September 28, 2018

"When public life means the ransacking of people’s private lives even when they were in high school, we are circling a deeply illiberal drain."

Writes Andrew Sullivan in "Everyone Lost at the Ford-Kavanaugh Hearings" (New York Magazine).
A civilized society observes a distinction between public and private, and this distinction is integral to individual freedom. Such a distinction was anathema in old-school monarchies when the king could arbitrarily arrest, jail, or execute you at will, for private behavior or thoughts...The Iranian and Saudi governments — like the early modern monarchies — seek not only to control your body, but also to look into your soul. They know that everyone has a dark side, and this dark side can be exposed in order to destroy people....

The Founders... carved out a private space that was sacrosanct and a public space which insisted on a strict presumption of innocence, until a speedy and fair trial. Whether you were a good husband or son or wife or daughter, whether you had a temper, or could be cruel, or had various sexual fantasies, whether you were a believer, or a sinner: this kind of thing was rendered off-limits in the public world....

[In totalitarian societies], the private is always emphatically public, everything is political, and ideology trumps love, family, friendship or any refuge from the glare of the party and its public. Spies are everywhere, monitoring the slightest of offenses. Friends betray you, as do lovers. Family members denounce their own mothers and fathers and siblings and sons and daughters. The cause, which is usually a permanently revolutionary one, always matters more than any individual’s possible innocence. You are, in fact, always guilty before being proven innocent. You always have to prove a negative. And no offense at any point in your life is ever forgotten or off the table.
On the subject of family members denouncing each other, remember that ad we were just talking about, with 6 siblings telling people not to vote for their brother. "I couldn't be quiet any longer," one sister said with emotive intensity. I predict that the day is coming when a Supreme Court nominee's own children come forward and report random sexist microaggressions heard over the dinner table.

I remember long ago when I was a young law professor sitting next to a federal judge who wanted to tell me how to become a federal judge. (Weirdly, the Judge was Alex Kozinski.) I told him I didn't want to be a judge, because it's better to be a law professor: You have more freedom of speech and behavior — freedom to be an individual. You don't have to continually present yourself as sober and conventional for years and years and years. Who wants to live like that? But now, a quarter century later, the standard of how constrained you need to be is unfathomably strict. Who will be left to aspire to such a cold, lifeless prize? And we, the people, are the losers, because these Justices of the Future will have little to do with the rest of us fallible humans. How will they understand what is at stake?! Why would they value freedom of speech, when they let theirs go when they were 10?

I'm reminded of President Nixon's nomination of G. Harrold Carswell. There were a few reasons why this was a bad nomination, but what was so memorable about it was one Senator's effort to defend him against the charge that he was "mediocre":
Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos.
We don't need a mediocrity on the Court, of course. We don't want the representation of mediocrity, but we do want flesh and blood people, not nine abstemious, over-careful, controlled strivers who've excluded all daring and fun from their lives going back to the age of 10.

105 comments:

Dave Begley said...

Alex Kozinski? Did he hit on you?

And that famous Carswell quote is from Nebraska's Roman Hruska. The fabulous - and I do mean fabulous - federal courthouse in Omaha is named after him. That quote is not carved above the front door but it should be.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Thank you.

Lucid-Ideas said...

liberal ploy results in "circling a deeply illiberal drain". Shocking. News at 11.

The Godfather said...

If I were a Senator and believed that Brett Kavanaugh at age 17 had sexually assaulted and tried to rape Chrissy Blasey and then lied about it, I would have regarded that as a strong reason to vote against him, even though that was "private" behavior. What's wrong with what's been going on is not that it involves private behavior, but that the unproven (and probably unprovable at this time) behavior was being used to smear the reputation of a man with a previously impeccable reputation.

Virgil Hilts said...

