I also think it's a big issue to him because his mind is still back in the 90's. Tariffs were a huge issue with NAFTA passing. Same with China and currency manipulation (which they don't do anymore). Heck, even the national anthem bit is back from another era.

Maybe it's just him or maybe as people get older their mind fixates on issues that were important from when they were younger.

Trump is basically channeling Pat Buchanan here. Back in the 90s, being anti-free trade wasn't just a left thing, but something the right was also in favor (with calls to produce things in the country, "buy American" and all that). Those in the middle (Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush) were pro free trade, and generally the anti-trade folks became more on the far left (the 'fair trade' movement).

Trump is just re-shaking the cobwebs of the 'Buy American' Buchananites.

You're right. And the comparison to Buchanan is spot-on in more ways than just trade. Their views on race and sex are nearly identical. They both favor authoritarianism to democracy.

Difference is Trump has the personality that Buchanan lacked.

I know they happened. I went to school around the same time but not in the same social standing. But yes. I knew of several parties like that and knew who where involved. None of the girls ever pressed charges btw, and at least one girl transferred schools afterward.

I don't remember hearing about anything in high school but there was stuff in college I remember hearing. Parties where people got drunk and high and stuff happened. Don't think it was ever someone being held down screaming or anything, but stories about girls more or less passed out.

I should add this was late 90's-early 2000's so things had changed. Girls were much more careful when it came to covering their drinks and even looking out for one another. From what I gathered, stuff was much more prominent before then.

When I was in high school, we weren't even sure what to do when a girl showed up at parties. Sulk silently and drink more, mostly.

I...never got invited to any parties.

Yes I will lose three of my top cyber security threat researchers on my team. They are all from India and there spouses all working on masters degrees or PhDs. These guys also frankly even at late 20s are lapping my US educated team of twenty other people on work load, effort and results.

Me neither. Hell, I barely went in college because I needed to work and graduate in 4 years with good grades. I'd go back and change that if I could, but it has at least served me well.

dola


So if Trump already knows what the FBI should and shouldn't investigate in all things, because he already knows what is what, why have an FBI?

To gather evidence against the President’s enemies, of course.

And now we know why the staff didn't want him to give a lot of press conferences:


Trump says sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh set 'dangerous standard'

I would add China cheating on IP (Intellectual Property) is high on this list also. If it was just on manufacturing I will be disappointed. And I'm sure its also, like the Chinese suspect, to blunt China's economic growth and emergence.

Let's hear it from her two other witnesses. The nomination should be delayed to let this play out IMO. I'm still willing to give him benefit of doubt at this time but there's enough stuff popping up for committee to do some due diligence.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...-could-n912491

From my untrained legal mind Blasey Ford is killing it. Even my far right in laws are admitting how credible she is.

Would love to hear from the lawyers and people smarter than me.

Not saying I’m smarter than you but her testimony so far has been much more believable than her previous vague remarks. So I agree.

Well you've gone and shot yourself in the foot now haven't you?

Incredibly hard to watch. About half of the students in my program are 15-17 year old girls sexually assulted from their comprehensive school and wanting change. Fords testimonial is incredibly similar to the stories and trauma we deal with here.

It’s heartbreaking to see how these incredibly resilient kids may still be significantly traumatized decades later.

Ugh.

I can't even imagine.

That is just heartbreaking, and shocking to see the numbers this still happens to. :(

Give McConnell credit, he told Trump Kavanaugh would be a risky pick.

Kavanaugh really looking like the ideal person to receive a life long appointment to the highest court in the land.

Not really going with the "I'm just the guy who calls balls and strikes" approach here.

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) September 27, 2018

This is tough to watch. The calender thing seems weird to me though.

Yeah this is tough to watch. Yet, there are plenty of people in prison who very convincingly say they are innocent.

Reading social media people
From both sides have already made up their minds and nothing will sway them. I suspect the same is true for the committee members. This is all a dog and pony show.

Kavanaugh is not helping himself here. He seems almost unhinged going from anger to crying in the space of a minute. You would expect him to have been coached to be more calm.

Guilty until proven innocent. Welcome to America.

Don't worry, snowflake. Nothing bad is going to happen to Ol' Brettie.

If even he could have been an unbiased SC judge if he gets on the court he is going to remember this attack as he obviously blames the democrats solely.

I think you'd only expect it if your entire experience with human beings was television courtroom dramas. His real-time emotional reactions strike me as the most credible parts of his presentation.

(Not saying at all that it means he's telling the truth. People committed to covering their asses also have real-time emotional reactions.)

That said, I don't think it is going to do him any favors in the public consciousness.

I'm just glad I don't have to be the deciding vote in this particular he said/she said pick 'em. I don't think I could ever work myself into a 100% confidence that I'd made the right choice between the two narrative presentations.


