Here’s the live feed for today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Dr. Blasey and Judge Kavanaugh. A quick note: it has been reported that they are using one of the smaller/smallest hearing rooms in the Dirkson Senate Building. It is so small that there will only be room for about six reporters, basically a small reportorial pool, in the room. I think this was done to try to minimize the audience/crowd so as to minimize protestors and prevent this from getting completely out of hand and becoming a complete circus. For instance, it has also been reported that Juanita Broaddrick is traveling to the Capitol to headline a rally in support of Judge Kavanaugh and try to attend today’s hearing, so…
Updated at 9:58 AM EDT
Here’s Dr. Blasey’s opening statement that was released/submitted last night.
And here’s Judge Kavanaugh’s.
Open thread!
polyorchnid octopunch
Well, one thing’s for sure: Ms. Broaddrick has clearly shown that her partisan interests are more important to her than any sort of solidarity among the assaulted.
Makes one question whether she was assaulted in the first place.
Zzyzx
@polyorchnid octopunch: or maybe her reaction to it is just wanting revenge on Clinton. I can understand that.
Elizabelle
@polyorchnid octopunch: I always thought Juanita Broaddrick was a stone liar. Awful woman.
Betty Cracker
@polyorchnid octopunch: I had a similar thought when she joined the Trump circus at one of the 2016 presidential debates. I found Broaddrick’s allegations credible and serious back in the day, and if they’re true, I can understand why she’d have a deep and abiding hatred for Bill Clinton. Her stated pretext for loathing Hillary Clinton seemed thin to me but understandable if her allegations are true. But continuing to suck up to the disgusting sexist pig Trump once she’d “vanquished her enemies”? And now Kavanaugh? Broaddrick can go to hell.
Hildebrand
@Zzyzx: What the hell? Is anyone named Clinton anywhere near this? What has that got to do with anything surrounding Dr. Ford’s accusations?
Besides that, Clinton fucking lost the election. What more revenge do you want?
satby
@polyorchnid octopunch: @Zzyzx: she recanted the assault charge. She’s a partisan hack.
Elizabelle
LA Times: Here’s what sexual assault experts say you should keep in mind as Christine Blasey Ford shares her story.
Juanita B. might be in that 2-7%.
JR
Light skin, light blue eyes, a double chin and a plastic smile…
schrodingers_cat
@Betty Cracker: JB is a sideshow, I am going to ignore. Hillary should never have debated T when he bought of all of her husbands accusers to the debate. That was insulting. Even remembering it now sets my teeth on the edge.
Adam L Silverman
I just updated the post with links to the prepared opening statements of both Dr. Blasey and Judge Kavanaugh that were released to the press after being submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee last night.
James E Powell
@Zzyzx:
How is supporting Kavanaugh an act of revenge against Clinton?
Elizabelle
C-Span has a live feed up, without the correspondents blathering on to fill time. Silence can be good.
Adam L Silverman
@satby: And then recanted the recanting.
geg6
@Elizabelle:
Sadly, I must agree. I don’t like to judge other self-proclaimed victims. But she acts like no victim I ever met. And given the chance to get revenge, she chose not to when it could have actually done some good for her cause. Now, do I think ol’ Bill was a hound dog? Yes, I do. But I tend to believe he was a guy who only was into consenting sex. He’s too much the needy, I-want-you-to-like-me type, not the entitled asshole that all the sexual predators I’ve known have been.
schrodingers_cat
PSA do not debate trolls/new nyms with trollish behavior, ignore them. They are here to sow discord, and dejection.
geg6
And now I’m out of this thread. I’ll catch up later this evening. Can’t watch.
germy
Norah O’Donnell erupted in exasperation this morning while interviewing one of the Democrats: “You’re going to ask him about his sex life??!!”
She felt it was poor form to ask such questions of a potential Supreme Court Justice.
Adam L Silverman
OT: Why does this not surprise me?
Elizabelle
@geg6: Hugs, geg. All the best to you! Rock on!
oldgold
This hearing provides the opportunity for a new Democratic political star to emerge. At a time the party is desperate for star power and new leadership.
Adam L Silverman
And we’re underway!
Elizabelle
@germy: Um, cuz maybe that’s a question that should have been aimed at her former co-host on the CBS Morning Show. Whom, I guess, Norah knew nothing, nothing, nothing about?
A lot of predators don’t prey on the top of the food chain. They go for the vulnerable.
germy
Safe comfortable and dignified.
Elizabelle
Both sider Chuck. What a fucker. And he dares to lecture on the loss of civility.
Assures safe, comfortable and dignified … a show of civility.
Although he could not request an FBI investigation.
TS (the original)
I cannot believe he has not withdrawn – can only assume he is 100% sure the president* will get him through this. Someone in the GOP must be spending billions to get Kavanaugh across the line. The pressure on any doubtful republicans will be massive. Presumably their reward is no healthcare and no abortions – purely to start things going.
germy
Did McConnell write Grassley’s statement?
It’s like he’s seeing it for the first time.
Adam L Silverman
And Senator Grassley decides to start off whiny and by putting all of this on Senator Feinstein.
Elizabelle
@TS (the original): I think he’s not withdrawn because his day job is on the line. Does credible allegations of serial sexual assault look good on a Judge of the DC Court of Appeals? No, it does not.
I think there’s a good chance Kavanaugh could find himself off the bench.
Zzyzx
@schrodingers_cat: I’m not here frequently (mainly because the ads destroy my browser) but I’ve been here off and on since Schaivo. I was one person Cole let complain about XL officiating since I am actually a Seahawks’ fan
germy
@Adam L Silverman:
Maybe he reads The Intercept.
m0nty
No wonder this is supposed to take six hours despite less than two hours of questions. Get on with it, old man.
(Long time lurker, infrequent poster here.)
Rommie
Let’s be civil! (Lasts about 20 seconds)
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: That won’t bother American women voters, watching avidly.
I think the GOP, especially the mens, are going to be in a world of hurt. And they will be surprised at the vehemence.
TS (the original)
@Elizabelle: Your words – my hope.
Zzyzx
(Apologies if that wasn’t meant for me)
Full disclosure: I am an assault victim and I did go through stages where all I wanted was for him and everything he loved to be destroyed.
satby
@Adam L Silverman: which means that she lied about something, but we can never be sure what.
