President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

Should the guy ACCUSED of whipping his dick out at a party be exempt from the Supreme Court?

I am not saying this stuff didn't happen. But we live in a politically charged country. None of us know these women. And none of us know Kavanaugh, when he was 17 or 18 or now. None of us know for sure (even if we have biases or we want to take guesses about what is most likely) if any accusations against the guy are true. Unless somehow, some way, something more comes out, and from what I have seen, there is nothing yet.

Two things that bother me.

1) It is true that the Republicans are doing everything they can to squelch an actual hearing, and make sure this gets adjuticated as quickly as possible in a "he said, she said" kind of way, so they can push him through. And that really bothers me. Any woman making an allegation like the one Blasey Ford has made deserves to be heard -- with an open mind and in a respectful way. At the same time, I don't think the Republicans behavior is entirely about trying to get this guy on the court regardless of his alleged behavior in the past. This has gotten so politicized, and the Democrats are playing the same exact games. The way the allegations came out at the 11th hour, and the tact many of them have taken publicly to now try to draw this out, makes it clear that for many of them, at least, this is a political tactic to try to bog down this guys nomination with anything they can come up with,and hopefully keep his confirmation from happening for as long as possible. Between the two sides acting that way -- turning the accuser and the nominee into pawns to advance politicized agendas -- NONE of this seems to be about a) giving the accuser (or possible accusers now) a fair hearing and actually trying to get at the truth (although I suspect that is going to be difficult even with as reasonable an investigation as is possible), and b) giving a guy who is accused of some serious things some semblance of due process (for lack of a better word) and a presumption of innocence so he can potentially defend his reputation.

2) The fact that people, because of their biases, have been so quick to "believe" the accuser, or to defend Kavanaugh, bothers me. None of us know these people. None of us know what happened for sure -- at least with what has been reported. Why can't we leave it at that? That is the FAIR conclusion to make at this time. Not to pick on you, @Scout, but when I read a comment that says, "the guy who whips his dick out at a party is not the guy who should be on the Supreme Court," it worries me. I see people saying stuff like that, and I am thinking he has been ACCUSED of something. It could very well have happened. I might even guess it is likely it happened, being reasonably close to his age, But it also may not have happened -- I never did anything like that at that age. Or maybe something happened, but not in the way the woman is saying. What alarms me is that because these Supreme Court nominations have become so charged and politicized because we f'd up the country last century by allowing the court to become a second (unelected) legislature instead of a judiciary, which has more power than our actual elected officials to create de facto law, there are enough rabid people whose takeaway from all of this is, "When someone I don't want politically to be on the court is nominated, I can step forward make a disturbing accusation and scuttle their nomination." I really hope that doesn't become a thing. As much as any of us should take any accusers who come forward seriously, especially because of the nature of the accusations (women who may have been intimidated for years from speaking out because of how victims often get treated), I don't see how you also don't hold out the possibility that that COULD (not saying is) be what is happening to Kavanaugh.

 

I agree with you. These nominees are subject to background checks and before his confirmation has actually gone through, it was reasonable to say the FBI should look into this. But let's be a little real about it. When Anita Hill came forward. George Bush immediately called the Justice Department and told them to investigate. It was about the optics. Any such investigation now, if we had a president who wasn't a jerkoff, would be also about the optics. It's actually a no brainer investigation from the Republicans point of view -- low risk, if their agenda is just getting this guy confirmed. I can't imagine (although maybe I am wrong, and if I am, so be it) it would be a very long or detailed investigation. They are going to have 4 or 5 names. They are going to knock on their doors. And they are going to walk away with, "I don't remember the high school kegger 35 years ago, let alone an attempted rape." Investigation done, if that is how it plays out, and it isn't likely to be some kind of salve. There aren't going to be cell phone records. Text messages. E-mails.