Right now it looks like Brett Kavanaugh is going down in flames like one of those Japanese Zeros after the Grumman Hellcat came into the fight. The Zero up to that time was the superior fighter plane in the Pacific war even though it had thin skin and when hit received the reputation of being a “flying gas can.” I suggest it is safe to engage in a little metaphor by noting Kavanaugh right now is a flying gas can. One more well placed shot we can figure his nomination is to explode.
His big problem is that he seems to be a Trump on steroids. His approval rating among Americans is equal to that of Harriet Miers. Who was she? She was nominated by Bush II in 2005 in a move that sent shock waves through the legal establishment. She had been quoted as calling Bush “the most brilliant man” she had ever met. Her circle of friends must have been very small.
Her biggest failing was she never tried a case and knew nothing about Constitutional Law which the senators discovered when they discussed it with her. Hers was a shabby nomination made only because she had been a lawyer and friend of Bush over the years. Kavanaugh, though heads and shoulders above her in knowledge of Constitutional law having been 12 years on the Court of Appeals (he too from what I can tell had never tried a case) clearly is more qualified than Miers> How then does he rank as low as her in the public’s esteem?
I suggest he is seen a younger but more aggressive and wiser Trump. His approval rating seems to mirror that of Trump. The idea that Trump, who has shown a complete ignorance of the justice system especially when he complained that Republican congressmen were being indicted, nominated him goes a long way to increasing his negatives.
At his hearings I could not get the idea of Louise Day Hicks out of my mind as he mostly avoided giving answers to the questions of senators. Louise ran as a racist. Whether she was or not is hard to say because no one really knows what’s in the heart of some politicians.
I recall boarding a bus on August 13, 1967, going over to a Patriots/Baltimore Colts game at Harvard Stadium with a big group of others from our neighborhood. The main attraction for us was to see Danny Sullivan a neighborhood friend who played right guard for Baltimore in front of Johnny Unitas. Louise stood at the door of the bus handing out her campaign literature and saying to each one as we passed her: “You know where I stand.”
I recall little of the game. Baltimore won 33 – 3. It was close during the first quarter. One of our group said “the Patriots are doing pretty good.” Billy Harrigan responded, “So was Jesus after the Third Station.” I always think of that when someone is punching above their weight at the beginning of an undertaking when I know that the end for that person is not going to be very pretty.
I though Kavanaugh was sitting there and everyone knew where he stood without him saying anything. I’m not suggesting that like Louise he was pushing a racist agenda. What I am saying is that he clearly was prepared to do the bidding of his sponsor.
I also thought as the hearings progressed he was getting more and more into the deep weeds. He was having a hard time finding his way out. His explanations of why it appeared he said one thing at his confirmation hearing twelve years ago and something different now seemed weak and stretched. He wasn’t playing to his strength.
It wasn’t surprising than that Kavanaugh in his opening statement emphasized his time on the District of Colombia Circuit Court of Appeals. He wanted everything to start there. He didn’t want any senator prying back into his early years. He knew that his appointment to the court of appeals had some serious opposition but he wanted to say, “look you guys opposed me before but my record has been stellar as a judge.”
The big issue at the start of the hearings was the Roe v. Wade decision which permitted abortion in the country under certain circumstances. It was suggested that the idea behind his nomination was to give the Supreme Court a majority to overrule that decision. Another issue was his full support for an interpretation of the Second Amendment that would take us back to the old days of the frontier cowboy. There would be no restrictions on carrying guns. That brought out a huge amount of money from the National Rifle Association (NRA) pushing support of his nomination.
Then there was his article suggesting that a president while in office should not be bothered by any outside litigation. That was such music to Trump’s ears. It may also have been the reason he was added to the list of potential nominees late in the game.
Kavanaugh failed to answer any questions concerning these areas suggesting he was following a long-term precedent of all eight members now sitting on the Court not to comment on matters that had the potential to come before the Supreme Court. That, of course, can be said of most major issues in the country so there was little to be gained from inquiring about them. However, Kavanaugh sought to assure the senators that they could take comfort in him because he would always be bound by precedent and stare decisis.
Kavanaugh also perjured himself during his Appeals Court nomination hearings.
