I was eager to watch today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing where Christine Blasey Ford testified about her accusation that she was sexually assaulted by Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, and where Kavanaugh testified to his being innocent of the accusation.
I was hoping that, by the end of today’s hearing, it might be clear what was true and what was not, and that it wouldn’t just remain a he said/she said scenario. I was also hoping that both the Democrats and the Republicans would adopt a nonpartisan stance and would create a collegial alliance in order to get to the truth.
I should have known better. Republicans were certainly not interested in getting to the truth. They refused to even consider allowing the FBI to conduct interviews with relevant witnesses. All they did was express their unwavering support for Kavanaugh and their anger that anyone, particularly the Democrats, would have the nerve to attempt to sabotage Kavanaugh’s nomination.
And, as of right now, despite the highly emotional and heated hearing today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is going to proceed with a committee vote at 9:30 in the morning ET.
So, after spending the entire day watching the hearing, do I now know what is true and what is not? No, I can’t say that I do. But what I can say is that I believe Dr. Ford and I believe that Judge Kavanaugh is a lying sack of shit, very much like the man who nominated him.
Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge eager), Scott’s Daily Prompt (true), Daily Addictions (adopt), and Word of the Day Challenge (alliance).
Political cartoon by Jim Morin, MorinToons Syndicate.
This, That, and the Other 
As much as it was a farce, It was expected…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t expect anything else from “ them”. Watching news in the hope of learning anything relevant or true is a waste of time, anyway. Good use of the word eager!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was reminiscent of watching the 2016 election. It began with hope, decency and goodness ending with a nightmare and a long term hangover Truly shocking. What had happened to this country?
LikeLiked by 1 person
What happened? Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010 is when it all started to go to shit by allowing big money donors and corporations to buy Congress and do their bidding.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes that’s exactly what happened. Yesterday was another debacle and the stink will NEVER go away from that one, unless of course the Dems are playing smarter than we think with the upcoming Senate vote … should be a good Bill Maher tonight. 😐
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t know. Steve Brannon is on his Maher’s show tonight. I hate giving Bannon a platform to spew his bullshit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh god, no. I hope Maher eats him for breakfast and doesn’t spit out the bones. Im still so rattled by what happened yesterday.
LikeLiked by 1 person
As am I.
LikeLiked by 1 person
#I believe her
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry. I just needed to get that out of the way. What we’re looking for is (or should be) facts. What we might have to settle for is truth, but I don’t see how we’re going to get it.
I really don’t know why you believed that the testimonies of Ford and Kavanaugh would establish the facts let alone the truth. After over 30 years, there is no objective evidence, and without the testimony of corroborating witnesses (and Mark Judge is the only other direct witness), there is no source of such data. Kavanaugh’s calendar from 1982 (and I can’t believe he actually kept the thing…I mean, a teenager couldn’t possibly know he’d need it to defend himself against sexual abuse allegations over three decades later) and a high school yearbook just doesn’t cut it.
The very best (and I’ve said this before) we could ever hope for is to establish which witness seems more credible, and Ford does indeed seem to be more credible. She was well prepared for the experience by her attorneys which was abundantly obvious. In contrast, Kavanaugh seemed totally unprepared and had no strategy at all, which was shocking. With his legal experience, he should have had a better presentation. I can only imagine that Ford’s testimony totally unhinged him, but that’s just a guess.
I know that after the hearings yesterday, the GOP was planning to meet, probably to consider next steps, including perhaps asking Kavanaugh to withdraw. It might be the best decision for him and his family at this stage of the game.
It’s impossible to know what Dianne Feinstein is thinking (although I did watch the video of Lindsey Graham’s rant, and every time Feinstein was shown on camera, she looked furious, and I have to wonder what was going on in her head), but it seems a credible assumption that the call for a full FBI investigation and a delay in voting is a deliberate attempt to stall the hearings until the November elections, where the Dems hope to pick up enough seats in Congress to tilt their body left. That would probably win them enough votes to torpedo Kavanaugh and any other subsequent conservative judge Trump may recommend for SCOTUS.
Yes, I’m also interested at getting at the facts of the case, and yes, only a full scale investigation will do that (this happens with cold cases periodically since there’s no statute of limitations on murder, so I suppose it’s possible here). But again, there is exactly zero physical evidence available, so it would come down to the testimony of witnesses under oath and their credibility, which, in the end, is a matter of personal judgment and opinion. Belief may be enough to end Kavanaugh but it’s still not proof.
I know there’s a huge temptation to judge these circumstances in the court of rampant emotionality, but I think we’ve seen enough of that sort of behavior in these hearings from both sides of the aisle.
LikeLike
You may want to read one of my early posts on this blog about my take on facts versus truth. https://fivedotoh.com/2017/05/26/facts-versus-truth/
As to your comment, it appears that the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are interested in neither facts nor truth. They want only one thing: to push Kavanaugh’s nomination forward. If they were interested in getting anywhere nearer to the facts or the truth, they would authorize the FBI to reopen its background check on Kavanaugh and conduct witness interviews.
But whether you believe Ford or Kavanaugh, what I saw yesterday was an angry, vindictive, emotional, unhinged liar who is unfit to serve as a judge on any court, much less as a justice on the Supreme Court. But in this age where our president is an angry, vindictive, emotional, unhinged liar who is unfit to be in the White House, I suppose this is to be expected.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I read your repost and commented.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It occurs to me as I read your words here that I wonder how many wives, daughters, sisters of those men supporting Kavanaugh are sitting on their hands, biting their tongues, and silently fuming. Sexual assault is not a partisan issue, although it has different consequences depending on political slant apparently.
LikeLiked by 1 person
An excellent point. I wondered, as I watched the hearing and saw Kavanaugh’s wife sitting there, if she knows the truth about her husband.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m sure she does. My take (projection) on her televised appearance with her husband was that she was thinking: “I know I’m going to hell for this.” lol
LikeLike
Republicans hate women, James. If you don’t see that, you’re blind. The jig up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sadly this current ‘issue’ is just a symptom of a greater disease. Our system has failed, boys. That sack of shit at the top of the pile of excrement is allowed to go on and on, spreading such chaos that a sensible mind reels. And to think they vilified Clinton for having sex with an intern…consensual sex. Ah, nothing changes much does it?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t think that Kavanaugh likes Democrats from his remarks and that should disqualify him from being on the Supreme Court.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hear hear!
LikeLiked by 1 person