Thursday, October 11, 2018

DON’T GET TOO COMFORTABLE, KAVANAUGH, BECAUSE WE’LL BE BACK - AND THIS TIME WITH A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree

DON’T GET TOO COMFORTABLE, KAVANAUGH, BECAUSE WE’LL 
BE BACK -
AND THIS TIME WITH A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
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NO HELPLESS WOMAN SHOULD EVER 
HAVE TO LOOK UP AT THIS BRUTAL FACE
I placed a comment online reflecting the title of this article, “Don’t get comfortable, Kavanaugh.  We’ll be back - and this time with a criminal investigation.”  In response, a gentleman online said, “Sadly, the whole point of this was about political power not rape. They aren't returning for him. It'll go away with time until the next political run.”
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I beg to differ with that response. The Kavanaugh episode represents a unique moment in American history for several reasons. The first is because of the nature of women. The women of this country are mad as hell, and that’s bad news for the clueless GOP.  As a widower who was married for 34 years, I know for a fact, that women don't forget. My sweet and loving wife, Val, made me pay, in my late forties, for stunts I pulled when we were teenagers.  She’d say,  "Do you remember the time when . . .?”  Due to my masculine arrogance, in many cases the incident was so insignificant to me at the time that I didn’t remember - that is, until she brought down the hammer to jog my memory. And in every case, I paid dearly because she remembered every detail, and with the clarity of an incident that might have happened the day before. 
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While men tend to condescendingly refer to women as “the gentler sex,” that’s a myth. It’s a delusion manufactured to accommodate our masculine arrogance. As men, we tend to purposely ignore the fact that all of the “great men” of history (including Jesus), were raised by women, and that’s where their thoughts and philosophies originated. While their fathers were out trying to be masculine and great, it was their mothers who groomed their minds. So in a very real sense, it’s women who control this world. 

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THIS IS A CONSERVATIVE'S VIEW
OF A WOMAN'S PLACE 
Our human society is structured much like a colony of bees. Males are simply the labor force, while it is women who are the queens.  But Women have the innate common sense to allow men to massage our childish egos by strutting around like peacocks taking credit for all of human progress, while women quietly go about the business of keeping humanity in tact. They have the good sense to give men the bragging rights, while they consume the honey of our labor and keep humanity moving forward.  But the fact is, everything a man does, from strutting around on the football field in  skin-tight pants, to flying to the Moon, he does to impress women, the queens of humanity. That's why we try to limit them.
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We don't want women flying jets, or in competition with us and diminishing our accomplishments. We want them standing on the sidelines applauding us in awe as they watch us soar over head. But women are simply allowing us to indulge our delusions.  A perfect example of the power of a woman's mind is the fact that when Barack Obama graduated from college, it was Michelle who groomed and mentored him. The Washington Post reported in its article, When Michelle Met Barack, “The fact that she was Obama's mentor made her feel self-conscious. She often recounts how she resisted when Barack asked her out . . .”  
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Thus, while women may not be as physically strong as men, when nature gives one living organism an advantage over another, it gives the other the means to compensate for it, and more often than not, quite effectively.  In the case of women, nature’s balancing act involves their strength of character and intellect, and that balancing mechanism was clearly on display in the Kavanaugh hearings. While Brett Kavanaugh was alternately roaring and beating his chest like an angry beast one minute, and then blubbering like a wounded child the next, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford simply stepped forward and quietly asked, “Would you pass me some caffeine, please?” Thereafter, she proceeded to drag Brett through the mud like the immature and bratty child that he was, and his immature response demonstrated that he continues to be.
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When Dr. Ford was done with Kavanaugh, his public persona was in tatters. She quietly, and quite methodically, completely demolished the image that he had carefully cultivated over his entire career.  If he lives to be ninety years old he'll never be looked upon in the same way again. Before our eyes the myth of a solemn, dignified, and respected jurist was ripped apart and replaced with the image of a childishly irresponsible, and recklessly narcissistic individual on the order of a Donald Trump (in fact, he actually seemed to channel Trump during the hearings) - and that was no small feat by Dr. Ford for just one morning of testimony, and she never raised her voice above a whisper. Then, instead of Kavanaugh having the simple common sense to try to salvage what was left of his completely demolished judicial image, his testimony only served to ratified Dr. Ford’s allegation of his inclination toward brutish and childish behavior. The only thing missing from Kavanaugh’s testimony was a slurring voice and a bottle of beer. It left one forced to ask, is this nomination a joke? What kind of judgment and judicial temperament is this!!!?
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Kavanaugh’s behavior before the entire world just screamed that this man lacked the judicial caliber and temperament to be elevated to a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land.  So Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court not only tarnishes the court, but further tarnishes our entire government with the roguish criminality of Donald Trump. Because it is abundantly clear that if it were not for the irresponsible self-service of Donald Trump, along with the GOP’s collusion in trying to help Trump escape the consequences of the Mueller probe, this nomination would never have gone forward. Any president with clean hands and common sense would have immediately withdrawn Kavanaugh's nomination. But not Trump. His need to protect his own self-interest far outweighs even a fleeting concern for the nation, so one could all but hear him asking the power-hungry Kavanaugh, “Do I have your loyalty?” It was an absolute atrocity, and based on the public’s response to Kavanaugh’s testimony, the vast majority of Americans agree with that assessment. 