The Federalist Society, a right wing legal think tank started by some folks at one of the premier law schools in the country back in the 80s, gave Trump a list of people to pick from. Kavanaugh was not one of the top choices on the list. McConnell advised Trump that Kavanaugh was too risky of a pick due to his extensive paper trail during his time in the Bush Administration. However, Trump became aware of Kavanaugh’s opinion on executive power and whether or not a President can fall under the purview of the criminal justice system, and low and behold look who Trump chose.
Tree Wave ???
Möbius Dick !!!
Beat that till it bleeds !!!
FBI WATCH
https://hotair.com/archives/2018/09/13/update-feinsteins-mystery-letter-fbi-doesnt-plan-investigate-kavanaugh-will-refer-matter-white-house/
Update On Feinstein’s Mystery Letter: FBI Doesn’t Plan To Investigate Kavanaugh, Will Refer Matter To White House; Update: Details Revealed?
ALLAHPUNDITPosted at 6:01 pm on September 13, 2018
also see
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/27/siu.fbi.internal.documents/index.html
Washington (CNN) — An FBI employee shared confidential information with his girlfriend, who was a news reporter, then later threatened to release a sex tape the two had made.
A supervisor watched pornographic videos in his office during work hours while
“satisfying himself.”
And an employee in a “leadership position” misused a government database to check on two friends who were exotic dancers and allowed them into an FBI office after hours.
These are among confidential summaries of FBI disciplinary reports obtained by CNN, which describe misconduct by agency supervisors, agents and other employees over the last three years.
in other newes
Tree Wave
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BqitoUlGTLg
ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES !
President Barak Obama
THE ART OF THE DEAL WITH IT !
Judge Roberts will see it as a Stand Up vote, however !
Judge sayin’
I thought the ACA was Roberts legacy vote but it looks like it’s going to be
an abortion decision. Judge Merrick is correct. Roberts won’t stand up on this
one.
a liberal is someone who walks out of the
room when an argument turns into a fight
a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged
ugh!
https://theintercept.com/2018/09/12/brett-kavanaugh-confirmation-dianne-feinstein/
DIANNE FEINSTEIN WITHHOLDING BRETT KAVANAUGH DOCUMENT FROM FELLOW JUDICIARY COMMITTEE DEMOCRATS
Ryan Grim
September 12 2018, 5:24 p.m.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
DEMOCRATS ON THE Senate Judiciary Committee have privately requested to view a Brett Kavanaugh-related document in possession of the panel’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, but the senior California senator has so far refused, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2018/sep/13/fbi-censorship-crowdfund/
Help release the FBI’s files on its wartime “Postal Censorship” program
by Paul Galante
September 13, 2018
Back in August, MuckRock user Paul Galante requested the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s files on its wartime “Postal Censorship” program. This week, the Bureau responded, having located approximately 83,000 pages. Despite the fact that the files will be released electronically through the FBI’s supposedly cost-saving portal, the Bureau is insisting Galante pay $2,485 in duplication fees. Due to the important historical nature of these records, Galante has opened the request to crowdfunding.
Read More
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2018/sep/12/CIA-soviet-superstitions/
The CIA had a SECRET report on Soviet superstitions
by JPat Brown
September 12, 2018
A formerly SECRET report uncovered in the Central Intelligence Agency’s declassified archives shows that in the earliest days of the Cold War, the CIA took an interest in Soviet superstitions. The report, classified for 60 years, details familiar fears such as black cats with more involved customs, such as road bucket etiquette.
Read More
Brian, true. Sad, but true. We’re stuck in the rut of precedents, hoisted on our own petard.
The solution likely lies outside the law. Education, raising human consciousness and consciences, better medical, social services, better prophylactics (birth control pre-conception) to prevent pregnancies in the first place. It was good to see even National Geographic’s lead columnist argue for the letter and acknowledge in writing the obvious “the fetus is a human being.” So, too, is the embryo growing inside a woman’s womb.
I don’t see how you get to Kavanaugh going down in flames. It looks very much like he will be confirmed on a close vote. The issue is mislabeled “Roe v. wade” but that case was essentially rewritten in “Planned Parenthood v. Casey.” I think Kavanaugh is too much of an establishment guy to overrule it now. Roberts won’t let it happen anyway.