I was date raped, I may not have told anybody when it happened, but once I did nothing would ever induce me to recant it. Nothing. Something is off with that woman.
TS (the original)
@TS (the original): Edit: If he had withdrawn early enough he could have kept his day job.
Groucho48
Grassely is sounding like a prosecutor summing up his case.
Calouste
@TS (the original): The shitgibbon wants a fellow sex offender on the “Supreme” court to defend him from any of his own sex offence cases. He more or less said as much yesterday.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: I’m not a big fan of the idea of term limits, nor am I interested in age discrimination, but Senators Grassley and Hatch are excellent examples of why both chambers of the US Congress needs a mandatory retirement age.
Betty Cracker
God, Grassley is a dick.
jacy
Grassley’s basically calling Dr. Ford a liar right to her face. This does not bode well.
trollhattan
Has anybody claimed “high-tech lynching” yet?
Good times.
germy
Quoting Ol’ Joe Biden on the worthlessness of FBI investigations, especially those that are waved in front of you.
Zzyzx
…and I made it as far as the chair saying how gracious he was to allow Ford to testify. That’s it. I’m going to do stress cardio.
debit
Jesus fucking christ. I may not be able to keep watching this.
TS (the original)
I can’t watch – thanks for watching for me.
Adam L Silverman
@Betty Cracker: As someone once remarked in the 00s, Senator Grassley is the best county commissioner serving in the US Senate.
germy
“Grandstanding And Chaos”
(Every accusation a confession)
Rommie
Expertise never stopped Senators from asking questions before.
eric
Underlying ALL of this is a profound conscious and unconscious underestimation of women as people. Women are the weaker gender to these men (and to many of their allied women) and so they cannot imagine that any woman could be as formidable a witness as their precious male judge.
Adam L Silverman
@Betty Cracker: @jacy: @Zzyzx: @debit: @TS (the original): And now you know why they had to bring in Ms. Mitchell from Arizona. If Grassley can’t even do an opening statement like a decent human being, imagine what happens if he were to directly question her. Now imagine what happens when you let Mike Lee or Ted Cruz or Lindsey Graham do it?
Adam L Silverman
Senator Feinstein is going to let Grassley have it with both barrels. Then she’s going to reload.
The Moar You Know
@Elizabelle: These men who believe this have never had an honest conversation with a woman in their lives. Every woman I’ve ever known well enough to discuss such issues with has been assaulted to some degree.
Happens. Happened to my stepbrother, in fact. She recanted after about six months, long enough for him to get expelled from college and lose all his financial aid. She was pissed because he didn’t want to be with her anymore, and only fessed up because the local DA was about to put him on trial for rape.
My stepbrother would be the first to tell you that this is a rare exception rather than the rule. I am not sure I’d have come out of an experience like that being nearly so understanding, but he’s a damn decent guy.
Adam L Silverman
Feinstein’s about one Grassley interruption away from smacking him. That look was not a collegial one.
The Moar You Know
oh what the hell. my kingdom for the edit button.
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: Of course, and setting up a “cat fight” gives these old perverts the jollies.
laura
My god! Her breathing is hyperventilation. She is trying to control the rising panic.
I’m wishing her Grace and Strength – and the same for all women and men who’ve suffered sexual assualt.
This is torturous.
Mike in NC
Just another Trumpian freak show. We were away from home for two weeks and have a lot of real life stuff to attend to…
eric
@Adam L Silverman: to my earlier point, he even publicly underestimates his female colleague because he cant imagine her being smart and tough enough to fight back.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I can’t watch, but just glancing at twitter it looks like it’s already a horror show
I remember when Cindy Sheeahn first started speaking out, she went on MSNBC with O’Donnell, and O’Donnell was indignant that Sheehan was speaking out against “this very popular president!” Bush had been in the mid-forties for a while at that point
Steeplejack (tablet)
Already Grassley has put me in a homicidal rage.
The only silver lining is that I am listening and not watching, and it occurred to me that Grassley sounds a lot like Uncle Joe on Petticoat Junction.
jacy
I could never be a senator. Jesus fucking christ. I would have decked Grassley and they would have had to drag me out.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Zzyzx: I think many of us have those stages.
Betty Cracker
Elizabelle
Which octogenarian sounds like s/he lives in the 21st century?
But her emails!!!
@polyorchnid octopunch:
My personal opinion is that Bill is a sleazy horn dog and misrepresented his intentions to Broaddrick. Basically, he lied to her about leaving his wife to get Broaddrick into bed. The relationship was consensual, but under false pretenses. As we know, Bill didn’t leave his wife and dumped Broaddrick, which left her angry, humiliated and probably a bit guilty. Her fixation on Hillary instead of Bill probably derived from her initial feelings of guilt
as well her anger at the person she viewed as the obstacle keeping her and the horn dog apart.
I believe that Broaddrick actually believes she was assaulted and raped, but I suspect it’s something she came to believe over time as a result of her interaction with the Right as well as it being easier on her ego to be a pure victim than a more morally complicated reality where she is both a victim and co-conspirator, where she was both hurt but also hurt others
Cacti
@satby:
Not once, but twice. And both times under oath.
She was dismissed for lacking credibility by Ken Starr, who would have happily shouted her story from the housetops if he’d found it believable.
Adam L Silverman
@The Moar You Know: I think I fixed it for you, let me know if that looks right now.
Elizabelle
If irascible Grassley is your poster boy for courteous senators, we have already won the battle.
Baud
@jacy: That’s exactly why you should run.
TS (the original)
@laura: I’m not watching and can’t even imagine how she must be feeling while old white ahole does everything except call her a lying bitch (he may have even done that already).
That people of this ilk and trump with his bragging are the supposed leaders of the USA leads to laughter followed by the tears that this is really happening.
psycholinguist
Feinstein is giving it back to Hatch and Grassley pretty good – noting that the committee they were on treated Hill like shit, and that nothing’s changed.
Baud
@Cacti: Ken Start and Brett Kavanaugh.
Elizabelle
C-Span feed has live tweets by Sheldon Whitehouse too.
The Moar You Know
@Adam L Silverman: Sir, my thanks. Exactly as I envisioned.
Now if we only had such a device for today’s reality.
Adam L Silverman
@The Moar You Know: They’re working on it.
Elizabelle
Rush to judgment. Unwillingness to take allegations at face value … a real question of character (for BK, but applies to GOP Senators too) …
You go, DiFi.
