I listened and watched much of the Kavenaugh confirmation hearing on this historic day. I haven't read or listened to a whole lot of the spin. This evening I jot down some of my own thoughts.
I was in tears during Dr. Ford's opening statement and testimony. She was completely credible, humble, intelligent, and human. She rose to the highest level of citizenship, both by coming forward in an organic way, and by lamenting during the hearing that she couldn't be more helpful when her memory lapsed. She was compelling. She was raw. She is an American hero.
I know that I was not alone in my emotional response. I know millions across the country had the same reaction. I heard from the talking heads during the break that many in the Senate chambers were tearing up. People are feeling her pain; people are feeling their own pain. It was reported that Chris Wallace reportedly shared on Faux News that his daughters confided to him some "incidents" that they experienced in high school.
The questioning of Dr. Ford by the GOP's independent prosecutor counsel was ineffective. I don't know what they were trying to accomplish, but they didn't accomplish much with her questioning. If she was trying to impeach Dr. Ford, she completely failed. If anything, she allowed the opportunity for Dr. Ford to illustrate even more deeply her honesty and humanity.
I loved that Dr. Ford brought up brain science to explain why her memories of the incident are so acute.
Turning toward Judge Kavanaugh's testimony. His opening statement struck me as loud, fake, and entitled. His very demeanor and temperament was quite telling. I thought his behavior in the chair in itself was unbecoming of a Supreme Court Justice. His sniffles and dramatic pauses were forced. His yelling was out of line. It was a show. It was a show a la his role model, the Baby Cheeto Boy.
It was interesting that his questioning started out with the independent counsel and soon turned into the Good Ol' Boys club, with more yelling and indignation about the evil Democrats reigning injustice upon this poor, poor choirboy. Did they believe Dr. Ford? Who knows. They only illustrated that they were willing to damn the facts and just take pitchforks against Dianne Feinstein.
Other observations.
I thought Sen. Grassley was a doddering fool. It was embarrassing watching him in the opening statement that he could barely read.
Dr. Ford agreed to the questioning by the independent counsel but did assert her desire to interact with each of the Committee members themselves. This was not honored.
The Republicans did not even honor their own commitment to have the independent counsel question Brett Kavenaugh. It was obvious that they were not there to find the truth. They were there to raise hell (literally, right, Lindsay Graham?). It was ugly and it was a farce when it came to Brett's testimony.
None of Brett's shrieking had any relevance to whether he was a predatory drunk 17-year-old idiot.
The ten days of horror that he had faced during the delay in the hearing? Cue the tiny violins.
My take away from the long day of testimony: they must not vote to confirm. Senators Murkowski (R-AK) and Collins (R-ME) particularly should follow their conscience and vote "No." Better yet, the nomination should be withdrawn.
More thoughts:
My she-ro, Sen. Kamala Harris, again took Brett to task, pressing him to ask the President* to call for an FBI investigation.
Because she rocks, I give you her questioning:
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) also rocked his questioning, both to Brett and to Dr. Ford. He touched on the July 1 party at Timmy's for "skis" that Brett noted that he had attended with Mark Judge and PJ and others, but I wish he had gone deeper, as the famous calendar has been brought up in an article from Slate that could very well be corroborating evidence. The FBI could do a good job of looking into Timmy and where he lived, and talk to Judge, Tom, PJ, Bernie and Squi.
Here's the calendar page, and here is some speculation about it.
As I dip my toes into others' analysis and spin, I see that there are some calls from esteemed groups to delay the vote until an FBI investigation can be done. The American Bar Association has called for a pause. Republican Governors of four states have also asked for a delay.
This is a historic moment. I hope that Right and Truth prevail for this courageous woman, and for all of us. We shall see tomorrow.
Call your Senators. Today. Here's where to find them.
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