Matt
Welcome to another day in the
“ ball-less from Savin Hill “ neighborhood
Do you really want to dig into the swamp
of Brett Kavanaugh ?
nah…….
Here is the phone number for DC attorney
John Clarke.
If you forgot how to dial we understand.
It is much to late to grow a set of balls
in No Country for Old Prosecutors
John Clarke is the Point Man for all things
Vince Foster murder and how the FBI
protected Bill and Hillary Clinton
Just pick up the phone Matt and call
John Clarke and ask him to tell you
how Brett Kavanaugh covered up the
murder of Vince Foster.
You do know how to dial a phone?
202 332 3030
http://www.fbicover-up.com
Hillary Clinton Vince Foster murder
Hillary Clinton and the cover-up of the murder of her friend Vince Foster by Kenneth Starr. … Starr to include evidence, found in government records, of an FBI cover-up, to the final Report.
see
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/after-investigating-clinton-white-house-and-vincent-fosters-death-brett-kavanaugh-had-change-of-heart/2018/08/02/66ee2b2c-91f5-11e8-9b0d-749fb254bc3d_story.html?utm_term=.809481e6698e
After investigating Clinton White House and Vincent Foster’s death, Brett Kavanaugh had a change of heart
also see
http://raylahr.com/COURTDOCS/7-20-09HRayLahrFiledPetitionForRehearingEnBanc.pdf
Jesus …… Keep your eye on the balls … Wouldja Freeh Style !!!
Savin Hill Swingin’ ???
Eh ???????
Wasn’t Danny Sullivan from Boston Tech?
I had the privilege of tackling Dominick DeGente and their quarterback at the time,head on.
Naturally Southie under my namesake was an excellent coach.
Irrelevant ,but our coach just didn’t have the intellectual piece.
A great moment and for me much more significant than this Kavanaugh business.
Humble,common folks just get up and do what they do as well as possible.
It’s up to Collins and a few others.
Wondering if Billy still alive.
Timothy:
Danny did play for Boston Technical. He was from Savin Hill. One of the nicest persons you’d ever meet. From an Irish/Ukrainian background. His brother was Zeke who was a Boston policeman.
I am wondering whether it was a colossal mistake not to question Kevin or about that alleged money for sports tickets and the money that mysteriously appeared to pay debts perhaps incurred because of the alleged Sports tickets.. That seems pretty weird. I am beginning to suspect that Kevin or was a gambler, which would explain everything as well. Certainly someone should have gone into this.
The article comparing the birth rate in Israel and Belgium was by an American Pediatrician, who’d visited both countries.
Let the little ones live.
Stop the bombing, stop the war-mongering. USA out of Syria!
Support Kavanaugh and men and women like him!
Oppose the anti-life Liberal-Leftists and Neocon Imperialists.
Think small. Small human beings. Smaller government. Less imperialism. Less taxes. Less Orwellian “we’ll destroy the village to save it . . .we’ll destroy Syria to save it from Assad . . .we’ll destroy Libya and send it into a state of perpetual war to save it from Khadaffi . . .we’ll destroy Vietnam to save it from . . .we’ll destroy little human beings in the womb so that women can freely reproduce . . .as Leonard Cohen sang in The Future: “Kill another fetus now, we don’t like children anyhow.”
I read a great article on how Israel loves children and their population is booming from natural birth, whereas Belgium, and anti-life, pro-abort country, is dying . . .
ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES !
President Barak Obama
Matt, you are wrong, on many counts. Kavanagh overwhelmingly approved for the Appeals Court. As qualified as any ever for SCOTUS..
Roe v. Wade, did not, as you state, did not “permit abortion under certain circumstances.” Roe decided firstly that the human fetus throughout all nine months, 36-40 weeks of pregnancy was “not a person”, but a neonate of 24 weeks was “a person.” Scientific, biologic, medical gobblygook.