The famous Carswell quote is from Nebraska's Roman Hruska. What's better - Bob Kutak (founder of the Kutak Rock firm) was supposedly prepping Hruska for the hearings and they were going through hypotheticals, including the charge that Carswell was mediocre. Bob (the story goes) jokingly said to Roman, well Roman you can always respond that mediocre people deserves representation too. And then Roman said it at the hearing.

Saint Croix said...

It was nice to hear a nominee say, "I like beer."

Maybe one day in the future someone will say, "I like sex."

Dave Begley said...

Virgil:

I believe that story.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big Mike said...

I don’t understand why Althouse would attempt to link Harold Carswell with Brett Kavanaugh, even by juxtaposition in the same post. If one is looking for a thoroughly mediocre legal mind then Sotomayor seems to qualify much better than Kavanaugh. Everything I have read about Kavanaugh calls him one of the leading legal scholars of this generation.

The Crack Emcee said...

Andrew Sullivan once wrote of his amazement that Obama was a Leo.

He might disagree, but, I think things were pretty bad by then, and - since people are still listening to him and people like him - they've only gotten worse.

rcocean said...

I don't care what Kavanaugh did in high school.

There is no pattern of sexual assault or sexual harassment.

If one night he got drunk, and went too far, and groped Ms. Ford, well too bad.

But people grow up, and that was 35 years ago.

Again, No pattern of criminal behavior or sexual abuse.

gahrie said...

This coming from a man who obsessed for months over whether or not a woman gave birth or lied about it.

Jim at said...

The circus may go into overtime.

Nope. Fuck them and Flake.
Hold the floor vote tomorrow. Fifty five votes to confirm.

Lucid-Ideas said...

+100 Saint Croix

Imagine a future where the drinking age is lowered to 18, but you'll need a signed contract of consent before having sex.

This will result in the first nominee that says, "I like beer more than sex."

Not Sure said...

we do want flesh and blood people, not nine abstemious, over-careful, controlled strivers who've excluded all daring and fun from their lives going back to the age of 10.

Unless, of course, some obviously disturbed woman who knew the nominee at age 15 claims he touched her boob, causing her to eventually force her babies to suckle at her other boob, thereby becoming lopsided and depressed about it.

Virgil Hilts said...

Dave Begley, I once was able to go to Roman's house on the Platte river for a party (he was still alive). You could stand in the middle of the river and drink beers. It was strange because after about 10 minutes you would look back at the house and realize that you were 10 yards downriver from where you started. He seemed like a nice guy and drinking beer in the Platte was a great experience.

Tank said...

The left ruins everything it touches.

rcocean said...

If Ms. Ford was REALLY tramautized by the Beast Kavanaugh, she would've said something at the time. She would talked to her friends, to her parents, to the authorities.

At the very least she would've brought it up when Kavanaugh was a prominent member of the White House staff and nominated for a District and later Appeals judgeship.

And still waiting for someone to explain why she tried to engage Mark Judge at Safeway, and said "Hi" to him, after she was supposedly raped.

Saint Croix said...

You have more freedom of speech and behavior — freedom to be an individual. You don't have to continually present yourself as sober and conventional for years and years and years. Who wants to live like that? But now, a quarter century later, the standard of how constrained you need to be is unfathomably strict.

When I was 16, I drank a bottle of vodka and took off (almost) all of my clothes at a party.

I got so drunk (threw up nine times) I had a complete black out and remembered almost nothing of the evening. Felt fine the next day. Bounced right back.

Stupid thing to do. But no harm, no foul.

But the society we live in now?

Consider that all of us are carrying around surveillance equipment with us--our smart phone. And if anybody does anything, your "friends" will capture it and put it on-line, for the whole world to see. And it will follow you around to every job application, every date, it will dominate your life.

This ability to forget mistakes and move on? We don't really have that anymore. Now mistakes are captured and broadcast. I feel so much sympathy for young people when I think about this. No wonder they are frightened. They're living in a police state. And you don't even know it, until you mess up.

RMc said...

We don't want (...) nine abstemious, over-careful, controlled strivers who've excluded all daring and fun from their lives going back to the age of 10.

