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From his behavior, it feels like he's never even been in a courtroom. You could get fired from a loving office job for being like that when your superiors are questioning you, and he's acting like the law is just a suggestion and nobody should bother with any sort of details. He's a cross between a little baby and a drunk man getting kicked out of a 7/11. So far as I know, the reason they want Kavanagh specifically is because he's a loving stooge and he was a stooge for the W administration, and the potential abortion ban is just the literal only selling point they've managed to come up with for getting a man with no principals or abilities beyond party loyalty on the bench. We all know the score as to why they're trying to dismiss the allegations without a second thought, right? They just don't believe in the rights of women beyond being a man's property, and they'd be fine with a girl being dragged into the middle of congress for a gangbang if it meant maintaining the party's grasp on power. It's Roy Moore all over again. I just can't loving stand the moronic posturing to act like they're just ignorant when they all know that they wouldn't care even if he did it in front of them. It's disgusting.
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Oct 1, 2018 21:55
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The main reason they went for Kavanaugh is that even though he was a lead attorney for the Starr commission he has since written a few opinions that firmly state his belief that a sitting president is exempt from all legal inquires. He’s Trump’s attempt to hedge his bets against any findings from Muehler.
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Oct 1, 2018 22:02
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Honestly I'd believe devil's triangle is a drinking game before I believed "Have you boofed yet?" referred to farting. Literally no teenage boy has ever asked another teenage boy "Have you farted?" and especially not "Have you farted YET?"
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Oct 1, 2018 22:27
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At this point it's become a matter of sheer principle to them. They did their best to reduce the entire case to a classic he said/she said by excluding all other witnesses, with the expectation that it would peter out like it nearly always does in these cases. Except as it turns out, Dr. Ford's testimony was deeply convincing, while Kavanaugh's defense was... not. And more importantly, just about everyone, even loving Fox News, seems to agree on the former part. And that just pisses them off on a personal level. The idea that what she said might be taken more seriously than what he said just goes against their whole worldview. To them, what a man says and wants, particularly a wealthy, connected, upper class man, should always take precedence over anybody else. They're outright affronted and offended that things aren't going that way this time. You could see this with Graham in particular, it was definitely personal for that fucker.
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Oct 1, 2018 22:53
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Here's the thing that pisses the Republicans off so much: If Kavanaugh doesn't end up getting the confirmation, it's a rebuke to the entire system they've spent decades building. Kavanaugh went to prep school and Yale. That entire process is designed to build up high ranking politicians from childhood. The idea that he's "unqualified" for the SCOTUS doesn't make sense to them because the fact that he went to prep school and Yale IS his qualification to them. They are more worried about the idea that the a member of the American aristocracy won't be given what he is "owed" than the idea that a rapist might end up deciding legal precedent.
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Oct 2, 2018 00:28
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Except Obama went to prep school, Hillary Clinton went to Yale, Al Gore went to Harvard. It's totally arbitrary whose aristocratic bonafides get respected and who they try to make absurdist anti-elitist arguments against. That's why it's so easy to lay them under the umbrella of fascism, because a core aspect of fascism is the total lack of coherence in any of their guiding principles. There's no coherent philosophy to understand and debunk, all we can really know from outside their own heads is that they're sexist and racist and in the pocket of big business. All that really matters to them is getting their own way and crushing those in the outgroup.
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Oct 2, 2018 00:43
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One thing that amazes me about all this is similar to a thing about Trump - the level of entitlement is what led to all their poo poo being aired out. Kavanaugh didn't have to accept the nomination. Ford wasn't going to just randomly come forward one day if she's been sitting on it this long if he wasn't about to be seated on the highest court in the land. Likewise, Trump and his family could have gotten away with their lifetime of criminal activity and nobody would have noticed or cared, but he simply couldn't fathom that maybe he didn't have to be president. It's like none of these people understand the principle of "quit while you're ahead". They have to keep reaching and be more ambitious and when it all comes crashing down on them they cannot understand that they bear 100% of the responsibility both for the things they've done and for getting caught doing them.
