Justice Anthony Kennedy announces his retirement from the Supreme Court, opening the door for a second nominee to the high court by President Trump.
Sen. Chuck Schumer and the rest of the Senate Dems vow to oppose whomever Trump nominates, before they even know who's on his short list.
Pres. Trump nominates Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a jurist recognized by pretty much everyone as brilliant, fair, decent, and very highly qualified, having served on the most important appellate court in the nation, and having written more than 300 opinions during that tenure.
Schumer and the rest of the Senate Dems vow to oppose Kavanaugh and to block his confirmation "by any means." Several Democrat Senators also state their intent to delay Kavanaugh's confirmation until after the mid-term elections, hoping that the Dems can win back control of the Senate and further delay confirmation of any Trump nominee to fill Justice Kennedy's seat until after 2020, when they hope to win back the White House and get a liberal judge appointed.
The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) holds hearings in which Kavanaugh is questioned by all 21 Senators on the SJC. During their opening statements (and no one in America understands why the members of the SJC should make opening statements if their role is truly "advise and consent," other than that it's an election year, and they all desire more opportunities to give campaign speeches disguised as opening statements), the Dems on the SJC all state their intent to oppose Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation, even before they've asked him a single question.
Once the questions ensue, Sen. Kamala Harris asks Kavanaugh whether he's ever discussed the Mueller investigation with a member of President Trump's former law firm. Judge Kavanaugh states that he recalls no such discussion, and asks her to specify what she's referring to.
Sen. Harris has no answer, and never subsequently presents any evidence of one.
Sen. Cory Booker: "I am Spartacus!", referring to his plans to release confidential documents in violation of Senate rules.
Except the documents he releases aren't confidential - they've been cleared for public release.
The confirmation hearings conclude, and the general consensus is that Kavanaugh comported himself very well, and that he's a shoo-in for confirmation, in spite of all the nothing-burgers and histrionics the SJC Dems tried to throw at him.
SJC Chair Grassley: "Okay, we're going to proceed to a ..."
Ranking Member Feinstein: "Waitwaitwaitwait - I have this letter I've been sitting on for two months, that I promised the letter's writer I wouldn't make public in order to protect her identity, that claims Judge Kavanaugh tried to sexually assault her more than 30 years ago."
Democrat Senators: "Judge Kavanaugh should withdraw his nomination, or Pres. Trump should." Meanwhile, two more women come forward making allegations against Judge Kavanaugh (which they later recant).
Republican Senators: "There's this thing called due process, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. We'll have both Dr. Ford, the accuser, and Judge Kavanaugh, the accused, testify about the alleged incident."
Dr. Ford's lawyers (who were recommended by Feinstein, a clear violation of ethics): "Our client doesn't want to fly to Washington to testify. She wants an FBI investigation first." (Note that the FBI reviewed Dr. Ford's letter, then turned it over to the White House, stating the matter closed.
Republican Senators: "There have been six FBI investigations, and private citizens don't get to dictate what the FBI investigates. But out of respect for Dr. Ford's fear of flying, we'll come to her."
Dr. Ford's lawyers fail to tell her of the GOP Senators' offer, which is a breach of legal ethics that could result in disbarment. OR, Dr. Ford did know of the offer, having learned of it on TV, like the rest of America did. In any event, Dr. Ford's lawyers decide to bring her to Washington for a public hearing in front of a bunch of TV cameras.
Those hearings ensue, with testimony from both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh.
Dr. Ford: "She said."
Judge Kavanaugh: "He said."
The hearings conclude, and Chairman Grassley schedules a Committee vote for the following day.
On the morning of the scheduled vote, GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, the swing vote on the Committee, states his intent to support Kavanaugh. Upon hearing this, his Dem buddy, Sen. Chris Coons, says "Oh f***," and starts crying.
During the discussion prior to the vote, the SJC Dems try every theatrical means they can to disrupt the process, including walking out of the hearing (because hey, there are TV cameras out there, and we don't have to wait our turn to get in front of the microphones!).
After all the Committee members have spoken, the SJC takes a brief recess.
During the recess, Sen. Flake is accosted in an elevator by a screaming protester. We later learn she's a paid demonstrator who works for an organization funded by George Soros.
The vote takes place, and Sen. Flake votes to confirm Judge Kavanaugh, but says that his vote in the full Senate is conditional on a one-week FBI investigation, which Coons had brought up in his comments prior to the vote (so had Dem Sen. Klobuchar). After the vote, Flake and Coons appear on camera, stating their desire for an FBI investigation "limited in time and scope," the time to be no more than a week, the scope to be limited to the "current credible allegations" of sexual misconduct against Judge Kavanaugh.