I don't care which side of the aisle you're on, I happen to think that as long as we have gamesmanship in politics, the game *should be* a blood sport. Ifdon't want to live in a society where people can just make consequence-free accusations and that's an accepted part of the game, and whoever has the most power wins. If you make the charge and lose, you'd better be willing to accept that there will be downstream consequences. It's part of the natural checks and balances that keeps people from automatically defaulting to nuclear options.

I do understand that means justice won't always be served. People who are telling the truth will be disbelieved. Sometimes the bad guys win.

Perhaps you have confused a Senate confirmation with a criminal court.

Good liars always seem credible.

And coming out 36 years later. Really? Esp. with the recent #metoo movement.
I call BS on this thing.

Politicizing this only hurts legitimate sexual assault victims.

Shame on the politicians.

Perhaps you have never heard of due process.

You realize this isn’t a criminal trial?

Well, I am a lawyer. That's why I said he hasn't been coached very well here. Usually when trying to blunt an accusation if this were a court of law someone would be informed to be far more calmer than this. It just seems like throwing emotional crap against the wall to see if anything sticks.

What does she have to gain?

I'll echo Lathum... you realize this isn't a trial? What exactly do you think due process is?

He would have been better off leaving out mentioning this was some sort of left wing conspiracy to get back for the Clinton's, etc. At the same time, I can easily imagine a situation where those talking points came from Trump wanting him to mention it.

You are insanely out of touch if you think this is going to hurt women coming out against sexual assault.

Who knows. The real question is what does the left have to gain.

Pawns get whatever pawns get from the powers that be.

Obviously death threats, slut shaming, and general judgement. What doesn't she have to gain from that?

He wanted a hearing right after the accusations were brought up against him. The next day. He should have been afforded this. But the committee hemmed and hawed and drug their feet, while the left assassinated his character.

He should have been afforded the right to his due process by havin a hearing that next day.

But the media stirred up a bunch of crap to muddy the waters, true or not.

How is that not affording his right to due process?

On the bright side, Orrin Hatch thinks she's hot.

So no false accusations have ever hurt women in their fight against this terrible thing.

Who is out of tough?

This is effectively a job interview. Not a trial. There is not right to due process.

It’s like the entire right has conveniently forgotten Merrick Garland exists.

Because none of this is a trial. Due process means you get you get a fair and impartial trial when the state is seeking to deprive you life, liberty, or property. It does not apply in non trial instances.

Forgive me if I don't take the person that compared Hillary Clinton to the crazy bitch that cuts your tires seriously on matters that involve the view of women in society.

You step into the public eye, you get that type of thing.

I have no dog in this fight, but I cannot really believe that she decided to come out 36 years after the incident happened. Where was she during the rest of his career?

And how did Kavanaugh make it through 6 FBI vettings and not even a sniff of this came out before?

Seriously. This whole shit show political BS would just end if we just put Garland on the bench and move on.

And a woman speaking out and taking on one of the most powerful institutions on the land will do far more good.

First, the Fbi doesn't do in depth vetting.They collect statements. They do absolutely nothing to corrberate those statements. So if his general ackground check is clean and he doesn't bring these things up then they're not going to be checked. That's why people are pushing for an fbi investigation.

The rest of your post is the same out of touch shit that's spewed by older white people in regards to sexual harassment claims.

"Due process is the legal requirement that the state must respect all legal rights that are owed to a person. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual person from it. When a government harms a person without following the exact course of the law, this constitutes a due process violation, which offends the rule of law. "Notice and opportunity to be heard are fundamental to due process of law."

When the committee did not give him his right to a hearing the day after the accusations came out they violated his rights. He was harmed by the government by the government letting it hang out there for 10 days.

Not if she is lying.

I find fewer things more disgusting than when an old white man puts himself in the shoes of a woman or minority then tells them how they should have handled a situation.

No it wouldn't. The Garland thing made it a lot worse, but the way we treat judicial nominations had been headed straight downhill for at least a solid decade prior to that, and given how much the well has been poisoned both before and since a lot more than Garland would need to change to fix it.

How is it out of touch? Why does a womens word have more bearing than a mans?

Why is this woman, who is obviously a very successful woman, wait 36 years to cry "rape". Where was she 10 years ago? 20 ytears ago? 36 years ago?

The timing is so bad it is laughable.

You keep banging that drum. He has no rights to have a hearing after an accusation in respect to a job interview. What law requires that? What's the "exact course of the law" that was violated? I'm sure though, Cavanaugh will sue the Senate for not affording him a Senate hearing during a confirmation process.

I find fewer things more disgusting than a woman or minority lying to "bring down the white man".

What was the harm? He may not get a promotion, but he'll still be a federal judge, he won't go to jail, there will be no financial penalties.

