The Kavanaugh Countdown

The countdown has begun to the final vote, tentatively set for 4:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday.

 

Will Brett Kavanaugh become a justice on the Supreme Court?  

 

Four senators still haven’t said how they’ll vote ― Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Three of the four would need to vote no to block the confirmation.

 

Brett Kavanaugh took to the media to make his case to become a justice on the United States Supreme Court with an op-ed posted in the Wall Street Journal where Kavanaugh admitted, “I was very emotional last Thursday, more so than I have ever been. I might have been too emotional at times. I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said.”

 

He defended himself, saying, “I hope everyone can understand that I was there as a son, husband and dad. I testified with five people foremost in my mind: my mom, my dad, my wife — and most of all my daughters.”

 

Let me call bullshit on that a moment and declare that Brett Kavanaugh had one person foremost on his mind, Donald J Trump.  

 

The hostility, the combativeness, the disrespect, the partisan rancor, the  right wing conspiracies, all of this was right out of the Trump play book that made him look good with the man that invited him to this dance. Kavanaugh has learned, like others, the best way to curry favor with Trump and by extension his unwavering base of support is to emulate Trump. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and boy, Trump loves to be flattered. 

 

Allow me, if I may, to calleth the bullshit on the alleged FBI investigation which took on a few days and did not include any interviews with a whole swatch of potential witnesses and did not even include interviews with Brett Kavanaugh or Christine Blassey Ford. How effective or comprehensive could such an investigation be?

 

Acceptance(or lack thereof) of the FBI’s investigation is split exactly along the fault line of the Senate partisan divide.

Republicans look at the FBI report and go “Harumph! I fine job by the FBI! This looks good for Judge Kavanaugh!”

Democrats look at the same FBI report and go “Harumph! This is a total botch and does nothing to alleviate our concerns about Judge Kavanaugh!”

 

You and I, the common people, cannot decide for ourselves as we are not allowed to see the FBI report.

 

While the FBI report may have not shed any light new light on the allegations made against Brett Kavanaugh, the number of people adverse to having kavanaiugh appointed to the Supreme Court keeps growing in number and it has less to do with the claims of sexual assault and more to so with Kavanaugh’s defense against those claims.

 

An open letter  urging senators to reject Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination is now up to more than 2,400 signatories from law professors across the country. The letter reads in part,

“Instead of trying to sort out with reason and care the allegations that were raised, Judge Kavanaugh responded in an intemperate, inflammatory and partial manner, as he interrupted and, at times, was discourteous to senators. We have differing views about the other qualifications of Judge Kavanaugh. But we are united, as professors of law and scholars of judicial institutions, in believing that he did not display the impartiality and judicial temperament requisite to sit on the highest court of our land.”

 

That’s a lot of experts on the subject of law telling the U.S. Senate that Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court is a bad idea.  

 

Adding to those 2,400 voices is Retired Justice John Paul Stevens who gad previuously supported Kavanaugh’s nomination to the court.  On Thursday, he changed his mind, citing Kavanaugh’s temperament during the hearing into allegations of sexual misconduct as demonstrating he is  not suited for the position.

 

Stevens, by the way, is lifelong Republican.  

 

So the clock is ticking towards an uncertain future. 

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Whatever the outcome on Saturday vote in the Senate, I will likely not deal with it in this space until Tuesday.

 

For those who are sick (SICK, I tells ya!) of politics on this blog, the next three posts will be Doctor Who related, culminating with a review of Sunday’s much anticipated premiere of The Woman Who Fell To Earth. 

 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.