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Oct 2, 2018 01:04
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The Cheshire Cat posted:One thing that amazes me about all this is similar to a thing about Trump - the level of entitlement is what led to all their poo poo being aired out. Kavanaugh didn't have to accept the nomination. Ford wasn't going to just randomly come forward one day if she's been sitting on it this long if he wasn't about to be seated on the highest court in the land. Likewise, Trump and his family could have gotten away with their lifetime of criminal activity and nobody would have noticed or cared, but he simply couldn't fathom that maybe he didn't have to be president. It's like none of these people understand the principle of "quit while you're ahead". They have to keep reaching and be more ambitious and when it all comes crashing down on them they cannot understand that they bear 100% of the responsibility both for the things they've done and for getting caught doing them. But it’s not going to come crashing down. Kavanaugh is going to be confirmed and trump is going to be re-elected. There isn’t a single 2016 trump voter that is not going to vote for him again in 2020 and he’ll probably get all of the “I’m a republican but I’m voting for a 3rd party candidate because gently caress Hillary” votes next time around too because he’s normalized himself. They’ve won and “made America great again”.
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Oct 2, 2018 01:47
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I get the sense that at this point they want Kavanaugh because backing down would be seen as a loss or a concession and they've gone so far into the aesthetics of politics (this is where giant fascism warning claxons start revving up btw) that nothing is worse than appearing weak. Even if they could nominate another motherfucker just as bad judicially but without being an obvious rapist and get him confirmed easily. It's like Bush proudly stating not being open to changing his mind one week to the next no matter what happened in between. In their worldview, once you've publically stated a position, you need to stick to that position no matter what. It's not that they support Kavanaugh because of his unique qualifications, John showed that. It's not that they support him to reward loyalty, they poo poo on loyalty all the time. It's not because of his "elite" background. They support Kavanaugh and will continue supporting him because they've nominated him. Orange Devil fucked around with this message at 07:34 on Oct 2, 2018 |
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Oct 2, 2018 07:31
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Orange Devil posted:I get the sense that at this point they want Kavanaugh because backing down would be seen as a loss or a concession and they've gone so far into the aesthetics of politics (this is where giant fascism warning claxons start revving up btw) that nothing is worse than appearing weak. Even if they could nominate another motherfucker just as bad judicially but without being an obvious rapist and get him confirmed easily. One thing that's so weird to me is that it's only like... 3 Republicans who are potentially wavering on this? There's 51 of them in the senate. Are they all so bought and paid for that 48 of them are completely incapable of recognizing how bad the optics are for them on this? I mean I'm not expecting ghouls like McConnel to back down but ALL of them?
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Oct 2, 2018 08:13
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I feel like Republicans had a chance if they had played up the fact that a lot of Americans aren’t ready yet to start holding crimes as a minor against people. We’re a very pro-incarceration society (and a few pages back I myself was being unsympathetic to murderers), but we’re usually willing to let minors who gently caress up have a second chance and, likewise, give a pass to adults for their fuckups as minors. But then he began to speak... Kavanaugh’s raging attitude and jumping to politics vendettas damaged him irreparably. Roberts was easily confirmed by a friendly Senate but at least he gave the Senators the benefit of the “balls and strikes” shtick.
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Oct 2, 2018 10:34
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GutBomb posted:But it’s not going to come crashing down. Kavanaugh is going to be confirmed and trump is going to be re-elected. There isn’t a single 2016 trump voter that is not going to vote for him again in 2020 and he’ll probably get all of the “I’m a republican but I’m voting for a 3rd party candidate because gently caress Hillary” votes next time around too because he’s normalized himself. Even if Kavanaugh does somehow get torpedoed, they still get to confirm someone no matter what, so they've won regardless. This whole circus will be for naught. The only thing unique about this guy is he believes that a sitting president can't be indicted; everyone on their list is a loving monster.
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Oct 2, 2018 14:24
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Yeah this place is straight hosed
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Oct 2, 2018 14:33
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The Cheshire Cat posted:One thing that's so weird to me is that it's only like... 3 Republicans who are potentially wavering on this? There's 51 of them in the senate. Are they all so bought and paid for that 48 of them are completely incapable of recognizing how bad the optics are for them on this? I mean I'm not expecting ghouls like McConnel to back down but ALL of them? This is what I'm saying: in their perception the optics are *good*. They are proudly standing by their stated position and fighting to defend it. Not "looking weak" by making concessions or changing their minds (even if its based on new and clear evidence!) is perceived as a good thing. I suspect that it's even gone so far now that the stronger and more compelling the evidence is that should cause a reasonable person to reconsider and change their position, the better it looks for them to stick to their guns anyway. This is what their definition of strong leadership is. It's about proudly and defiantly fighting for what you believe, no matter whether that is right or wrong (it's wrong, it's always wrong). Whenever they are confronted with opposition, the only valid response is doubling down. Long story short, there are no reasonable Republicans. And the corollary is that there is not one Republican alive that is a decent human being.