Not far enough back! Do you realize what awful transgressions occur in third grade? Kindergarten? Preschool? The womb? I demand an investigation!

mccullough said...

Sullivan is a nutjob.

The guy was obsessed with Sarah Palin’s baby. He loved W before he hated him.

The only way it gets better is to stop listening to the people like Sullivan who Contributed to the Crazy.

gahrie said...

You know if just started aborting all the male babies we wouldn't have this problem.

Dave Begley said...

Since credibility will supposedly be investigated by the FBI then every single aspect of CBF's life must be examined starting with her social media. And when was the two door house built? What does the therapist say? The FBI should have lots of questions for CBF, the liar. No Hillary treatment.

Trumpit said...

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

So. by all means, let's put a rapist on the Supreme Court. Trumptard hypocrites!

SDaly said...

it's better to be a law professor: You have more freedom of speech and behavior — freedom to be an individual. You don't have to continually present yourself as sober and conventional for years and years and years.

That may have been true once, but it is not reality now. Today, liberal judges have the same freedom to speak and act without consequence as liberal professors. Conservative professors have the same inability to express themselves or act in any manner contrary to today's liberal orthodoxy without the danger of losing their positions.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Andrew Sullivan knows of what he speaks.

Didn't he have a rather unwelcome crossover between his private and public persona?

Ignorance is Bliss said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Henry said...

I love the word "striver" in this context.

One of the great legal strivers is Charles Dickens' Mr. Stryver, from A Tale of Two Cities. Stryver is the employer of the novel's real hero: drunk, dissolute, astute, gallant Sydney Carton.

This wonderful passage describes their relationship:

Mr. Stryver shouldered his way through the law, like some great engine forcing itself through turbid water, and dragged his useful friend in his wake, like a boat towed astern. As the boat so favoured is usually in a rough plight, and mostly under water, so, Sydney had a swamped life of it. But, easy and strong custom, unhappily so much easier and stronger in him than any stimulating sense of desert or disgrace, made it the life he was to lead; and he no more thought of emerging from his state of lion's jackal, than any real jackal may be supposed to think of rising to be a lion.

As for Mr. Stryver himself, he has a Senatorial aspect:

Mr. Stryver, a man of little more than thirty, but looking twenty years older than he was, stout, loud, red, bluff, and free from any drawback of delicacy, had a pushing way of shouldering himself (morally and physically) into companies and conversations, that argued well for his shouldering his way up in life.

Lipperman said...

My wife and I considered buying a duplex, and each of us would occupy a side. We'd put a door in the shared wall.
Yeah, we' have two front doors, just like Christine Blasio Ford's house. But her setup is plumb crazy.

Fernandinande said...

"With those children, he thought, that wretched woman must lead a life of terror. Another year, two years, and they would be watching her night and day for symptoms of unorthodoxy. Nearly all children nowadays were horrible.

It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children. And with good reason, for hardly a week passed in which 'The New York Times' did not carry a paragraph describing how some eavesdropping little sneak — 'child hero' was the phrase generally used — had overheard some compromising remark and denounced its parents to the Thought Police." -- Roger Lowglee, "2034".

Francisco D said...

Hruska reminds me of Mayor Richard J. Daley (the original one).

When he was caught steering city insurance contacts to one of his sons said, "What man doesn't want his kids to succeed in life?"

The furor then died down.

Not quite on a par with "The police are not here to create disorder. They are here to preserve disorder."

Politics were more fun then. Now it is vicious bloodsport.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Perhaps Merkowski should read her some Andrew Sullivan.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Trumpit - why don't you read the link. Afraid?

btw- Bill Clinton was accused of rape and you leftists stood by and did nothing. You defended him.

Kavanaugh never raped anyone and yet you say he did. Why are you such a totalitarian cog?

Dagwood said...

Blogger Saint Croix said...

It was nice to hear a nominee say, "I like beer."

