September 4, 2018

After all those Senators made their lengthy statements — Democrats saying they want more time to read documents and Republicans saying over and over that judges shouldn't act like legislators...

... it finally came time for Brett Kavanaugh to deliver his opening statement.



Let's go through the text:
I have met with 65 Senators... I have greatly enjoyed all 65 meetings. 
A bald-faced lie right there.
In listening to all of you, I have learned a great deal about our country and the people you represent. Every Senator is devoted to public service and the public good, and I thank all the Senators for their time and their thoughts.
Ha ha ha. Learned a great deal ≈ been bored out of my skull. Thanks for giving your time ≈ you took a lot of my time. How that poor man sat through it, I don't know, not that I think he deserves a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court for his trouble, just that it was a lot of trouble.
I thank President Trump for the honor of this nomination. As a judge and as a citizen, I was deeply impressed by the President's careful attention to the nomination process and by his thorough consideration of potential nominees.
Either that or Trump just took dictation from The Federalist Society (which is what I heard on the NYT "Daily" podcast this morning).
As a nominee to the Supreme Court, I understand the responsibility I bear. Some 30 years ago, Judge Anthony Kennedy sat in this seat. He became one of the most consequential Justices in American history. I served as his law clerk in 1993. To me, Justice Kennedy is a mentor, a friend, and a hero. As a Member of the Court, he was a model of civility and collegiality. He fiercely defended the independence of the Judiciary. And he was a champion of liberty. If you had to sum up Justice Kennedy's entire career in one word ... "liberty." Justice Kennedy established a legacy of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.
For posterity, he sat his posterior in this seat.
I am here today with another of my judicial heroes ... my mom. Fifty years ago this week, in September 1968, my mom was 26 and I was 3. That week, my mom started as a public-school teacher at McKinley Tech High School here in Washington, D.C. 1968 was a difficult time for race relations in our city and our country. McKinley Tech had an almost entirely African-American student body. It was east of the park. I vividly remember days as a young boy sitting in the back of my mom's classroom as she taught American history to a class of African-American teenagers. Her students were born before Brown versus Board of Education or Bolling versus Sharpe. By her example, my mom taught me the importance of equality for all Americans—equal rights, equal dignity, and equal justice under law.

My mom was a trailblazer. When I was 10, she went to law school at American University and became a prosecutor. I am an only child, and my introduction to law came at our dinner table when she practiced her closing arguments on my dad and me. Her trademark line was: "Use your common sense. What rings true? What rings false?" One of the few women prosecutors at the time, she overcame barriers and was later appointed by Democratic governors to serve as a Maryland state trial judge. Our federal and state trial judges operate on the front lines of American justice. My mom taught me that judges don't deal in abstract theories; they decide real cases for real people in the real world. And she taught me that good judges must always stand in the shoes of others. The Chairman referred to me today as Judge Kavanaugh. But to me, that title will always belong to my mom.
I've heard him deliver that line before, but it's a great line, and the whole story has exquisitely granular detail — to use a phrase I got infected with while reading the NYT earlier today. Great to centralize the woman. Nice gender politics and nice racial politics. Elegant, sophisticated, credible.
For twelve years, I have been a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. I have written more than 300 opinions and handled more than 2,000 cases. I have given it my all in every case. I am proud of that body of work, and I stand behind it. I tell people, "Don't read what others say about my judicial opinions. Read the opinions." I have served with 17 other judges, each of them a colleague and a friend, on a court now led by our superb chief judge, Merrick Garland. 
The invocation of the name of the judge so many people think should already be sitting on the Supreme Court. But Kavanaugh and Garland are friends, and who knows how they relate to each other in the very strange circumstance in which they now find themselves?
My judicial philosophy is straightforward. A judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law. A judge must interpret statutes as written. A judge must interpret the Constitution as written, informed by history and tradition and precedent. In deciding cases, a judge must always keep in mind what Alexander Hamilton said in Federalist 83: "the rules of legal interpretation are rules of common sense."

A good judge must be an umpire...
He repeats the baseball metaphor famously deployed by John Roberts 13 years ago.
... a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy. As Justice Kennedy explained in Texas versus Johnson...
The case about the right to burn the flag.
... one of his greatest opinions, judges do not make decisions to reach a preferred result. Judges make decisions because "the law and the Constitution, as we see them, compel the result." Over the past 12 years, I have ruled sometimes for the prosecution and sometimes for criminal defendants, sometimes for workers and sometimes for businesses, sometimes for environmentalists and sometimes for coal miners. In each case, I have followed the law. I don't decide cases based on personal or policy preferences. I am not a pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant judge. I am not a pro-prosecution or pro-defense judge. I am a pro-law judge.
That's a simple and clear version of what all nominees say and what most Americans (I think) want judges to do.
As Justice Kennedy showed us, a judge must be independent, not swayed by public pressure. Our independent Judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic. In our independent Judiciary, the Supreme Court is the last line of defense for the separation of powers, and the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.

The Supreme Court must never be viewed as a partisan institution. The Justices on the Supreme Court do not sit on opposite sides of an aisle. They do not caucus in separate rooms. If confirmed to the Court, I would be part of a Team of Nine, committed to deciding cases according to the Constitution and laws of the United States. I would always strive to be a team player on the Team of Nine.
The "Team of Nine" phrase is memorable, though it's mixing the metaphor with "umpire." What he's doing here is refuting all the talk that portrays the Court as divided into a liberal bloc and a conservative bloc.
Throughout my life, I have tried to serve the common good, in keeping with my Jesuit high school's motto, "men for others." I have spent my career in public service. I have tutored at Washington Jesuit Academy, a rigorous tuition-free school for boys from low-income families. At Catholic Charities at Tenth and G, I serve meals to the homeless with my friend Father John Enzler. In those works, I keep in mind the message of Matthew 25—and try to serve the least fortunate among us. I know I fall short at times, but I always want to do more and do better.
Open religion, but completely in the context of dedication to worldly actions. As with the narrative about his mother, he is, without seeming conceited, presenting himself as a man of empathy.
For the past seven years, I have coached my daughters' basketball teams. I love coaching. All the girls I have coached are awesome. And special congratulations to the girls on this year's sixth-grade CYO championship team: Anna, Quinn, Kelsey, Ceane, Chloe, Alex, Ava, Sophia, and Margaret. 
Another team. He's a team guy.
I love helping the girls grow into confident players. I know that confidence on the basketball court translates into confidence in other aspects of life. Title Nine helped make girls' and women's sports equal, and I see that law's legacy every night when I walk into my house as my daughters are getting back from lacrosse, or basketball, or hockey practice. 
Lots of attention to women.
I know from my own life that those who teach and coach America's youth are among the most influential people in our country. With a kind word here and a hint of encouragement there ... a word of discipline delivered in a spirit of love ... teachers and coaches change lives. I thank all of my teachers and coaches who got me to this moment, and I thank all of the teachers and coaches throughout America.

As a judge, I have sought to train the next generation of lawyers and leaders. For 12 years, I have taught constitutional law to hundreds of students, primarily at Harvard Law School. I teach that the Constitution's separation of powers protects individual liberty. I am grateful to all my students. I have learned so much from them. And I am especially grateful to the dean who first hired me, now-Justice Elena Kagan.

One of the best parts of my job as a judge is each year hiring four recent law school graduates to serve as my law clerks for the year. I hire the best. My law clerks come from diverse backgrounds and points of view. A majority of my 48 law clerks have been women. More than a quarter of my law clerks have been minorities. And I have had far more African-American law clerks than the percentage of African-American students in U.S. law schools. I am proud of all my law clerks.

I am grateful for my friends. This past May, I delivered the commencement address at Catholic University Law School. I gave the graduates this advice: Cherish your friends. Look out for your friends. Lift up your friends. Love your friends. ... Over the last 8 weeks, I have been strengthened by the love of my friends. I thank all my friends.