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THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
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In spite of the fact that Donald Trump was supported by 81% of White Evangelicals, The National Council of Churches, an organization which represents over 100,000 congregations and 40 million churchgoers issued the following statement:
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The National Council of Churches (NCC) calls for the withdrawal of the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States. We believe he has disqualified himself from this lifetime appointment and must step aside immediately.
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We note several reasons. During his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Kavanaugh exhibited extreme partisan bias and disrespect towards certain members of the committee and thereby demonstrated that he possesses neither the temperament nor the character essential for a member of the highest court in our nation. We are deeply disturbed by the multiple allegations of sexual assault and call for a full and unhindered investigation of these accusations.
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In addition, his testimony before the Judiciary Committee included several misstatements and some outright falsehoods. All citizens must be expected to speak truthfully when under oath, however, this is especially true for anyone who seeks a seat on the Supreme Court.
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Moreover, Judge Kavanaugh’s extensive judicial and political record is troubling with regard to issues of voting rights, racial and gender justice, health care, the rights of people with disabilities, and environmental protections. This leads us to believe that he cannot be an impartial justice in cases that are sure to come before him at the Court.
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Therefore the National Council of Churches calls for the withdrawal of Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court immediately.

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In addition to the Protestant Church, America, the primary Jesuit publication within the Catholic Church has withdrawn it’s support for Kavanaugh as well, saying, “While we previously endorsed the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh on the basis of his legal credentials and his reputation as a committed textualist, it is now clear that the nomination should be withdrawn.”
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THE GROSS VIOLATION OF POLITICAL NORMS
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THE GOP VS WOMEN
BAD MOVE, FELLAS
Another reason that the American people must revisit this Kavanaugh atrocity is that Trump and the GOP have upset far too many political norms in order to shove Kavanaugh down our throats. Clear thinking and fair-minded Americans simply can’t allow the GOP to get away with this gross assault on our democracy.
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Even the conservative Weekly Standard pointed out that Robert Carlson, President of the American Bar Association, asked senators Grassley and Feinstein in a letter on September 27 to withhold the vote on Kavanaugh until the FBI could investigate, citing “the ABA's respect for the rule of law and due process under law.” In addition, the dean of Yale Law School released a statement the following day that called for “a careful examination of the accusations and facts by the FBI.”  Robert Carlson, representing the ABA went on to say, “Deciding to proceed without conducting additional investigation would not only have a lasting impact on the Senate's reputation, but it will also negatively affect the great trust necessary for the American people to have in the Supreme Court.”
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Yet, in spite of all of these reasonable and common-sense appeals for simple fairness and adherence to democratic due process, Trump and his GOP cohorts steamrolled right over all appeals for fairness and common decency to shove Kavanaugh down America’s throat, whether we liked it or not - and then, in a historic display of gross hypocrisy and deceit, accused the Democrats of obstructionism! Thus, this one episode has completely outed the GOP. It has clearly demonstrated that the GOP has absolutely no respect for the intelligence of the American people, or for the principles of democracy.  It also shows that the GOP will ALWAYS give the conservative agenda priority over what is in the best interest of America.
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Clear evidence of that fact is, first, the GOP withheld 90% of the background documents on Kavanaugh’s career, which is clear evidence that they had plenty to hide. Then in spite of the fact that Mitch McConnell denied President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, even an interview, and held the seat hostage for well over a year, all of a sudden the GOP became so frantic to rush Kavanaugh through that they attempted to deny the FBI the time to do any investigation at all. Then when they were FORCE to allow the FBI to do an investigation, they placed such severe restrictions and time limitations on it that what they called a supplemental investigation turned out to be nothing more than a transparent farce designed to give senators cover for the atrocity that they had every intention of carrying out regardless of the results.  
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Donald Trump flat-out lied to the American people when he said the FBI was given free-rein to interview anyone connected to the Kavanaugh case. The secret results had barely come in before NBC reported that the “FBI has not contacted dozens of potential sources in Kavanaugh investigation," and that literally dozens of witnesses were not interviewed. NBC went on to report that "With the investigation winding down, multiple individuals who have tried to contact the bureau have not heard back.” The FBI was not allowed to interview many witnesses who were clamoring to be heard, and that’s in spite of the fact that there is solid evidence that Kavanaugh perjured himself before the senate.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/dozens-potential-sources-information-have-not-been-contacted-fbi-kavanaugh-n916146
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KAVANAUGH COMMITTED PERJURY DURING SENATE TESTIMONY
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Kavanaugh testified during his testimony that he first heard of Deborah Ramirez’s allegation that he exposed himself before her when it came out in the New Yorker article in September, but text messages show that he was communicating with friends about the allegation in July.
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“In the days leading up to a public allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself to a college classmate, the judge and his team were communicating behind the scenes with friends to refute the claim, according to text messages obtained by NBC News:
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“The texts between Berchem and Karen Yarasavage, both friends of Kavanaugh, suggest that the nominee was personally talking with former classmates about Ramirez’s story in advance of the New Yorker article that made her allegation public. In one message, Yarasavage said Kavanaugh asked her to go on the record in his defense. Two other messages show communication between Kavanaugh's team and former classmates in advance of the story.”

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/mutual-friend-ramirez-kavanaugh-anxious-come-forward-evidence-n915566
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And finally, even after the GOP limited the FBI investigation to a mere farce, once the “investigation” was completed it was kept secret from the American people. The senators weren’t even given a copy of the completed investigation. Senators were forced to go to a special room just to read it. So the question is, who do these Republican politicians think they are to tell the American people what they can and cannot see!!!?  We paid for that investigation, and, we pay their salaries! - and far too much, I might add.
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What this sad episode in our history clearly demonstrates is that the Republican Party has become so arrogant in their newfound power that they’ve forgotten their place, and it’s time for the American people to remind them of it. What these politicians fail to realize is that they are not our masters, they’re our EMPLOYEES, so the American people would be absolutely remiss not to DEMAND to revisit this issue and point that fact out.  

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So once again, Brett (or maybe I should say, Bart), don’t get too comfortable because we’ll be back - and this time with a CRIMINAL investigation.
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Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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