Elizabelle
“Plow right through.”
Like a rapist. Not hard to make that leap, Mitch.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Kasich yesterday, Baker today, Hogan before the sun goes down in Annapolis?
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: And she’s one of the counter examples for a mandatory retirement age.
jacy
@Baud:
I have a job where I can walk 20 yards to work with my dog, wearing only a towel. I’m not suitable for public consumption. And I’d end up throwing things at people all day long.
polyorchnid octopunch
@Zzyzx: And yet, here she is supporting another (possible) rapist… in a situation that has absolutely nothing to do with the Clintons.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: How many of them endorsed Hillary?
debit
This is so painful. Dr Ford is obviously on the verge of a panic attack. I can’t bear this.
Adam L Silverman
@jacy: Hopefully not the towel. Or the dog.//
Aleta
A good live thread, probably already mentioned
Adam L Silverman
And now Grassley is going to decide he needs to defend his honor and reputation from Feinstein.
Elizabelle
@debit: Yeah. I can see the anxiety.
Not a come hither look from this lying vixen, GOP senators.
jacy
At least DiFi is bringing it. If Grassley can call Dr. Ford a lying bitch, she’s gonna call Kavanaugh a drunken, lying, gang-raping FratDouche. She’s so much better at this than Grassley.
The Moar You Know
@psycholinguist: Lotta lefty folks, nationally and in CA, bitch about Feinstein. And I get that. She is a moderate and often a moderate in times that do not call for moderation.
But when the chips are down, she has never in my memory failed to deliver. Which is why I keep voting for her, and just did so again in the primary, and will do so in the general.
And you’d better never cross her or try to treat her like anything less than the Senator she is. If you come after her, as the saying goes, you best not miss. She will make Grassley regret the day he was born by the end of today.
eric
@Adam L Silverman: if only Dr. Ford had such a luxury as to him and his cohorts
TS (the original)
I’m following DanielDale on Twitter
Elizabelle
“Let us know if there’s any issues.”
[Since you’re so obviously a loon.]
Good quip about needing caffeine. Strong voice. You go, girl!
Jamey
I believe Juanita Broaddrick, but JFC, her Twitter is the fucking WORST. Whatever happened to her must have broken some pretty important stuff, Bless her heart.
Nicole
Thanks for watching, guys; I absolutely can’t. Just reading the observations, even translated into your excellent Jackalese, is making me have trouble breathing. I’m going to go do some very boring work right now and then check in with y’all’s opinions and thoughts in a bit.
geg6, thinking of you. Be kind to yourself; you deserve it.
khead
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Having seen the MD Gov debate this week and given his refusal to get involved thus far, I’m gonna say “no” on Hogan.
polyorchnid octopunch
@Adam L Silverman: That’s all going down just down the 401 from me. She’s a horrible horrible person.
I’m waiting for the day she fucks up and finds herself in a group of FN’s women. It won’t end well for her.
Adam L Silverman
@eric: I’m amazed he actually didn’t do what it looked like he was getting ready to do.
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: I root for DiFi and Nancy Smash!
Cacti
@Jamey:
Why?
dmsilev
@The Moar You Know:
Also, there are a couple of issues which she takes very very seriously and does not fool around about. This is one of them. Gun control is another.
Ella in New Mexico
@TS (the original):
No matter what happens today or with this nomination, it’s important to remember that THIS IS NOT ABOUT TRUMP. Trump is merely the vessel through which a small minority is attempting to subvert the Constitutional form of government.
These are the people who are running the show right now.
Soprano2
I got the best idea of what happened with Broaddrick, Jones and all of that from “The Hunting of the President” by Joe Conason and Gene Lyons. Lyons knew all about Arkansas politics, which was helpful in understanding what was going on. According to them Paula Jones was excited to be Clinton’s “girlfriend” until her boyfriend found out about what happened; that’s when she decided she had been “abused” by Clinton. Broadrrick doesn’t act like a victim, that’s for sure. by siding not with the victim but with the accused assaulter.
Kelly
Email notification this morning that my vote by mail ballot is on the way. :-)
jacy
“Brett, Kavanaugh, the boy who sexually assaulted me.” She’s establishing how well she knew him. She’s forestalling the obvious questions about her recollections. She’s prepared well.
Ella in New Mexico
@Jamey:
I’m guessing she gets paid by the Tweet, just like all the other Russian oppo trolls.
Cacti
@jacy:
Also knocking down the latest “it was Brett’s evil doppelganger” lunacy from the Trump cult.
Elizabelle
Thinking the GOP’s imported sex investigation woman might be listening to this and thinking, to herself, “Oh shit.”
It was brilliant to keep CBFord out of the public eye until her testimony.
jacy
God, this is heartwrenching.
Elizabelle
ELITIST all boys school in Bethesda.
Not merely “elite.” No mistake there.
Betty Cracker
This is so fucking hard to watch. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for Dr. Blasey to say it. She’s a brave woman.
Adam L Silverman
Well that’s a face!
Elizabelle
Stone faces on Grassley and Hatch. Lindsey Graham has a gentle smile on.
Adam L Silverman
@Betty Cracker: Yes she is.
schrodingers_cat
When Bill Clinton gets nominated to the Supreme Court we can talk about the various charges against him. Right now its a distraction. Besides Clinton was impeached and HRC was tarred and feathered for all the real and imaginary sins her husband committed during her 2016 campaign.
Martin
My wife realized last night that she knows Christine Blasey Ford. They were classmates in grad school.
eric
@schrodingers_cat: i want to marry this comment
Frankensteinbeck
@Elizabelle:
It because clear to me over the course of 2017 that Lindsey Graham gets off on other people suffering. No hyperbole, except that it might not be sexual. He just really loves hurting people.
delk
@schrodingers_cat: thank you
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: She’s going to bury the lot of them. And then Senators Klobuchar and Harris are going to come in and play good cop/another kid of cop on Kavanaugh.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: So much this.
SFAW
@Frankensteinbeck:
He and Paul Ryan both.
