From Charles P. Pierce at Esquire today:
The outlines of Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation process are clearer than ever.
You know what's an interesting thought experiment? Change this New York Times headline...
Kavanaugh Accuser Opens Negotiations on Testimony Next Week
...to the following...
Kavanaugh's Alleged Victim Opens Negotiations on Testimony Next Week
The whole "accuser" thing is driving me crazy. There is a carefully nuanced pejorative lurking in the syllables there that makes me uneasy.
Giving a Republican like Grassley and his colleagues a chance to do the right thing is like inviting a snake to tap dance. They can do it — once they figure out how to put the shoes on.
Senate Republicans can't get out of their own way on this matter.
...The larger story is that the Senate Republicans—who, by not calling a committee vote on Thursday already now have delayed the confirmation, which they swore up and down they wouldn't do—can't get out of their own way on this matter now. Something is buried in those documents, or in the memory of witnesses, that is giving the majority party pause. Dr. Ford has them running scared, or the nominee does.
Republican power player Ed Whelan has a job description that reads “head of the Ethics and Public Policy Institute”. The GOP double-speak translator says this means his real job is to eliminate ethics from anything having to do with public policy.
It's about time someone in elected office called "bullshit" on this process.
To be honest, all I ever previously thought of Senator Mazie Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii, was that she seemed to be a smart, pleasant person who largely voted in ways of which I approved. (There are a number of smart, pleasant people who largely vote in ways of which I don't approve, and there are colossal dicks who vote in ways of which I approve, and there are colossal dicks who vote in ways of which I do not approve. Humans are a mystery.) I don't recall her being terribly involved in the confirmation hearings for Justice Neil Gorsuch. However, starting about two weeks ago, or roughly the same time as Brett Kavanaugh dropped by the Senate Judiciary Committee on which she serves, Mazie Hirono decided it was time to unleash hell.
emphasis added, because I really like that observation.
Go read all three pieces. They’re not that long, they are very much to the point, and they are right on target.
Enjoy the weekend.