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Oct 2, 2018 15:59
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The Cheshire Cat posted:One thing that's so weird to me is that it's only like... 3 Republicans who are potentially wavering on this? There's 51 of them in the senate. Are they all so bought and paid for that 48 of them are completely incapable of recognizing how bad the optics are for them on this? I mean I'm not expecting ghouls like McConnel to back down but ALL of them? Of the three that are wavering, 1 is retiring, 1 is seeking re-election and facing a comfortable lead and the third is up for re-election in 2022 and has already been told she’ll be facing a RNC backed primary challenge because of her wavering. The RNC is throwing its financial backing behind Kavanaugh and threatening any one that doesn’t lock step behind them. The whole thing is working out in the RNC’s favor too, it’s a lightning rod to rally around and energize their flagging base.
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Oct 2, 2018 16:18
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Jeff Flake straight up said on 60 minutes if he was running for re-election he couldn’t have voted no.
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Oct 2, 2018 16:37
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There is allegedly a wing of the GOP that cares about the courts and nothing else. They trend towards the theocractic authoritarian side of philosophy, more than the laissez faire oligarchy or openly white nationalist wings. The logic goes that they will be depressed if Brett is withdrawn as the nominee, but I don't understand that logic. They get angry about everything. If they lose Kav, he'll be replaced in an hour with an indistinguishable replacement that hopefully didn't rape so much. And the courts-voters will rally behind the new guy. Continuing to push this candidate is about nothing more than reminding Dems that they won everything and are an unchecked majority -- the only people in the country that matter.
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Oct 2, 2018 17:30
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I guess the hope is to spark infighting within the group so that the Republican senate becomes as divided as the Republican house.
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Oct 2, 2018 17:49
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Honestly it would be great if someone could use this shitshow to justify ending the Supreme Court as a political institution but I know that’s not going to happen. It’s one of those things where everybody is aware how bad the system is, but rather than wanting to fix it (say, by having justices serve for fixed length terms with staggered retirements so that every presidential term gets the same number of nominations and said nominations don’t have the power to influence decisions for decades after the president’s term has ended), they just want to take turns exploiting it when conditions favour them. Seems like that’s the main principal by which American democracy functions.
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Oct 2, 2018 19:30
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The Cheshire Cat posted:Honestly it would be great if someone could use this shitshow to justify ending the Supreme Court as a political institution but I know that’s not going to happen. It’s one of those things where everybody is aware how bad the system is, but rather than wanting to fix it (say, by having justices serve for fixed length terms with staggered retirements so that every presidential term gets the same number of nominations and said nominations don’t have the power to influence decisions for decades after the president’s term has ended), they just want to take turns exploiting it when conditions favour them. American democracy is kind of dead tbh.
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Oct 2, 2018 20:10
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While things are deeply hosed, I think term limits for Senators is the first breath of air in the CPR routine that’ll be necessary. The thing that stuck out to be most about the hearings was how many Senators simply couldn’t keep up with the way pace of conversation because they’re so old their brains have gone sedate.
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Oct 2, 2018 20:18
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Craptacular! posted:While things are deeply hosed, I think term limits for Senators is the first breath of air in the CPR routine that’ll be necessary. Yeah the entrenched political class is a huge part of the problem in American politics. Although I have to wonder if term limits were imposed, people wouldn’t just cozy up to lobbyists even harder since they know they’ll be out on their rear end in a decade regardless of what they do, so they need to ensure they get that comfy corporate gig once they leave office. I mean the easy solution here would be to ban politicians from entering the private sector in industries they’ve legislated on for some period of time, but I feel like that’s even less likely to happen than term limits. I guess stricter limits on lobbying in general would also help here, although that all just comes back to the Supreme Court again and citizens united. And all of this depends on the current political establishment just voluntarily giving up all these things for the good of the system. At this point it seems like it would be simpler to just dissolve the union and have each state govern itself as an independent entity than it would be to enact the level of sweeping political reform needs to fix the US as a whole.
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Oct 2, 2018 20:32
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There’s some things you simply need a federal government for (defense, law enforcement across state lines, food/drug controls, a minimum standard of civil rights) and those things are always going to be public-private endeavors subject to pressure to shovel money collected by taxes into the cottage industry grown around it. I don’t know of any country that’s been able to set up a regulation system that locks out the industries being regulated. Unless part of your plan involves nationalizing Boeing and Pfizer, you might as well not avoid change on account of corporatism getting a leg up because it’s gonna happen anyway.
