This, right here, is what is going on —>
Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns/NY Times:
Kavanaugh Could Help G.O.P. in Senate Midterms. But Not in House Races.
With that Senate majority squarely in mind, Republicans are also making a concession to stark political realities. Party leaders have concluded that supporting Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination, in the face of sexual assault accusations against him, will all but ensure that Republicans lose control of the House in November even as their fortunes may improve in some tough Senate races…
But Republicans, particularly the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, appear to be gambling that their majority in the House is already in tatters, and that it is worth trading for a legacy-making appointment to the Supreme Court and the chance to retain their 51-to-49 Senate majority…
Many of the arguments made by Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s supporters are illogical or downright wrong. So many, in fact, that one is tempted to confuse bad-faith or amateurish arguments against recent allegations (e.g., “there is no evidence against him” — as if completely credible victim testimony under oath, prior statements and a polygraph don’t count) with arguments against his confirmation. The two are not the same. His supporters’ arguments — an illogical and unproven assertion that this is a left-wing smear — may be laughable but are not in and of themselves reason to reject him. They are, however, evidence of the intellectual collapse of the right. We’ll address that in a moment.
The reasons for rejecting Kavanaugh include the following:
1. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony was entirely believable and consistent with her prior statements, her insistence on an ugly home remodel to soothe her fear of being trapped, her polygraph, Kavanaugh’s own July 1 calendar entry (noting beer drinking with other teenagers present on a night that could well have been the night of the attack) and a deluge of evidence from high school and college of his excessive drinking, which remains the constant thread through his accusers’ accounts. A single witness can be sufficient to convict someone; a horrifying job reference requires an applicant’s rejection.
The “lie lists”:
Boston Globe editorial:The lies that senators must tell themselves to support Brett Kavanaugh
WaPo: Brett Kavanaugh’s unlikely story about Democrats’ stolen documents
NY Times: At Times, Kavanaugh’s Defense Misleads or Veers Off Point
Current Affairs: HOW WE KNOW KAVANAUGH IS LYING (editor’s choice, comprehensive)
Maxwell Strachan/HuffPost:
What It Was Like At C-SPAN As Women Flooded The Network With Stories Of Sexual Abuse
Steve Scully has been at the network for decades. But as he fielded call after call on Thursday, he could tell something different was happening.
A strange thing happened on Thursday: Everyone started talking about C-SPAN. During its coverage of the Brett Kavanaugh hearing, the normally stolid channel turned into something else: an impromptu national town hall on sexual assault.
“Well over a dozen,” he estimated. “It was such an organic moment. It just happened. We didn’t plan it.”