Good to see you recognize those are two different groups.
Kidding. I liked the president's first nominee. I supported this one going in. At present I don't. I'm mulling about him.
Kavanaugh did a few very stupid things during the proceeding that give me pause. First, he decided to advance an attack against some senators present, invoking conspiracy and threw some questions back at senators examining him. That's the sort of entitled arrogance I see in more than a few of my friends born to privilege. It was troubling temperament to see in a judge. To his credit, he caught some of it and came back to apologize for the questioning part, which was out of place.
That could be reformed. A judge is accustomed to asking, not answering questions. It's second nature. They're also a wee bit arrogant, which that sort of power will do to them. It's one reason why higher justices that are worth a darn will surround themselves with able and strong willed clerks. People who can both lessen the workload and challenge the judge's thinking.
The second thing he did that was pointlessly, infuriatingly stupid was to lie about his drinking in college. Of course he occasionally drank too much in college--as did by and large all of us. And we've had presidents who drank and did other things earlier in life, from Bush to Obama. No one expects to find a saint in the offering.
The only reason to deny drinking too much from time to time as a young man went to his fear that it made her testimony more credible. But that was a bad choice, had the same calculated feel as his subsequent "I went to Yale and did a lot of things all the time" in lieu of answering yes or no directly on questions involving whether or not those who said he did drink to excess once upon a time were lying.
The answer, if he had to try to bs us on the point, should have been, "I drank in college. I did not drink to the point where I wasn't in control of my actions or subsequently could not recall them." But then, he never should have taken that denial to begin with.
He'd already denied being at the party in question, being with Ford. So what if he drank too much in college sometimes? So what if he drank too much sometimes as a legal teenager getting ready for college?
What, an admission on that point means he was guilty or makes it more likely? Really? That was true of a lot of legal 18 year olds at parties and in colleges. It's as damning as saying, "Yes, I'm right handed" and someone suggesting it made him more likely to have been the culprit because Ford recalled the culprit being right handed.
The last stupid thing he did involved misrepresenting the testimony of others as refuting or rejecting Ford's narrative. Saying you don't remember isn't saying something didn't happen. The judge knows that. He repeatedly misrepresented that in his closing remarks to the Committee.
In short, Kavanaugh needed better prep for the hearing. He should have been told the thing I always told my clients before allowing them on the stand. I'd say, remember that you are the wronged and you are right. Be brief in your responses, honest in your recollection, and civil in your answering. You are neither prosecutor nor judge. Be humble and let your sincerity and focus lead them to your side of the question.
Kavanaugh forgot that or never learned it and it hurt him when so much of his response was terrific.
Nah. You'll just have to pick Mormons and Muslims from here on out.
lain: So, Mormons then.Garland.
Garland. Or, never let it be said that you lack a sense of humor.
You don't have to stoop when you're already down there.
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