September 4, 2018

"Here is the photo of me trying to shake Kavanaugh's hand."


Via "Republicans defend Brett Kavanaugh's integrity as Dems slam confirmation process — live updates" (CBS).

114 comments:

Sydney said...

Would you shake hands with a stranger in hostile territory?

pauld said...

Hmm. So he is approached by a complete stranger after having sat through a hearing where protestors had to be removed, and he reacts as if he is startled. Obviously, not qualified to be on the SCOTUS

n.n said...

The process has integrity until the first appearance of a jumbo, novelty gavel.

DanTheMan said...

Is there some connection between Kavanaugh and Parkland?

I'm Full of Soup said...

A bit too Jack Ruby esque. I think that is what Cavanaugh was thinking too.

DanTheMan said...

This must be one of those "Deeper Meaning" things... I just don't get it.

n.n said...

Kavanaugh is, with cause, suspicious of #anti... deeming him nonviable and staging an assault in the seventh trimester of the current administration.

hawkeyedjb said...

What a circus. A big, F**king circus. The people who have orchestrated this farce should be ashamed, but they have as little capacity for shame as they have integrity.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

DanTheMan said...

Is there some connection between Kavanaugh and Parkland?

There is a connection between Kavanaugh and the political issue for which the Parkland dead are being used. The connection being that Kavanaugh presumably believes that the Second Amendment exists, and means what it says.

The Bergall said...

Makes for a great photo op...............who put him up to it? Let me guess....

FWBuff said...

How else would you look at a father who is willing to cheapen his daughter's murder to score political points?

YoungHegelian said...

And, of course, there's someone there with a camera on the other side to film the encounter!

What a fucking set-up! No doubt if Kavanaugh had shaken Guttenberg's hand then Guttenberg would have done something to escalate the situation until Kavanaugh ended up looking like a slime ball in any case.

What sort of a scumbag milks his kid's murder by playing at political theater like this? It ain't Kavanaugh who's the moral monster here.

5M - Eckstine said...

That all looks like groupies with bad intent to me. My issue is more important than yours.

Dave Begley said...

I haven't watched today but I heard some on the radio. It was the Clarence Thomas "hearing" that flipped me from Dem to Republican. I imagine many decent and thinking people will flip parties after this joke of hearing is over.

Trump wins 40 states.

Dave Begley said...

And what could the Supreme Court have done to stop Parkland? Nothing.

We have a sick and evil society. Monsters can always get guns.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

The proper response to Guttenberg is to express condolences, then to explain that if he wants the Second Amendment repealed, he needs to talk to Congress and the state legislatures.

Rumpletweezer said...

"I know, let's get a white supremacist to shake his hand...and let's get Tamala Harris to say that she heard him mumble the N-word. That ought to do it."

tcrosse said...

Kavanaugh spotted the Joy Buzzer just in time.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

K was already leaving, didn't see G coming, didn't know who he was, possibly didn't hear what he said, and there were people pushing him along and in the way almost immediately. This is a lot of nothing.

Huffin' Puffin', and other Scheissepresse, only show the incriminating still shot, not the video, of course.

bagoh20 said...

This clearly shows that Kavanaugh not only supports murdering young girls, but was probably behind the Parkland shooting himself. At least he's not Hitler, but likely still a lower level Nazi.

If I could scream like an unintelligible harpy, I'd say this at the top of my lungs when people are holding a serious meeting.

Real American said...

It's a photo of Kavanaugh declining to shake the hand of an asshole. Good for him.

Real American said...

Is there some connection between Kavanaugh and Parkland?

Yeah. The connection is that the left is a bunch of assholes.

n.n said...

the Second Amendment exists, and means what it says

Self-defense and the readiness that lends itself to it. Rights that are endowed by virtue of humanity and responsibilities are not a choice (and certainly not a Choice).

rehajm said...

Garish stunt.

MikeR said...

Caption contest!
"Guess what I've got on my hand!"

MikeR said...

"With a wave of my hand, I have the power to remove your jacket."

LilyBart said...