Secondly, Roe v. Wade and its companion case Doe v. Bolton, decided the same day allowed abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy if a women could cite an “health” reason including economic well being and an abortionist MD agreed . . .that’s why we needed the 1990s cases banning partial birth abortions the last trimester because, for example, one New Jersey clinic was killing anually 5,000 fully formed “viable” . . .they’re all viable if you don’t abort them . . .human beings in the last trimester of pregnancy.
Roe v. Wade was and is an abomination and shame on the liberal Democrats who continue to support it and turn a blind eye to the butchery.
2. Perhaps you watched different Kavanagh Hearings than I: I saw a Circus of Hysterical Radical Leftist Dems Humiliating themselves with asinine questions and insinuations.
3. Perhaps you are unaware that this Stalinistic Show Trial has nothing to do with determining Kavanagh’s qualifications for SCOTUS but everything to do with the radical Left in this Nation continuing to ram its Leftist-anti-life-Big-Gov-Socialistic Agenda down our throats.
4. The Constitution? Due process? Fair and speedy trials, and by innuendo, fair hearings before Congress . . .fORGET IT! the Leftist Dems are trying to do to Kavanagh what they did to Bork . . . .it is DESPICABLE . . . .
5. Sadly, Ted Kennedy and Delahunt et al lost my support long ago when they began to defend Roe v. Wade. Give me Reagan and Scalia and other pro-life intellectuals like Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon, who’ve repeatedly called for the unconstitutionally decided Roe v. Wade decision be overturned.
Oh, the humanity, ye who turn a blind eye to the butchery of millions and rant about bumps and bruises caused by wildly wielded billy clubs.
3. We see the set up. If Syria uses Chemical Weapons, the USA will murder thousands . . .says Bolton . . . a Neocon War Mongering Imperialist . . .and of course an anti-Assad rebel will drop a schedule his own cannister or barrel of chlorine gase and film it, so that the good old USA can bomb to smithereens Syrian soldiers we don’t like . . . .it smells to high heaven, like Roe v. Wade, and we fall for it year after year . . .the butchers and war-mongers must have their blood . . .
Bill:
How you going to make abortions go away? Do you think outlawing them will stop women from having them? You going to feel good if women have to go to underground abortion mills to have them? I mean, yes, you are pro-life but what about a woman who is raped or involved in incest? you want her to have to carry the child of that other. No one likes abortions.
You say the Court did not permit abortion under certain circumstances. You said it decided: “the human fetus throughout all nine months, 36-40 weeks of pregnancy was “not a person”, but a neonate of 24 weeks was “a person.” Then you write “Secondly, Roe v. Wade and its companion case Doe v. Bolton, decided the same day allowed abortion . . . ” Seems to me it allowed abortions under certain circumstances.
As you know the radical left never came up with a plan to take children from their parents, the radical right did that. There are still 400 plus children who have lost their parents. I know you will tell other stories of how if a person goes to prison, etc. they lose rights to their child. But the parent that your radical right take children from are those seeking a better life; they have committed no crimes. Even so, two wrongs are still wrongs and you don’t justify one wrong by pointing to another wrong.
Which you seem to do when it comes to Syria. It is the United States that is trying to prevent Syria from using chemical weapons by threatening reprisals if they do. Apparently to your way of thinking we must sit back and let Syria and its ally Russia use chemical weapons to murder people.
By the way your friend Russia has the highest abortion rate in the world. I don’t hear you saying anything about it. But back to the idea of the “butchery of millions” which you lament. What do you propose after Roe is overturned? You going to imprison women who are involved in your definition of “butchery.” There’s a real world out there and there will always be some women who want abortions. What do you propose they do – go to Ireland?
Starting backwards: I’ve written a book, One Life, denouncing Roe v. Wade and the inherently immorality of Roe and abortions, in all countries. The law should be simple: Physicians must always try to save both lives, the mother’s and unborn child’s, whenever humanly possible.
Your glib responses have been refuted fully elsewhere. Women who’ve been raped and victims of incest have delivered beautiful babies. I’ve heard those courageous mother’s speak and their offspring, glad to be alive, speak too. Medically, socially, we can help women get through these crises. The answer is not “kill”.
