As hard as I worked on yesterday’s article, the story kept developing, even as I was writing it, and just as I was publishing it, the news broke that Christine Blasey Ford had come forward and passed a lie detector test. Upchuck Snake in the Grassley [R-IA] says this is Democrats fault, because she came forward so late. Orin “Women are Inferior” Hatch, trotted out that age old saw, “She’s just mixed up.” Pervert Kava-Nazi has changed his tune. He now claims he wasn’t even at the party, where he tried to rape Christine. Let’s look at what could happen, but before we do, this is where we were when Christine first came out.
Here are ways forward.
The fight over Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination looks much different after Christine Blasey Ford came forward in a Washington Post interview and said that he attempted to sexually assault her when the two were in high school. What happens next? Will President Trump and Senate Republicans stick with Kavanaugh? Right now, we have more questions than answers. Here are the big ones …
How do the looming midterms affect Republicans’ choices? A big part of this story comes down to timing. An investigation of the allegations, as Democrats have called for, would almost certainly take at least a few weeks. And if Republicans decided in mid-October that they could not move forward with Kavanaugh’s nomination, they might not have time to choose a new nominee and get him or her through the confirmation process before the current Senate session ends in December. The Supreme Court nomination process for Kavanaugh was scheduled to last about three months — from Justice Anthony Kennedy’s resignation in late June to a full Senate vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination, which was expected in late September — at least until this news broke. So if Republicans want to move on from Kavanaugh and try to get a different nominee confirmed, they probably need to pick that person during the next two weeks in order to finish the process by the end of December.
What’s wrong with waiting till January? Well, Republicans are expected to maintain control of the Senate — they’re 2 in 3 favorites according to our latest Senate forecast — but if Democrats gain control, it’s hard to imagine them confirming a second Trump appointee to the court. So the GOP has some incentive to either fully stand behind Kavanaugh — or abandon him very quickly. Remember, the current Senate, which has 51 Republicans and 49 members aligned with the Democrats, is in operation through the end of the year. The people elected in November don’t start serving immediately. So Republicans, no matter what happens in the midterms, can push a Supreme Court nominee through until the end of the year. There would be strong criticism of Republicans if they pushed through a Supreme Court nominee in December if the voters had elected a Democratic Senate a month earlier, but Senate Republicans have ignored such norms before and I expect would be fine with doing so again for the purpose of ensuring a solid conservative majority on the Court… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <FiveThirtyEight>
Republicans still plan to vote Pervert Kava-Nazi out of committee on Thursday. Jeff Flake [R-AZ] could put the kibosh on that. I hope we get to meet Christine, under oath, soon.
There’s one thing I can tell you with certainty. I have no idea where this issue will be this time tomorrow.
RESIST!!
VOTE BLUE!!
50 DAYS!
18 Responses to “When Will We Meet Christine?”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
This just in: “I can find thousands of people who will state, on the record, that Jeffrey Dahmer never ate them.”
Whenever a woman comes forward after a length of time to report a sexual assault, the first thing that comes up is, why didn’t she report it? And the next thing that comes up is, oh, it’s so long ago, how can she remember.
Well, guess what. Wnen women don’t come forward, it’s because they fear they won’t be believed. And the person who says why didn’t she report sooner PROVES that point.
Furthermore, being sexually assaulted is something that NO WOMAN EVER FORGETS. Nor do men (and there are more than we want to admit who have been.) Also, no one who has been in combat ever forgets. And many of us who were alive then remember EXACTLY where we were and what we were doing when we learned that JFK was shot.
HAPPY CONSTITUTION DAY!
“And many of us who were alive then remember EXACTLY where we were and what we were doing when we learned that JFK was shot.” — From time to time, I think back to that day and I know where I was, my reaction, and what I was wearing. I am not American but that day rocked my world to the effect that I have never forgotten. (grade 6, medium blue jumper that my mother made and a blue flowered short sleeve blouse) For that matter, I remember the details, like above, when I heard my father was leaving us and moving to Toronto with another woman, the mother of a girl with whom I was friends. It was she that told me my father did not love me any more.
Traumatic events seldom leave us unscarred and lacking in memory.
I was nekkid. I was taking a shower after sports, and a friend yelled that Kennedy had been shot.
I was a sophomore in college, but stayed home that day because I wasn’t feeling well. I was making Christmas cards – silk-screening – had a bunch of stuff laid out on the floor. It came over the radio.