Guttenberg tweeted earlier that he was attending the hearing to keep Kavanaugh from being confirmed. The hearing was chaos from the gallery, with many interruptions and arrests (!). As they break, a stranger approaches Kavanaugh and sticks out his hand (we have only his word about what was actually said at this moment, and we don't know if Kavanugh could even hear him), and Kavanaugh turns to look. Several camera angles show that the security intervene at this moment.

This was NOT what Guttenberg is saying it is - and it shows how disingenuous he is.

n.n said...

Guttenberg in good times and bad times is one of ours. That is, he's an American citizen.

FWBuff said...

In the background of the photo, between Guttenberg on the left and Kavanaugh on the right, you can see Bryan Garner (the legal writing expert who co-authored a book with Kavanaugh) with his hand to his throat looking concerned about the encounter. Guttenberg must have approached Kavanaugh in an aggressive way.

MikeR said...

"Did you know that there are people who cannot see a thing below eye level?"

rehajm said...

We know the outcome- just put it to a vote already.

Clyde said...

Judge Kavanaugh came across really well. The Democrats looked like sore-loser clowns.

MikeR said...

"Don't mind me - I'm just shielding the black guy in the back whose pants fell down."

LilyBart said...

Garish stunt

Stunt is exactly what it appears to have been - like all the other stunts being pulled that morning.

Charlie said...

They're selling postcards of the hanging,
They're painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors,
The circus is in town

MikeR said...

"Here, let me help. Hold absolutely still; I'm really good at unsticking buttons."

LilyBart said...

Ignorance is Bliss said...
The proper response to Guttenberg is to express condolences, then to explain that if he wants the Second Amendment repealed, he needs to talk to Congress and the state legislatures.



We don't even know if Kavanaugh heard what Guttenberg said, Kavanough looks a bit confused in the 'proof picture'. Security quickly intervened, so what would have happened next is unknown.

Drago said...

Dont worry. All of LLR Chuck's lefty allies know precisely how to rocket thisphoto around the world with just the right "context"....

By tomorrow night Maddow will have her minions like Chuck crowing about Kavanaugh not only blowing off this guys handshake but insulting him as well.

They might even pull out a lefty/dem/LLR classic and claim Kavanaugh spit on him!

And oh how Chuck will rejoice and run with that one...

Bob Boyd said...

You can't be too careful these days. For all Kavanaugh knew the guy was a Catholic priest.

Jim at said...

Shitting all over your kid's corpse to make a political statement is never a good look.

MB said...

We will see what we are prepared to see. If you want to view this as rude you will. But did Kavanaugh who he was? What if he was some alt-Right radical? What a great photo-op that would have make.

tcrosse said...

I went to shake hands with Brett Kavanaugh, and you won't believe what happened next!

Basil Duke said...

Yet another pathetic act in today's agit prop theater production of "American Lefties Suck." Between the handmaiden tales hags, the shrieking audience plants, United States Senators behaving like brain-damaged toddlers and now this, it's evident that Schumer and company haven't got squat on the good judge. Juvenile antics are the only arrows in their quiver. I half expect Kamala to toss a dirty diaper (her own) onto the hearing room floor tomorrow.

Dude1394 said...

Bullshit gotcha attempt. Everyone is a prima donna these days.

dbp said...

This video shows Guttenberg approaching Kavanaugh while the Judge's back is to Guttenberg. Guttenberg must have shouted something, because he turns around and looks like he is just getting ready to shake the proffered hand, when security catches Guttenberg and stops him from continuing forward. As this happens, Guttenberg jabs his finger at Kavanaugh aggressively and appears to shout something.

It was an obvious setup which didn't work, so he lied about it.

https://twitter.com/RajShah45/status/1037046732310360064

The Godfather said...

"And what could the Supreme Court have done to stop Parkland?" Didn't the Supreme Court declare Parkland a gun-free zone and order the police not to enter until the shooting stopped? I know somebody did that.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bay Area Guy said...

I listened to the hearing. Oh my f%*#ing God.

The Democrat Senators and their protesting idiot brethren are literally trying to turn us into a banana republic. They are so ignorant, and misguided, and obnoxious, and pompous, and delusional that it defies ordinary description.