Some more short retorts. People who cross the border illegally HAVE committed a crime . . .millions of children are separated from their parents by the criminal justice system and millions more by an inept government that allows heroin/opiate addiction flourish here . . .little echoes from the Libs about stopping heroin/opiate/crack/barb/speed trafficking which destroys families and the minds/spirits/bodies of children.
Want to stop more abortions? STOP SUPPORTING ROE V WADE and pretending it’s lawful and constitutional. Stop supporting PRO-ABORTION Congressmen. Stop supporting the HILLARIANS.
The remedy for back alley abortions is to eliminate the back alley abortion mills. Why not try that and try to save more lives through counseling and adoptions and medical services for needy pregnant women? The LIBs have sold women down the drain of killing is the solution.
SYRIA . . .read the exhaustive reports of the MIT scientist who debunks the Pentagons/Obamas/Hillary’s claims that chemical weapons were used by the Syrian Army. Chlorine Gas, the last story, is available at every swimming pool . . . .THE USA via our CIA and Hillary’s Imperialism ginned up the folks in Syria as they did in Libya to CIVIL WAR . . .because we, the IMPERIALISTS, thought we knew better . . .how many more millions will die due to US Neoconic Imperialism . . .when will the wars in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen stop . . . .when good people stop the Imperialists in US, NATO, Britain and Saudi Arabia . . .remember the 5 billion Victoria Newman said the US paid to re-orient the Ukrainians . . .? How readily we forget.
I’ve rebutted you . . . you can less the number of abortions, dramatically; to only those truly necessary medical situations, ectopic pregnancies, that threaten both lives, where both lives cannot be saved. The Lib Dems will not even try.
Roe v. Wade and its companion case Doe v. Bolton allowed virtual abortion on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy, and anyone who glibly reduces Roe to allowing abortions in “certain situations” is misinforming folks.
Health was defined in Bolton to include a women’s economic well being . . .which means if in the last week of pregnancy if a women decided she really couldn’t afford another child, she could legally abort a fully formed human being. You are aware, are you not, of the 5,000 annual partial birth abortions that were legally being performed on “viable” . . .able to live outside the womb . . .human beings in one New Jersey clinic.?
Stop defending Abortion and American-British-NATO-Saudi Imperialism.
Have I missed anything?
Bill, you’ll need to build more prisons to house all those unwanted babies.
You missed the big thing. What is the woman who wants an abortion to do? What does a woman who doesn’t want a baby from a rapist to do? You going to tell them they must have baby. What if they refuse. You going to put them in prison?
You do know one can always fly to Ireland, England or even Russia for an abortion. It seems outlawing abortion would only affect thr poor folk unable to fly away or go to Canada or Mexico
Coming to a country seeking asylum is not committing a crime.
A MIT professor is to be believed over the thorough investigation by impartial experts; which even the Russians acknowledged was true by arranging for Syria to agree to rid itself of those weapons which it never did.
Read John Irving’s CIDER HOUSE RULES many years ago. Its protagonist, Homer, as recall, is a Maine abortionist; one schooled as a young man by the abortionist who runs the orphanage where Homer grows up. Through Homer’s eyes the practical and humanitarian case for abortion, as also elucidated by Matt, is made. It is a strong and a solid case. As I also recollect, Homer served his Residency at the old Boston City Hospital. The circumstances of the largely younger women in distress he both treats and ministers to are recognizably bleak in a bleak Boston in a bleak winter that we who grew up here are bleakly aware of, as it is never ending !
This is Life .
In a different era than Homer’s we now have outfits like Planned Parenthood seemingly making a cottage industry out of harvesting infant tissue, stem cells, and organs for profit.
There has to be a balance between the bleating of – Save the little ones – as a salve to Catholic Conscience and the rude realities that must be pragmatically and humanely addressed.
Tough being a Homer !!!
Bill, the chlorine used at swimming pools is a far cry from weaponized chlorine gas. (Wouldn’t you be a little nervous if a kid who got a job through Dom Bianculli for the Summer was allowed to go to sleep on a pile of chlorine?)
Bill you are a typical Republican, woe is me for a fetus no bigger than a booger in your nose, with no conscious mind, yet when that unwanted baby is born, the poor parents better find a way to pay for everything those damn free loading welfare queens.