Posted on 09/25/2018 7:40:30 AM PDT by Alberta's Child
After watching the events of the last 7-10 days unfold I really feel a need to post something to get some things on the table here. Some of the posts I'm seeing here reflect a lot of venting without a lot of thought, and the references to various media reports and TV "talking heads" make it obvious to me that a lot of folks should step back and think about a few things related to this Kavanaugh nomination process.
I'll lay this out as a list of items that are either factual or are probably strongly likely to be true:
1. The Democrats have probably lined up quite a number of so-called "victims" with accusations against Kavanaugh. This was probably done months ago -- and the process may have started YEARS ago when Kavanaugh began his career on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
2. This approach was modeled on the Anita Hill charade from 1991, and even now you can see an almost identical chain of events unfolding.
3. The list of credible accusations probably got very short very quickly. And after a lot of thorough vetting, the Democrats and their special-interest groups probably came up almost completely dry.
4. The Christine "Buzzy" Ford allegation was clearly a last-ditch attempt to delay -- or even derail -- the nomination ... just as the Anita Hill allegation was.
5. The allegation that Buzzy Ford has made dates back so far, and her story has so many holes in it, that it would have been laughed out of the HR office of any company in America.
6. Up until a couple of days ago I believed the Democrats were trying to delay the process and string it out for weeks, months, or indefinitely. Maybe they were at one time, but now I believe they have TWO main objectives: (A) Keep Buzzy Ford (or anyone else) from ever making a formal allegation in anything that constitutes a legitimate legal process (testimony, sworn affidavite, etc.), and (B) Get Kavanaugh confirmed as quickly as possible.
7. Item 6(B) sounds outlandish but it suddenly became important for the Democrats to do this. This is because Buzzy Ford is losing credibility by the hour as a formal witness but will be given tremendous credibility as an "aggrieved victim" in interviews to be carried on 60 Minutes, the Today show, Loser Holt's Dateline NBC, etc.
8. See Item #7. I suspect the interviews with Ford have already been taped. They probably have 4-6 hours of interviews that are ready to be cut up into 10-20 segments on network news shows like the ones I listed above. But these interviews can't be broadcast on TV until AFTER Kavanaugh is confirmed ... because they can't air an interview on TV and then have Ford's story shredded in a Senate committee hearing under cross-examination.
So if you are President Trump, Mitch McConnell and Charles Grassley, what is the best strategy for playing both the formal Senate process and the parallel political process play out?
I believe we are already seeing how this is being deployed. It is a two-pronged approach from two different angles: by attacking the Democrats on procedure and defending Kavanaugh politically.
Look at the Senate for an example of the procedural approach. Everyone seems to think Grassley is botching this thing because they're impatient about the process, but his role is to make sure the process plays out correctly and attack the Democrats and Ford's legal team over their violation of procedural protocols. It's IMPORTANT to remember this, folks: It's not the Senate's job to "defend" Kavanaugh. It's their job to carry out a legitimate confirmation process and publicly maintain a very high level of impartiality.
The procedural side of this actually provides a lot of political cover for the second angle of approach, which is the personal defense of Kavanaugh as a man and as a nominee. This is not the Senate's job, but the job of President Trump. Kavanaugh is simply a tool in his own defense, but he is TRUMP's nominee, not the nominee of the Republicans in the U.S. Senate.
I think the Republicans are actually playing this perfectly. Despite all the ventilating we're tempted to do about Grassley and his committee management process, he's actually doing exactly what he and McConnell need to do to facilitate Kavanaugh's confirmation while shielding themselves from damaging political blowback -- especially from moderate/independent women voters.
With this in mind, I'd say that confirming Kavanaugh quickly might be the WORST thing the Republicans can do right now.
Instead, the best course of action is to lay low, give as much credibility to the "victims" as necessary, and drag the process out until it becomes more and more clear that the whole thing is a charade and NONE of these "victims" are really willing to testify. In the meantime, the only thing the Democrats can do is call to delay the process because they already know their "victims" will be easily shredded if they DO testify. In the meantime, the 5-6 weeks of endless attacks in the media from weeping "victims" who were allegedly denied a chance to tell their story to the Senate Judiciary Committee never happens.
If Kavanaugh is an eminently qualified man and has an outstanding personal reputation that will shine through in any televised process ... and this assorted group of Mos Eisley-like mutants who have been assembled on the Democrat side to attack Kavanaugh are peddling accusations that have no credibility ... then the best course of action for the GOP is to have the accusations debunked in a very public way AS CLOSE TO ELECTION DAY AS POSSIBLE.
