by Dave Roberts » Tue Oct 02, 2018 1:59 pm
This has been all about making a big show for Kavanaugh (standing in for Trump). First, his initial hearing before the Judiciary Committee was more like a coronation than a serious questioning to learn something they didn't already know. Getting to ask questions in five-minute blocks alternating between parties meant that even if something serious emerged, the next speaker could shift the direction so no one would know or care. Then Dr. Ford's interview was handed off by the GOP to a prosecutor of sex crimes, hardly someone you would bring to get information to the surface, and again she was saddled by the five-minute rule to be sure nothing could get too far out of hand for the majority. When it came to Kavanaugh's interview, the prosecutor suddenly disappeared so GOP members could use their times to make campaign speeches, first of support for the judge and second for consumption by the voters back home. Again, even when a member had a serious moment with the judge, it could unravel during the speech by the other party members. All I am certain about at this point is that there are weaknesses in Dr. Ford's story and that Kavanaugh, despite his efforts to refute sworn testimony, came off confessing to at least two crimes in the hearing--underage possession of alcohol and contributing to the delinquency of a minor by sharing such alcohol with other minors. I think that his personality and shrill partisanship do not lend themselves to being a lifetime appointee to the Supreme Court. I certainly know that Trump will never nominate someone very far left of Kavanaugh, but Gorsich came with a clean slate at least in his hearings. I also wonder why there are still 100,000 pages of documents from Kavanaugh's service in government that have been buried by the WH.