Maybe one day in the future someone will say, "I like sex."



I seem to recall Ginsberg testifying, "I...think I...used to like sex."

PhilD said...

When it comes to your constitution what is best? A 'brilliant' judge who brilliantly let the constitution jump through hoops like it never was meant to jump (like the hoopla's involved in Roe vs Wade), or a 'mediocre' judge who thinks, mediocrely, that the text means what it says?

n.n said...

Striving is good. It's not perfection. It's not even the illusion of its realization. There are few behaviors that have redeeming value to society and humanity, which merit normalization or promotion. Then there is tolerance and rejection, where each is judged according to observable, reproducible principles. Most behaviors are merely tolerable. Then there are a few behaviors that are crimes against the individual, society and humanity, and should be rejected.

Balfegor said...

Re: FBI, honestly, I was opposed a couple days ago because it's a waste of time to devote government resources to chasing down a 30 year old set of facts.

But realistically, this isn't something that should take more than a day or two to "investigate," because you have basically all the evidence you're ever going to find pretty much right in front of you already -- it's frankly astonishing that Kavanaugh was able to produce documentary evidence of his movements as a teenager, and that already means you have more to work with than you normally would with a vague set of allegations and innuendos like this.

And there's reason to think a closed room investigation would be a lot more effective than the hearing -- e.g. no one is going to be interrupting the questioner every few minutes to sing the praises of the witness; FBI agents aren't afraid to push witnesses so hard they cry; and some of the witnesses (e.g. Judge) who didn't want to testify in a public speaking situation might be more willing to speak in a more private investigative context. There's nothing magic about having the FBI do the investigation, and the FBI don't always do a good job, but the context makes it a lot easier for them to elicit information and test weaknesses in the story than a pack of senators in a public hearing.

I still think it's a dumb waste of time but not as dumb as I did two days ago.

MikeR said...

Sullivan's progression through the day sounds a lot like Althouse's.

Phil 314 said...

I fear Dr. Ford will, in the coming week(s), have much more than her initial story made public, yearbook and much, much more.

And I assume that over the coming months we will learn about Kamala Harris's college years, Dick Durbin's and so on and so on.

My worst fear would be someone digging up shit on one of the sitting Supreme Court justices.

Maybe Donald Trump throughout his 8 years will put 6-8 justices on SCOTUS.

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

Yeah, sure, Sullivan becoming the to go to expert of debasement of our culture. Hell wasn't he one of the cheerleaders of debasing our culture - infatuated with certain parts of Palin's anatomy. Sorry AA, when you use him as a poster boy for debasing our culture - your article becomes an immediate fail.

SDaly said...

On the subject of family members denouncing each other...

I'm not sure if you noticed this, but in the letter from "family members" who supported CBF, noticeably absent were her parents and brothers. The "family members" were her husband's family members. When contacted, her father did not want to discuss it and limited his response to the fact that he loved his daughter.

n.n said...

I seem to recall Ginsberg testifying, "I...think I...used to like sex."

She was once a horny girl, who met a horny boy, with a story that was recorded behind closed doors, doing what humans do, and soon did appear Jane and James. I think everyone can infer the plot from there.

hstad said...

Oops, meant to say "poster boy for saving the "debasement of our culture"

My Bad!

Unknown said...

The defense of the mediocrities is interesting in that Mr Nixon said something like that himself, commenting (to I forget whom) that we didn't always need to find the absolute best candidate for a position because there were many candidates who were good enough. Of course, good enough doesn't really mean mediocre.

JAORE said...

Can Mitch say, OK, one week.
Likely he HAS to without 50 firm votes. (And I wouldn't count on Flake if he let me hold his kids hostage).

Can Mitch say, OK, one week, but we'll only look at the Ford allegation?
Nope, after all we HAVE to take a woman's allegations seriously even if the sleazy Porn Lawyer accusations are obvious BS.

