by John Walters

Tweet Me Right

WATCH — Sexual assault survivors confront Jeff Flake on the elevator moments after he says he will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh pic.twitter.com/2d3ABs0s2H

— J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) September 28, 2018

Starting Five

Grace And

 

Rage

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford went first. Controlled. Tremulous. Nervous. Collegial. Credible. Respectful. Helpful.

Then came Brett Kavanaugh. Unhinged. Defiant. Contemptuous. Self-righteous. Melodramatic. Combative.

She: pacific.

He: bellicose.

Forget about who’s the victim and who’s the suspect. Who’s the accuser and who’s the accused. Who’s a private citizen in California and who’s up for a seat on the Supreme Court. Which one of these two people seemed more emotionally intelligent? Who seemed to possess more sagacity?

2. Judge Not

Where was the alleged third person in the room, Mark Judge, yesterday? He was far, far away, holed up in a beach house in Maryland. It’s odd. Ford took a polygraph. She passed it. Kavanaugh had previously ruled that polygraphs are valid in a court of law. Kavanaugh refuses to take a polygraph.

Besides what that may tell you, let’s look at the third person in the room. He’s alive. He’s of sound mind and sound enough body. He could drive to the U.S. Capitol. Subpoena his ass. Bring him into that judiciary session. But they didn’t.

Why not? Because surely this conversation had already taken place. Judge had already decided that he would not perjure himself for Kavanaugh and that he did not want to tell the truth and see Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court opportunity go down in flames. That is, if you believe something happened.

If you believe nothing happened, then what is the harm of his testifying? It’s a fairly simple request.

Likewise, Democratic senator Dick Durbin bluntly asked Kavanaugh if he would support an FBI investigation into the matter. The judge simply stonewalled him. The look he gave Durbin is the same men give you when you ask them if they’d talk to their mothers or daughters that way.

There were so many ways to get closer to the truth on this issue, and at most it would’ve taken one more week. The Republicans were flatly unwilling to wait in their quest to get what they wanted. It’s as if they put their hand over the mouth of justice to keep her from being heard.

3. Risky Business

We’re one year younger than Brett Kavanaugh and we too went to a Jesuit prep school and played football. It was weird to hear him reference films such as Caddyshack, Animal House and Fast Times at Ridgemont High yesterday to explain away the “humor” in his high school yearbook. Those were influential films for teenage boys at the time, but it’s funny the films he chose not to reference that were just as influential, if not more: Risky Business and Porky’s.

We went back and re-read the opening scene from Risky Business, which is in fact a great movie. But listen to these young men, listen to the attitudes.

  

                   

She said that?



  

                   

What did you say?



  

                   

I didn't have to say anything.



  

                   

What did you do?



  

                   

What do you think I did?



  

                   

I think you got the hell out of there,

ran home and whacked off!



  

                   

I disagree.



  

                   

Did you have your bike there?



  

                   

I think you jumped on your bike,

pedaled home and whacked off!



  

                   

That's what you think, right?



  

                   

With Kessler sitting on the floor like that,

wanting me?



  

                   

No guts, Goodson.



  

                   

The problem was I just wasn't attracted

to her.



  

                   

That should never stop you.



  

                   

She seemed too big.



  

                   

It could've worked out.



  

                   

I thought I'd get into trouble.



  

                   

Sometimes you have to say,

"What the fuck!" Make your move!



  

                   

That's easy for you to say.



  

                   

You're all set.

You're probably going to Harvard.



  

                   

Me, I don't want to make a mistake,

jeopardize my future!



  

                   

Joel, let me tell you something.



  

                   

Every now and then, say, "What the fuck."



  

                   

"What the fuck," gives you freedom.



  

                   

Freedom brings opportunity.



  

                   

Opportunity makes your future.

Sound familiar?

4. The Calendar

July 1: “Tobin’s house workout—Go to Timmy’s for ‘skis’ with Judge, Tom, PJ, Bernie, Squi”

Is that something? Are ‘skis’ brewskis? Beers? What else could they be? Waterskiing? There’s Mark Judge. There’s PJ (Smyth). There’s two of the people who were supposedly in the house by Ford’s account. By the way, this wasn’t a PARTY. This was, in the terms kids refer to it today, was pre-gaming. The party before you head out to a party. Anyway…

If you read the exchange between Kavanaugh and the GOP’s self-appointed female proxy, Rachel Mitchell, yesterday, you’ll see that she comes to this date. She has Kavanaugh identify the names. But then, abruptly, she stops. Never asks him why this might not possibly be the date in question. Never asks him if there were any girls at this gathering. Etc.

It was right after this exchange, when Mitchell (again, the GOP’s hired gun) apparently found the date that tied Kavanaugh, Judge and P.J. together (plus the guy Ford was seeing at the time, “Squi”, which would explain why she’d be at the house), and when Kavanaugh for some reason I’ll never understand provided first and last names for all, that Senator Lindsey Graham went postal. We never heard from Mitchell again.

5. Female Moments

There’s so much more to be said about yesterday’s proceedings, but let’s leave you with a few female moments yesterday.

Ford: “Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the uproarious laughter, at my expense.”

Ford: “One hundred percent,” when asked what degree of certainty she had that it was Judge and Kavanaugh in that room.

And then this exchange between Kavanaugh and Senator Amy Kobuchar of Minnesota:

Sen. Amy Klobuchar asks Brett Kavanaugh if he has ever blacked out from drinking, and he turns the question back on her.

Kavanaugh: “You are asking about a blackout. I don’t know. Have you?”

Klobuchar: “Could you answer the question, judge?”https://t.co/9FalHY71EC pic.twitter.com/ptnGHHYuss

— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 27, 2018

It’s funny. This is how Kavanaugh treats a female who challenges him when he’s sober.

Yesterday was a sad and shameful day in American history. As will be today, when the judiciary committee approves him.

And let’s not forget: The GOP Senate waited more than 120 days after Anton Scalia died, running out the clock on the Obama presidency when he nominated Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court. Let’s also not forget that the Democrats made no such effort to block another Trump pick, Neil Gorsuch, when he was nominated for the Supreme Court. In other words, the suggestion that Democrats are just trying to get revenge on the Trumpers, as Kavanaugh put forth, is baseless because he’s not even the first Trump nominee.

This accusation against Kavanaugh has nothing to do with him being a Trump pick (since he’s not the first). It has everything to do with what Kavanaugh allegedly did. And there was nothing in Kavanaugh’s behavior yesterday to suggest to me that he is not the type of man who would’ve done exactly what 17 year-old Brett did. He’s belligerent, entitled and duplicitous.

A man not qualified to judge, much less practice law.