Here's their talking points:

We do not support this nominee, because:

1. We haven't reviewed 42,000 pages of irrelevant documents from the Bush White House
2. Merrick Garland
3. Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator on some unspecified federal offense
4. The Supreme Court has a lot of mean 5-4 decisions.

Of course, if Kavanaugh publicly pledged to uphold Roe v. Wade, all of this angst would quietly fade away.........

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
eric said...

If the Democrats are smart, by Friday they'll get a white supremacists to repeat the move. By then Kavanaugh will be thinking, next time I'll shake the hand of whatever stranger approaches me!

And then they'll have him.

Muahahabahaha!

tcrosse said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bleh said...

The man had just say through a proceeding with near-constant interruptions from unhinged protesters who had to be removed and arrested. It got so bad that his daughters had to be escorted from the room. Then some guy he doesn't know bum rushes him.

This should reflect poorly on the father, but of course the media is desperate to portray Kavanaugh as a bad guy, so the stunt "worked" in the sense that powerful media figures are pushing the father's preferred narrative. The bullshit here is so thick, however, that I suspect many casual observers will be turned off by the stunt.

MountainJohn said...

How does one gain admission to such hearings? Is it first come, first served?

Or does one apply to a member of the Senate to get a seat?

Francisco D said...

Re: documents from Kavanaugh's time at the Bush White House (2003-2006).

Kavanaugh was not a policy maker. His job (White House Staff Secretary) was to manage the paper flow to the POTUS. The documents that the Senate Dems want are not documents that Kavanaugh authored. They want all the documents from senior Bush officials that passed through his hands. The documents are (as per custom and law) protected by executive privilege.

Christopher said...

Apparently we're now at the "super secret white power" hand signal portion of the reactions to today's events.

The left has gone insane.

bagoh20 said...

The Democratic Party should adopt Nike's message: "Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything." Because that describes their efforts perfectly.

You know who else had that philosophy of power?

Drago said...

Republicans Refuse To Pounce!

BUMBLE BEE said...

eric, by way of the antics displayed today, that is an insurmountable if. These sphincter children dems are getting bolder. I'd recommend ceramic plate kevlar.

Yancey Ward said...

Oh, let me guess at the short encounter: "Hi, I am Fred Guttenberg, you killed my daughter with pro-NRA decisions (extends right hand)."

BUMBLE BEE said...

Jeebus, the only thing missing today was Monty Hall.

rhhardin said...

Nobody familiar with NYC shakes an offered hand from a stranger.

Arashi said...

From the full video, the dude should be grateful that the security folks did not take him down as an imminent threat. He looked like he was trying to get something from inside his coat, switched hands - yeah, perfectly innocent, just wanted to say hi and get an autograph..

The 'hearing' was not a hearing - just SJW street theater of the absurd. Maybe if they stopped showing it live so the 'senators' had no one to play to things would be a bit more serious. Like maybe they could actually ask a question instead of pontificating the whole time.

Darrell said...

You can get that exact same picture with anyone if you press the shutter release fast enough.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Greg Gutfeld reamed Biden (about 0.040 over) about Biden's civility bullshit statement today. Fun to see.

Michael K said...

Here's their talking points:

We do not support this nominee, because:

1. We haven't reviewed 42,000 pages of irrelevant documents from the Bush White House
2. Merrick Garland


One of the letters Democrats pretend they are interested in is Kavanaugh's letter supporting the appointment of Merrick Garland.

What do think that chances of that becoming public are ?

Birches said...

Oh brother. I'm glad the AP is doing it's job as the media arm of the DNC.

Rick said...

A new leader in the Stupidest Fake Outrage Story Ever Category.

Unknown said...

See you at the Polls. Keep up the good work.Now we know your platform.Some things are best eaten cold. As Andrew Jackson would say as he burned it all down. And salted the ground.quoting Steve Bannon. A Tragedy, the things we do to ourselves, knowing the result. Sleeping with your mother eh? This cannot end well. What happens when we're driven to all change our minds at the same time, worldwide.Terrifies all.