Can Mitch say, OK, one week, but no further allegations will not cause a delay.
Nope, after all that is saying the woman is a liar.

Can Mitch say, OK we've had the election and go to a vote.
Maybe, but he'll get scalded about time to assess the report, criticize the report, ask for followups, ask for hearings, ask for floor time, etc.

More claims to follow.

Roughcoat said...

Andrew Sullivan? Seriously? Has Mr. Milky Glutes apologized for his character assassination of Sarah Palin? Screw him all to hell.

JAORE said...

election should be investigation...

Fernandinande said...

Does anyone know where I can get the chords 'n' lyrics to "Indelible in the Hippocampus"?

Asking for a friend.

JackWayne said...

“We don't need a mediocrity on the Court, of course. We don't want the representation of mediocrity, but we do want flesh and blood people, not nine abstemious, over-careful, controlled strivers who've excluded all daring and fun from their lives going back to the age of 10.”

But yet, that’s EXACTLY what you want with Kavanaugh....

Unknown said...

Blogger The Godfather said...
If I were a Senator and believed that Brett Kavanaugh at age 17 had sexually assaulted and tried to rape Chrissy Blasey and then lied about it, I would have regarded that as a strong reason to vote against him, even though that was "private" behavior.

Yes, I would agree with that. It doesn't matter if a criminal assault is private. But I really wonder how many--if any!--of the D senators really believe Kavanaugh did it?

Andrew said...

The comments to the Sullivan piece are very depressing. Mostly raw hatred of Kavanaugh.

John said...

I'm am at a loss. As a citizen, I have so little faith in the individuals that sit in office and in agencies that represent and work on our behalf. Swamp does not even come close to describing what we are witnessing these days, months and recent years.

What is my - and any like-minded individual's - option? What have we elected and allowed to build which we are now living in and passing on to next generations?

Merely voting in 90% of the elections I've been eligible - for the 57 years of my life - for candidates I believed best represented my understanding of how this country operates is not enough. Voting too many times, too recently, for the lesser of two evils 'felt' like the only option. There are too many 'lesser evils' in positions of power - and no best and brightest on the horizon.

Shame on me. Shame on you. Shame on us.

Crimso said...

The way the Dems have been clamoring for the FBI makes me suspicious that someone at the FBI has arranged an "insurance policy."

tcrosse said...

Debasement is not just the foundation of your house.

Francisco D said...

Maybe Donald Trump throughout his 8 years will put 6-8 justices on SCOTUS.

If I were a betting man and that scenario unfolded, I would put $50K on a serious assassination attempt.

Gunner said...

It's hilarious reading the NY Mag SJWs trying to scare Sullivan with "Kav is going to outlaw gay marriage, you dumb homo" comments.

Henry said...

@Balfegor said, "I still think it's a dumb waste of time but not as dumb as I did two days ago."

I was in favor of an FBI follow-up two days ago and still in favor of it, but unless some miraculous confession occurs from one party or the other, the public hearings yesterday have already wrecked the strongest rationale for the investigation -- which is that the claims could be evaluated by a third party with some level of investigative expertise before the bloody drama of a hearing.

tcrosse said...

If we go back far enough, Kavanaugh was guilty in utero of Original Sin.

eddie willers said...

The comments to the Sullivan piece are very depressing. Mostly raw hatred of Kavanaugh.

I (mainly) think that the reason most liberal sites no longer have comment sections is because conservatives would come to it and and wreck the author's article with logic.

After reading the comments at the Sullivan piece, I can see why they would jettison the comment section so that people don't see how vicious and stupid their supporters are.

sparrow said...

Good post, thanks

Lyle said...

I love how Althouse still links to Andrew Sullivan even after he belittled her over her life choices. Andrew has some interesting things to say at times. He's actually finding himself again with Trump as President. I think how Iraq went and then the charge for legalizing gay marriage (maybe some meds too) sent him over the edge a bit, but he's a thoughtful and genuinely decent person, I think.

