From news reports, Republicans apparently are starting to feel good about how the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings are going. They are presuming that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will not want to testify on Monday without and FBI investigation, which isn't likely to happen. And even if she does, it will be without any supporting witnesses (including those former classmates who are now coming forward to say they heard about the attack at the time), and held under conditions favorable to the GOP and Kavanaugh.
Just a quick heads-up to these Republicans who think (and act) this way: Be careful what you wish for. Because even if Republicans get their way with the hearing and go dancing in the aisle -- indeed because of Republicans getting their way by bullying a woman who claims she was attacked -- I have a feeling that they may have overlooked an important factor: the 19th Amendment, that women do now actually have the right to vote. (That's one reason why it's good to have women on a committee, to remind the menfolk of these things...) And I sense that women by a vast majority will be outraged in ways the GOP can't imagine. This includes women who were undecided how they would be voting in the mid-term elections, and women who weren't planning on voting in the mid-term elections, as well as women who will go out of their way to ensure as many other women as possible get to the polls for the mid-term elections. I suspect the old bromide, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," won't begin to reach the level of wrath we'll see. Keep in mind that Brett Kavanaugh had one of the lowest approval ratings for a Supreme Court nominee in recent history -- and that was before this letter and its allegation became a story. (Side note: despite Trump and all Republicans insisting that the FBI doesn't get involved and do this sort of thing, as Chuck Rosenberg, former Chief of Staff to the FBI Director, commented yesterday, the "I" in FBI stands for investigation.) At this point, as much profound attention as has been placed on Mr. Kavanaugh getting a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court and on Trump who nominated him, I believe this story has changed focus somewhat. As I've been writing for many months, this is now no longer about Trump, and not even fully about Kavanaugh -- but it is about the elected officials of the Republican Party. This story now is drawing attention to how the Republican Party trashed Anita Hill 27 years when she testified against the sexual abuse of then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas -- and that they are not only doing it once again to Dr. Christine Balsey Ford, but in many ways are being worse. And amid a society that is now part of the MeToo generation. And it's being done by the elected officials of the Republican Party. They're the one's setting the ground rules to bully Dr. Ford. They're the ones covering for Brett Kavanaugh. They're the one's not pushing for an FBI investigation. They're the one's setting timetables. They're the ones question whether Dr. Ford is just "confused" -- before even hearing her testimony. It's Republicans who offer up endorsements for accused rapist Brett Kavanaugh from Trump, who has 16 women who have charged him sexual abuse, and Roy Moore, who is an accused pedophile. I'm just going to guess most women notice all these things. And probably don't like them much. So, while Republicans are apparently feeling comforted that they might make it through the hearings, willful ignorance is no virtue. A Blue Wave may be the least of the GOP's tidal worries -- there could be a Women's Tsunami coming. In the words of Trump, it could be the worst mid-term hurricane from the standpoint of water. Because it's about the Republican Party. Again. Today is a double holiday -- not only Yom Kippur, but also Talk Like a Pirate Day. As a result of the former, the latter slipped through the cracks, but thanks to the ever-vigilant eye of the inveterate Chris Dunn (who's apparently a heathen, or just not Jewish), he's on top of everything and let me know. And as always Talk Like a Pirate Day gets me to think about the quite-wonderful video I've posted here before, Ahaarrrr. (The choice was either embedding this, or a 24-hour video of me fasting.) This is one of my favorite videos I've ever tracked down. It's a little British film, 13-minutes long, which I came across back in 2010 and have been passing it around since -- mostly to friends of my who do voice-over work, on either side of the microphone. Oh, boy howdy, do they ever empathize with it... I don't know very much about its history or the wonderful creative mind behind it, Jonathan Kydd, who wrote and stars in the short film (impressively, as both the voiceover artist and the director! I didn't even realize that the first half-dozen times I watched it). But it did win the (Mid Ulster) Critics choice at the DIY Festival LA. As it happens, I also know very little about that festival -- other than that sentence I just typed. I do see on the iMDB that Mr. Kydd deservedly has had a long career with a great many acting credits -- not shockingly, most over the past 20 years in voiceover work, notably eight Harry Potter video games, as well as the Toy Story That Time Forgot video. And for the animated series, The Adventures of Paddington Bear, he provided the voice of Paddington. But yes, mixed in among that and especially before getting involved with voiceover acting, he has also done a good deal of live-action, on-camera TV work. As the description below says, this is indeed the voice over session from hell. Lest it fall through the cracks amid attention so focused on the Dr. Christine Ford's letter, there were A LOT of strong reasons to vote against Brett Kavanaugh even before it emerged. For starters, perjury is never a good quality in a Supreme Court Justice. Or a Federal Judge, for that matter...
