Can Kavanaugh Be Stopped?

There’s a lot that’s very hinky about Brett Kavanaugh besides his association with right-wing politics. See, for example, The Many Mysteries of Brett Kavanaugh’s Finances. The man has been living way beyond his apparent means.

Before President Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, he had a lot of debt. In May 2017, he reported owing between $60,004 and $200,000 on three credit cards and a loan against his retirement account. By the time Trump nominated him to the high court in July 2018, those debts had vanished. Overall, his reported income and assets didn’t seem sufficient to pay off all that debt while maintaining his upper-class lifestyle: an expensive house in an exclusive suburban neighborhood, two kids in a $10,500-a-year private school, and a membership in a posh country club reported to charge $92,000 in initiation fees. His financial disclosure forms have raised more questions than they’ve answered, leading to speculation about whether he’s had a private benefactor and what sorts of conflicts that relationship might entail.

There is also copious evidence that Kavanaugh lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee during the hearings on his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2004 and 2006. See The Evidence Is Clear: Brett Kavanaugh Lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee. It took two sets of hearings because Kavanaugh was obviously, um, problematic even then.

And then there’s the little matter of a large trove of Kavanaugh documents that Republicans have managed to keep hidden from view. The Republicans have been steamrolling Kavanaugh’s hearings with all possible speed so that no one gets a chance to look at him real hard.

But now he’s been accused of sexual assault, and the accuser has gone public. Will that slow down the nomination? Greg Sargent writes,

Now that Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser has gone public with her story that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were teenagers, the White House and Republicans have signaled that they plan to aggressively undercut her credibility, a strategy that some conservatives have already launched.

You would think that this alone should obligate Republicans to invite Christine Blasey Ford to testify, publicly, before the Senate Judiciary Committee — before there is any vote. This would afford her a chance to defend her own recollections and character — that is, in direct, face-to-face response to the hostile questioning and extreme skepticism of Republicans, which they would no doubt throw at her if this does happen.

Bloomberg reports this morning that President Trump’s team plans to “try to discredit the charges for surfacing late in the confirmation process and to question the credibility of the accuser because she didn’t tell anybody about the incident at the time.”

This is getting old. How many times does it have to be explained why victims of sexual assault often keep quiet? It’s well known that sexual assault victims keep silent more often than not.

Meanwhile, Judiciary Committee Republicans put out a statement claiming that the “disturbing” timing of the allegations raises “questions about Democrats’ tactics and motives,” suggesting Ford’s story is the reflection of Democratic dirty tricks. Some prominent conservatives suggested that the charges are orchestrated by Democrats.

But let’s look at the accuser:

Christine Margaret Blasey Ford (born c. 1967) is an American psychologist. She is a professor in clinical psychology at Palo Alto University. Her work specializes in designing statistical models for research projects. She has been a visiting professor at Pepperdine University, a research psychologist for Stanford’s Department of Psychiatry, and a professor at the Stanford School of MedicineCollaborative Clinical Psychology Program.

This is not some nobody who was discovered by dragging hundred-dollar bills through a trailer park. This is a serious professional with a serious career who is knowingly walking into a maelstrom of ridicule and character assassination from which her personal and professional life will likely never recover.

Now the Democrats and a handful of Republicans are calliing for delaying the committee vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination until Professor Ford can be heard. She is willing to testify publicly. Kavanaugh is willing to lie about it testify publicly. I think if this steamroller can be slowed down, there’s a faint hope it can be stopped before it’s too late.

9 thoughts on “Can Kavanaugh Be Stopped?

  1. I hope that at the hearing(s) the Dem's invite Anita Hill, and sit her right down in the front row of the gallery.

    Of course, that may not make Republicans flinch.

    In fact, after all of this, they'll be even more likely to want this rapey/sex-attacky bigot on the SCOTUS.  Because after this, he'll be even tougher on laws regarding women.   

     

  2. The so-called sexual assault letter looks like it is written by a first-grader, not a high school student.  The word girlfriend is even misspelled.  This doesn't make sense.  I admit at first I was a bit skeptical since the woman wanted to remain anonymous although I understand why she would.  But now that she has come forward, an investigation must take place and the nomination process delayed.  Also, this info about him living beyond his means needs to be investigated.  What is wrong with these people?

  3. Women – always and still Fair Game to republicans.  Some of us are very tired of this.  I wish I could be allowed to testify to my experience as prey.

  4. My disgust for Trump Jr. is really coming to the surface. After seeing his vile attack on Kavanaugh's accuser without even a possibility of his knowing where the truth lies I can't help but think that apples don't fall far from the tree..But, to put it in terms that are emphatic and give a more complete understanding of the disgust I'm feeling I think borrowing one of Gulag's adaptations to express that same concept with the proper amount of flavor. It's necessary to say…"Turds don't fall far from the sphincter". 

  5. @grannyeagle: What is wrong with these people?  To quote Cameron Poe, My first thought would be… a lot.

  6. This kind of assault is never a one off. How many other women are out there, and will any of them now have the nerve to come forward?

  7. Swami,

    I am humbled that such a sagacious and funny person as you quotes me. 

    Excuse me.

    I'm all verklempt………………..

  8. I am skeptical that anything short of footage of Kavanaugh smoking crack with Osama bin-Laden and Fidel Castro will stop the GOP from confirming its guaranteed fifth conservative justice, good for correct rulings on corporate, environmental, electoral, racial, sexual, and financial matters for the next thirty years.

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