https://twitter.com/NormEisen/status/1045393699709038592
Kavanaugh's message – "the Left"; "Borking"; "revenge on behalf of the Clintons"; "goes around comes around" – is that of a man who has already lost his Court seat, preparing for his next career
— David Frum (@davidfrum) September 27, 2018
Unless he’s withdrawing, this is an entirely inappropriate political statement for someone who wants to go onto the court.
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) September 27, 2018
Angry, strident Judge Kavanaugh is an entirely different person than the Kavanaugh we saw during his initial confirmation hearing.
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) September 27, 2018
But he seems like just the type to be aggressive toward women.
Comments
13 responses to “A taste of the aggression that emerged when Kavanaugh got drunk”
Surely he has to be withdrawing or expecting to lose the nomination. No-one in their right mind could behave like this and then go onto the Court pretending to be impartial and unbiased.
Rob, maybe that’s one assumption too many.
And if he has done his block completely, does that still rule out pretence?
Omar, I think the Repubs have been doing pretence as a kind of dance of the seven veils. We all know what’s there because they keep showing us ever better glimpses. We’re down to the last veil now and it’s a very thin one.
I always thought that one of the most important instructions that experienced lawyers drive into their clients is ‘DO NOT lose your temper, no matter how hostile the questions may be. It makes you look guilty.’
Oops!
Just as I posted that last comment I got another glimpse of the photo and saw Jack Nicholson’s Col. Jessop yelling ‘You can’t handle the truth!’. It’s the same loss of control with the same mix of contempt and hatred in the expression.
If he really feels he’s being falsely accused, then that level of rage would actually be completely understandable.
I think it’s almost certain he did what Ford says he did. I also think it’s possible he was so drunk he doesn’t remember it clearly or at all, or with the passage of time he’s rewritten the story in his mind.
But, hey, too bad. I don’t care if he remembers or not. That doesn’t let you get away with anything. And I suspect he knows it’s possible he did something horrible but he’s chosen full denial rather than being contrite and admitting he may have done bad things. Then the lying about the sex slang being drinking games? And claiming the yearbook writing was intentional farce? And the misleading statements about the drinking age? And the whole innocent virgin routine?
What a piece of garbage. I have no sympathy for him. I feel bad for his family.
Skeletor, I disagree about the rage. Maybe understandable in a run-of-the-mill civilian but not in a highly experienced lawyer and judge, and certainly not when he flew into that rage so quickly. All he proved is that he is a man clearly not in control of his emotions and prone to wild, irrational outbursts and flinging un-evidenced accusations around when he’s feeling threatened.
I wonder if he’s suffering from the same psychological quirk as Trump, another man prone to fits of temper when he thinks he might not get what he considers his absolute right, or when his assumed privilege gets a reality check. Neither man is used to being told ‘no’ and they have no idea how to deal with a refusal other than to attack and take what they believe is theirs.
Whatever else his outbursts show, they have proven beyond doubt that he cannot be considered impartial. Whether this is considered a bonus by the Republicans remains to be seen, although I suspect it may be one reason Trump nominated him in the first place. What better than a partisan SCOTUS judge whose loyalty is to the party rather than to the law (and Constitution) he’s sworn to uphold?
I actually wondered if he was drunk during his testimony.
Trump doesn’t want loyalty to the Republican Party. Trump wants loyalty to Trump. The party hacks in Congress, of course, do want loyalty to the Republican Party, but their goal of looting the government coincides with Trump’s goal of looting (and breaking) everything. Kavanaugh will let them break things, especially women.
Also, I saw or heard somewhere yesterday that Trump told Kavanaugh on the phone to be “defiant.” He prepped him and that was his prep, and Kavanaugh apparently obeyed the order.
Exactly what Trump wants – obedience to Trump.
A justice who is “obedient” is a bad justice. The judiciary needs to remain 100% independent of the executive branch, even if the executive branch is the one that nominates them (and I think that’s a bad idea, by the way. I think we need to hire judges and justices in some other way that removes the politics).
Fox News contributor Sara Carter also saw Kavanaugh’s performance swaying people to his side.
“I think the American people saw for the first time, really saw what was happening to this man, what was happening to Judge Kavanaugh and his family,” she said on the network. “When we hear this man cry out and say, look at what you have done to my family. Look at what you’ve done to our nation. Is this what we’re going to do to each other? I think at that point the country took a step back and people were swayed by Kavanaugh.”
Or as Dr Johnson said to Boswell, “patriotism, Sir, is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” (An observation about scoundrels, not a condemnation of patriotism.) But still, a good tack when in doubt: wrap yourself in the nearest flag.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/28/kavanaugh-testimony-candace-owens-dana-loesch-response-rightwing-republican-women-
#12 should have been:
Apologies.
Or as Dr Johnson said to Boswell, “patriotism, Sir, is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” (An observation about scoundrels, not a condemnation of patriotism.) But still, a good tack when in doubt: wrap yourself in the nearest flag.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/28/kavanaugh-testimony-candace-owens-dana-loesch-response-rightwing-republican-women-