JPS said...

Rick, 5:03:

"A new leader in the Stupidest Fake Outrage Story Ever Category."

Someone hasn;t seen the OK sign uproar. This isn't even the stupidest fake outrage story today.

Arashi said...

OK - I had to look that up.

So now when I give an OK sign (like when scuba diving) I am actually indicating that I am a 'white supremacist'..?

Yep - world, totally insane has gone...

JPS said...

Arashi, I did too.

It seems to be a 4chan hoax. But as President Kennedy said, there’s always some son of a bitch who didn’t get the word.

YoungHegelian said...

@JPS,

Someone hasn't seen the OK sign uproar. This isn't even the stupidest fake outrage story today.

Yet another Jew on the Right outs his/herself as a white supremacist!

I mean, who knew?

Surely, the Republican Party has camps in the heartland where they're working on producing black & Latino white supremacists en masse, too. Then we can all stand on stage together and give each other a great big multi-cultural white supremacist group hug!

Rick said...

Someone hasn;t seen the OK sign uproar. This isn't even the stupidest fake outrage story today.


That's a contender for Most Paranoid Outrage, a completely different category.

The evaluation test for Stupidest Fake Outrage is to ask "even if this is true true it means _____".

Original Mike said...

Blogger Bay Area Guy said...”I listened to the hearing. Oh my f%*#ing God.”

It was a spectacle. I watch most of the big hearings, because I am interested and because I can. But they are becoming more and more dismaying.

When I ask myself why they are doing this even though they know they will fail (in fact, they are assuring they will fail; do they really think this behavior will bring the support of the Susan Collins’?), the only answer seems to be to stoke up the Inga’s of the country. It is sad.

stevew said...

Great photo. In it the grandstanding asshole is on the left, literally and politically.

-sw

chuck said...

The Dems have gone full Biden. Let's see if it works again, it certainly worked against Ryan.

Leland said...

He didn't shake your hand because he was buttoning his coat. We can see his hands on the coat button.

The real question is why the guy in the middle background is attempting erotic asphyxiation.

chuck said...

> It seems to be a 4chan hoax.

4chan also claims the invention of the Moscow bed pissing story. There was a contest to see who could invent the dumbest story that got picked up by the media. Funny, if true, they went fishing for the MSM and hooked the FBI.

dbp said...

Yancey Ward, why did you leave off the last line?

"Hi, I am Fred Guttenberg, you killed my daughter with pro-NRA decisions. Prepare to die!

Birkel said...

Somebody should mash up the arrests of those causing public disturbances with the music from Benny Hill.

Please!

And add some Democrat senators too!

Anonymous said...

More necro-politics.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Guttenberg is currently hawking his "orange wave in November" line of apparel on the socials. Soon to be on the shelves, matching hats! Can't make this shit up! bTW where are all the trolls? They must have carpooled to the senate hearing!

Big Mike said...

Would it be churlish of me to say that the wrong member of the Guttenberg family died that day?

Good.

Gk1 said...

Isn't this just a replay of the petulant Union teachers union repeal and anti-Walker crowd? Unrestrained, incoherent anger followed by procedural shenanigans. What next? Will the democrats skedaddle to Illinois so they can't vote on the appointment?

DanTheMan said...

>>Would it be churlish of me to say that the wrong member of the Guttenberg family died that day?

Yes, that would be an awful thing to say. He lost a child, every parent's worst nightmare. I don't excuse his grandstanding. Nor do I wish him any ill.

DanTheMan said...

>>Isn't this just a replay of the petulant Union teachers union repeal and anti-Walker crowd?

A good point. Lots of screaming and yelling over policy choices. Which accomplish nothing except make the yellers and screamers feel better about themselves and their own moral superiority.

Trumpit said...

Good one, Althouse - putting "Kavanaugh" next to "murder" in your tags for your blog post. He's too white bread for my liking. You're not liberal enough for my tastes, but you'd sail through the confirmation process. Who could doubt your qualifications?

Big Mike said...