Althouse might have been raised in a similar way to how Kavanaugh and his wife are raising their family.

Saint Croix said...

Harry Blackmun got the Carswell seat.

You can do a hell of a lot worse than mediocre. There are D students and F bombs.

"We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins."

Rabel said...

My greatest regret in all this is that no one offered Dr. Ford a scrunchie so that she could pull that blonde hair out of her face and into a ponytail which she could then swish swish.

The Laslo commentary would have been an Althouse classic.

wholelottasplainin said...

Phil D said...
When it comes to your constitution what is best? A 'brilliant' judge who brilliantly let the constitution jump through hoops like it never was meant to jump (like the hoopla's involved in Roe vs Wade), or a 'mediocre' judge who thinks, mediocrely, that the text means what it says?
**************
Given Kavanaugh's widely acknowledged legal brilliance, that's not the choice we're being offered.

wholelottasplainin said...

Jack Wayne said...
“We don't need a mediocrity on the Court, of course. We don't want the representation of mediocrity, but we do want flesh and blood people, not nine abstemious, over-careful, controlled strivers who've excluded all daring and fun from their lives going back to the age of 10.”

But yet, that’s EXACTLY what you want with Kavanaugh....
******************

Oh sure. That's why he's being attacked, for being an over-careful "study queer" who was involved in no sports, no outside activities and no partying/drinking at all. And, of course, he's a legal mediocrity---even though he's one of the most-cited judges in the entire federal legal system.

You're obviously neuron-depleted.

Birkel said...

This, Althouse, is the natural stopping place of your worldview.
You have helped cut down all the laws and the Devil has turned on you.
Congrats, this is what you winning feels like.

And Andrew Sullivan, Uterus P.I., is guilty of the offenses he now recognizes in others.

Sebastian said...

"But now, a quarter century later, the standard of how constrained you need to be is unfathomably strict. Who will be left to aspire to such a cold, lifeless prize? And we, the people, are the losers, because these Justices of the Future will have little to do with the rest of us fallible humans."

You and your fellow liberals made this happen. The strictness is imposed strictly by and from the left.

We conservatives know everyone is fallible. You and everyone to our left have made fallibility a political tool, to be used to destroy us.

You are not like most progs in relation to Sullivan, but your own conduct in this case aids and abets the worst behavior by the left. You are complicit.

Birkel said...

As Andrew Brietbart said "Fuck you, War!"

FullMoon said...

And still waiting for someone to explain why she tried to engage Mark Judge at Safeway, and said "Hi" to him, after she was supposedly raped. ....

While going in a separate door than her mother who therefore is unfortunately unable to confirm.

Anybody else so embarrassed by their Mom that they did not want to be seen with her?

BAS said...

Living in Animal Farm. Right now we are at "2 legs bad, 4 legs good" in a while we will be at "4 legs good, 2 legs better".
Back in the USSR.

MayBee said...

"I was going to the Potomac Village Safeway — this is the one on the corner of Falls and River Road — and I was with my mother. And I was a teenager, so I wanted her to go in one door and me go in the other.

So I chose the wrong door, because the door I chose was the one where Mark Judge was — looked like he was working there and arranging the shopping carts. And I said “Hello” to him. And his face was white and very uncomfortable saying “Hello” back.

And we had previously been friendly at the times that we saw each other over the previous two years. Albeit not very many times, we had always been friendly with one another.

I wouldn’t characterize him as not friendly. He was just nervous and not really wanting to speak with me.

DURBIN: How long…

FORD: And he — he looked a little bit ill.

DURBIN: How long did this occur after the incident?

FORD: I would estimate six to eight weeks. "

Yeah, that is weird. That she said hello to him and then said he used to be very friendly to her, but he was nervous and didn't want to speak with her. But nothing about *her* being afraid of him, or needing to run out, or not wanting to say "Hello". It's very odd.

