Like I said, even given that going public wasn’t her original intent, it’s what happened. I get that her life is probably pretty shitty right now because of all this, but that’s a sunk cost at this point. Backing out of testimony now won’t change assholes coming after her on social media or sending death threats or whatever. So refusal to show up to the Senate gains her nothing, given that…
Yep. The only way Ford not testifying makes logical sense is if A) someone got to her or her legal team behind the scenes or B) they’re all so naive that they actually think this Senate and administration would follow due process and delay a Supreme Court nomination while an investigation moves forward. All you have to do is look at how Gorsuch got there to see that’s not gonna happen.
One big lesson the #MeToo movement has taught us is that we need to move beyond treating allegations of sexual assault and harassment as mere he-said/she-said affairs, because that subjects women who come forward to brutal public exposure in exchange for little in the way of a serious hearing, leaving them no recourse. Republicans seem to want to keep the proceedings constrained in a way that guarantees they are perceived as he-said/she-said.
But in this case, a robust fact-finding effort could actually end up benefiting Kavanaugh, the court and even the GOP. If such an effort were undertaken and did not conclusively settle the matter, you could easily see 50 or 51 Republicans — and perhaps a few Democrats — confirming Kavanaugh. And the fact that a serious investigation did take place would put his ascension on firmer ground.
Firmer ground? The GOP doesn’t care if Kavanaugh barely squeaks in or not, or if he’d have a “firm” ascension. They just want him in. That’s the win for them.
I think you can’t grasp what it means to have 11 powerful men call you a liar and a whore on national TV. If it’s clear nothing she says will change their mind, why should she have to endure that?
Exactly. Nothing she says is going to change any GOP confirmation votes. They’ve made that clear.
It either didn’t happen, or it did happen but boys will be boys and what was that girl doing at that party getting drunk and throwing herself around anyway?
Yeah, if the thinking is that nothing said will matter anyway, then I guess it makes sense for her not to go. I had hoped that maybe we’d learned not to send that message to assault victims, but clearly that’s no better than hoping politicians will follow the rules.
Collins wants to be SEEN as wanting Ford to testify. And if Ford doesn’t want to testify until after a long FBI investigation that won’t ever happen? Well then Collins won’t have any choice but to give Kavanaugh the benefit of the doubt.
If they put him in the court, does it matter if it stops? They get what they want, no matter what. There is only one party that tries to play by the rules, and it’s not the GOP. Why should they care if people talk about their judge for decades to come so as long as he votes the way they want him to?
The letter shows what I thought from the start: This incident was an open secret, rumored or known to many, and that explains the speed with which they assembled the 65 woman letter supporting Kavanaugh. They were prepared for this to come out. They knew about it, and kept it quiet, and did nothing to investigate it.
I am only thinking of the political ramifications, the impact on the upcoming midterms and the 2020 election. This story seems unlikely to vanish after next week. There are so many potential witnesses, I can imagine a continuous trickle of information for months. It will stay in the news. “GOP rushes accused rapist through the process so he can gut Roe vs Wade” seems likely to further disaffect all those college-educated suburban women about whom we keep hearing.
I am ignoring the judicial consequences. Whether it’s Kavanaugh, Barrett or any other Federalist Society-approved nominee, Roe is doomed and Citizens United is bolstered. We lost that fight a few Novembers ago.
They are kind of screwed here. If they ram him through (pun definitely not intended,) they risk appearing uncaring to the female voting segment who might side with Dr. Ford. If they allow the hearing but pull a typical GOP question/answer foot-in-mouth session, they still have that risk. If they push out the vote and try to bring it through during lame duck session, they go against the very thing they said was important regarding the Gorsuch vote that the GOP put off during Obama’s lame duck session.
There is no GOP win here. At best they could convince Kavanaugh to step down, but they would be right back to a lightning-round vote for anyone else to come along prior to mid-term elections.