And look at what you're asking for. Do you expect a hearing with both Ford and Kavanaugh? You really think that would have helped his chances? Bullying her into testifying the next day or refusing to hear her would have been a terrible look. Or you could just have a hearing with him and ignore her entirely. That would also not look good.

Baby, it's hard out there for pimps.

You’re doing it again.

"The interpretation of due process is sometimes expressed as a command that the government must not be unfair to the people or abuse them physically"

In this case the government was being unfair to Kavanaugh.

Bullshit.

In that case, I guess Merrick Garland has a case against the Senate. He should sue too.

Yes, she brought this up in therapy 10 years ago in order to take down Kavanaugh in the future.

Have you ever actually known anyone that was a victim of sexual assault or read any of the studies on sexual assault and sexual assault victims?

My wife was sexually assaulted as a teenager by one of her dads best friends in the middle of the night in her own home. Her dad and no one else don't know anything about it for the reasons rapes commonly go unreported.

I suggest taking some time to read up on the subject because your viewpoint on this is out of touch, refuted by numerous studies, and is embarrassing in 2018.

Heh. Fair point, and I'll defer to your expertise. You have a professional standard and expectation for what successful preparation looks like.

Those of us not in the business of law tend to expect people to act more like regular people in stressful circumstances, though...and I tend to think that the court of public opinion is the one that's going to end up mattering most in this context.

(Not that I imagine it'll matter in the end. People pre-disposed to believing him will read his emotions as normal outrage from someone who has been falsely accused; other people will read them as a guilty person trying to deflect suspicion. I personally would have been more suspicious of him if he hadn't shown any emotion at all, because the content of his defense is based on 1) weird HS calendar journaling*, and 2) the 'I'm not racist because I have a black friend" defense of "I have daughters, coach girls' basketball, and have chick interns")

* I don't want to be too condemnatory here. "Weird" is contextual for your average male kid. Not sure that a prep school boy who ultimately ends up slotted for confirmation on the highest court in the land counts as "average".

Am I offending you because a woman waited until a man is being nominated to the supreme court.

Sorry about that. But waiting this long and absolutely killing his career and family is okay?

Why does a liar get afforded more rights than an honest person? Because the accuser is a woman?

Hummus and guacamole are far more disgusting.

It's completely out of touch because Bill fucking Cosby was just put into jail based on the testimony of multiple women who waited years to tell their stories. Between Cosby and Kavenaugh one would have to completely dedicate themselves to avoid the thousands and thousands of articles published in that time that DIRECTLY answered the question of why a woman would wait to report a rape or abuse.

Do you really want to know why women wait so long to report sexual assault?Â* - Chicago Tribune

https://www.pcar.org/news/why-victims-wait-report

403 Forbidden

Why Sexual Assault Victims Wait to Speak Out

Since You Asked, Roy Moore, Here Is Why Victims Of Sexual Violence Wait Decades To Come Forward | HuffPost

https://moneyish.com/ish/why-were-st...we-can-change/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/o...ault-rape.html

Kind of like the left trying to take down an accomplished man.

Please tell me you mean separately and independently here.

Mixing them together would be an abomination and definitely a case of "two awful tastes that taste even awfuller together".

And Hillary should sue over Lock Her up at Trump rallies.

Hummus is okay. But I agree on the guacamole.

I heard one time that California had a big surplus of Avacaos, so the growers decided to do a media blitz on how good avacados were for you. Avacados started selling like hot cakes after that.

Yep. Welcome to a sue happy society.

Never bad to be a lawyer in this country.

I had a feeling this was entirely political for you.

The right trying to take down an accomplished woman is cool though. She'd probably slash your tires anyway.

Why can't the guy being lying?! It is always the woman is lying.

And this isnt political?

And no, I will not back a liar based on which side of the aisle they come.

And I think Im more afraid of you than a woman slashing my tires. You are the problem with this country today. As a friend of my calls it "the wussification of our country".

You are soft and afraid. You are a victim and play that to the hilt.

Life is hard and the government will not always be there to pick up your pieces. What will you do?

Yeah but he doesn't have a horse in this race 😂.

Perspective. And timing.

The funny thing, is if HRC would have nominated a person that was accused of sexual assault, this entire thread would be about how the republicans are pieces of shit and making things up.

"You have interacted with professional women all your adult life and not one accusation."

Huh. What a great quote there.

Yes let's politicize sexual assault to show how in touch you are.

I never claimed to be "in touch". Whatever your definition of that is, I obviously dont fit it.

I wasnt politicizing sexual assault. I was politicizing this thread.

You are the poster child for the left. Lie and name call and shout others down until they are gone or think like you do.

I think you are not "in touch".

Flatulence is Kavanaugh's go to explanation.

Sir, what did you mean by felching? - Flatulence.