Pres. Trump gives the Dems exactly what they ask for, ordering the FBI to conduct an investigation to be completed in one week, and limited to the three allegations against Judge Kavanaugh.
Before the investigation even begins, the Senate Dems begin stating the scope and time should not be limited.
The FBI concludes its investigation in less than a week and delivers its findings. It finds no corroboration for the allegations. The Dems had complained that the FBI would not be providing agents to explain the findings - yet they did, and they stated that their scope had not been limited by anyone, but that they simply found no corroboration for the allegations.
And here we are. I fear it's not over yet - stay tuned. The goalposts are moving faster than the players on the field.
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Some points to ponder, besides the obvious that this has been a feeble attempt by the Sore Loser Party to obstruct, obfuscate, and delay, and they don't give a damn who they hurt in the process, including their star witness.
- The Dems state that Kavanaugh's angry criticism of this process makes him unfit due to a lack of judicial temperament." They base this on one half-day of the man defending his integrity against attackers who called him "evil" before hearing his or Dr. Ford's version of events. Even though they heard days of testimony from him, during which no one questioned his "judicial temperament." Nor do they now consider his many years on the bench in their assessment of his "judicial temperament." He has demonstrated heretofore unquestioned judicial temperament more than 300 times.
- Had Kavanaugh appeared meekly before the SJC in responding to Dr. Ford's allegations, the Dems on the Committee would have screamed, "SEE? HE DIDN'T VIGOROUSLY DEFEND HIMSELF! HE'S GUILTY, BY GOD - GUILTY!!!"
- The Dems state that Kavanaugh's apparent partisanship in going after the SJC Dems who attempted to smear him makes him a partisan pawn, and that he can't be an impartial Justice. Never mind the fact that it's no secret he's a conservative. Never mind that he was a part of the Starr investigation into former Pres. Clinton's activities, and worked in the Bush White House.
- Justice Ginsberg made partisan statements criticizing then-candidate Trump in 2016. If Kavanaugh cannot be confirmed because he's too partisan, and that's to be our standard, then I expect Sens. Feinstein (who sat on the letter for two months, and at a minimum failed to secure it so that it couldn't be leaked), Booker (who admits to having groped a teenage girl while in high school, against her will), Harris (who rose to power on the basis of her affair with the then-married, corrupt mayor of San Francisco), Blumenthal (who lied on several occasions about having served in Vietnam, when in fact he was a reservist who participated in Toys for Tots drives), and Hirono (who said all men should "shut up") to lead the charge in calling for Justice Ginsberg's impeachment.
- Dems give Ginsberg a pass because she later apologized for her remarks, and said they were inappropriate. Judge Kavanaugh wrote an op-ed in the WSJ stating that he said some things he probably shouldn't have, but the Dems ignore that.
- In criticizing the scope of the FBI investigation, Dems (and Dr. Ford's lawyers) complain that the FBI did not question Dr. Ford. First, she gave several hours of testimony, at the conclusion of which she was asked whether she had anything else to say, to which she replied she did not. Second, had the FBI included her in its investigation, given that it found no corroborating evidence, that investigation could only have humiliated Dr. Ford, and might have called into question whether she was ever the victim of an attempted assault to begin with. Further, the investigation might have included FBI forensic specialists recovering the Facebook presence that Dr. Ford deleted in its entirety prior to sending her letter to Feinstein, which could have been embarrassing at a minimum, and worst-case could have led to criminal charges. Feinstein and her co-conspirators have damaged this woman enough.
- Several Dems want the FBI report to be made public. Those opposing that include Feinstein. Such a move would be unprecedented. Further, given that it found no corroborating evidence to support Dr. Ford's allegations, it could result in the court of public opinion judging her even more harshly than she already has been. Again, Feinstein et al have harmed her enough. And finally, at least 90% of the populace couldn't understand the report if they read it. They'd believe of it whatever Fox, CNN or MSNBC told them to believe of it.
- Even as the Dems complain about the limited time and scope of the FBI investigation, let's recall that it was Coons and Klobuchar, Democrats on the SJC, who called for an FBI investigation "limited in time and scope," with the limits to be no more than one week and the scope to be the current allegations against Judge Kavanaugh at the time of the Committee vote. https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2018/09/28/after-talk-coons-swing-vote-flake-may-only-vote-kavanaugh-fbi-investigation/1456659002/
- The bottom line is that if you believe that Judge Brett Kavanaugh is unqualified to sit on the Supreme Court due to his temperament, his partisanship, or his past conduct, you are a registered Democrat, a never-Trumper, in the pro-legal abortion camp. I've heard no one who is not in those groups question his qualifications on those - or any other - bases, and that includes Independents who are thoroughly disgusted with what our system of government has become.
Politics in America has reached an unprecedented low. We have met the enemy, and he is us.
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