to bad mouth a soon-to-be-Supreme Court Justice.  Others say he was not only a heavy drinker, but a mean aggressive drunk. Julie Swetnick alleges that she saw Kavanaugh be physically abusive and that he and Mark Judge would get girls drunk and take them to a room to be gang raped. She said that this had happened to her although not with Kavanaugh.

At Yale, the judge was a member of several organizations known for drinking and misogyny. Truth and Courage, a secret society of athletes that was mostly “organized around having sex with coeds” said one student in a Newsweek article. DKE is another. It is known nationally as a hard drinking fraternity whose house was a den of sexual assault. By the 2000s, the fraternity was banned from the campus for 5 years. It was at Yale that Deborah Ramirez has alleged that during a drinking game, the future judge exposed his penis and forced her to touch it.   

Current Yale students have reacted to the injection of their institution into the narrative with demonstrations favoring a delay in the decision making process as well as protesting the reaction to Dr Ford. The similarities with Anita Hill, a Yale alumni as well, demonstrate how little has changed. The contrast between treatment of elite white golden boys and African Americans and women is striking; all out support for the first, denigration for the latter. Clarence Thomas, is the token exception. Democrats were desperate to seem fair after his lynching remarks and they wanted a dark face on the court. In a word, nonpartisan but sexist. 

Feinstein’s first question to the judge asked if he wanted the FBI to investigate.  He answered that he had desperately wanted a hearing right away and that the delay in deference to his accuser had allowed for a barrage of terrible charges that spread across the media assassinating his character. He continued to use the excuse that FBI doesn’t come up with a conclusion. He implied the FBI wasn’t needed; he had presented all the evidence required; his diaries tell everyone where he was and who he was with and her name wasn’t there. There are sworn statements from Ford’s witnesses that refute her story. By repeating his own assertions he was eating into Feinstein’s 5 minutes. He refused to answer in any way other than to say he would do whatever the committee wanted, but the delay was hurting his reputation.  Unfortunately, she did not hone in on the point that the FBI could uncover more information about timing and location, could gather up some testimony from all the people who had been interviewed by the press. That Senate chamber seemed completely divorced from the media that is informing the general public.

He bobbed and weaved again in response to questions posed by Senator Leahy, filibustering into an exposition about his high school accomplishments but never answering if he wanted Mark Judge to testify or address his yearbook page. He was combative when Leahy tried to push him to directly respond and not pontificate again. The judge comfortably mounted that partisan political high horse and tried to undermine Leahy by charging that he was making light of Mark Judge who was stricken with severe substance abuse problems that almost ended in his demise. Grassley freely intervened with Democratic members, supporting the judge’s endless repetition of the same phrases, by scolding them for not being as courteous to him as they had been to Dr Ford.  

Kavanaugh bobbed and weaved through questions as well as Muhammad Ali ever did. When it became too obvious, Lindsey Graham led a full throated rebel rousing attack on Democrats.

And then, all hell broke loose. While his colleagues had deferred to the prosecutor’s questioning, Lindsey Graham broke ranks and seized his time for himself as the prosecutor’s questions were honing in on details of Kavanaugh’s drinking problems. He was still bobbing and weaving as well as Muhammad Ali ever did, but it was becoming more and more obvious. The judge was looking petulant and obstructionist. Graham gave an impassioned political speech to support him, attacking Democrats for orchestrating a conspiracy, echoing some of the themes from Kavanaugh’s opening statement. He cited Chuck Schumer’s remarks that Democrats would do whatever it took to oppose this nomination. Jabbing his finger in their direction, he practically spat out a curse on Democrats for all time.  Graham put GOP fence sitters on notice from the administration that if they vote no, they will be suborning Democratic conspiracies which sounded like an RNC threat to organize opposition against them.

Graham had launched a rallying cry and from there, the rest of the pumped up committee Republicans took up the cudgel one by one to pontificate on classic GOP anti-Democratic Party messages combined with commiserating with the judge in his suffering. They attacked Democrats’ role in the committee process. Republicans insisted that this is not a job interview, but a trial, where their golden boy has been forced to defend himself when the burden of proof should be on his accuser, not him. They say he’s been accused of real crimes that will reverberate throughout his whole life, while the Democrats are the real criminals in this.

For their part, each Democrat in turn appeared to have no strategy other than a request for an FBI investigation. They appeared foolishly ineffectual because each time they said the word investigation it provided a platform for Republican speechifying about the adequacy of the investigation, remind that the FBI did not reach conclusions, etc and to charge the Dems with delay. If the country is hoping any of these people will lead us out of the wilderness, we may be lost.  