I am grateful to have my family behind me. My mom rightly gets a lot of attention. So a few words about my dad. He has an unparalleled work ethic, and the gift for making friends with everyone, regardless of who they are or where they come from. We are both passionate sports fans. When I was 7, he took me to the 1972 NFC Championship Game at RFK Stadium just two miles from here—upper-deck Section 503, Row 3, Seats 8 and 9. When I was 17, we sat in the same seats for the 1982 NFC Championship Game. In 1995, when I was 30, we were at Camden Yards together when Cal Ripken played in his 2,131st consecutive game and broke Lou Gehrig's seemingly unbreakable record. And so many other games with my dad. A lifetime of friendship and memories, forged in stadium seats over hot dogs and beer.
More baseball and lots of warmth and empathy.
My daughters Margaret and Liza will be in and out of this hearing room over the next few days. In the time since you last saw them at the White House, I am pleased to report that Margaret has gotten her braces off and has turned 13. As for Liza, well, I tell her every night that no one gives a better hug than Liza Kavanaugh.
That's a good way to say Treat me well. The young girls are watching how you talk to their dad.
Finally, I thank my wife Ashley. She is a strong West Texan, a graduate of Abilene Cooper Public High School and the University of Texas at Austin. She is now the popular town manager of our local community. This has not exactly been the summer she had planned for our family. I am grateful for her love and inspiration. Ashley is a kind soul. She always sees the goodness in others. She has made me a better person and a better judge. I thank God every day for my family.
And he ends with a tribute to his wife, just before the sign-off:
Mr. Chairman, Senator Feinstein, and Members of the Committee, I look forward to the rest of the hearing and to your questions. I am an optimist. I live on the sunrise side of the mountain, not the sunset side of the mountain. I see the day that is coming, not the day that is gone. I am optimistic about the future of America and the future of our independent Judiciary.
Reaganesque.
I revere the Constitution. If confirmed to the Supreme Court, I will keep an open mind in every case. I will do equal right to the poor and to the rich. I will always strive to preserve the Constitution of the United States and the American Rule of Law.
CORRECTION: I originally wrote that Kavanaugh is nominated for the seat that Merrick Garland might have filled. Of course, that's wrong. Obama nominated Garland for the seat vacated by Scalia's death, and Kavanaugh will be Trump's second appointment, filling the seat vacated by Kennedy's resignation. Gorsuch has taken the Scalia seat. I've corrected the post.

174 comments:

Bay Area Guy said...

Good succinct opening statement by Kavanaugh, fair assessment/fisking by Althouse, with one quibble:

I have met with 65 Senators... I have greatly enjoyed all 65 meetings.

A bald-faced lie right there.

It's just preliminary politeness, jeez. "I have met with 65 Senators, and most of you suck" is true, but impolite for the setting.

Confirm Kavanaugh now!

stevew said...

We have a phrase for that sort of thing in Boston: grin fucking.

-sw

Rob said...

Kavanaugh can tap dance all he wants. The fact remains, he ain't no wise Latina. And he doesn't have the empathy a wise Latina has. So how can he possibly be qualified to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court?

Shouting Thomas said...

Ok, he kissed blacks' asses and he kissed women's asses.

When's he going to get around to kissing my white boy ass?

This recitation of obligatory ass kissing of the preferred classes is asinine bullshit.

Shit, I even am in favor of this SOB being confirmed and I'm annoyed at this ritual ass kissing of the already overly ass kissed classes.

wbfjrr2 said...

Althouse would be much wiser if she eliminated the NYT from her life. It makes part of her brain mushy.

Snark re Kavanaugh statement, crickets on democrats' obstruction.

Leland said...

boredom is a good tag. The senators had to make a show, because otherwise approval of Kavanaugh would be entirely boring. He is qualified and will be confirmed soon enough.

Ann Althouse said...

“crickets on democrats' obstruction.”

I consider everything the Senators said boring... too boring to talk about other than to briefly note the repetitiousness, which is all in the title.

I’m only interested in what Kavanaugh said and I read all of that pretty carefully.

AllenS said...

I have met with 65 Senators... I have greatly enjoyed all 65 meetings.

"A bald-faced lie right there." -- Althouse

Bullshit, Althouse. Translation: "I have greatly enjoyed all 65 meetings with the Senators some of which I have concluded they are dumber than fucking shit."

Well played, Kavanaugh!

Jim at said...

I thought Kavanaugh did OK.

(confidential: circle thumb/fore finger and extend three fingers)

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
AZ Bob said...

Althouse is not mocking Kavanaugh's happy talk. At least that's my take-away when she finished with "Reaganesque." Bork was the last candidate to tell it like it is.

Real American said...

I'm guessing he wasn't forging memories and friendships over beers at the 1972 and 1983 NFCCGs.

tcrosse said...

(confidential: circle thumb/fore finger and extend three fingers)

Insert extended forefinger of other hand through circle. Leer.

rehajm said...

Careful using the kids as political props. You’ll get called on it.

Original Mike said...

”How that poor man sat through it, I don't know,”

I don’t think I could do it, though with so much on the line I might surprise myself. I mean, that’s what it is. You know it’s coming and you’ve steeled yourself for it.

David Begley said...

Absolutely brilliant.

How petty and small does Booker, Whitehouse, Harris and the detestable Bluementhal look now?

He loves his mom and baseball. Basketball too. A coach of girls in basketball. Jesuit high school alum. We share that. Unlike me, however, he’s a great lawyer. He also taught at Harvard and the Jesuit Academy in DC.

What a great guy! We’re lucky to have him.

cubanbob said...

This is what's wrong with this country. It's not his job to make law or policy, his job is to determine whether or not what Congress or the state legislatures have passed is constitutionally permissible. It's not that difficult a concept. We don't have a House Of Lords so we need to stop treating the courts as such.

readering said...

Crew of 9?

stephen cooper said...

I find it really hard .... extremely difficult .... no, even worse, almost impossible ..... to think of what must go through somebody's mind when they ... as an adult human being, as an American who has had the privilege of growing up American, who has had other Americans helping him out for years, who once went to law school with the hope of being a good, talented lawyer some day.... when such a person can call Anthony Kennedy, of all people, a hero.

Sad.

Has he read what Anthony Kennedy wrote about Anthony Kennedy's disgraceful contempt for people who disagree with him? Has he read the intensely incompetent paragraphs from Kennedy's worst decisions?

I doubt Kavanaugh will be the mediocrity Souter was, but this is not a good start. And even if Kavanaugh is not as bad a Supreme Court hack as I think he will be, the fact will always remain that he, on a day when he could have been brave, was a cold-hearted flatterer. Embarrassing and sad.

Shouting Thomas said...

Really, I am so fed up with this ritual ass kissing of women, blacks and gays that I might change my mind and root for this SOB to be rejected.

None of the Dems are going to vote for Kavanaugh. Why did he kiss the asses of the Dem's sainted classes?

He could have skipped that obnoxious shit.

GRW3 said...

A lie that he enjoyed the meetings? Isn’t that a little bold? After all, the worst of the lot eschewed any engagement. Maybe he pursued the activity as an anthropologist would. I’m sure this kind in person interview would help him construct an opinion on legislation sponsored by these people.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Hopefully not too soon to go off topic. But

I hope Althouse will review this article and tell us her thoughts. I think obviously Mueller is throwing in the towel on collusion. Sorry Chuck and Inga.

He's not even asking written questions about obstruction! My guess means he'll write the report always expected.Trump obstructed by firing Comey and his tweets. Then add the refusal to answer questions as obstruction too.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/us/politics/mueller-trump-russia-investigation.html#click=https://t.co/A7kMjF1i21

Drago said...

Has LLR Chuck offered up any far left conspiracy theories about the health of Kavanaughs children yet?

Thats kind of a "thing" he likes to do.

Ralph L said...

rhhardin is too busy vomiting to comment.

I'm feeling a little nauseous myself.

Francisco D said...

I applaud Judge Kavanaugh's patience and tact. It had to be difficult not to shout out, "Are you out of your freakin' minds?"

Today's hearing was like going through an important job interview, and you discover that half of the interviewers are completely bonkers.

The Dem strategy is to make the process so unpleasant that judicial constitutionalists will not want to go through it.

Original Mike said...

I was gobsmacked at Sheldon Whitehorse’s statement (I think it was Whitehorse). He went through 73 decisions that by their 5-4 nature proved that the “Roberts Five” clearly were biased. Umm...