Rusty trombone? - Flatulence.

Donkey punch? - Flatulence. When I was seventeen every word meant fart.

I didnt know what a rusty trombone was until my 40s when a dude named his fantasy football team that.

So what would you call Lindsay Graham's performance then? Come on...

Where have a lied? I have at least a basic understanding of sexual assault victims based on personal experiences and reading studies and statistics.

And, yes, you are 100% politicizing sexual assault in that post.

Accuses someone of name calling...


...literally right after calling them names.

I'm wondering if tarcone really suffers from this high level of cognitive dissonance or if he's just really drunk right now.

Ah, So Im politicizing sexual assault. I guess Im the only one. bad on me.

Wait, The left isnt politicizing sexual assault? No they are just being good citizens.

What is the best weapon the left has right now? Oh yeah, sexual assault.

Quit being a hypocrite. Oh yeah, another trait held by people on the left.

You will never know.

Nor do you want to. I do not subscribe to your rhetoric, therefore I am wrong.

I know the game. Im just throwing wrenches.

I guess this is the part where someone says "Por que no los dos?"

Bullshit. Abso-fucking-lutely not. Sometimes its not "both sides suck". Sometimes one side does a thing fucking better. How dare you suggest that everyone here would be okay with rape and sexual assault if it were "my team".


Amidst the horrible shitshow that was the Roy Moore election, where someone with countless allegations of inappropriate conduct with minors surfaced, allegations were made against a sitting democratic congressman in Al Franken. Members of his own party called for investigations, and he himself resigned. Even in democratic echo chambers like /r/politics on reddit the most upvoted comments on the original threads on the allegations were basically "well fuck, and I liked him too, but this isn't okay and something should be done about it."

I know there's more grey area than that, but if you fuck up and nominate a rapist to the supreme court, you don't lose your fucking presidency. You just quite simply withdraw the nomination and nominate the next old white man who will uphold legislation to overturn Roe v Wade, support corporations and support the idea that a sitting president can't break the law. This guy isn't the only one out there.

Oh yeah. He is totally going after the left. He threw down the gauntlet.

But was he wrong?

I have a hard time when women wait. Im sure when it really happens it a supremely traumatic event.

But i find it hard to believe Ford. And for this I am an asshole.

Well, some of you need to take of your left leaning glasses and have an open mind.

I have been accused of politicizing sexual assault. But that is what all of you are doing. Dragging some guy through the mud and ruining his life because he is a conservative and it will tip the country away from big government running our lives.

Maybe California will break off and you can have your utopia.

Did Neil Gorsuch go through a circus like this?

I'll help, the answer is "no" because (1) He probably never sexually assaulted multiple women while blacked-out drunk and (2) This process is about the truth, not about the candidate's politics.

The fact that you think the timing is suspect just further points to your bias and obliviousness.

The dude is being publicly vetted and investigated for one of the most important jobs in the country...the fact that issues would arrive at the exact time that hundreds of people and millions of dollars of resources have been dedicated to looking for issues isn't exactly suspect.

Were you equally shocked by the timing when multiple women came forward with years old allegations when Bill Cosby started being publicly investigated?

Were you equally shocked by the timing when multiple women came forward with years old allegations when Harvey Weinstein started being publicly investigated?

Were you equally shocked by the timing when multiple men came forward with years old allegations when Kevin Spacey started being publicly investigated?

Were you equally shocked by the timing when multiple women came forward with years old allegations when Les Moonves started being publicly investigated?

Were you equally shocked by the timing when multiple women came forward with years old allegations when Matt Lauer started being publicly investigated?

At this point there's been literally dozens of the country's highest powered men who were taken down by decades old allegations of sexual assault that came out after a public investigation began, so to claim that those exact factors necessarily point to Ford's lying is completely blind to very-recent history and culture, and points to a perspective that is narrow and uninformed, at best.

He's just implicitly stating that most of the individuals on this board would defend rape as long as they would uphold our ideals politically. Only tarcone is above the fray.

I dont disagree the GOP is full of hypocrites and liars. But thinking the Dems are cleaner is just naive.

This country is in trouble because of all these fools. To be in politics today, you are dirty. You have skeletons in the closet.

Dang, 63 women who knew Kavanaugh wrote letters about his character.

They must be lying. Because, you know, one woman said he sexually assaulted her.

Who do you believe?

Pretty sure Bill Cosby could find 63 women he didn't rape. That doesn't make him innocent or a Saint.

Yes, that is one way to look at it.

But I am not saying she is lying because she waited. Im saying she is lying because she is a pawn used by the Dems.

I do not believe her.

And do I want the Supreme Court unbalanced? No. I dont want a huge majority of conservatives or liberals. I would like it to be 5-4. Always.

I just do not believe her. I think this is as a politically based attack that has come down since Thomas.