Jamey
Because the numbers bear this out, and this moment makes me even more cautious than usual. Being sexually assaulted or harassed does not make one an angel–or even a decent human; it just makes one “innocent” of having anything to do with precipitating the attack. It’s possible to accept Broaddrick’s accusations and still think that she’s a garbage human. I accept that there are many who take issue with my philosophy on this, though. And if she did lie about what happened between her and Clinton (a possibility, but not one I will entertain in the context of this discussion), then she’s an even worse human than appearances already suggest. The world fucking sucks. @Cacti: I believe Juanita Broaddrick, but JFC, her Twitter is the fucking WORST. Whatever happened to her must have broken some pretty important stuff, Bless her heart.
Elizabelle
This reminds me of the testimony of a woman at a witch trial.
“I understand I will be questioned by a trained prosecutor … I have never done so before ….” [words to that effect]
And don’t give her a Coke. Burps. Water, coffee or tea for caffeine.
Elizabelle
The GOP is all about procedure and timelines, isn’t it? Orrin Hatch is all about dates.
Corner Stone
@SFAW:
Who?
Jamey
@Ella in New Mexico: Man, that is a hard dollar… Maybe the money’s funneled through the NRA?
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle:
Brachiator
RE: Broaddrick
What a sad and twisted side show. Her presence adds nothing, and she even undercuts her own claims about Bill Clinton with her own demented partisanship.
Have meetings to attend, so can’t watch any of this hearing. In a way, I’m relieved. I feel for Dr Ford.
Doug R
….and the hired gun begins. Like Jack Palance in Shane, doing the Senators’ dirty work for them.
Steeplejack (tablet)
I had to turn off the TV when Dr. Blasey Ford started her statement. It felt too much like the run-up to Joan of Arc being interrogated before being burned at the stake.
Can anyone recommend a good Twitter feed to follow this at one remove—something like @ddale8 does for Trump’s rallies?
Actually, I should check to see if @ddale8 is covering this.
. . . And he is. Great! Thread starts here.
schrodingers_cat
@Martin: I don’t know Blasey-Ford I had once attended a day long yoga retreat with Blasey-Ford’s lawyer Debra Katz. I wonder if she remembers me. We exchanged a few emails but then lost touch. This was in the midaughts when I lived in MD just outside the Beltway. Katz is fierce.
The Moar You Know
@Frankensteinbeck: Think you’re wrong about the sexual thing. I think he totally gets off on hurting people, especially women.
NotMax
@Frankensteinbeck
Like McCain, one of Graham’s good points (the only one?) was his firm and adamantine stance against torture.
TS (the original)
As for bringing in a prosecutor – shows how the republicans on the committee are 100% unfit to do their jobs. They are running scared, supporting the insupportable, pretending their guy didn’t do this.
Steeplejack (tablet)
Okay, had to turn the TV back on so I can get a feel for how the hired interrogator is going to go. Ugh.
Raven
So she’s going to get everyone’s 5 minutes?
Steeplejack (tablet)
And her first question is basically “Why have you held back for so many years?” Ugh.
Adam L Silverman
@Raven: Not the Democrats as far as I know. Just the Republicans.
Elizabelle
“Letters from a thousand female physicians around the country.”
Going into the record. Smash, DiFi.
Raven
@Adam L Silverman: That’s what I meant.
Elizabelle
What do you make of the woman over Ford’s right shoulder? Dark suit. Poker face. Face pointing up, like she disdains Ford’s words.
Miss Bianca
I have a job interview to go to, I can’t watch this. I don’t think I can watch this anyway, so thanks for all of you for jeeping me informed. I haven’t even been raped, just subject to sexual harassment and some light assault over the years, and I have been roiling with rage and sadness for days and days. I can’t even imagine what this is like for Blasey Ford. God damn these old white Republican men. God damn their enablers. May their souls all burn to black ashes, but not before their bodies rot in prison.
Miss Bianca
@Miss Bianca: keeping, not jeeping. Jesus.
Adam L Silverman
What a fucking mess. Did no one prep Grassley and Mitchell on how things were going to work?
oldgold
I can’t believe they are going to alternate every 5 minutes. What a poor format.
Should be 50 minute blocks.
schrodingers_cat
Prosecutor from Maricopa county, so Joe Arapaio’s henchwoman?
Adam L Silverman
@Raven: There was some larger confusion about that over the past couple of days because what Grassley and his staff were putting out contradictory information.
zhena gogolia
I am a survivor of only the kind of garden-variety groping and verbal abuse that most women have experienced, but this is triggering me big time. That poor woman. Those slimeballs who are making her go through this.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Adam, why are you expecting competence from these people? It only matters that to them that the witch is killed – not whether they botch her execution.
Elizabelle
Ah ha. CBFord saw Mark Judge at the Potomac Village Safeway (?) — says they could investigate when he worked there.
That’s something that the FBI could nail down, no? Good point.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Steeplejack (tablet):
Oops, was that question from Feinstein? I’m sticking with @ddale8.
Adam L Silverman
@schrodingers_cat: Career prosecutor. She’s been there a long time.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
re: the Judiciary Committee, have you got a little list?
Baud
@Miss Bianca: Good luck.
eric
@oldgold: it is a great format for Ford as opposed to the 50 minute format. Terrible blunder by the GOP
trollhattan
“Hippocampus.” Drink!
I think Dr. Ford went to her safe place there for a second. A nerd–she’s one of us!
schrodingers_cat
@eric: @Baud: @delk: Thanks. There is absolutely no need to change the topic and make it about Bill Clinton. I have fucking had it with whataboutery.
rumpole
They are setting her up for cross. The prosecutor is establishing a timeline. She’s credible.
The prosecutor is competent, and setting her up to be eviscerated in political speech after speech. They don’t know the answers to these.
“Bravery is contagious.” Good on Leahy.
Soprano2
Oh good grief Leahy, please ask a question!
eric
I may be the only one but i think prosecutor is an odd choice. She is used to treating the victims well in a public forum. she is under tremendous pressure too not to appear terrible in this high profile setting. plus without any discovery she is asking questions for which she does not know the answer, which causes many trial lawyers to commit ritual suicide
jacy
This going back and forth in 5-minute increments is jarring. But I think one plus is it’s not going to allow the prosecutor to badger Ford. She’ll get a breather every five minutes to be bolstered by someone who is not out to get her.
germy
@Elizabelle:
As long as she doesn’t flash the “OK” sign…
Adam L Silverman
Corner Stone
@Miss Bianca:
Is that anything like, “some light treason”?
Elizabelle
the laughter as she was under one of them. The laughter, at her expense.