As a side note, I was surprised that he was using the argument that we can discover bias from people’s statements. I thought we could not.

stevew said...

"Why did he kiss the asses of the Dem's sainted classes?"

So he can credibly claim single occupancy of the high road - which average Americans appreciate.

-sw

stevew said...

Btw, Ted Cruz nailed it with his statement today.

-sw

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Bullshit, Althouse. Translation: "I have greatly enjoyed all 65 meetings with the Senators some of which I have concluded they are dumber than fucking shit.""

It's counterintuitive but there's a certain joy in discovering that people who have a say in your fate are not very bright. Maybe some psychologist could explain that.

Michael K said...


“crickets on democrats' obstruction.”

I consider everything the Senators said boring.


I was working today and, until I got home and saw some TV, I had no idea of the madness the Democrats orchestrated.

My god, what a farce that a political party 200 years old could throw such a tantrum.

buwaya said...

From a photographic point of view, "granular detail" is a contradiction.
Grain doesn't help define detail, quite the opposite. You shoot grainy pictures, with the equivalent of pushed Tri-X, for reasons other than picking out details. To get detail and subtle tone you use slow film with the least grain possible.

Or the digital equivalent.

Ken B said...

He slaughtered them. They look like immature clowns.

traditionalguy said...

Seriously, this dude is a perfect lawyer that probably never lost a case. He is connected to the power structure and has rhetorical skills off the scale. When he comes into court for the opposition, then settle fast. He is a rare find.

JackWayne said...

Shorter Kavanaugh - I am smarmy. Hear me smarm. With a side of obsequiousness.

buwaya said...

"Maybe he pursued the activity as an anthropologist would."

This could be true. I don't think it was such a burden to interview 65 Senators.
No doubt they are interesting people, most of them, in their own way. Very educational.

And there are much worse things brave men have gone through for the sake of their country.

bagoh20 said...

Trump says some wild shit, but does any of it come even close to the clown show the Dems have become since he crushed their little Hillary like a mob boss stealing a kid's candy?

They just look ridiculous. I'm sure that Trump seems ridiculous to many, but he's just one guy, not a whole freaking party full of thousands of clowns.

buwaya said...

Looking at it another way, this procedure alone has made Kavanaugh, and his daughters too, at least a paragraph in history. They already belong to the ages. Its a tremendous thing.

bagoh20 said...

You'd think at least one of those Senators would want to stand out by doing a magic trick, or maybe juggling a chainsaw, or maybe even giving us a good fart joke.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

It's not yet the witching hour. Where from flows the whimsy?

traditionalguy said...

Kavanaugh is like Trump in that he is mega talented to the point he draws critical reactions as a defense mechanism from us mere humans. Remember it is wiser that we use their talents and say Thank you to them and the God who formed them.

Humperdink said...

"I have met with 65 Senators... I have greatly enjoyed all 65 meetings."

...... "Really enjoyed meeting the Republican senators. The Dems? I played them like a fiddle. So yeah, I enjoyed dealing with all 65. BTW, aren't there 100 senators? Not sure where the others went. Maybe a remedial civility class?"

walter said...

bagoh,
Based on how the Dems stunk up the proceedings, it was in a sense the "fart-in" reloaded.

stephen cooper said...

traditionalguy - if you are right, he is basically Anna Karenina's unloved husband. Thousands and thousands of us worked for a guy we wanted to be president, with hopes he would be a good president, just a simple common sense executive who knew how to be a president and - with all due respect to the things that Trump got right - this is a classic failure. This guy (smarmy Kavanaugh) is not a stand-up guy. I can't see how Trump missed that, but he did. Maybe it is old age, maybe it is the curse of Harold Stern (anyone who appears on the Howard Stern show , as Trump did, to his discredit, several times - Dana Plato fans know what I am talking about - anybody who appears on the Howard Stern show is not the sort of person whom God always protects from their foolishness - in a world where God exists, if you believe that .... just saying ...).... let me explain reality to you. Anybody who appears on that show loses the right to complain when they make a bad choice based on the fact that they just did not f**king care about morality, as generally understood. Kavanaugh was a smarmy little man today, and I can only hope that one day he will be less smarmy. What kind of foolish little person thinks of Anthony Kennedy as a hero? Seriously? I mean, he is like the PeeWee Herman to WC Fields version, at best, of himself to the "Supreme court justices (dread words)" of the 1920s: at best!

This is a bad day for people who do not want smarmy people on a supreme court. I guess we are stuck with this guy, but for God's sake why does he have to be so smarmy?

Jack Wayne - that was what I would have said, if I were more competent at expressing my opinions.

robother said...

Since Robert Bork discovered that when you sit down to an intellectual feast with the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Liberal Lion of the Senate will have you for lunch, these hearings have become Kabuki.

As for genuine constitutional debate, AA hires Cory Booker and Kamala Harris make Teddy look like OW Holmes in comparison: "This Committee is a violation!"

bagoh20 said...

In deed, Walter. The squealing protesters especially were kind of like a fart in there that nobody wanted to acknowledge, let alone claim as their own, but we all know who dealt it, and who kind of liked the smell of it.

rcocean said...

Yeah, all about making the soccer Moms and Susan Collins FEEL GOOD.

He's not going to be some nasty old MAN who goes by the Constitution, he'll be Mr. MOM - looking out For WOMEN.

BTW, my first thought after listening to the demonstrations & interruptions is "WHAT A CIRCUS"

But then I realized ITS ALWAYS BEEN A CIRCUS - ever since Bork - and a waste of time. Senators bloviating, and droning on. The judges saying as little as possible in the greatest amount of words, and everyone posturing for the cameras and trying to make some sound that can sway little Mrs. Low Information swing voter.

So, let them interrupt and fight. What difference does it make? The only thing that counts is the vote.

AllenS said...

So far, the only smarmy guy seems to be Stephen Cooper.

Francisco D said...

Regarding 42,000 documents that the Democrats are demanding:

These documents refer to Kavanaugh's time as Bush White House Staff Secretary (2003-2006). His job was to manage the paper flow to the POTUS. He was not a policy maker and did not author any of the documents. That has been the role of the Staff Secretary since it was instituted during the Eisenhower administration.

They want all the discussion documents from senior Bush officials that passed through his hands. The documents are protected by executive privilege. Kavanaugh has no say over whether those documents are released or not. Neither does the Trump administration. That would be up to George Bush who holds the executive privilege for discussions he had with his policy makers.

The Dems hope to smear Kavanaugh with others' writings. More importantly, they want whatever inside dirt they can get on the Bush Administration.

These people are despicable.

rcocean said...

And I'm getting more and more annoyed at old has-beens like Grassley

Guys like Blumenthal and Harris don't a shit about the "Traditions of the Senate"

But ol' Charlie from Iowa still thinks its 1988.

William said...

You just have to look at the bruised look on the faces of his wife and daughters to see the evil and abuse of which Kavanaugh is capable. I just hope that the Senate becomes Democrat in November and that they are then able to wrest parental custody of the daughters from Kavanaugh and award custody to that saintly Parkland father.

stephen cooper said...

AllenS = actually, I was a better law student than Kavanaugh. He sucked up to the teachers, I challenged them. (I also got better grades than him in the more difficult courses, but ... who cares. it is just "law school".

I feel bad for him. He is scared to be virtuous. He needs to read some more Dante.

He will vote for abortion, he will vote for racial discrimination, because he is a fearful, weak smarmy man.

Trump should have found someone better.

Thanks for reading, anyway, you can have no idea who I am am, so no harm no foul.

Michael K said...

. I just hope that the Senate becomes Democrat in November and that they are then able to wrest parental custody of the daughters from Kavanaugh and award custody to that saintly Parkland father.

trumpit, is that you ?

The Bergall said...

I think I've seen this movie before. Same plot, different actors.

stephen cooper said...

AllenS - sorry if I was not clear.

Kavanaugh is a draft-dodging liberal (yes I get it he was too young to be drafted), while I am a conservative VFW member, who does not approve of smarmy little men like Kavaaugh, full of obsequious praise for cold-heated liberals like Kennedy, getting Supreme Court nominations from a president whom I voted for.

Delete your comment. Thanks.


rcocean said...