Read what I posted.
Once Kavanaugh is confirmed, they spend the next six weeks waging a "Fight the GOP War on Women" campaign, with Buzzy Ford as one of their leading media stars.
They can't do this as long as she is a potential witness before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kavanaugh already said he’s not withdrawing.
You might be right on this.
Here’s the tricky part.
Indisputable fact #1: The Senate GOP leadership sucks most of the time.
Indisputable fact #2: The Senate GOP leadership has done a tremendous job so far during the Trump administration on judges.
Both of those - to this point - are literally beyond rational dispute.
So.....given what we know, it seems this could go either way.
I’m inclined to think that the common sense of the American people will win the day here, and that the insanity of the dem establish including academia and the media will not.
If THAT is the case...then....I like your hypothesis. Keep giving the dems rope and they will hang themselves.
(Maybe :)).
I have noticed liberal associates on other social media - most of the educators-are now really quiet on the issue. At first they were energized but now it’s crickets.
The idea is to get Kavanaugh confirmed in time to participate on the SC when they start their next session around the first of Oct. The last thing they want to do is not have him confirmed by election day.
THIS JUST IN: Porn lawyer Avenatti said he has a third woman who will come forward with proven allegations, though he has not provided specifics.
But famed civil liberties lawman, Alan Dershowitz, chastised Avenatti, saying he’s bad for the legal profession.
“He may help himself to get more clients, but he has acted less than completely responsibly not only in this instance
but in other instances as well,” Dershowitz said.
Why would anyone want to have their character assassinated while those who should be defending and promoting you - compromise to satisfy those intended to destroy you?
Excellent post.
It should be obvious to any rational person that Ford’s legal team has been playing rope-a-dope in order to avoid sworn testimony if possible.
It’s definitely politically advantageous to have her “re-victimized” at the hands of those horrible old monsters known as the GOP.
Great point that it is not the Senate’s job to defend the nominee but to get through their own procedures.
My husband has been saying the same thing. ‘They are giving the Dems enough rope to hang themselves. Kav will be confirmed.’
Yesterday I did NOT read blogs or listen to Talk Radio, and I slept a lot better. Had my anxiety changed anything? No.
Michael Bromwich is a former Federal prosecutor and Department of Justice Inspector General ... and he is being publicly schooled in procedural matters by mid-level Senate staff attorneys and an 85 year-old guy (Charles Grassley) who hasn't even spent five minutes in law school.
THIS explains why Bromwich had to leave his prominent law firm to take on this case ... because even he publicly admitted that they were not happy with what he was doing.
Dianne Feinstein probably had her Chinese employers send a bunch of hackers to shut it down.
Agree.
We must outsmart the dems to win this.
To force a vote before we have a winning head count is stupid and irresponsible.
That's not true at all. A year after Thomas was confirmed in 1991, the Democrats had their infamous "year of the woman" elections in 1992. A disproportionate number of women ran successfully for the House and Senate that year.
I think you are giving excess weight to that point. The 'Rats/Media are already doing that and will continue to do so.
That's really an artificial deadline. It's ideal from a procedural standpoint with the U.S. Supreme Court, but simply does not work from a political standpoint for all the reasons I've laid out here.
Trump needs to remind Republicans, the ONLY reason for this farce is so Democrats can get back into power.
Trump should tell Republicans to quit reading from the Democrats' midterm script. Remind them they are on a different team.
Did Pubbies notice that Ford and her lawyers have made all sorts of nuanced demands,
nit-picking demands that only someone worried about being caught lying (pejuring herself) would make?
Since this accuser is not directly involved in politics, Pubbies can safely assume Ford's "The Perjury Trap Rag"
is being orchestrated by the Dems' political apparat.....insiders like Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, the DNC, and other midterm dreamers.
ROTFLOL......plausible, very plausible.
THIS has to be answered by Doctor Fraud’s lawyer TODAY. If no required evidence is received by Grassley it would indicate, to me, that it’s game over for the dems.
Of course. But it is hard to maintain credibility with undecided voters when you are maintaining the following approach to addressing a serious allegation against a Supreme Court nomination:
1. DEMOCRATS: "Christine Ford has a right to be heard by this Senate committee!"
2. REPUBLICANS: "OK -- she's on the schedule for [SELECT DAY]."
3. DEMOCRATS: "WHY ARE YOU PRESSURING HER?!?!?"
He has ordered them to turn over three things that they are almost certainly unwilling or unable to produce.
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