Wow.
Ruviana
@schrodingers_cat: This is how I feel about the trolls I run into elsewhere who yell about Keith Ellison. Oh, has Keith Ellison been nominated to the Supreme Court?
m0nty
Leahy took his sweet time, but that was a great question.
Adam L Silverman
@eric: She’s doing a victim intake interview in five minute increments.
Elizabelle
The shared laughter, between BK and Mark Judge.
Raven
The lady behind her seems fine.
Corner Stone
This Grand High Inquisitor thing is just too much. I don’t think the GOP set this up very well for their desired outcome.
Elizabelle
The wraith in the dark suit just cracked a smile at the “I’m used to being collegial” remark by CBFord.
marian
@Elizabelle: I believe she’s one of Dr Ford’s lawyers. I noticed them chatting and smiling before the hearing began and I think I recognize her from interviews.
eric
@Adam L Silverman: But that is not what Kavanaugh needs. She needs to do a defendant’s cross exam and you dont do that right away. you need the full story and then you investigate and THEN you do a cross examination. Plus the 5 minute format is terrible because she address any issues in very next five minute segment with a friendly questioner without the feeling of being adrift during a long cross examination.
OGLiberal
@Elizabelle: I know a decent number of GOP/conservative women. This won’t faze them one bit. Their solidarity is with folks who will make brown people hurt, cut taxes (even though those tax cuts won’t help them) and save fetuses, not women who are victims of sexual assault. Donald Trump could rape their daughters and they’d still vote for him – in fact, they’d probably be proud he chose their daughter to rape.
This is not hyperbole. They are truly horrible people. That’s the reality that we need to deal with. GOP women won’t change their mind because of this (yes, I know some polls say it has…they will still vote for the GOP candidate for Senate/House in November) – best hope is that this will bring more non-voting, non-GOP women to the polls in November.
Miss Bianca
@Corner Stone: Meant to evoke, yes. Even in the midst of trauma I can’t help cracking wise. God help me.
trollhattan
As an alternative to watching/listening, BBC has two reporters filing in near real time here.
TS (the original)
@Elizabelle: From what I am reading, she has this – I don’t think it’s going how Grassley thought it would.
eric
@eric: I am not saying this disappointedly.
Timurid
Somebody’s listening to this in the office next door.
My skin is crawling.
Adam L Silverman
@Raven: @Elizabelle: My understanding is the people behind her are 15 or so friends who are there for support. There are also a few invited supporters. For instance:
trollhattan
@Corner Stone:
They have become so accustomed to/fond of playing to the base I don’t believe they’ve figured out who they’re playing to here. Kavanaugh could profess his fondness of eating live monkey brain and the base would be A-OK with that. Nothing this or a hundred other women can say will change that.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Need it be pointed out that this isn’t a trial, it’s a hearing to determine the character and fitness of Kavanaugh for the position. The Rs are determined to make it into a trial. Let’s not accept that as a meme.
Silk purse. Sow’s ear.
Elizabelle
@marian: Good to know.
Agree that CBFord’s attorneys, and the Dems on the committee, negotiated a format that is reassuring to CBFord.
Wonder how it will go with BK. Will he get questions, or just grandstanding on the GOP.
Raven
@Adam L Silverman: Yea, I don’t see any of the aforementioned activity.
Adam L Silverman
@eric: No argument from me.
But this is the problem the Republican majority in the Senate has created for themselves. They’ve hired a career, professional sex crimes prosecutor. They apparently did very little prep with her. And as a result Ms. Mitchell has come in cold. So she’s reverting to what she’s trained to do as best professional practice.
Bobby Thomson
@polyorchnid octopunch: as does her recanting under oath.
Miss Bianca
@Baud: Thank you. Taking off now, catch you all on the flip side of this horror show.
Elizabelle
Another thousand plus letters in support of CBFord entered into the record by Dick Durbin. Mostly Holton Arms alumnae, staff and mentors. And from other DC area schools.
Raven
@Adam L Silverman: And what we will learn is that none of this means shit.
oldgold
What a shit show. Using exhibits without providing Dems copies in advance.
And, this alternating, just can’t believe his was the plan. Undamnbelievable.
It does seem to be working in Dr Ford’s favor.
Woodrow/Asim
@Adam L Silverman: I know it’s silly — Mz. Milano is Just An Actor, etc. — but that pic and tweet damn near made me tear up.
I’m going to just have hope, guys. That, and a plan to vote. :)
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: So has Joe. If she is credible why has she agreed to be Aunt Lydia for the Rape Enablers Club?
feebog
This broken up cross examination by Mitchell is not working. You can’t perform a competent examination, direct or cross in five minute segments. DiFi was brilliant.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: A victim intake interview wouldn’t occur in/as part of a trial. It would be one of the first things the prosecutor(s) would do as they begin to assess the case. If the GOP majority wanted to put her on trial by hiring Ms. Mitchell, so far they’ve failed.
Elizabelle
“A polished liar can create a seamless story.”
Unlike a trauma survivor.
Good for you, Senator Durbin.
Corner Stone
@Elizabelle: I don’t know who she is but she does not appear to be all that invested in the proceedings. She hasn’t done anything overt that I have noticed. If she stands up, rips off her jacket to reveal a suicide rig and screams, “All for the Glory of Brett Kavanaugh!” then I guess we’ll have an answer.
lamh36
Raven
Baud
@Raven: Yep. Collins and Murkowski are the only two people who matter. Everyone else has to wait till election day to exact any retribution.
eric
@feebog: @Adam L Silverman: @Adam L Silverman: Could not agree more. She knows that it she asks the wrong question without knowing the answer that Dr. Ford could club her hard with a brutal answer. You only ask questions in a cross you know the answers to, or, in very rare circumstances, when there is no good answer.
Adam L Silverman
@schrodingers_cat: Why do you ask me questions that no one can answer?
Elizabelle
Grassley’s fussing again.
More Maalox or laxatives, please.
Grassley is not a good look for the GOP. He’s on his last term. What a shit show to be remembered for.
germy
CBS reporters are now discussing her “girlish” tone. They say they “didn’t expect that” from her appearance.
Rather than substance, the villagers go for the theater criticism every time.
jacy
Grassley is rattled!
debit
I don’t think I could hate Grassley more than I already do. Yet every time he speaks, I reach a new level.