Bork sliced and diced all the Senate windbags in 1988 - especially Slow Joe Biden - and TRIED to explain something about the Constitution to them.

But as Ted Kennedy made clear, it didn't matter what Bork said, or how learned he was, the Democrats were there to demagogue and defeat Bork "by any means necessary"

BTW, Ted "The Swimmer" was McCain's best friend. You remember McCain right? That Giant of civility and honor?

gspencer said...


The next one will be the real show. Let’s title it, “When originalists dream,”

Kavanaugh will be confirmed, making it a Firm Five. Ruth Buzzy, who delusionally thinks she’s in charge of the length of her life span, may suffer a snip of the Abhorred Shears of Atropos sooner than she thinks, with DJT naming her replacement (yes, the Senate will remain GOP). Breyer, longing to spend his final days eating Breyers® Ice Cream with his grandkids and realizing that he will now be facing a Solid Six, responds to the loss of the Buzz, by crying, “What’s the use; I can no longer effectively legislate on behalf of the Democrat Party from the bench,” and resigns. The Don goes into action, and the Solid Six becomes the Solid Seven.

Then, in late-2022 or mid-2023, Thomas & Alito, each of whom will by then be in his mid-70s, come to DJT (yes, there will be a second term), announce their plans to retire, thereby giving the Don time to line up their respective replacements. Thomas & Alito condition their retirements on the Don’s promise to replace them with people in the mold of Scalia, with each nominee to be in his/her mid-40s. In time Roberts does the same, though he’ll be coming to President Mike Pence. The Solid Seven remains solid for decades.

rhhardin said...

It reads like theater boilerplate to me.

rcocean said...

And course there was Thomas' High-Tech Lynching.

The Senate is supposed to "Advise and Consent". We don't elect them to choose SCOTUS Judges. We elect the POTUS to do that.

And the Senate doesn't need a month of hearings and talk - to decide whether to vote Yes or No.

These lazy fucks can't even pass a Budget on Time, but they need 50 hours of debate for this clown circus.

David Begley said...

Nebraska’s Ben Sasse spoke well today.

iowan2 said...

I have met with 65 Senators... I have greatly enjoyed all 65 meetings.

A bald-faced lie right there.

I have just wrapped up the summer by going on over 40 field inquiries,(they used to be called complaints) I have repeatedly told those that have asked, that enjoyed each of them. Most are business like. Several devolved into name calling and threats, all along I am calm, open minded, willing to listen, and no time limit imposed by me. The customer keeps going until he runs out of stuff to say.

So, in my case, yes, I enjoyed all of them. My peers have differing opinions, I just point out that your attitude is largely responsible for how you react.

cronus titan said...

I took Kavanaugh's comments about enjoying meeting the 65 Senators who bothered to meet with him as a shot at the other 35. It was a clever way of saying it was their loss, not his, since he is confident in his confirmation and there is nothing they can do about it.

rcocean said...

"Nebraska’s Ben Sasse spoke well today."

No he didn't. He's being pushed by the same old smarmy Never Trumpers. He's still a pompous little dick, who's never done anything, and takes a shot at Trump, every single chance he's gotten.

He did everything he could to defeat Roy Moore, which gave a Safe R seat to the Democrats. And did everything he could to help defeat Trump in 2016. And he's some weird Open borders/Bad Trade deals freak like Jeff Flake. i hope some primaries his ass.

rcocean said...

If you read other websites, you may notice that Salem Communications (Hot air, Red state, etc) and the Daily Wire, and the Weekly Standard, push Rubio and Sasse every chance they get.

Tom said...

I'll have met with 65 senators and have enjoyed meeting all 65.

What was left unsaid is that, "35 of you f*ckers were too big of wusses to meet with me and I'm still gonna get confirmed - bless your heart."

rcocean said...

As for Judge K, he's not going to be another Scalia. After all, he worked for Bush, and clerked for Kennedy.

But imagine where we'd be if the Never Trumpers had gotten their wish. We'd have a solid 5-4 Liberal Majority, with a 6th one replacing Kennedy. And Ginsberg probably would've retired and given Hillary another Pick.

Trump saved the SCOTUS. No thanks to national review, Bill Kristol, George Will, etc.

D 2 said...

Thank you senators for this opportunity to speak. As you can see, I have dispensed with my prepared notes. It has been a long long long day for us all. I shall be brief.
During the dinner recess, I went over to the drug store in Georgetown to pick up my wife's prescription. Coincidentally enough, who was there in line, but Mr Kennedy, whom I have not seen for awhile, and despite hearing mean rumours of illness, he looked fitter than ever. With only a few minutes, the best we could share was words over fruit juice at the shop on the corner. The Cherry cocktail is always delicious. I told him the gist of what I wanted to say to you today - my legal-life song, if you will - and he said "keep it short. knock 'me dead"
So I say to you, that in law, as in all things great and small:
"You can't always get what you want"
Ladies and gentlemen thank you very much.

Always leave a life lesson in there somewhere for people to think about, later, after the bonfires and the shouting and other histrionics.

Eleanor said...

Sheldon Whitehouse, known to slightly less than half of his consituents as either Sheldon Outhouse or Wheldon Shithouse. His major concern is global warming will put Rhode Island so far underwater there will no state left for him to represent in the senate.

readering said...

So if 9 justices is a crew, what's 65 senators? A pit?

Sebastian said...

"That's a simple and clear version of what all nominees say and what most Americans (I think) want judges to do."

But what only some non-prog judges actually do.

"Lots of attention to women."

Now why do you think that is? What does it tell you about women? What does it tell you about the politics of women?

Of course, I don't blame judge K. Sounded like a pro. Always assuming, of course, that the system and the process are an intellectually corrupt political travesty.

traditionalguy said...

OK, maybe Kavanaugh is a misfit in that his talent level surpasses the comprehension of many. So go ahead and attack the smarmy guy all you want. But he is the one who is about to do some great things on the Court...unexpectedly. Because he has positioned himself to win this seat, that little factoid will make his intellectually and socially intelligent Opinions our ruling case law. Enjoy!

Francisco D said...

@rcocean,

I am no Ben Sasse fan, to say the least.

However, he gave the Democrats and the public a civics lesson that should be played in every junior HS.

wildswan said...

Althouse wasn't able to find a single legal principle in anything I said, i.e., I understand the game I'm playing.

Sebastian said...

@rc: "Nebraska’s Ben Sasse spoke well today."

No he didn't"

He blamed Congress, which is half right. He managed to leave out Kennedy and Bork, and the left getting upset that its countermajoritarian strategy under Brennan et al. was beginning to fail.

Original Mike said...

Sheldon Whitehouse

Oops. My bad.

mccullough said...

Kavanaugh wouldn't say Redskins. That's who played in RFK in those two NFC championship games he went to see. The Redskins beat their rivals the Cowboys in both of the games to go to the Super Bowl. Fans call them the Skins.

Kavanaugh is highly attuned to the PC police. Trump would have said "My dad and I watched the Skins beat the Cowboys in the 1972 and 1982 NFC Championship games."

Also, didn't his dad take him to see any of the Bullets games in the 1978 NBA Championship? Another team name that is getting flushed down the memory hole.

Trump should pull the nomination. Kavanaugh is a weakling

gilbar said...

i like that when the dude from NC said that he'd heard there was a phone call where the sitting dem members had conspired to disrupt the meeting, and then he asked Tick Turban to confirm or deny....
and Tick Turban said: Oh, there was a meeting; we discussed lots of stuff.

Dems are too cowardly to admit the things they do
Dems are too cowardly to deny the things they do
Dems are too cowardly

Rick said...

The Justices on the Supreme Court do not sit on opposite sides of an aisle.

Not true though as Sotomayor admitted.

AllenS said...

Dear nitwit (Stephen Cooper) -

Kavanaugh was born February 12, 1965, so he was way too young to ever face the draft, so it would be impossible him to be a draft dodger, or ever be called one, except by a nitwit. I was drafted in to the Army on 20 June 1966. My first Purple Heart put in the the hospital for 3 months before I was well enough to rejoin my unit. I used to belong to the VFW, but quit because I never met so many bullshitters in my life.

My comment stands.

Francisco D said...

"Trump should pull the nomination. Kavanaugh is a weakling."