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Oct 2, 2018 20:48
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SlothfulCobra posted:So far as I know, the reason they want Kavanagh specifically is because he's a loving stooge and he was a stooge for the W administration, and the potential abortion ban is just the literal only selling point they've managed to come up with for getting a man with no principals or abilities beyond party loyalty on the bench. It's not just Roe v Wade, there is also a case that could limit State and Federal charges for criminal charges. Which is something else that Trump is probably very interested in. So if Trump is charged by Mueller, then State charges in NY couldn't be filed.
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Oct 3, 2018 04:34
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Craptacular! posted:While things are deeply hosed, I think term limits for Senators is the first breath of air in the CPR routine that’ll be necessary. They've got the majority anyway, there's no way you'll ever get the GOP leadership or base on board with term limits. This was decades in the making
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Oct 3, 2018 11:20
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You’d never get the Dems for it either, the DNC firmly believes that Trump is a statistical anomaly and that nationally they’re winning when it comes to social issues. And they might be right, but the last 60 years have proven just how quickly being on the right side of social issues can flip between the parties.
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Oct 3, 2018 15:54
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Well there you get into how the Democrats are also deeply invested into the current establishment, and over the last 40 years have continually passed up most opportunities to reform, and there's a lot of critical issues that the upper echelons of the party seems really uncomfortable about taking good positions on. The two-party system forces us to accept them as the only option to oppose Republican hegemony, but unless they do some kind of big party reforms, then even a Dem landslide for the next two years will be at best a temporary respite before the Republicans reassert themselves.
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Oct 3, 2018 19:31
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Macdeo Lurjtux posted:You’d never get the Dems for it either, the DNC firmly believes that Trump is a statistical anomaly and that nationally they’re winning when it comes to social issues. And they might be right, but the last 60 years have proven just how quickly being on the right side of social issues can flip between the parties. Polling would seem to indicate that they are right, the problem is they're too chickenshit to do anything about it.
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Oct 3, 2018 21:47
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Oh cool, Brazil has their own Trump now too over a comparable population size. Today's episode felt especially death crew in a bring on the end of life itself sense
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Oct 8, 2018 05:00
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Bolosonaro finished on 46% of the vote so there will be a second-phase runoff at least.
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Oct 8, 2018 06:11
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So apparently John Oliver set ... something... off in the comments of the Brazil episode but I can't read Portuguese so I have no idea. Are people mad at him? Agreeing with him? Did he really cock up the story or something? The few english comments seem pretty Trumpy to me so I'm assuming the Brazilian ones are too.
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Oct 8, 2018 20:37
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I laughed way harder at the Nixon grave joke than I should have.
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Oct 8, 2018 22:45
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LegionAreI posted:So apparently John Oliver set ... something... off in the comments of the Brazil episode but I can't read Portuguese so I have no idea. Are people mad at him? Agreeing with him? Did he really cock up the story or something? The few english comments seem pretty Trumpy to me so I'm assuming the Brazilian ones are too. my Portuguese is very limited, but the general tenor of the comments is that John Oliver is a dumb leftist who doesn't know anything and Trump/Bolsonaro are both Extremely Cool and Good and Normal
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Oct 8, 2018 22:59
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Soothing Vapors posted:my Portuguese is very limited, but the general tenor of the comments is that John Oliver is a dumb leftist who doesn't know anything and Trump/Bolsonaro are both Extremely Cool and Good and Normal Well the clips showing Bolsonaro in the very episode they're commenting on were certainly very normal and had no moments with cause for alarm
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Oct 8, 2018 23:11
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Things looking up everywhere then.
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Oct 8, 2018 23:12
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Don't worry, we all won't be around long enough to worry about it https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/07/climate/ipcc-climate-report-2040.html We got about another 20 years or so, maybe less, and we're all going to be starving, drowned, or set on fire.
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Oct 8, 2018 23:16
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Good to all of the above.
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Oct 8, 2018 23:17
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Caught up the last four episodes in the past two days. Yay, I got relive the Kavanaugh saga.  Oliver only scratched the surface of how big a clusterfuck Brazil's been. He didn't mention the soft coup against Dilma Rousseff. And then the tragic joke that was Michel Temer. Or the assassination of Marielle Franco. Or that national museum getting burned down.
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Oct 9, 2018 15:35
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bull3964 posted:Don't worry, we all won't be around long enough to worry about it About loving time.
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Oct 9, 2018 15:51
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This episode was really cool and good but I have to admit I had no idea that Brazil was the 5th largest country in the world.
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Oct 9, 2018 18:20
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