Leto
Fuck Chuck Grassley and his “it was something your side should’ve brought up.” Fuck You Chuck.
gwangung
@eric: Basicallly, showing, once again, that Republicans specialize in half-assed,unprepared jobs.
D58826
When Betty Ford went public with her breast cancer/substance abuse she made it acceptable to talk about these subjects in a public forum. Hopefully Dr Ford going public will do the same for rape victims.
oldgold
The prosecutor is way too plodding.
Her examination would normally be fine, but NOT when you only have 50 minutes.
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: It was not a question for you per se, it was a rhetorical question in response to your statement. And you are right only Mitchell can answer that question.
Adam L Silverman
@eric: @oldgold:
schrodingers_cat
@debit: Also remember that current USCIS head Cissna came from Grasseley’s shop. Cissna’s target is making legal immigration impossible. He is the second most anti-immigrant senator after Sessions.
germy
Kavanaugh’s Yale roommate shares his recollections of their dorm room:
https://www.thecut.com/2018/09/kavanaugh-roommate-yale-dorm-room.html
Adam L Silverman
@Woodrow/Asim: She’s done major advocacy for the #MeToo movement. She has a voice and a platform and she is using them to lead.
Adam L Silverman
Nelle
What I hadn’t thought of in years until right now – I was assaulted in 1979. In 2006, I was tracked down (I had moved 10 times since then, 4 states and then another country) and asked to testify in my attacker’s trial as a sexually violent predator. I was flown from New Zealand (where I was living) to Washington State. What I was not prepared for was the way the defense attorney (female) raked me over the coals as someone who wanted attention, wanted a free trip to the States, that nothing much happened to me, my clothes weren’t torn, I was making a big deal of nothing. I was shaken by the intensity of being attacked as a witness and victim; I hadn’t sought it out. I hadn’t even known it was happening. I was rather shocked that the detectives had even found me in a small town in New Zealand 27 years later. I was bewildered by the ferocity of her questioning. Unpleasant memory and I wasn’t traumatized by the attack, largely because, within the 20 minutes after he had grabbed me and I fought him off, he grabbed two of my students (we were all walking to school at the same time) and I went into Mama Bear mode to protect them. They chose not to testify years later; I don’t blame them. (He was convicted and sentenced to life without parole.)
Baud
While they’re on break, I thought this would be a good time to remind everyone that both sides are the same.
chris
Adam L Silverman
I’m about ten minutes behind, just saw the end of Durbin’s questions. Grassley needs to shut up. He’s not helping himself at all.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@lamh36:
Item #238 in “The Cluelessness of Chris Wallace.”
germy
@Adam L Silverman: Has Fox decided to “cut bait”?
Corner Stone
@eric:
I’ll defer largely on this topic but a couple points, IMO. I don’t see Dr. Ford as someone who looks for the stiff right cross to the face type opportunities. It seems like she is really trying to help everyone in this event. And second, it seems like the plodding prosecutor is just trying to set up the wrong footing of Ford that the GOP wants to use in a thousand ads. She’s not looking for a deep impact just one sign of doubt from the witness.
TS (the original)
@Leto:
So we have your side and our side – we do not have a senate committee evaluating a nominee. Every dem candidate should hold that comment for when the gop talk about wanting bipartisanship
rikyrah
@OGLiberal:
I know you do not lie
Adam L Silverman
@chris: Pretty much.
eric
@Adam L Silverman: Remember, not even Kavanaugh gave the prosecutor any evidence by which to do a cross. She cannot really do a “liar” cross because there is not likely going to be any impeaching evidence.
Leto
Mimi Roacca and Cynthia Alskne, both former federal prosecutors on MSNBC, are tearing the Republicans and this prosecutor to shreds. They’re both ready to explode and their anger at the refusal of Grassley to hold FBI investigations lead Cynthia to state: “Who does he think he is, putting this woman through this, when he doesn’t have the decency to do the most basic investigation. IT’S INFURIATING! It’s infuriating for women all over America. It’s an argument for term limits. Just go back to Iowa. It’s ridiculous.”
Preach.
Adam L Silverman
@germy: I think the straight news folks are going to report accurately given their biases. I think the evening talking head crowd and the Blonde with Two Boobs on a Sofa crowd are going to do their usual schtick.
CarolDuhart2
For the inevitable trolls that will come here:
1) Bill Clinton. Bill had his day in court and his accusers had every opportunity to hold him accountable, but it came down to the Blue Dress…ever wonder why? Also nobody else has come forward besides Broadderick. Violent sex offenders seldom have only one victim. And Bill is no longer President and hasn’t been for nearly 20 years. Despite all that time, nobody else has come forward even informally. Also the women’s anger seem to be directed at Hillary, not Bill. Wonder why-Hillary is going to believe her husband and what he says anyway.
2)Teddy Kennedy and Chappaquidick. They even made a movie about it a year or so ago. I didn’t see it-it vanished too quickly. That was terrible. But you know something-stuff like this is what got women in the Democratic Party activated. This isn’t your grandfather’s Democratic Party, “boys will be boys” anymore. Today Ted would be lucky to keep his seat, let alone be able to run for President. Today choir boy Jimmy Carter would be running unopposed, for it would be clear that he could’nt even win Iowa.
3)Keith Ellison-his case is being handled by both the system and soon by Minnesota voters. While some Dems are skeptical, nobody is saying what he did/alleged to have done was okay or trying to prevent him from being held accountable. The best he is getting is a “wait and see” approach.
trollhattan
@germy:
Wallace and especially Shep Smith are the two Foxers who don’t seem to take direction well. I’d watch for various blondes to capitulate to decide whether Fox has abandoned the Kavanaugh coop.
PJ
@Raven: Another Republican who is only capable of empathy when something happens to them or someone close to them.
khead
@oldgold:
Chris Wallace is pretty much freaking out over this on Fox. Wants to know what the hell she is doing.
cmorenc
@OGLiberal:
The fact that overwhelmingly most of the GOP or GOP-leaning “independent” women you’re referring to are irredeemably horrible people who won’t change their mind (or votes in Nov 18 or 20) obscures a crucial point: there is a small, but persuadable minority among them – even if it’s only mid to high single digits – that are enough to swing close elections. Don’t focus on the 90% of irredeemable GOP assholes and concentrate instead on the 5 to 10% who are open to strong second-thoughts. Same thing with GOP men – can’t change most of them, but pick up 5% of them, and the GOP goes from winning close elections to losing them consistently.