@Dan, if I lost a child, and then I discovered the myriad ways in which adults failed to protect my child, I would not be grandstanding at a Supreme Court nominee's hearing. I'd be doing my damnedest to get school board members defeated in their reelection campaigns, and I'd be doing my damnedest to get Scott Israel fired from his Sheriff's job. And if that failed, I'd kill him. I'd be at Scot Peterson's house nailing the doors and windows shut and then burning it to the ground with him in it. I've read that a member of the school staff, a coach, saw Nikolas Cruz entering school grounds, recognized him, knew that he was not allowed to be on school grounds with a backpack, but did nothing to alert anyone besides a colleague (who bravely hid in a closet) nor did he confront Cruz and ask him to drop the backpack and the duffel bag he was carrying. I'd be agitating for both coaches' dismissal.

No, Dan, I would not be grandstanding. And if you think I'm blowing smoke, just try me.

Rabel said...

Other video shows that Guttenberg worked his way along the edge of the room and then deliberately evaded security by appearing to head towards the dais and and then turning and darting back towards Kavanaugh. You can see the security man recognize his failure and move rapidly towards the confrontation.

Dangerous actions considering the overall situation. And an extremely poor performance by the security team.

DanTheMan said...

Mike,
What are you on about??? I'm agreeing with you... he was grandstanding.

Given his horrific loss, I'm just cutting the guy a lot of slack. To say he should be dead instead of his kid is... hard to understand what your point is with that.

Big Mike said...

@Dan, I think the proper way to mourn a lost a child whose life was taken by negligence is to hold people responsible for their negligence. I don't cut people slack because I would cut myself no slack in a comparable situation.

Roy Lofquist said...

The circus is in town...

Here comes the blind commissioner
They’ve got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants

Chuck said...

I just read most of the 90+ comments on this page. Of those I read, I agreed with all of them.

Did anybody remark on what a reprehensible job that Chuck Grassley did in managing that hearing? It's (obviously) not a Trump thing, or a GOP establishment thing. It might be an age thing; it is certainly a competence thing. Grassley is a (the only?) non-lawyer on Judiciary.

And I think Grassley is prickly about his non-lawyer status. He might not take too kindly to being woodshedded by John Cornyn and Orrin Hatch.

Big Mike said...

@Chock, Grassley is letting Dumbocrats undecut themselves.

Big Mike said...

@Chuck — sorry. I have no idea what I typed that autocorrect would change it to “Chock.”

Leland said...

Reverse video of the incident shows Guttenberg twice stuck his hand out while Kavanaugh's back was turned. The picture was the third attempt as Kavanaugh had just turned enough to figure out who was talking to him.

So all of it is Fake News, and how you will get more Trump and more conservative Justices.

JOSEPH ANGEL said...

That jew was part of a set-up.

Achilles said...

Chuck said...

I just read most of the 90+ comments on this page. Of those I read, I agreed with all of them.


No you don't. Nobody believes you. You are a liar.


Did anybody remark on what a reprehensible job that Chuck Grassley did in managing that hearing? It's (obviously) not a Trump thing, or a GOP establishment thing. It might be an age thing; it is certainly a competence thing. Grassley is a (the only?) non-lawyer on Judiciary.

And I think Grassley is prickly about his non-lawyer status. He might not take too kindly to being woodshedded by John Cornyn and Orrin Hatch.


Watching the hearings today every republican voter immediately thought "Gosh the republicans did a terrible job running the confirmation hearings."

You are not fooling anyone.

You are Trump's greatest accomplishment.

Drago said...

Chuck: "I just read most of the 90+ comments on this page. Of those I read, I agreed with all of them."

LOL

Riiiiight....

Gotcha....

Wink wink...

Drago said...

Good old Chuck.

His dem allies embarrass themselves so LLR Chuck attacks....the conservative republican!

LOL

Chuck will soon be calling on all "Real" and "TruCon" republicans to vote democrat against Grassley to teach him a lesson, no doubt.

Too too funny.

And obvious.

But mostly funny.



Drago said...

Leland: "So all of it is Fake News, and how you will get more Trump and more conservative Justices."

Careful! You'll put LLR Chuck back into therapy with predictions like that!

Chuck said...