The afternoon fireworks were in sharp contrast to the quiet, respectful mood of the morning events. Republicans had set out to tell the public that they are respectful of and listen to survivors of sexual assaults. They wanted to prove that they are better than the henchmen who took out Anita Hill. So the 70 and 80 year old white male Republican committee members took a backseat to a kinder, gentler female prosecutor, Rachel MItchell.

Grassley opened the hearing praising Kavanaugh after which he presented a timeline of events, trying to show how thoroughgoing the process had been; while simultaneously lambasting the Democrats for subverting the process and in his words, their blatant attempt to delay the judge’s assumption of his ordained SCOTUS seat. Grassley insisted that investigations had been conducted in the customary manner. He scolded Democrats for not participating fully  in the committee process. He criticized Feinberg for her handling of the complaint. His was the first opportunity to insist that an FBI investigation would not have made any conclusions, only provide evidence from which the committee could draw conclusions. In a direct strike at Dems, he quoted Joe Biden’s comment that FBI investigations would not make a difference and never had. He reported that persons named by Dr Ford as party participants had denied her claims in sworn statements.

Feinberg matched Grassley’s partisan opening statement and raised him one. The two were like ships glancing against each other’s hulls while passing in the night. They shared some basic structural elements but their detailing was like night and day. Feinberg’s version described her actions in the process and interactions with Dr Ford and went on to introduce Dr Ford, presenting her credentials and an overview of her allegations as well as a description of the aftermath of her voluntary and brave decision to come forward.

Democrats took their time to repeatedly denigrate the lack of FBI investigation and the refusal of the committee to call Mark Judge as a witness and also allow him to remain in seclusion, carefully tucked away from prying eyes like the press and law enforcement. Dr Ford received no such protection. They also provided background statistics on sexual assaults and their aftermath. Their minutes of questioning allowed her a space to relax from the relentless effort of the female prosecutor to poke holes in her story. For his part, Grassley responded each time the process was mentioned with a repeated timeline of GOP efforts, as if repeating it would make it seem thorough. This is a reflexive GOP device, repeated words will become true, much like wishing upon a star.

For her part, Dr Ford, she was cooperative and detail oriented. She was clearly nervous, but clear headed. She sounded like an academic professor, always trying to be helpful. At one point, when she asked if something was convenient for the committee, she commented that she was used to being collegial. There were moments when her voice shook with emotion as she talked about the vivid memory of the laughter between Judge and the future judge.

The prosecutor’s questions highlighted inconsistencies, no matter how slight, in details she had told to different people. She poked at the fact that she could not remember how she got home and even used a map to show how far away her home was from the swim club. She tried to insinuate that Ford’s excuse for not wanting to come to Washington, that she feared flying, was a lie because she has travelled extensively to several continents for both work and recreation.

Ms Mitchell, honed in on details for Dr Ford’s documents, asking for verification and corrections on text messages and handwritten statement, the Post article. She went on to pick apart details of the day of the assault, alcohol and use of medications, atmosphere of the party; Kavanaugh and Judge were extremely inebriated and the others weren’t, it was not a party but a small gathering which she assumed would lead to a party later. The prosecutor’s last question involved a description of the best technique to elicit an accurate description of a sexual assault, a forensic interview, done by an expert. After first raising a question of why this had not been suggested to the witness, she seemed to imply it might well change her account. That may work with a stranger assault, it’s a hard case to make in an acquaintance assault when Dr Ford had known and socialized with him. But it’s a sliver for the conservative propagandists to build on. Indeed, it seems that the only purpose of her questions was to graciously scoop up details to sprinkle over Trump-Fox TV and conservative media outlets conspiracy and pundit comments. Her other purpose was to shield the aged white male Senators from appearing to beat up on a woman who is competent, professional, forthright, and increasingly sympathetic, particularly about sexual matters. That had been completely disastrous with Anita Hill. No doubt a Trumpophant won’t catch any of it, most of them are being tutored by Trump/Fox News to interpret it “correctly” if they watched it at all.

It is impossible to determine the prosecutor’s strategy or purpose. The 5 minute questioning format quashed any rhythm for information gathering. Was it her intention to build to her summation? There was not a chance that the old white guys in charge would have allowed that. And once she was thrown overboard in the afternoon for old fashioned GOP explosive rhetoric, her sound bits were drowned in a storm of so many more fiery words.  Thank goodness, she probably made a hefty chunk of change as some form of compensation.