Tenar Arha
@Elizabelle: he laughed at a clip from “The Circus” while being interviewed on Fox this morning. And I put a reminder in my phone yo donate to his general election opponent in 2020.
eric
@Corner Stone: i follow you, but that is not what i mean. there are truthful simple answers that can completely undercut your entire case.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Exactly what I meant above about buying into R labeling.
Tenar Arha
@Elizabelle: *sigh, I miss the edit button* The clip was of Swetnick explaining why she wants the FBI investigation re-opened.
Cheryl from Maryland
@khead:GOP Hogan doesn’t have the best of reputations in Maryland regarding women’s issues — many of the initiatives he counts as his own, such as paid sick leave (yes, that’s a human issue, but …), he vetoed and the MD Assembly overruled him. If it weren’t that I can’t see Jealous not grandstanding, there is an opening for him to attack Hogan.
Elizabelle
Fresh thread might be nice in a while. To break this up, for folks following on a smartphone.
@khead: Chris Wallace works among many women who survived the Fox News sexual predators. And he has daughters. He probably hears quite a bit from all of them and, unlike others, may listen and take them seriously.
And he can see that the GOP is out of their minds to pursue seating BK on the USSC.
scottinnj
Does anyone know of a national charitable organization that is about helping the victims of sexual abuse? I am angry, I will vote, but I want women who are going through this to know they aren’t alone. Id like to direct my anger (or $) so that some good comes out of this horrrible horrible situation.
Bruce K
My heart’s aching for my friends Stateside, of whom I’m certain some have suffered a sexual assault. None have ever confided in me about it – not that I could possibly blame them – but I know the odds.
I just hope that two or three of the Senators on the Republican side have enough humanity left to them to crack and decide that they’ve all gone too far.
Failing that, a true reckoning is, I figure, at least fifteen years overdue.
Corner Stone
@eric: I’m out of order?! You’re out of order! This whole hearing’s out of order!
Leto
@TS (the original): Any time someone mentions Reagan and Tip O’Neil, they need to shove this quote down that persons throat. The GOP gives no shits about “bipartisanship”. It’s either give them 100% + 1 to whatever they want, or they go into toddler 2y/o mode. Their base is perfectly fine with that and that’s what they want. Jesus, new levels of rage discovered all the time with these assholes.
Elizabelle
@Nelle: So proud of you for coming forward. You protected your cubs the day of the attack, and protected future victims from the attacker, since he is now in prison.
Good for you! Courageous.
eric
So, if she told her therapist and waives the privilege, isnt that game over?
jacy
Jesus Fucking Christ — Mitchell seems to be echoing Ed Whelan. Next she’ll be pulling up Zillow maps.
Elizabelle
Re whenever it was in the 1980s: CBFord was only 15 for a while. It was pre driving age. Another plug for knowing when Mark Judge worked at the Potomac Safeway. That, again, is something the FBI could have confirmed.
TS (the original)
Peter Daou
@peterdaou
BIG MISTAKE
It’s early in the #KavanaughFord hearings, but it’s safe to say that hiring a woman prosecutor to interrogate #DrChristineBlaseyFord is backfiring on the GOP.
1. She hasn’t made a dent.
2. She can’t get a flow going.
3. Republican senators look like abject cowards.
Adam L Silverman
@Leto: Yep.
D58826
@Elizabelle: I wonder if any of the daughters of the GOP Senators have had ‘me to’ moment with their fathers?
Steeplejack (tablet)
@NotMax:
I think that is a reference to her (informal) job title in Arizona, as opposed to “chief of the Special Victims Division of the Maricopa County attorney’s office.” A lot of news outlets have been referring to her as a prosecutor.
schrodingers_cat
@NotMax: How about Aunt Lydia for Rapepublicans?
ruemara
@oldgold: Stop that. STOP. THAT. This isn’t a path to power exercise. My god.
schrodingers_cat
@D58826: You are assuming they care enough. After all their leader has boasted about sexual assault.
Leto
@Elizabelle: More Republican fuckery in trying to seat this drunk/sexual predator on the court. He doesn’t need to be on the DC Circuit court either.
Also Kamala Harris is in full prosecutor mode. She’s going to be brutal on Kavanope.
schrodingers_cat
@ruemara: Well at least he is not saying that this means, Mueller needs to hurry up with his investigations.
Cermet
@Nelle: Very happy for that out come; certainly you helped seal the case and deserve our praise for being both brave to do this and handling yourself so well.
Elizabelle
Sheldon Whitehouse makes me proud to be a Democrat.
D58826
@ruemara: I agree but being at the right place at the right time has happened in the past. The spotlight just happens to land on some one and fate takes a hand. Didn’t Obama get his big break with a speech at the democratic convention in 2004?
AThornton
This is an absolute disaster for the GOP. Ford is entirely creditable. The GOP Senators are coming across as sneering, contemptuous, and vile.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: Just put a live feed part 2 up.
Jeffro
@Baud:
Aaaaand I’m reaching for my bat…oh wait, you were kidding…
Bill Arnold
@trollhattan:
[Wish I could read this thread. I’m hearing very broken audio through earbuds while at work]
Oh yes. My heart fluttered (in a good way) when she talked tech. That, and the absolute precision (including informal uncertainty estimates, and recall that much of her professional work involves statistics as used by experiments) in her answers, and that she is just assuming that she will be given time to carefully read and review any statements she previously made for accuracy. To my mind, she has been thoroughly impressive as a witness. (Though I’m biased.)
I was very much hoping she would find a way to talk tech; her work (see her published papers; note google scholar sometimes sometimes has false positives) is fairly varied.
Elizabelle
Fresh thread up.
Old Republican speaking. (Grassley.)
Ian R
Thanks to those watching and reporting on this for those of us who can’t bear to.
Watching the counter for pledged support to whoever opposes Collins in 2020 if she votes to confirm is fairly satisfying. I wonder if it will hit 2 million by the end of the hearing.
Soprano2
Oh good grief, Grassley’s staff are not trained investigators, and it is not a felony to lie to them! What a tool Grassley is.
D58826
@schrodingers_cat: The fathers might not care enough in public but they will still have to look their daughters/granddaughters in the eye and know that they were victims.