(note: Judge says in his book that he worked at the supermarket between Junior and Senior year, and was often hungover or still drunk when he went to work. Perhaps that's why his face was white)

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

@Andrew Sullivan

who brought you/us this shit-show?

name your oppressor

MayBee said...

I actually think it's pretty awful to drag an alcoholic in recovery into this.

FIDO said...

The only people forcing that level of restraint is the Left ever since they Borked Bork.

And your side doubles down on it with looking at Kavanaugh's YEARBOOKS for God's sake.

But hey, 'abortion' so it's all allowed and good, right, RIGHT?

Birkel said...

MayBee,
Blasey Ford could not remember her parents' address but remember the cross-streets at the Safeway.
That seems legit, right?
/sarc

Molly said...

Andrew Sullivan is the only person to realize that the result of the Democrats questions this week is that no gay, lesbian, trans, etc. person can ever be nominated to the Supreme Court. The types of questions that can now be asked of a nominee precludes the nomination of anyone with a history of any kind.

Sebastian said...

"sought to humiliate and discredit Kavanaugh for who he was"

This is the reductio ad absurdum of identity politics, all for the greater good of prog power. It's the Fording of America.

Sullivan himself contributed, but he is open to learning and now makes partial amends. Althouse stood by and contributed less, but learns nothing and prefers to continue her cruel neutrality sham. So the Fording continues.

n.n said...

wreck the author's article with logic

It has to be said... You're blinding me with logic.

Unknown said...

Dave Begley, Did you notice that later in her testimony she said the second door allowed them to host Google interns or college students? Maybe that is why she wanted the second front door, not because of trauma.

Unknown said...

Dave Begley, Did you notice that later in her testimony she said the second door allowed them to host Google interns or college students? Maybe that is why she wanted the second front door, not because of trauma.

Seeing Red said...

It’s a private matter. It was for Bubba and the harpies still want to put him back in the Whitehouse. Just because he’s older.......

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

It could have been marriage between a man and a woman based on a natural principle of evolutionary fitness. If anything, the Court will reject political congruence ("="), a Pro-Choice policy, and establish civil unions for all consenting adults, including: couples, couplets, and others who are in love and not.

Nancy Reyes said...

Andrew Sullivan is, of course, gay.
He recognizes that allowing such claims to become the norm, much of the gay community is at risk for being "outed" as predators and unable to get jobs.
Look at the hysteria about "pedophiles" in the Catholic church. What they are actually describing is pederasty, often of willing young men. If "Call me by my name" was about a boy and a priest, it would be a crime: since it's not, it is a gay romance.
And now there is a hysteria to eliminate all "gay priests" in the Catholic church (17 percent of priests, half of whom claim they are celibate, if you believe the sociological surveys of Father Greeley).

As for Dr Ford: yes, being groped by a boy who doesn't even manage to get your clothes off is not really a serious attack. Her hysteria is overwrought: Unless she was and remains a virgin, her hysteria reminds one of Miss Haversham than a true victim).
By the way: She is a professor: has anyone bothred to check what she has published professionally? Just wondering.

Laslo Spatula said...

Althouse has the 'Amy Sullivan' tag, not the 'Andrew Sullivan' tag.

I am Laslo.

MayBee said...

Birkel- I can't find in her testimony where she can't remember her parents' address. Do you have it somewhere?

Bruce Hayden said...

“My wife and I considered buying a duplex, and each of us would occupy a side. We'd put a door in the shared wall.”

Friends shared a house after they got divorced. She had the front half, he had the back half, and the two were connected through the upstairs where their two kids lived. Worked fairly well, until she moved to Florida.

Bruce Hayden said...

I think that I would have preferred to have been a judge, instead of a law prof. Law profs live in ivory towers, and mostly don’t really have to deal with reality. Of course, there is crossover- my Criminal Procedure class was taught by a sitting district court judge. Better than 2/3 of his caseload was criminal, including some high profile capital cases. The result was that he had probably forgotten more crim law than most crim law profs ever know, and he had good war stories - but not as good as the prominent criminal defense atty who taught my Criminal Law course. Still, I think that I would have preferred to have been an appeals court judge, over being a trial court judge.

bagoh20 said...

