If Kavanagh is confirmed, the political fallout may cost the Republicans some House seats, and even control of the Senate. But the possible consequences, not only for reproductive rights but also for the environment and any hope of a rebirth of unions would likely be catastrophic, for a good deal longer than I for one can hope to live.
There is an alternative, other than the States' Rights option discussed here a while back. A simple majority in both houses plus the presidency is sufficient to alter the size of the court. Congress has done this six or seven times in the past, although not in the 20th or 21st centuries.
The time has come to think about serious steps, of the sort that senior Democrats are quite obviously unwilling to consider.
Have you seen this?
ReplyDeletehttp://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2018/09/yales-chua-rubenfeld-now-center-stage-in-the-kavanaugh-confirmation-drama.html
Between this and what seems to be the transparent fact that Kavanaugh isn't much more than a highly educated political operative, Brett increasingly looks like the most fitting SCOTUS nominee that Trump could have possibly conjured up, both in light of the latter's own attitudes towards women and also his preference for appointees that embody the opposite of everything their appointed offices represent.
Actually, I am concerned that if Prof. Ford does not testify, thereby enhancing the opinion of the Republicans that she was mistaken or duplicitous in her accusation, and smeared the judge’s good name as a political tactic, resulting in Kavanaugh’s confirmation, it can actually hurt Democrats more than if she had never come forward and made the accusation to begin with. The Republicans will crow that it was a political stunt by the Democrats and fire up their base to come out to vote to teach the Democrats a lesson. The argument that the Republicans were at fault for not conducting the FBI investigation that Prof. Ford requested and then rushed the confirmation vote will be lost in the melee.
ReplyDeleteI, frankly, am a bit pissed off at Prof. Ford and her attorney. She is overplaying her hand. The Republicans hold all the cards here. I believe Prof. Ford’s attorney is giving her client bad advice, because her attorney has an agenda to advance the interests of the Metoo movement. They are playing a game of chicken, and I believe they will lose. The only way Prof. Ford can possibly prevent Kavanaugh from being confirmed is to show up at the hearing on Monday and allow the sincerity and authenticity of her testimony sway Senators Collins and Murkowski, and possibly Flake and Corker, into withdrawing their support of Kavanaugh, as well as giving cover to the Democrats up for reelection in red states to say that, based on her heartfelt testimony, they believe that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her. There is little that the FBI can do at this late date – 36 years after the fact – to corroborate her accusation. Even a fellow classmate who initially stated that the accusation was true is now backtracking, claiming that she has no firsthand knowledge of the incident.. If Prof. Ford does not show up and testify on Monday, Kavanaugh will be confirmed and the Democrats will be stigmatized in the process.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Rubin has a brilliant idea as to how Dr. Ford could handle this:
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/09/conservative-columnist-perfect-solution-kavanaugh-accuser-avoid-gop-bullying-state-case/
Andrew C.,
ReplyDeleteThe story that you linked to really sickened me. That a law professor would encourage her female students to groom themselves like they were geisha candidates for a federal judge, rather than professional scholars of the law, is disgusting. Professor Chua, and her husband, who according to the story also engages in the same form of mentorship, should be ashamed. But no, I suspect they would rationalize it as encouraging their entrepreneurial female students to best use all of their talents, intellectual and physical, to maximize their prospects in life. They are simply reinforcing and perpetuating sexist stereotypes. Do they give similar advice to their male students who are seeking clerkships with Justices Ginsberg, Kagan or Sontomayor to wear tight fitting pants and shirts that accentuate their buttocks and pectorals?
Errata
ReplyDeleteExcuse me for misspelling the Notorious R.B.G.'s aurname. It's "Ginsburg," not "Ginsberg."
Aurname indeed.
ReplyDeleteSerious steps. As it were. Well, then Congress can’t just remove any of the sitting justices from office. So we're talking about court-packing -- and my understanding is that court-packing is what autocrats do as they begin to consolidate their power. Supposing that I am all for it, I guess the first, first we win back the White House and Congress..
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteDamn that QWERTY keyboard - why did they put the "a" right next to the "s"?