Adam L Silverman
@D58826: Or because of them.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@D58826:
You mean being sexually assaulted by them? Oh, wait, what? //
Adam L Silverman
I think someone’s a wee bit confused:
Mart
@TS (the original):
3. Republican senators look like abject cowards – literally hiding behind a skirt.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
It’s still lazy and gives credence to the idea that this is a trial.
Ms Mitchell is perfectly legitimate. She’s not there in her professional capacity, she’s a paid employee of the R members.
Seanly
@germy:
And that was a minute after he talked about how all these FBI reports since 1993 found Kavanaugh to be the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.
The only time Grassley fucking looked at Blasey Ford was when he was calling her a liar. Otherwise, it could’ve been any old cranky asshole grandpa up there reading it.
Aside: WTF is wrong with Chrome? It doesn’t save my info for commenting here and on my home laptop I have to constantly do the 2-step authentication for Twitter…. grrrrrr
Aleta
@scottinnj: RAINN is one of course.
https://www.rainn.org
Lots of local rape crisis centers operate on little money and any support helps their volunteers as well.
Leto
I love the fact that each Dem is bringing up the fact that the FBI should have investigated this. Consistenancy in message. Because it’s true. Keep bringing it up, keep showing Republican cowardice/toxicity.
Domestic short hair tabby (fka vheidi)
Anyone else getting a Dolores Umbridge vibe?
Starfish
@scottinnj: RAINN is the national charitable organization that has been putting out the information on rape statistics. They also have a hotline for survivors. Tori Amos has been a spokesperson for the organization for many years and has been very open about discussing the event that inspired her song Little Earthquakes.
Suzanne
Listened to Dr. Blasey Ford on NPR on my way in to work this morning, and felt like I wanted to throw up.
This is incredibly similar to my experience. Though I feel far more violated by Trump.
D58826
@Steeplejack (tablet): No not that the Senator assaulted their daughter but that their daughter was the victim of a sexual assault that they did not reveal out of fear for being blamed.
OGLiberal
@cmorenc: My wife likes to say that if you still voted for Trump after he made fun of that reporter who has a disability, you are irredeemable, your mind will not be changed. I still believe that. But I hope you’re correct about the persuadable minority because you are definitely correct that the margins are slim and any additional support helps and can make a huge difference.
SFAW
@Ian R:
Link? Can you also put the link in the just-opened thread?
I don’t live in Maine (yet), but may be there by 2020.
Vince
@scottinnj:
RAINN is probably the most wellknown.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@D58826:
This
is a “sarcasm/humor” tag. You will come to recognize it and see it often on Balloon Juice.
Adam L Silverman
@Leto: I think they’re trying to make Grassley stroke out.//
oldgold
@ruemara:
This hearing is about many things.
I stand by my comment that one of these things is an opportunity for one or more of the Democratic Senators to distinguish themselves.
The “prosecutors” plodding exam, given the time constraints, is amazing.
Raven
What’s “beach friends”?
Ian R
@SFAW: https://www.crowdpac.com/campaigns/387413/either-sen-collins-votes-no-on-kavanaugh-or-we-fund-her-future-opponent
Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ
The questions about her how far her house was from the country club and the house where she was assaulted…the question about someone driving her to/from the gathering….the question about dates of when the gathering occurred…all make it feel like Dr. Blasey Ford is being prosecuted. It’s effing ridiculous. If the GOP thought they would look better by having a woman question her, they seriously screwed up. It makes them look like even bigger aholes.
Adam L Silverman
@Raven: The people she socializes with when she goes on vacation at the beach.
Or she’s an entwife.//
Adam L Silverman
@Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ: These are all the garbage obfuscation questions that Leo, Whelan, and Kavanaugh came up with in conjunction with that crisis PR firm and tried to float last week. They’re now being laundered by the GOP members on the committee through Ms. Mitchell.
Miss Bianca
@AThornton: Which is exactly how most Republicans like to see their representatives.
Honestly, the few female Republican friends I have seem genuinely horrified by this shit. Will they be horrified enough to renounce their party affiliation? We shall see. Probably not but a girl can dream.
Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ
Oh hell no, now Mitchell is trying to fish for other trauma so she downplay the results of what Kavanaugh did. Dirty, dirty BS. Thank goodness Dr. Ford handled it well.
Bobby Thomson
@Adam L Silverman: holy crap. I’m torn between revulsion at those dudebros and involuntary spasms of laughter.
Adam L Silverman
@Bobby Thomson: Yep.
SFAW
@Ian R:
Thanks!
SFAW
@Ian R:
@SFAW:
Just made a donation. They’re over $1.5M at the moment.
Thanks again for the link
ruemara
@oldgold: STOP USING OTHER HUMANS’ PAIN AS AN ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITY. Have a damned moment of human decency and at least hold your calculation until a day later.
You standing by what you said is exactly the problem. It’s not about your observances right now!
Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ
Is Mitchell going to question Kavanaugh as well?
oldgold
@ruemara:
I am not using other humans’ pain as an advancement opportunity.
I am commenting on one aspect of what is likely to occur as a consequence of this hearing. Do you dispute this is likely to occur?
Adam L Silverman
@Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ: It is believed so, but not clear because the information Grassley put out is confusing.
Ian R
@SFAW: I remembered someone mentioning it a week or so ago, and googled (and donated) today to at least do something mildly productive with my anger. Should have been asleep 5 hours ago, but just can’t while hearing is going on.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Did Captain Queeg have a first mate, a sort of Screaming-About-Strawberries Gilligan?
Mnemosyne
@oldgold:
Yesterday you were claiming that the Democrats should all boycott the hearing and abandon Dr. Blasey Ford to her fate. Now that you can see what a disaster that would have been, you’re desperately trying to come up with a new way to claim the Democrats are doing it wrong.
Stop.
sukabi
@Adam L Silverman: mandatory competency (mental health, cognitive and literacy) and drug testing would shake out the literal dead wood.
Also someone needs to free the skeletons in Grahams closet, they’re making him seem a bit hysterical.
oldgold
@Mnemosyne:
I have not made one remark today that suggests the Demicrats are doing anything wrong – just the opposite. They are doing very well to this point.
J R in WV
@oldgold:
Your comments here are heartless and unfeeling, as if you were a Republican.
You were in my Pie Filter for quite some time, and then I made the mistake of taking you out. That mistake is now repaired. G’bye!