Sunday, October 07, 2018

Young and Professional Kavanaugh: "It's All Part of the Same Scummy Guy"

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-by Sam Husseini

I don't often think fondly of Christopher Hitchens, but an insight of my ex-friend did brighten my eyes the last week.

Specifically, after I sent out a series of news releases effectively arguing that then-president Bill Clinton should be impeached "for the right reasons"-- specifically, illegal bombings, Hitchens objected. He argued that the distinction between Clinton's personal and professional actions was a false one, that "it's all part of the same scummy guy."

As some argue that Kavanaugh shouldn't be judged on actions he committed when he was 17, are they pretending they are ignorant of his professional record, of his pattern of lying under oath even before Ford came forward?

Are we to act as though Kavanaugh's apparent attempted rape of Christine Blasey Ford has no relation to his backing torture?

Are we supposed to pretend that there's no connection between being a privileged hoodlum and flacking for corrupt presidents and corporations?

Are we supposed to just go along as though there's no relationship between putting misogynistic crap on your high school yearbook and expecting to get away with it and brazenly lying about it under oath decades later?

Should we really pretend that having a high school cabal who clearly seem to use their sense of privilege (Kavanaugh's mother was a judge) to get away with whatever they want to do doesn't relate to cliquish associations like the Federalist Society, using the law to further the interests of elites?

The problem is the the power of privilege that causes silence among those who are not part of it.

Where are those "values voters" I hear about?

I've heard feminists say to the point of cliché that rape "isn't about sex, it's about power". I've seen a few articles pointing out the "power of sexual violence" exposed by Ford's testimony, but virtually no utterance connecting that violence and will to power to Kavanaugh's professional work.

Kavanaugh didn't just apparently try to rape Ford years ago, he shamelessly lied about it now, openly falsifying what terms he used meant-- as he lied under oath about other things regarding his professional work to the Senate Judiciary Committee. With Barely. Anyone. Raising. Their. Voice. At. Him.


Kavanaugh-- like Oliver North and Clarence Thomas before him-- was able to use a faux anger to bully punching bag Democrats who seemed more concerned about appearing judicious than winning. Many ask if Kavanaugh has the temperament to be a judge, almost to preclude more substantial arguments against him. The unasked question is if the Democrats have the temperament to be effective.

Who showed fire in their belly and articulated Kavanaugh's lying under oath? Who went for the jugular? Sen. Dick Durbin came close to doing so about Kavanaugh failing to call for an FBI investigation-- and then a (pathetic) FBI investigation happened. That should be a lesson.

Kavanaugh, when he was working for Ken Starr, suggested that Clinton be asked “If Monica Lewinsky says you inserted a cigar into her vagina while you were in the Oval Office area, would she be lying?”

Where was the senator asking "If someone says 'boofing' means anal sex and not flatulence as you claim and 'Devil's Triangle isn't a drinking game as you claim under oath, but a reference to sex between two males and a female, would they be lying?" or "Amnesty International has recommended that your nomination be slowed since you could be involved in violations of international law. So, are you a war criminal?"

Such a senator was not to be found. Some senators laid the basis for showing Kavanaugh lied under oath. And perhaps they expect that he will be impeached once they get a majority. But who knows what happens between now and then.

In terms of making the case to the public in a way that could not be ignored, they at best fell short. The best a few senators could bring themselves to do was mumble something about perjury when what was needed was to do down the litany.

By contrast, it would appear Kavanaugh, who was charged with getting right-wing judges through congress during the Bush administration, rolled out his own nomination by inoculating himself against the weakness he knew he had: Stressing his credentials as a girl's basketball coaching, loving dad to his daughters and mentor to females in the legal profession.

And then he and Republican senators put on their act of moral outrage that should have come from the critics of Kavanaugh. Perhaps there was some of the genuine anger in the streets in protests against Kavanaugh-- that seem to have come too little too late-- but at best rarely from the committee hearing room.

And those optics largely prevailed-- all part of the same scummy system.


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6 Comments:

At 1:41 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The generally poor performance of "democratic" senators in the KKKavanaugh kkkonfirmation only demonstrates that the party elders have nothing to offer the voters except "We're Not As Bad". I disagree.

I for one am very tired of hearing from the DNC and other anti-voter entities about how a vote for a third-party is wasted. What I would love to hear from them is why a vote for a Blue Dog or a New Dem isn't wasted when my vote was never intended to deliver Republican policies, That IS about all one can expect from any Blue Dog or New Dem, after all. Thus any vote I would give to a Blue Dog or a New Dem is completely wasted when I'd rather express my preferences for real representation.

 
At 7:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK. You finally focused a little on the lying. Well, too little too late I suppose... again.

"The unasked question is if the Democrats have the temperament to be effective."

I've been ANSWERING that question for 36 years... and you know the answer don't you?

In fact, the democraps shouted the answer into a megaphone in 2009. And it's the same answer I've been yelling since 1982.

So... it isn't unasked and it certainly isn't unanswered.

Why do you keep lying about it? Oh... I forgot... sheepdog. Well, at least you're better at it than most.

 
At 10:02 AM, Anonymous ap215 said...

Cenk on Kavanaugh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4og5c2qQALQ

 
At 10:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK, Cenk. Let's say we call a Constitutional Convention under Article V. What is to keep the corporations from taking it over and bending things to their will?

 
At 12:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

quite the conundrum, 10:21. You are quite correct. A Constitutional Convention would definitely draw total devotion from corporations since a lot of the left would be interested in disemboweling their totalitarian control.

But there are no fewer than 62 million, about 20% of the American imbecilic electorate, who would gladly create either the corporate Valhalla or an American Nazi Christian caliphate... they could so easily be cajoled into combining both.

As currently constituted, count the red states vs. the blue states (use the trump election map since that represents the most current configuration). Factor in that Russia will absolutely aide the 62 million and corporations. Then tell me how all that could possibly result in anything more evil than the de-facto arrangement now?

I don't see a CC being considered useful by the money nor the Nazis. They have everything they want now. The constitution is a useful prop that is used when it is useful and ignored when less useful. Replacing it with something else won't make their absolute power any greater. And as long as the well-meaning lefties distract themselves with tactical follies and counterproductive lesser evilism instead of forming a workable strategy to change things for good, they have nothing to fear.

Am I the only one who read "It's all part of the same scummy guy" and instantly thought of bill fucking Clinton and obamanation and scummer, reid... hundreds more... including $hillbillary and Pelosi?

Maybe me being the only one makes me wrong... or maybe you all are wrong. We may find out which it is veeery soon. I hope it's me that's wrong. But I don't think so.

 
At 12:54 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

12:00

Let's try eliminating the Amendments which give citizenship and freedom for non-whites and voting rights to women. Let's return the Senate to backroom bargaining. Let's eliminate term limits for the President (so that Trump can be president for Life as he's stated). Let's also alter the Bill of Rights so that it more "correctly" reflects the will of the Radical religionists. Let's eliminate any protections from police abuses. How about we add the re-imposition of a poll tax so that only those with money can vote. And worst of all, remove the prohibition against any changes in congressional salaries to go into immediate effect.

Are you CERTAIN that these things aren't desired by the corporatists?

 

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