After Ford’s testimony, Lindsey Graham previewed the declaration of war on the Democrats to reporters. He said he was convinced that this is a Democratic plot to delay the judge’s confirmation until after the midterms in the hopes of gaining a majority in the Senate to keep this seat. He sounded really keyed up, using his rage to camouflage his deflection of questions about further investigations. While he kept saying this could have been investigated when it was raised earlier, he neglected to say why it couldn’t have been investigated in the last 10 days. He insisted that they don’t know when or where so how can they investigate. One obvious answer is that the FBI could help answer that. Ms Ford herself testified that she would have a better idea if she knew when Mark Judge had worked at a neighborhood Safeway. Judge has submitted a sworn statement taken by Senate staff members saying he didn’t remember, but he’s also a person who has admitted to an extended period of alcohol abuse during which he had blackouts. He probably doesn’t remember. In addition, as a participant in the assault, he must fear exposure as a sexual predator. The GOP‘s refusal to allow him to be questioned either by the FBI or the full committee or to submit to a lie detector test is curiously obvious. There is a vast difference between prosecution for perjury to Senate, which almost never happens and to the FBI, which happens slightly more often.

Republicans were stunned by Dr Ford’scredibility. How could they save their golden boy and dismiss her when so many people would believe her?

Republicans were stunned by Dr Ford. She conducted herself beautifully, gathering credibility. How could they save their golden boy and dismiss her when so many people would believe her? Would this sink them in the midterms? The recess between the two hearings called for a strategy reset. No doubt, Kavanaugh revised his testimony and pumped up his anger. Angry white men make good crusaders; society not only allows men to show outrage, it anoints it heroic.

When Kavanaugh went a little overboard, Graham seized the opportunity to redirect and inject some partisan rebel rousing, allowing the judge to calm down, and relieve him of the pressure to carry the conservative torch alone. Other Republicans joined, perhaps as part of a plan B.

Republicans had the winning strategy. They snatched the hearings that favored Ford’s narrative from the jaws of defeat. The committee orchestrated the schedule so that it would showcase the judge last. His testimony would inevitably find its way into prime time when a much larger audience would be watching. Led by their golden boy, they reconfigured the strategy into political conquest, full of media soundbits to churn through the conservative mediosphere. It will sustain their confidence in their vote to pack the court.

Anyone not locked in the grip of Trump Neurologic Rearrangement Syndrome, saw something very different. They saw a party pretending to listen to a sexual assault survivor while at the same time supporting the man who assaulted her. She sounds credible they say, but so does he. You can’t have it both ways. Or you can, if you believe that integrity, respect for rule of law, honesty and truthfulness are less important for a Supreme Court justice than your party’s political agenda. Clearly they do. Kavanaugh has repeatedly misrepresented legal and political positions and during this hearing, misrepresented the meaning of terms he used in his yearbook. He has refused to answer many questions, including his drinking. And he consistently filibustered his answers, using questions as opportunity to repeat his own talking points and taking up valuable time during which more questions could have been asked. He showed his thorough immersion in the partisan politics of the day, without fear of using them to achieve his ambitions.      

Kavanaugh gave a performance that was masterful enough for the GOP to run with it, right to a solid partisan vote on Friday. Jeff Flack may not be running for re-election, but he’s got to worry about any future electoral contests and perhaps, lucrative jobs in the conservative consulting/lobbying sphere. And thus he announced that he would cave, as he has done consistently on every vote, after he gives an abstract speech about ethics. He would vote for the golden boy.

Surprisingly, Democratic Senator Coons and Flake were able negotiate a bipartisan compromise to request a delay to accommodate a limited FBI investigation. In it, Flake could still vote with his party to recommend the confirmation, still his most important consideration but get Grassley to take the request for the FBI up the chain. So far, the agreement has held. 45 has ordered the FBI to proceed. And McConnell has announced a vote next week. 

Here are some other lessons:

1. Graham has been working his way from lukewarm Agent Orange defender with occasional criticism to a 45 sucker. Could an anticipated promotion to a soon to be open position in the administration, perhaps attorney general, be in the balance? He would be relieved of the 6 year election cycle, he could set his sights as well on lucrative policy and lobbying jobs before returning home for a governorship run where the BullyPresident’s party will reign.
2. Republicans have clearly suckered Democrats into basing their objections to Kavanaugh on a complaint of sexual assault. The more general grounds to keep the judge from a promotion to the Supreme Court is his dishonesty. There are so many examples now that it can only be denied by those who are trying to hide it. The ABA, in 2012, rated the judge “qualified” rather than their highest rating because of information that he had shown conservative bias in rulings and that his opinions were stubbornly immutable. A very close vote by the board kept the ABA from not recommending him then. This happened as part of a three year delay in his approval for the federal bench. In the intervening years, the ABA changed its mind, but even now they are calling for a delay FBI investigation.

Lindsey Graham’s curse will come true: these hearings will have a detrimental effect on America for years, not because of Democratic Party conspiracies but because of a gang of sycophants who are firmly attached to the Pussygrabber in Chief’s ass. He brought destruction and dismantling of government and institutions. Advice and consent has become receive and genuflect. In that, they are betraying the very institutions that sustain democracy.