I’m starting to wonder if the Republicans haven’t overplayed their hand on Brett Kavanaugh. For a day or two they gained ground in polls by stoking the fires of white grievance, even stampeding the press and people who should know better (lookin’ at you, Nate Silver) into believing that Republicans were so angry about his “unfair” treatment that the enthusiasm gap going into the midterms had evaporated. I’m sure they are that angry — this week.
By last night, though, reality was intruding on this manufactured story line. Opposition to his nomination — based on his unhinged testimony, not his alleged sexual or drinking peccadillos — was voiced by 2,400 law professors, the National Council of Churches and even retired Justice John Paul Stevens, a Republican. Kavanaugh himself wrote a self-serving op-ed in the Wall Street Journal claiming to apologize for getting “too emotional” and that he was impartial, in direct opposition to what he said under oath. If I thought Kavanaugh had the respect for the law he pretends to have, the claim under oath would carry more weight. Given what we’ve learned about Mr. Brilliant over the past two weeks, it’s clear that he’s a smooth, practiced liar who for years has pretended to be the person Republicans still want to pretend he is.
Josh Marshall points out that the op-ed never would have run if Republicans had the votes to confirm him. I would point out that writing an op-ed arguing for your own appointment is yet another bit of disqualifying behavior. Sen. Doug Jones said the “disingenuous” op-ed convinced him to vote “no.”
Most ominously for Republicans, Sen. Lisa Murkowski held a closed-door meeting with women who had traveled from Alaska to beg her not to vote for Kavanaugh. It’s significant because the senator did not tell the press about it, so it wasn’t just PR window dressing.
Why is the GOP so frantic to get Kavanaugh approved ASAP? It’s not just the looming midterms. SCOTUS will hear number of hot-button cases this session, and they want Kavanaugh on board to give them their victories. The fact that they know how he’ll vote ahead of time is all the reason we really need to call the Supreme Court America’s supreme sham.
More proof, as if any were needed, that conservatives are toddlers in adult bodies — they demand that the Washington Post stop calling columnist Jennifer Rubin a conservative because she doesn’t support Trump.
People who think the Russians were mainly interested only in electing Trump don’t understand their project, which is actually to deepen the rifts dividing the country by putting stress on America’s long-established fault lines. The problem for Americans is that they’re so good at it and we’re so easily triggered, which is why Russian bots helped fuel the backlash againstthe latest Star Wars film, which featured several non-white actors in important roles.
They also might underestimate how far the White House will go to protect Trump’s vodka-drinking buddies. Jesus-humper Mike Pence yesterday said that it’s China, not Russia that’s interfering in American elections. Nobody believes that, but it indicates how Trump will try to defend himself when the Mueller report comes out.