The bottom line is there is no way anybody should be appointed to a Supreme Court with credible accusations of sexual assault hanging over them.
The same with sexual harrassment.
They’re appointing 17 year olds?
That’s the bizarre thing if someone has an allegation to make just wait until someone potentially powerful needs to be confirmed by the Senate. If you were alleged to be a victim of a wrongdoing surely you would go through the normal justice system?
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If the standard for credibility is an accusation that has no supporting evidence, then nobody can ever be appointed to a Supreme court again. To block them, someone simply has to make an accusation.
That’s the problem this kind of precedent would set.
Possibly the pendulum is swinging too far.
It’s hard to feel sympathy for republicans in general or this guy in particular though. The confirmation process is overly confrontational in general and that approach was ramped up by republicans during the Obama years. This guy generally comes across as an arch political operative so he’s no innocent bystander.
I wouldn’t be a big fan of Kavanaugh, but the next in line and the one many conservatives believed Trump should have nominated is Amy Barrett. Now that, if it happens, will create some shit storm.
Sure that’s the point of the Republicans trying to stop an FBI investigation.
The Republicans have made it quite clear that:
i) They are not interested in having the FBI investigate the allegation.
ii) They are not interested in offering a fair hearing - hence the artificial threat of time limits and threats to move ahead with the vote without having Blasey Ford even give testimony.
iii) They have already decided that regardless of what comes out they will vote for Kavanaugh to be confirmed - Mike Davis’s deleted tweets, Mitch McConnell’s aggressive rhetoric today.
iv) They are going to make Christine Blasey Ford’s life hell and will try and drag up any old tosh to try and discredit her, and they don’t care if other entirely innocent parties are tarred - such as the ridiculous theory Ed Whelan advanced that she had “mistaken” Kavanaugh as her attacker for somebody else - an entirely innocent party who Whelan named.
The weasely nature of the Republicans is such that don’t even want their exclusively male Senate Judiciary members to answer the questions personally and are attempting to get female outside counsel to do it instead, because they know the hearing will make them look like misogynist pigs.
It appears from this distance that the US political system is completely polarised. I can remember back in the Reagan era him working with the Tip O Neill controlled House without any of the rancour we see today.
A product of how the US media has shifted rightwards - Reagan’s abolition of the Fairmess Doctrine was a key turning point here.
Fox News is registered as entertainment rather than journalism.
Also a product of social media, also a product of the active disinformation war being waged by Russia - these latter two are common throughout most of the west.
But it’s also the product of an inherent pathology within the Republican party itself. They’ve been moving this way for decades and Trump is the natural conclusion.
Are you even being remotely serious?
The US mainstream media has shifted significantly to the left, not right. Other than Fox, name an outlet that is even remotely balanced?
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If the Republicans were as committed as you say, they would have just ignored this last minute accusation and grandstanding and moved to a vote.
You’re deliberately missing my point however. If the precedent is set to deny a Supreme court appointment based on an allegation such as this that cannot be proven, nobody will ever be appointed to the Supreme court again. The next time a Democratic president nominates someone, Republicans simply have to follow the Hill/Ford playbook and I’m sure they will.
Can you not just accept this is political?
It was also very solid during the Clinton years, especially his first term. Essentially both parties were quite centrist in the 80s and 90s, and the fringe elements could be ignored. The Tea party dragged the Republicans towards social conservatism and the new progressives are dragging the Democrats towards socialism, both of which are failed ideologies driven by stupid. It will ultimately tear the country apart as the country is predominantly centrist.
Name me a major left-wing media source in the US.
Are you doing that strange thing that Republicans do again where you equate liberal with left-wing?
CNN is not left-wing, neither is MSNBC. They are “liberal” on most issues, and certainly tend to be on social issues, but then again reality is liberal.
The Overton window in the US is far to the right of where it is in most other major democracies, certainly in comparison to Canada and certainly in comparison to Europe.
Popular US talk radio is overwhelmingly right-wing, and far right too. Popular right-wing media in the US has been waging an active disinformation war for many years and the right-wing “alternative” media are effectively agents of fascism.
Who was the last left-wing candidate for president? Has there ever been one? Neither Clinton, nor Obama were left-wing. If they were in Britain they would have fitted neatly into the moderate Tory camp.
What’s a 15 year old doing at a high school party with a bunch of 17 year old lads. The f b a should be investigating her parents
The only thing that matters is whether the allegations are credible.
They appear to be.
More than any other position in public life in the US or anywhere else, a Supreme Court position demands an unimpeachability of character and integrity.
Kavanaugh should already be gone after perjuring himself.
Should the Democrats take the Senate and for whatever the reason the position is still unfilled and the Democrats were to then delay for two years like Republicans delayed over Merrick Garland’s nomination, that would certainly be political.
As it is, should Kavanaugh have to pull out, Trump should still have easily enough time to get a replacement nomination through by the end of the year, so only utter Republican incompetence should prevent them successfully nominating somebody.
Fair comment like anywhere you would hope the centre will hold extremes on either side is bad news
Bit late for that/unfortunate choice of words
I think you finally may be getting it somewhat. The US is a very conservative country, especially on economics, there is effectively no history of left wing politics here. If you don’t think however that the Democratic party is moving to the left then I think you need to reevaluate your sources. Democratic Socialists like Ocasio-Cortez are getting a lot of airtime on MSNBC and CNN. This is an expressly anti-capitalist party. I’m not saying their voices should not be heard, but a party who’s intent is to destroy capitalism is hardly simply liberal.
It was the 80s, we all partied (not until the 90s in Ireland apparently).
When you think of it. I should have been arrested and charged before I put a foot out the door.
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