Big Mike said...
@Chock, Grassley is letting Dumbocrats undecut themselves.


No; you could hear Hatch and Cornyn repeatedly on open mics, urging Grassley to gavel order. They were both obviously close to jumping out of their chairs they were so frustrated. I agreed with them.

Drago said...

Guttenburg has "Absolute Moral Authority" and we must act in accordance with his wishes immediately!!!

Parents whose children are murdered by illegals on the other hand need to shut up and ponder why they deserve it.

I hooe that clears up any confusion regarding the lefties/LLR's position on these issues.

Drago said...

LLR Chuck pretending to want his dem allies shut down...

Adorable!

Drago said...

By the way, has LLR Chuck apologized for asserting Trump would never win on any trade deals yet?

I will go out on a limb and guess "no".

Then again, it can be difficult to see things clearly when one is being the worlds biggest Dick Durbin cuckholster.

Drago said...

Not a great day for LLR Chuck as Mattis and Kelly have already shot down Woodwards hilarious hoax-filled tome.

Nope, not a good day for self-described Smear merchant Chuck at all.

I fully expect Chuck to lash out in anger at the first African American staff member in the Trump admin that he sees.

Howard said...

Well, Drago, you guys stopped talking about Mollie Tibbets as soon as her Dad told the race-baiting Trump to cut the comedy. The mighty wind of moral outrage and victim shopping are as ephemeral as they are partisan.

Drago said...

Howard: "Well, Drago, you guys stopped talking about Mollie Tibbets as soon as her Dad told the race-baiting Trump to cut the comedy"

Nonsense.

Mollie Tibbetts died as a direct result of lefty policies and that point was thoroughly made.

Worse for you guys, Elizabeth Warren literally created her own Dukakis moment by telling the parents to forget about their daughter and give some thought to the plight of the illegals!

Hilariously and fantastically moronic...and that one will be back front and center if Li'l Tomahawk doesnt get race-carded out of the dem primary by Booker or Harris.

But, of course, she will.

Too bad. That one would have been fun.

And I dont care if it hurts Chucks feelings to read that about Warren.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Watch the video. Or just a .gif. This is bullshit.

Don't be one of those nice centrist people who get conned into spreading obvious bullshit, Professor. You are definitely better than that.

James K said...

Given his horrific loss, I'm just cutting the guy a lot of slack.

Another Cindy Sheehan. At some point the loss of a child is not an excuse for politicizing the loss of a child.

Achilles said...

Howard said...
Well, Drago, you guys stopped talking about Mollie Tibbets as soon as her Dad told the race-baiting Trump to cut the comedy. The mighty wind of moral outrage and victim shopping are as ephemeral as they are partisan.

Open Borders is an extremely popular position.

Please keep reminding everyone who you really care about.

4% growth on one side. A bunch of bitter racists who want to import a new electorate on the other.

If you thought the Democrats were crazy today just wait until after the midterms.

Tina Trent said...

That hag Feinstein brought lynch mob Sharpton as her special guest and then bragged about it on the record while Grassley and Hatch were being drowned out.

This was a sick demoralization campaign aimed at the American public. Every senator who sponsored one of the disrupters to be in the room should be investigated, named, and censured. Nobody got into the gallery without being sponsored by a senator. There should be consequences for doing this to the American public. If they were in traffic court, there would be consequences. That is our hearing, in our house. If you let people crap all over it, they are crapping on us.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Guttenberg didn't want to shake K's hand. He wanted a photo of K "refusing" to shake his hand.

Rick67 said...

The picture alone doesn't capture what happened. Disruptions and protests, hostile setting, stranger comes up, why should he shake this guy's hand? I have watched the video of this brief encounter, and it looked aggressive, not like he was going to attack Kavanaugh, but it conveyed the strong impression of "hey you! yeah you! I'm ticked off at you! shake my hand you jerk!" And then Guttenberg tries to milk this for political points. That's an insult to our intelligence. And that's without getting into whether Kavanaugh is somehow morally liable for what happened to his daughter. And whether it is the job of a federal judge to legislate policy preferences from the bench.