"We don't want the representation of mediocrity...

It sure is overrepresented in the Congress. After this shitshow, how could anyone want more government control over their lives? Imagine those bozos trying to decide which door to run out if the building was on fire.

Bruce Hayden said...

“By the way: She is a professor: has anyone bothred to check what she has published professionally? Just wondering.”

Saw something a day or two ago listing six articles that had her listed as an author, that involved testing the primary active ingredient of the RU-486 Day After abortifacient for alternative uses. On two of the papers she was listed first.

bagoh20 said...

" Did you notice that later in her testimony she said the second door allowed them to host Google interns or college students? ".

Which is related to why her social media history is so well scrubbed. It's who you know.

Birkel said...

MayBee,
It was during the questioning about the maps. She said she could not find her parents'house on a map without street names. It's in that section.

It was striking. I remember my childhood home address and phone number.

JOKE: I am old enough my phone number was 3. And my street address was 123 ABC Road. So my memory may not be all that good. :-)

SERIOUSLY:
Who doesn't remember their childhood home and phone number?

Birkel said...

bagoh20,
I saw reports that she had government contracts. CIA?
Recruiting Stanford students and Google employees?

Tom T. said...

Obviously, though, this isn't going to happen to Democrats. The media won't assign a phalanx of reporters to call everyone in a Democratic nominee's high school class, and they won't soberly report batshit crazy allegations like Swetnick's.

PWS said...

This is a really interesting topic; of course, the question is where to draw the line. As we know many presidents and other public figures from decades ago had what would now be considered scandalous private lives; private scandals that would not be tolerated today. On the other hand, while I understand that we don't want robotic people who have never experienced anything, shouldn't judges in particular be held to a very high standard? They're *judging* others; in order for their judgments to have credibility and be more likely to be followed, they have to be above almost all reproach. I think as a judge I would view doing this an act of sacrifice and public service to behave in such a way. (Funny that in order to post this I had to click the box "I'm not a robot"!)

Ken B said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ken B said...

Economists make a distinction between expressed and revealed preferences. The former are what you say you want, the latter are what you actually choose when given a choice. I might say I prefer skim milk, but if I always choose 2% then 2% is my revealed preference.

Ann's expressed preference is for normal human beings on the Supreme Court. Her revealed preference is for those who lead such spotless and catalogued lives they can refute any accusations about any moment of their lives decades later.

Jay Leno used to joke every moment of his life was recorded, for legal reasons. That would not satisfy Ann, for how could you prove you didn’t edit or fake the tapes and forget doing so.

Birkel said...

Well written, Ken B.

walter said...

Birkel said...SERIOUSLY:
Who doesn't remember their childhood home and phone number?
--
Me.
I suppose it matters at how many you had and at what age you left it.
Numerous reasons, really.

walter said...

Blogger Nancy Reyes said...
She is a professor: has anyone bothred to check what she has published professionally?
--
Well..despite not revealing her Dr. Chrissy's field of expertise, Feinstein at least referred to her work being "peer reviewed".
Which..even in the "hard sciences", even life and death medical..has come under significant question lately.

Achilles said...

Balfegor said...

I still think it's a dumb waste of time but not as dumb as I did two days ago.

Oh no. This is a very good use of the time.

It gives democrats 6 more days to dance around and flaunt their complete amorality and celebrate their destruction of Due Process within a month of the election.

It is excellent.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Ann's expressed preference is for normal human beings on the Supreme Court. Her revealed preference is for those who lead such spotless and catalogued lives they can refute any accusations about any moment of their lives decades later.


You know how she's always saying everybody else is BSing and lying and not believing the things they say they believe?

She should know.

viator said...

Just like Red China:

Christine Blasey Ford

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

The Permanent Record is real.