I know you are joking, but there is a real possibility that he is not as much an independent constitutionalist as hoped. I am thinking that he may be another John Roberts at best and (God forbid) David Souter at worst.

Birkel said...

I am not particularly fond of the bouquets that must be thrown to the various identity groups. It is unbecoming, especially if we still claim to be a just society. Identity politics is a ruinous system.

That said, I think Kavanaugh has written enough to determine he will be a largely conservative justice. I think he is playing for the Collins vote. And sometimes you have to formulate an opinion that nets the fifth vote. So I take it Kavanaugh will accept some half-loaves as opinions rather than lose a Roberts vote.

Here’s hoping RBG helps the cause soon.

Jon Ericson said...

O-TAY!

stephen cooper said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
stephen cooper said...

AllenS - are you pro-choice?

Kevin said...

He's a good boy, loves his mama
Loves Jesus and America too
He's a good boy, crazy 'bout baseball
Loves the Redskins and his daughters too
It's a long day, teachin' at Harvard
MBTA, runnin' to Harvard Yard
But he’s a bad boy, cause he won’t answer questions
He’s a bad boy for breakin' Dems hearts

stephen cooper said...

Kevin - the point is, his hero is Anthony Kennedy, and thus he is a new Souter, or worse. Wake up!

Matt said...

Truly history's greatest monster.

roesch/voltaire said...

Yes grains in film and grains of sand are different but having a great mother means we can over look his record. On labor.

Darkisland said...

Stephen,

By pfo-choice do you mean the right for men and women to choose to do anything at all to their own bodies?

Or do you really mean pro-abortion?

I am pro-choice, anti-abortion. Anti - abortion because it doe something to someone else's body.

John Henry

stephen cooper said...

Darkisland - you and me are elite people, in a way.

We would never marry a woman who would abort our child, and would be horrified if our daughters were coaxed into aborting children.

I am anti-abortion, in that I want the vulnerable people of this world to have the rest of us do all we can to welcome their children into the world. Just as I would do for my wife or my daughter.

Some day I and you will no longer be elite people - and if they want to euthanize me, I will not care for myself, but I will feel bad for them.

Kavanaugh is an obvious coward who will never stand up for what is right. He demonstrated that today - he is a middle aged man who sucked up to the powerful when he could have said brave things, he is a middle aged man who could have said what he meant, but who said foolish little things like "Anthony Kennedy is my hero". It is just sad.

Birkel said...

roesch /voltaire,

Do you mean his position on the Democrat donation laundering scheme in which public unions get raises from politicians with public money who receive political donations from the unions?

Agree to disagree.

Original Mike said...

”...but having a great mother means we can over look his record. On labor.”

On labor? Shouldn’t we be interested in his record on the law?

Freeman Hunt said...

"I have met with 65 Senators... I have greatly enjoyed all 65 meetings. "

I think this could be true. I can imagine enjoying all they ways in which they were individually bizarre, angry, friendly, scheming, etc. Sixty-five people who've managed to get themselves elected to the Senate, from big personalities to bland. It would be quite an experience.

John Pickering said...

how phony Ann is to conclude that Kavanaugh is credible, when the first remark in her post is that Kavanaugh started out telling bald faced lies that Ann finds amusing. But credible, no, she's taken care of that. Ann's zoomin' herself.

victoria said...

Mentioning his father does nothing to forward his "agenda" serving minorities and women. Those are the people he wants to court, not white dudes. This is calculated to give him as much mileage from his "pro" minorities and "pro" women stance. Calculated and disingenuous.
Too bad he will be confirmed. A total loser in my book. Panderer.

Vicki From Pasadena

Shouting Thomas said...

Since Kavanaugh did everything except chant: "Diversity is our greatest strength," I gotta wonder what in the hell we're getting with this guy.

Browndog said...

Notice when the democrats voice concerns of what the Court might/might not do, ought to do, the issues lie within the domain of the legislature, not the judicial.

They pass off all of their responsibilities to the Executive and Judicial, then sit and bitch.

Gk1 said...

Yeesh, even my lefty FB friends and family aren't buying it thats how bad it is. Most adults have figured out this appointment is a fait accompli so why all the noise accept to play for the cameras. #Walk away

Greg P said...

I have met with 65 Senators... I have greatly enjoyed all 65 meetings.
A bald-faced lie right there.

I'm not sure you're right:

1: Democrats who will vote against him: He can enjoy the fact that their own stupidity made them powerless to stop him

2: Democrats who might vote for him, because their State voters support him: He gets to watch them agonize

3: GOP Senators: They're going ot put him on the Supreme Court

I could see enjoying every one of those meetings

Drago said...

Michael K: "I was working today and, until I got home and saw some TV, I had no idea of the madness the Democrats orchestrated."

It had to be particularly disconcerting to LLR Chuck that 2 of the dems he has most passionately defended, Li'l Dickie Durbin and Stolen Valor Fake Combat Vet Dick Blumenthal, acquitted themselves so poorly and laughably today.

What's a LLR gonna do?

LOL

Bay Area Guy said...

The two biggest lawyerly Democratic weasels are Sheldon Whitehouse and Richard Blumenthal. They make Adam Schiff look like a stand-up guy. They are so oily and sleazy and whiney, and Beta-Male that it makes me want to take a shower or get a nice blow-job from my wife.

Original Mike said...

”I'm not sure you're right:
1: Democrats who will vote against him: He can enjoy the fact that their own stupidity made them powerless to stop him”


Yeah, his meeting with Dick Durbin might have been the most satisfying meeting of his life.

Qwinn said...

I very much agree that Kavanaugh had every reason to enjoy every single one of those meetings. I'd have been delighted with every single one in his shoes, in fact.

The Germans have a word for it, I believe.

Original Mike said...

What I bet he didn’t enjoy is having his daughters present for that spectacle.

Greg P said...

Blogger Stephen Cooper said...
AllenS = actually, I was a better law student than Kavanaugh. He sucked up to the teachers, I challenged them. (I also got better grades than him in the more difficult courses, but ... who cares. it is just "law school".

I feel bad for him. He is scared to be virtuous. He needs to read some more Dante.

He will vote for abortion, he will vote for racial discrimination, because he is a fearful, weak smarmy man.

Trump should have found someone better.

Thanks for reading, anyway, you can have no idea who I am am, so no harm no foul


Who have a very good idea who, and what, you are: a pathetic moron

Birkel said...

I enjoy trips to the zoo.
Kavanaugh enjoys 65 trips to senators.
Watching the animals in their respective natural habitats is fun.

stephen cooper said...

Greg P.... you are incorrect.

stephen cooper said...

Greg P. Listen. Kavanaugh, in your view, is Trump's guy, and therefore is a good guy.

I know his little side-notes, claiming that Anthony Kennedy is his hero, and a few other things he said that someone who understands constitutional law would understand would understand as signals that he will be another Souter, were fairly subtle.

The fact that I know that, and you do not , does not make me a "pathetic moron." I not only voted for Trump but I helped out some of the people who worked on his campaign. I get it that you think calling me a "pathetic moron" is your way of saying " I support Trump." But I support Trump much more than you do! Delete your comment.

traditionalguy said...

Nobody says Kavanaugh is not acting a part. That's what trial lawyers and Judges do in courtrooms. But this guy has mastered that craft. His act wins an appointment to the Supreme Court. Then he decides cases based on the existing Law. That makes him a Conservative. His resume of humble community service to women, poor people, law clerks, and did I say to women, is a costume that he wears so he can make Decisions that are Law based on the existing Law.

Gordon Scott said...

g spencer: "may suffer a snip of the Abhorred Shears of Atropos sooner than she thinks,"

OOh, it'll be the rest of my life searching for the opportunity to deploy that phrase.

jimbino said...

@Althouse:

too boring to talk about other than to briefly note the repetitiousness

should read

too boring to talk about other than to briefly note the repetitiveness.

readering said...

I watched a friend's hearing for district judgeship on internet the other day. He and other nominees brought minor children. A big honor and treat i guess but seems to trivialize the hearing when many nominees appear at once and so little time allotted.

Josephbleau said...