There's a question concerning all this that hasn't really been discussed must yet. It's possible, of course, that the charges being made in the letter turn out to be false or unproven. However, it's just as possible (and being totally subjective, I'll say it's probable, or even likely) that they're true. If the former, then the nomination moves forward as before, and Mr. Kavanaugh will be voted on based on all the rush-through reasons the committee has allowed. But -- IF belief in the charges or evidence of them progress to the degree that Kavanaugh withdraws or enough Senators believe the accusations and reject him, that raises the little-discussed question. If Brett Kavanaugh is not approved for the Supreme Court because of having committed attempted rape over 30 years ago and lied about it today, doesn't that suggest he shouldn't be on the federal bench at all? And that he should be impeached or resign? By the way, one of the Republican talking points through all this is to ask if one should be judged on the actions a person took over 30 years ago when in high school. I would suggest that we're not talking about applying for a job at Burger King, but a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, when standards of employment are the highest -- and should be. And attempted rape is most probably disqualifying from that job. (Not to mentioned, as noted above, any lifetime job on the federal court.) But far more to the point is that this is NOT just about what happened over 30 years ago...but today. If Republicans want to talk about how a person grows from their past transgressions, and that we should look at them today, great!, let's look at Brett Kavanaugh today. Because today, if the allegations are true, Brett Kavanaugh is a man denying vehemently that he he ever committed attempted rape, and assuming he's brought back before the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the matter, he's a man who -- today -- (unless he decides to confess) is willing to lie under oath about it. That's who Brett Kavanaugh is today. (Side note: I think it's proper for the press to report, as they have, that when Brett Kavanaugh has denied the charges, he "vehemently" denied them. But I think it's proper, as well, that if the press does that, for them to make just as clear that Dr. Ford has "emphatically" affirmed her charges.) I don't know for absolute certain what the truth is here. I have my belief and reasons for it (among them, as I noted on Monday, it turns out that I have a distant overlap with someone who is longtime friends with Christine Ford. They talk often, and he is absolutely sure she is telling the truth), and think that the action did happen. But make no mistake, the issue at hand isn't only about three decades ago, but today. And what should be done in full, beyond just the Supreme Court, should the charges turn out to be true. It will not come as a shock to anyone who knows me that I was busy last night with the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs both on television. So, it completely slipped through the cracks that the Emmys were on, and I missed them. In fairness, I probably wouldn't have watched, since I tend not to. I may have recorded them, had I remembered, and the fast-forwarded through to specific moments, like I do with most awards shows, but who knows? The larger point here is I only recently found out the winners. And readers of these pages will recall me raving here about the Amazon Prime series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and singling out the show's star Rachel Brosnahan and supporting actress Alex Boorstein. So, I’ll note that it had seven wins, including Best Comedy Series – as well as wins for Ms. Brosnahan and Ms. Boorstein, as well as writing. And three others. I tries nots to steers ya wrong. I was also told by a friend who watched the show about the broadcast's high with the award for Best Director of Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special, won by Glenn Weiss -- who proceeded to propose on stage to his girlfriend. Actually, for all the attention that got, my favorite moment was when he looks up to the control booth and (being a director of live events, who understands such things like the tight schedule they're under) apologizes to "Hamish" -- the Emmy broadcast's director, and clearly a friend -- for taking more time that he's allotted. (After the show, I saw an interview with Glen Weiss where he was asked about what if he hadn't won, was there a Plan B. He answered that, no, that there was no Plan B. It was all Plan A, everything with his now-fiance was always Plan A.) Here's that segment. If you didn’t see it, here is Anderson Cooper’s almost-10-minute takedown of Don Jr. (Or as he keeps calling him, “Donny Jr.”) |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|
© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2024
|