It later turned out – we found out a month later – that my malaise for that entire quarter was from a tiny gas leak in the house. But in spite of being mildly poisoned at the time, I still remember vividly.
This all should be interesting… in the upcoming days.
.
Kudos to Dr. Ford for stepping up to talk about this. A brave woman who may change history when KavaNOPE doesn’t get his nomination to the SC.
Yes, women DO remember being sexually assaulted, and it’s something that is in/on one’s mind forevermore. Men remember the abuse too.
WIM face sexual abuse and if they go to report it, it gets delayed, or overlooked, or scoffed at. It’s no laughing matter, Seems it hasn’t changed much through the years, either.
I get the distinct feeling that this allegation was (to use a phrase from former Sec. of Defense Rumsfeld) “a known, known” to republicans.
It would certainly explain why they were ready to unload the letter of SIXTY-FIVE women who “knew” and attest to Kavanaugh’s character back in high school within literally HOURS of the allegation surfacing. How do you do that unless they’re already waiting in the wings?
At least I’d bet money there will be NO vote this coming Thursday.
I agree with you! Republicans most certainly knew about the “incident” and I would go on record at believing this is why all documents were not released to the Democrats in the Judiciary committee until the eleventh and a half hour before the hearings started.
Yes. That was my point in yesterday’s article.
Keep up the pressure! Call your Senators daily, regardless of where they stand, and tell them say NO to Kava-not!
I am glad she has come forward, as all of you are. She is indeed brave, must know what she can expect from the Grassleys of the world. Will this create a real opportunity to keep this Dumpy nominee off the court? We will see. It certainly will be interesting, and I will put nothing beyond the toxic venality of the GOPIGS!
Actually I think it will be a sad day when we meet Christine Blasey Ford under oath. Nothing has changed since I wrote yesterday’s comment (and which disappeared from Care2):
“All I see is a 51-year-old research psychologist in northern California, a career woman, with the guts to stand up for what she believes in, risk her career and normal, anonymous life with little chance of it coming to anything but her ruin. Republicans saw her coming (so it must be in those papers they still haven’t declassified) and they’ve prepared. The time line clearly says so, but that doesn’t bother them, or their base, in the least. Kavanaugh must be appointed, if it’s the last thing they do.”
I hope with all my heart that this scenario won’t come true and that the Republicans will decide to dump Kavanaugh as quickly as possible now that Flakey also has expressed doubts and will try to install the next best (or next worst, seen from our side) before the end of the year. That would be the only chance for Ms. Blasey Ford to escape with her life and dignity in tact after her extremely courageous stand.
The kava-nah looks worried!!! ?
The Republicans won’t have enough time to vent another nominee before the elections, so they will push this nominee through no matter what. If they lose the vote, they get another nominee. Republicans could care less about the integrity of their nominee, or the public response to their nominee.
There are two Republican women who could stop this nominee and postpone a vote on another nominee until after the elections when the majority count might change. Even if Democrats win enough seats to change majority, they won’t take those seats right away, but Republicans would push another nominee through quickly. I believe it’s been less than a month since Trump chose Kavanaugh.
Jerry, I respectfully disagree with one point you made — “I believe it’s been less than a month since Trump chose Kavanaugh.” — Kennedy announced his retirement towards the end of June and made it effective at the end of July. Diaper Don already had some names from when Gorsuch was appointed in 2017 and it was anticipated that at least one other Justice would retire so that list was kept current. If I recall correctly, Kennedy was in cahoots with Diaper Don or one of his associates, with Kennedy indicating that he would retire if Kavanazi was chosen. I can’t remember where I read that, but it was not at the National Enquirer.
Diaper Don announced his choice on 09 July 2018 and the fight has been going on ever since. IMO, this is an organised plot to bend the court to the far right by Diaper Don, Republicans, and other far right groups such as the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society. That is one of the first things authoritarians do before their final pounce.
In addition to what Squatch said, Trump already has a couple pre-vetted Nazis waiting.
This ‘boys will be boys’ bullshit from Republicans MUST STOP!!! Ford has lady balls to come forward and face this cancer called the Republican party. Republicans and other far right operatives need to get their ‘family values’ straight. Women are equal partners in life so GET OVER IT!
Courage and intestinal fortitude to Christine Ford for the pending congressional onslaught and attempted smear campaign.
Thanks, hugs, and Amen to all!