The surest path to political failure is to make the perfect the enemy of the good. Strike while the iron is hot. Go to war with the soldiers you have. Put this Judge in the bank before November.

Birkel said...

Kavanaugh, aman with a record, requires the votes of the squishiest of RINOs and a newcomer to these comments wants me to believe that means he is not conservative.

And demands others delete comments?

This is a poor effort.

Original Mike said...

Best not to make eye contact.

stephen cooper said...

Birkel - Kavanaugh is a rich guy with a nice house.

If he says what he thinks, and gets the votes, good for him. He did not do that, I think.

If he is not man enough to say what he thinks, and lies - as in "Anthony Kennedy, who supported abortion almost every chance he got, was my hero" , well, then , Kavanaugh is , in this story, Fredo,


Get as angry at me as you want but I expect rich people who have been treated right by America to say what they mean and mean what they say. Little Kavanaugh failed at that today, and fuck you and fuck anyone else who says he didn't.

Michael K said...

But I support Trump much more than you do! Delete your comment.

Keyboard commandoes rule !

Achilles said...

bagoh20 said...

Trump says some wild shit, but does any of it come even close to the clown show the Dems have become since he crushed their little Hillary like a mob boss stealing a kid's candy?

They just look ridiculous. I'm sure that Trump seems ridiculous to many, but he's just one guy, not a whole freaking party full of thousands of clowns.



Trump's greatest accomplishment has been the unmasking and defenestration and humiliation of the uniparty.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Cooper why not mention the Harvard/Yale problem, as I assume your aware?

It smells of access-corruption.

stephen cooper said...

Michael K - sad that you would be so foolish.

It is a basic aspect of being human, to retract the stupid things we say.

As for mocking me as a keyboard commando: well, whatever. I was trying to help out a person who I had respect for.

I am sure you think of yourself as someone who deserves more respect than I do. But I was the person who tried to make someone else show some self respect.

Achilles said...

Stephen Cooper said...

Birkel - Kavanaugh is a rich guy with a nice house.

If he says what he thinks, and gets the votes, good for him. He did not do that, I think.

If he is not man enough to say what he thinks, and lies - as in "Anthony Kennedy, who supported abortion almost every chance he got, was my hero" , well, then , Kavanaugh is , in this story, Fredo,



In some ways I agree.

In others I disagree.

I look at what Trump does, not what he says.

The worst part of this is by the time we see what Kavanaugh does it is too late.

I agree Kavanaugh is not going to be perfect. Possibly not even better than Kennedy.

I do wish more people would start stepping up with Trump rather than letting him take all of this on himself.

JOSEPH ANGEL said...

Another white cuck for SCOTUS.

Francisco D said...

"how phony Ann is to conclude that Kavanaugh is credible, when the first remark in her post is that Kavanaugh started out telling bald faced lies that Ann finds amusing. But credible, no, she's taken care of that. Ann's zoomin' herself."

Pickering,

Even by your very low intellectual standards, that is pitifully weak.

Embarrassingly weak.

wholelottasplainin said...

Cooper, what's this imperious "delete your comment" shit?

YOUR comments have the stink of "I coulda been a contender" loser-dom all over them.

Who did YOU clerk for? Why aren't YOU a judge?"

I'm thinking you're Solieri to Kavanaugh's Mozart.

I suspect I'm not alone.

stephen cooper said...

GuildofCannonballs - of course I am aware of that. I am spending my time posting on the comment threads of a person who was the number one student at a very good law school. one of the best not named Harvard or Yale. And who had no shot whatsoever at the Supreme Court, for that reason alone. Don't think I don't know what is going on ....

Kavanaugh was not a Yale Harvard problem, as such, but Trump chickened out when Kennedy retired and when he, on a bad day, promised to Kennedy - who is, in the scheme of things, a nobody, albeit a "powerful" former Supreme Court Justice - that he - he being Trump, for whom so many of us worked so hard - would nominate a Kennedy "clerk". That is nonsense!

That is bullshit. Trump was played by Kennedy, who almost never chose as a clerk someone who was not a Yale or Harvard loser striver. Trump should have told Kennedy I will nominate who I want. Instead he said, yes sir, yes sir, Justice Kennedy. Sad! I am almost the only person on this thread who knows this, besides you, guildofcannoballs. Sad!

The rest of the lawyers, who chose not to suck up to the Harvard Yale system, have once again been left out.

Trump messed up. Grow up, Trump, be a man! Let the smarminess of Kavanaugh be lesson to you.

David Begley said...

“Sasse ... who's never done anything,”

He earned an Ivy League doctorate, worked at a top notch consulting firm, won his first race for office and, most importantly, he turned around Midland University. Midland is no Creighton, but he did a great job. That being said, if the right person ran against him he might lose.

stephen cooper said...

Jay Elink - to be fair, all I wanted in life was a nice small house in the suburbs where I could raise my family and watch my dogs and cats rejoice in their good fortune.

I got that. Well, almost (I live in an apartment, but an apartment big enough for my needs....) And I actually did do better at law school than Kavanaugh, with the real professors --- not the ones who graded on a curve, the ones who were experts in their legal subjects ---- but I decided to be a simple hard working person who would, every day, do something for an individual human being who needed a good lawyer. I was never ambitious, and I have worked with several thousand individual people who just wanted a good lawyer, someone who cared enough to work hard. I was never on the "federal circuit court" track, much less the "Supreme Court" track.

Kavanaugh, on the other hand, is an old man who looks like a middle aged man, a dishonest man who says flattering things about powerful people like Kennedy, things he has to know - he has to know, believe me -- are not true.

Look, I voted for Trump, and I supported Trump when he was one out of 17 candidates for the Republican nomination, and have been happy at most of his decisions, but the smarminess of Kavanaugh today is, for me, the first sign that Trump has been fooled on something important. I would love to be wrong, but Kavanaugh's performance today reminded me of the unfaithful sad incompetent Souter.

As for "delete your comment" - well, if someone who says something nasty about me deletes their comments, I will delete my comments too. It is not imperiousness - in the early chapters of War and Peace, there is a scene where one of the younger officers in a cavalry regiment insists he was not lying when he said another officer was a thief. His fellow officers explained to him, don't say that, if it gets out that one of us is a thief, we all look bad! and the young officer, eventually, said, all right, let's just drop it. (i.e., let's delete out insulting comments - of course I would delete, too - .... that is not imperious, that is simply what people do when they agree to do something. In any event, people can say what they want, and people can choose to disregard what other people say....)

Matt Sablan said...

... why is security so lax that people are rushing Kavanaugh? If that guy had wanted to, Kavanaugh would be dead.

What a screw up.

Guildofcannonballs said...

I think I learn more reading sober than posting drunk...

Is the knowledge cursed though, is the thing?

There is risk all around.

Jon Ericson said...

The dog says to stevie...

Matt Sablan said...

I also just saw the "Mexican Jew granddaughter of Holocaust Survivors sends White Power signal to the world" tweets and news stories.

What sort of madness is infecting the world?

Birkel said...

Ooh! I earned a fuck you for saying Kavanaugh is capable of counting to 51? And then I get comments about how standing up for something to get 49 votes would be the better course?

Do they teach math in law school?

The goal is confirmation. And that means Susan Collins’ vote. That is reality. Hating reality won’t make it different.

Big Mike said...

I greatly enjoyed what John Hinderaker had to say about today’s hearings over at his Power Line blog:

“Not long ago, some Democrats resisted the crazier fringes of their party. No longer. There is no daylight among the violent fascist group Antifa, the crazed Democratic activists bleating about impeachment, and the establishment Democratic Party. They are now one and the same. So, disgusting as today’s hearing was, it at least achieved some clarity. There is no longer any wing of the Democratic Party that can be described as sane.”

Nicely summarized the day. Plus, he links to Althouse.

Matt Sablan said...

Collins and a few others are looking for an excuse to give Trump a screw you. Failing that, maybe the next guy to rush Kavanaugh will do more than a handshake, so the Dems can get a do over.

I think they should just call for a vote based on the inability to keep the nominee safe due to the left's complete unhinged nature right now.

Original Mike said...

”Hating reality won’t make it different.”

Usually, it just gives you more reality.

Matt Sablan said...

Remember the guy who managed to get to -- was it Rand Paul's -- vehicle and throw something inside? And all the glitter attacks?

Why is security fouling things up for Republican candidates and nominees so frequently?

Original Mike said...

”I also just saw the "Mexican Jew granddaughter of Holocaust Survivors sends White Power signal to the world" tweets and news stories.”

How is it that the liberals know all the white power signals and I don’t?

Matt Sablan said...

They need to close the galleries/balconies/whatever tomorrow and until this ends. Security is not up to the task of keeping someone from getting to Kavanaugh; the protesters only have themselves to blame.

stephen cooper said...

Birkel .... that being said, basically we are on the same side. Susan Collins would be on our side too, in a better world.

The reason you are angry at me is this - if f I am right - Kavanaugh today proved that he is not a mensch, not a guy who will do what a real lawyer with a real concern for the real world will do,

If you are right, I, stephen cooper, deserve to be mocked. I don't care. Go ahead and mock me for sticking up for the victims of cowardly judges, like the kind of judge little Kavanaugh today indicated he is willing to be.

Look, I don't really care that much, in the great scheme of things, little Kavanaugh will not be the worst Supreme Court Justice ever. And he will be around much longer than me .... Little Kavanaugh obviously takes care of himself and he will outlive me by 20 or 30 years, and probably more..

That being said --- he brought shame upon himself today by speaking cowardly flattering words for poor Anthony Kennedy, who was so much worse than he should have been, as a "Supreme Court Justice". I don't care if he did it to suck up to the senator from Maine, in a humble attempt to get a job. He should have more self-respect than that. He should tell Susan Collins that she is a barbarian. Everybody would be better off!

If you do not know what I am talking about, ask Ann Althouse why someone who wants a decent Supreme Court might be appalled that someone as lucky as little Kavanaugh is would praise the ridiculously incompetent Anthony Kennedy. I mean, obviously you are intelligent enough to already know the answer, but still...

And if you are not willing to consider the possibility that Kavanaugh is clearly not going to be an honest, talented Supreme Court Justice, based on his cowardly performance today, well than .... I hope you are right. Anyway, he is going to outlive me by a few decades, and I hope that others .... not me, of course .... that others will guide him in the ways of righteousness. Today, to me, it looks like he will need a lot of help. Disagree with me if you want. I hope you are right in doing so.

Unknown said...

Steven Cooper...please delete your posts...they are embarrassing...it took all this bogarting of the conversation to learn you didnt even go to the same schoo as Judge K? You need help dude

Jon Ericson said...

The "Experts"

But… SESSIONS should appoint a 2nd SC in DC aka THE CORRUPT SWAMP

But… SESSIONS should appoint a 2nd SC in DC aka THE CORRUPT SWAMP [team of less than 20 typically] & wait 2-4 years [take a gamble]

But… SESSIONS should appoint a 2nd SC in DC aka THE CORRUPT SWAMP because unlike the CLINTON EMAIL CORRUPT CASE [as demonstrated by the FBI/DOJ people FIRED/REMOVED] this will be conducted faithfully and honestly [like MUELLER]

But… HUBER has not ‘directly’ interviewed several witnesses therefore the appointment of HUBER by SESSIONS [and therefore the IG] is not genuine

But… SESSIONS & HUBER are following standard DOJ open/ongoing investigation policy by not discussing [making public] so therefore nothing must be happening [FIRE SESSIONS!]

But… HUBER [ability to prosecute + empanel a grand jury outside of DC [90%+ voted HRC (2016)], who already began the investigation(s) late last year w/ assigned team of 470 investigators (attorneys) + IG + legal jurisdiction across all 50 states, is not a ‘special counsel’ so therefore nothing is being done

But… POTUS is attacking SESSIONS via TWITTER so therefore he is not working on behalf of the people’s interest (or POTUS’) [D’s/LEFT LOVE/TRUST SESSIONS!]

But… interestingly, if nothing is being done behind the scenes, why are so many FBI & DOJ senior officials being FIRED and/or REMOVED from their respective positions of power? Who is AG? Who must sign off on each removal? DOJ in charge of FBI?

But… interestingly, if nothing is being done behind the scenes, why are there 50,000+ sealed indictments across the US [what % = USA v. X?]? Coincidence vs. HUBER start?

But… interestingly, if nothing is being done behind the scenes, why are many ‘powerful’ CEOs, members of Congress/ Senate, resigning? Coincidence? Example: Pre_POTUS did the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE indicate wanting to leave politics?

But… interestingly, if nothing is being done behind the scenes, why are human trafficking arrests SURGING?
………………….
Clickbait & opinions vs logical thinking.
Direct communication necessary.
Trust yourself.
Think for yourself.
WWG1WGA!
Q

Drago said...

SC: "If you are right, I, stephen cooper, deserve to be mocked. I don't care. Go ahead and mock me for sticking up for the victims of cowardly judges, like the kind of judge little Kavanaugh today indicated he is willing to be."

It is often difficult to come up with marvelous strawmen of this caliber.

Kudos.

Drago said...

If I, Steven Cooper, had to identify my biggest flaw, it would have to be that I simply care too much.

And am quite handsome.

And powerful.

And all-seeing.

But mostly, I'd have to go with handsome.

Jon Ericson said...

And smarter than the rest of you.

Jon Ericson said...

Putz.

Original Mike said...

You left out dying and arising from the dead.

Greg P said...

Stephen Cooper said...
Greg P. Listen. Kavanaugh, in your view, is Trump's guy, and therefore is a good guy.

Bzzt. Wrong

I am not "Trump's guy". I support Trump when he does things I value, I oppose him when he does otherwise. I am a libertarian conservative, and Trump has more or less advanced my agenda.

Kavanaugh, in my view, is a conservative who's willing to throw Murkowski and Collins the little bones they need so they will confirm him.

I know his little side-notes, claiming that Anthony Kennedy is his hero, and a few other things he said that someone who understands constitutional law would understand would understand as signals that he will be another Souter, were fairly subtle.

No they were obvious chum for the "Republican" weasels who need them in order to vote him into office. Once he gets there, he gets to vote based upon the written Constitution, and screw them, hard.

Your fantasy is that he's spent 12 years as an appeals court judge pretending to be an honest judge, just so he could be appointed to the SC, and then stab everyone in the back.

My non-fantasy is that he operated as a judge the way he'll operate as a Justice, and that right now he's playing the game.

You are an obvious concern troll. Enjoy your agony.

The fact that I know that, and you do not , does not make me a "pathetic moron." I not only voted for Trump but I helped out some of the people who worked on his campaign. I get it that you think calling me a "pathetic moron" is your way of saying " I support Trump." But I support Trump much more than you do! Delete your comment.

The fact that you pretend to be a classmate of Kavanaugh's, and puff your "intelligence" like Vizzini, is what marks you as an utter moron.

I didn't vote for Trump, I didn't support him in any way in 2016, because I don't vote for NY Democrats.

If he continues as he's begun, I'll vote for him in 2020. But I'm not dumb enough to let a concern troll affect me


Birkel: Nailed it

Stephen Cooper wanked...
Birkel - Kavanaugh is a rich guy with a nice house.

If he says what he thinks, and gets the votes, good for him. He did not do that, I think.

If he is not man enough to say what he thinks, and lies - as in "Anthony Kennedy, who supported abortion almost every chance he got, was my hero" , well, then , Kavanaugh is , in this story, Fredo


Yes, i understand, Mr Cooper concern troll, that you really wanted Kavanaugh to say things that will cause him to be not confirmed.

Whine all you want that he's not willing to play the Left's game.

I'll be rejoicing when he nukes Kennedy's "precedents"

Yancey Ward said...

All my life, I have been younger than any of the sitting justices. Kavanaugh is the closest to me in age, though- just one year older.

Jon Ericson said...

Same as it ever was.

Yancey Ward said...

Like I wrote in another thread, there are times for telling the truth in public, then there are times where you bite your tongue and say something else.

Jon Ericson said...

You got that right, bro.

Greg P said...

Poor super secret agent Bret Kavanaugh. He spent 12 years as a judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, pretending to be a Federalist Society conservative judge. Spent decades of his life building that cover.

Then he blew it all, and agent Steven Cooper figured out that he's really a leftists turncoat. All he had to do was lie one more time, but he was just too honest, just too tired of all the lies, to keep on pretending to be an honest judge.

If only he'd been smart enough to privately tell Collins and Murkowski that he really is a fan of Roe! but No! He had to blurt it so the whole world could hear.

/sarc

Or, you know, he could be what he's lived for the last 12 years, and the blather he spouted during the committee hearing was the BS he felt he had to emit in order to get on the Supreme Court, and start bringing back the US Constitution

"Steven Cooper" is so "clever" that he "thinks" it's easier to live a lie for 12 years on the bench, than to blow sunshine up the backsides of Senators for 12 weeks.

Isn't that special

Marc said...

There are so many ways that statement about enjoying the meetings can be true.

Wouldn’t you have even a small amount of glee meeting the opposing senators if you knew they couldn’t stop you? A sort of Olympian amusement . . . Justicial, almost.

It reminds me of something a friend says: “When I tell someone who I don’t want to meet that i can’t make the meeting because of a conflict I’m not lying. I’m just not telling them that the conflict is with my principles”

Rigelsen said...

Stephen Cooper – Yes, none of us know who you are. All we can tell about you is what you post here. And with all due respect, you come across as an a**hole.

Francisco D said...

"What sort of madness is infecting the world?"

Republican Derangement Syndrome has been a longstanding issues when it comes to judges. Since history began yesterday for leftists and many well meaning liberals, the DNC/MSM complex is able to get away with unbelievable hypocrisy.

This time it is exacerbated by comorbid TDS which has lifted the civility mask from deranged Democrats.

The inside establishment (aka Deep State) is scared of losing their money, power and influence. They will get more desperate.

The Secret Service better be on their toes.

jaydub said...

When are folks going to realize that Steven Cooper is just a parody poster? Seriously. Who could possibly be that oleaginous and affected and be real?

My best guess is that he's a wannabe Laslo, but without the chops.

gadfly said...

Justice is blind

After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put
us in the cell. Said, "Kid, I'm going to put you in the cell, I want your
wallet and your belt. " And I said, "Obie, I can understand you wanting my
wallet so I don't have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you
want my belt for? " And he said, "Kid, we don't want any hangings. " I
said, "Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?"
Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the
toilet seat so I couldn't hit myself over the head and drown, and he took
out the toilet paper so I couldn't bend the bars roll out the - roll the
toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape. Obie
was making sure, and it was about four or five hours later that Alice
(remember Alice? It's a song about Alice), Alice came by and with a few
nasty words to Obie on the side, bailed us out of jail, and we went back
to the church, had a another thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat,
and didn't get up until the next morning, when we all had to go to court.

We walked in, sat down, Obie came in with the twenty seven eight-by-ten
colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back
of each one, sat down. Man came in said, "All rise." We all stood up,
and Obie stood up with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy
pictures, and the judge walked in sat down with a seeing eye dog, and he
sat down, we sat down. Obie looked at the seeing eye dog, and then at the
twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows
and a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the seeing eye dog.
And then at twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles
And arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one and began to cry,
'cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American
blind justice, and there wasn't nothing he could do about it, and the
judge wasn't going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy
Pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each
one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. And
we was fined $50 and had to pick up the garbage in the snow, but that's not
what I came to tell you about.
~Arlo Guthrie - "Alice's Restaurant"

Jon Ericson said...

Don't come around here no more. (Alice & Wonderland)

BUMBLE BEE said...

Ant doubt remaining as to where the school shooters come from?

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Stephen Cooper@9:47 Wasn't Kavanaugh's name on a list of a couple of dozen judges DJT presented to the public during his campaign, long before Kennedy retired? And didn't Kavanaugh clerk for Kennedy, yet you're outraged that he would speak well of his former employer in a job interview?

mockmook said...

Stephen Cooper,

Gorsuch was a Kennedy clark, too. Is Gorsuch also a weakling?

Jon Ericson said...

victoria:

*big sloppy kiss*

Ron said...

If we're continuing baseball metaphors....Trump must be the DH....no fielding, all hitting.

The Crack Emcee said...

"A bald-faced lie right there."

Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop Pays $145,000 Over Jade Vaginal-Egg Claims

From him to her, it's all bald-faced lies.

Clark said...

Interesting for a teacher of law to assume a lawyer/judge must be lying when he claims he enjoyed meetings which may have presented an opportunity to make an argument or advocate for a point of view. Is it at least possible that he did enjoy it? Isn’t that the world he has chosen to occupy for his entire adult life? Isn’t that the world a law professor spends their career preparing people for?

clint said...

"Matthew Sablan said...
They need to close the galleries/balconies/whatever tomorrow and until this ends. Security is not up to the task of keeping someone from getting to Kavanaugh; the protesters only have themselves to blame."

Lots of Senators have invited people to be in the audience -- like the ones Senator Feinstein introduced yesterday. Fill the gallery with only invited guests. Then if there are protests, make a point of noting which Senator on the committee invited the disruptive protestor to the proceedings.

Mary Beth said...

He went through 73 decisions that by their 5-4 nature proved that the “Roberts Five” clearly were biased.

Whitehouse going on about the Roberts Five just made me think of the Keating Five. Judges shouldn't follow the law if it helps a big business but senators should ignore the law if it helps a big business major donor. That probably wasn't his intended message, but it was the one I got before I turned him off.

How weird would it be to go to a job interview where a huge part of the time was spent listening to how the guys who have the job now suck?

Chris N said...

From used car lots and country courtrooms, from mildly corrupt city councils and cheaply carpeted church basements, I have met with a lotta Senators.

I have observed gleams of ambition and cunning, some moral decency, flashes of vanity and false pride along with principle, and I have observed the weird hall of mirrors that is a confirmation hearing from the inside.

I will pray tonight there’s enough within me, within my family and friends, the wisdom in good colleagues and good law, to temper the very same urges within myself in staying focused on the task at hand. It’s a game and it isn’t. I will think about the people who must follow the laws constantly, because I am one of them.

I have my reasons, and even I may not be aware of them all yet.

AllenS said...

Stephen Cooper said...
I almost died in the line of duty. Broken ribs, massive loss of blood, in a state of shock, almost dead, the doctors were surprised that I was still alive. I refuse to stoop so low as to use it as an arguing point.

I think you just did.

Robert Cook said...

It's all theater and bullshit, always.

One remediation of this eternal shit-show (from both parties) when a new Justice is being put forth for consideration is to pass an amendment (if required) limiting terms on the Supreme Court to one, specified span of years for any one person: say 10 years, or 12. Then...out! (Others have also proposed this.)

Most Justices over time have been mediocrities, (as is true, by definition, of most people), so why give them lifetime appointments, given the power they wield?

Robert Cook said...

"There is no longer any wing of the Democratic Party that can be described as sane.”

They've got to where they've been going for some time now: perfect parity with the Republicans.

stephen cooper said...

AllanS at 7:32 AM - That is a good point, you made me laugh. Anyway, thanks for your service.

In the next year or two, we might see - mostly in cases where Kavanaugh disagrees with Alito - if Kavanaugh was or was not a reliable choice.

BWB said...

Glad for the youtube link.

shame that you (Althouse)
have such a depraved mind and have to put thoughts and words and emotions which are clearly yours, not the judge's, into your lackluster blog post.
Either Althouse thinks he is God, or he's just a lunatic who thinks he can read minds.

I don't need your insane dribble added to my clear thinking.

stephen cooper said...

BWB - ... several people, or one person pretending to be several people, attacked me on this thread in similar language to the language with which you attacked Ann Althouse.

Did you know that Bergoglio expected .... and maybe wanted .... Hillary Clinton to win the election?

Did you know that Kavanaugh stated that he has a "hero" who is a judge, as if he were a teenager at a Beatles concert and judges were members of vaunted boy bands, and do you know that Kavanaugh's claimed hero, Anthony Kennedy, is a foolish man who supported a continuation of Roe v Wade?

If you did not know those things, do you know it is morally wrong to attack people on ideological grounds if you do not understand what the disputed ideological issues are ---


and if you did not know those things, it was wrong of you to claim to have the right to call your thinking "clear thinking".